Kindness and two Pink Lady apples

At the Temescal farmer's market today, I wandered up to a booth full of apples, considering whether I wanted to buy any. The tall older white man staffing the booth asked me how my week was. "Great!" I said. "I got a new job and quit the old one!"

Something in the way I said it touched a chord for him, and he said, "Isn't that scary?" I nodded emphatically. "Some people have the confidence to put themselves out there, but I always had a hard time with that. I knew I could do the job, but applying was hard. Those of us who are kind and honest get taken advantage of sometimes." I continued to nod emphatically and smile at his kind eyes while I picked out two small Pink Lady apples.

I started to hand them to him to weigh, and he said, "I'm buying you those apples. Take them. Keep putting yourself out there!" I thanked him warmly and said, "Keep being kind and honest!"

What a lovely unexpected bit of kindness and support after a long struggle with being taken advantage of at the current job and applying to new ones!