A Random Act of Kindness Made Me Wear Shoes

at 118 degrees at noon time, no one has an appetite. the other day this was the case so i decided that for lunch i was going to sit in my trailer and cool off. i had just walked in and took off my boots when someone knocked. i open the door and it's one of my neighbors. looking at him, you knew he was foreign and of middle eastern descent. he spoke good english with a heavy accent. we had been neighbors for about year and we have never been anything but polite. i knew he drove an older model bmw and i assumed he was a intrepeter. in his hand he had a broom and a dust pan. he proceeded to tell me that he had seen a snake go under my trailer, he wanted to me to stay in my trailer and not be bothered if i hear him under the trailer. a couple thumps later, he knocks again and shows me this baby ( he was big for a baby snake) snake that he had killed with his broom and dust pan.he didn'tknow if it was poisonous but he didn't want us to walk out there late at night going to the bathroom and get bitten. we do that a lot. just walk out there in flimsy flip flops. i thought that a really kind thing to do. he could have just let it go under my trailer, not even tell me, and just mind his business. he went out of his way to gather his broom and chase it down. before he left, he told me to tell all my battle buddies to wear shoes and leave the outside light on at night. it doesn't get any kinder than that. so now whenever i go outside, i wear shoes. for those who know me, you know i'm an island girl who has been wearing flip flops since like forever! that random act of kindness has made me wear shoes....and not only that, it made me paranoid. just last night what i thought was the baby snake's momma out to get me was just a corner of a sandbag sticking out of the ground! talk about crazy paranoid! i grew up on a island, and i never really put too much thought into snakes when i was trailing behind my father in the forest or when i was going through tall grass. sometimes i was just barefoot! i come to iraq and i start freaking about snakes...ain't that some...

One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind. ~Malayan Proverb.


dedicated to my neighbor who's random act of kindness made me wear shoes....