An Unexpected House Guest and a Kindhearted Host

Yesterday, I joined a Smile Group on HelpOthers.org. This is, you guessed it, a site advocating a game of pay-it-forward dedicated to small acts of kindness. Upon registering, you are asked to answer the question, "What motivates you to be kind?" I thought awhile about this question and remembered a situation that unfolded a couple of months ago my father-in-law shared.

My in-laws were in the process of selling a rental home they owned when my father-in-law, Tom, stopped by the property to prep it for winter. As he drove up, he walked around to the side of the house to check on the outside plumbing. This past winter was brutal in Oklahoma leaving many pipes frozen and this home, at the time, was unoccupied ... or so they thought.

As he walked back around to the front door and began to unlock it, he was startled by some activity going on inside the home. A vagrant had been using the house as shelter relief and had washed a few clothes, fried a hot dog, and put some pillows together in a back room for a makeshift bed. Probably just as startled as my father-in-law, she must have heard him approaching and quickly fled out the back door leaving behind pieces of women's clothing soaking in the tub, a pair of shoes on the patio, and a hammer that was left by the pillows in the back room. Tom noticed that the pillows were arranged facing towards the door with the hammer lying next to them as though she may have been using it for protection.

As my husband and I listened to the story, my father-in-law remarked, "I wish she hadn't left so quickly so that I could have helped her." He folded her clothing and put it on the back patio for her in case she returned.

I wondered then, what causes people to react so differently in certain situations. Some may have called the police feeling angry and violated, but Tom's reaction was one of sympathy. After all, it was winter and bitterly cold. Admittedly, my first thought was of self-preservation. She could have used that hammer on him if he hadn't given her the time to bolt! We will never know the details of this person's story other than the fact it was desperate. Runaway? Victim of abuse? I just wish she could have realized that Tom was willing to help her, not harm her.