...to Hold the Door for You

Waiting by the door to The Waffle Shop for my husband to arrive for brunch, I watched a man a few years away from his mid-life crisis rush ahead of his mother to open the door for her.  His gracious act struck me as all the more sweet and gallant because it was unnecessary.  While his mother rocked her totally grey do, she also appeared to be fit and able to open the door herself had she gotten to it before he did.  But he wouldn't allow that. He honored his mother by graciously performing this unnecessary act of kindness.  I could almost hear his words: "Don't trouble yourself, Mom, I'll take care of that for you," and a tingle of joy ran up my spine.  The Italian Mama  smiled not only for the man's gallantry but also for his mother who obviously had done her job well.

When I walk around campus, even students who don't know me always hold doors open for me, sometimes inconveniencing themselves to do so.  Granted the Italian Mama is old enough to look like she needs the help.  Let's face it:  I don't look twenty anymore, and  I'm always burdened with my giant "Mom Bag" (complete with children's emergency medicine, provisions for various contact lens crises, several different kinds of eyeglasses, and a wallet bulging with receipts (not money) slung over my shoulder and a 40 pound backpack on wheels.  But even with all of these impediments, I'm still more than capable of opening the doors myself, so I feel like a special courtesy has been granted me when these well-mannered students offer to help.  More impressive is when they hold the doors for each other.  They momentarily leave their plugged-in, digital realities and say with this gesture,  "I know you are there, and with this simple act I can make your life a little easier even though you don't need the help."  How lovely is that?! 

I thought about all of this as I waited for my husband. When he arrived, I opened the door for him,  not because he needed me to but just because I'm old enough to know the importance of unnecessary acts of kindness.