Aren’t you tired of turning on the TV and watching sad and scary news all the time? We are constantly bombarded with news and information that not only frightens us, but it makes us lose faith in humanity.
However, sometimes all you need is to hear or read about a random act of kindness in order to be reminded that there is still good in people and that there are people out there who would still go above and beyond to help a fellow human being in need.
And, while this incident happened a few years ago, it is still relatable and it is now more than ever before that we need to hear about it. Amid a pandemic and lots of violence going on around the world, such acts of kindness are here to remind us that there is still hope for a better future.
So, the story revolves around a photo that a Facebook user took a few years ago in a Massachusetts mall.
Paula Accorsi Picard happened to be shopping at Holyoke Mall, when she witnessed the sweetest interaction between an elderly man and a younger one by the escalator.
As she explained in her post, the elderly man was about to get on the escalator, but he looked hesitant and scared, while at the same time other shoppers were gathering behind him.
“The older man was paused at the top of an escalator and a few people started gathering waiting to get on,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
It was obvious that something was not right and that the old man needed help. And that’s when a young man stepped up and offered to help him get on the escalator.
“[T]his young man offered the simplest kindness: an out-reached arm and a ‘can I help you on, sir?'” Picard went on in her post.
The man, later identified as 23-year-old Alonzo Johnson, offered his arm to the 83-year-old and they went on the escalator together.
The elderly man explained how he had once gotten stuck on one of them, while Johnson kept talking to him about random stuff in order to take his mind off of the scary escalator until they were eventually downstairs.
“We were talking going down the escalator, and it was more of me just having him talk so he could get his mind off of things,” Johnson told Inside Edition.
He talked to the elderly man about how much he liked his hat and how he looked really good for being an 83-year-old. And it worked. They managed to get through and the old man almost didn’t realize how easy the whole thing was.
You see, having a helping hand- or arm, in this case- can make all the difference in the world for someone.
Johnson, in his interview, didn’t forget to mention that it was his family that raised him to be sympathetic and helpful to others.
“For me, it’s more of what my mom always taught me- to always to the right thing and always to help people whenever you can,” Johnson added.
Picard praised the young man for his act of kindness, and so did the thousands of people that read her post.
“Whoever this young man is, YOUR FAMILY RAISED YOU RIGHT! THANK YOU!” she wrote.
You can watch the video below and see Johnson narrate the incident the way he experienced it. It will warm your heart.
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