For Goodness Sake

After posting the previous blurb, I went to the nearby drug mart for some food and toilet paper.  Just as I was about to enter the store, an elderly man walking behind me stumbled and fell hard on his knees.  I quickly moved to help him back up to his feet.  I offered my arm to support him, which he gratefully accepted.  He didn't appear to be harmed in any way, except that one of the knees of his trousers was torn.  Better that than a torn ligament.
We exchanged the usual "Are you all right?" and "Yes, I'm fine, thank you," words that come up when these public little mishaps occur.   As I walked away I suddenly realised I'd had physical contact with a perfect stranger, and a very elderly one at that.
"Oh for heaven's sakes , I forgot about social distancing,"  I blurted aloud, (mostly) joking.  "We've touched each other!"  I laughed to make sure he knew I wasn't really disturbed by our encounter.
"Well, I guess it's okay to make jokes about it," he replied.
I was a bit taken aback by his response.  "Why, you're not feeling symptomatic, are you?"  I kept my tone light.
He relaxed a little.  "No no.  I'm fine really."  I could see that he was reacting the same way anyone else would.  It's hard to know how to deal with an ordinary situation in far from ordinary times.
Moments after we parted, I found myself thinking Oh dear, what have I done?  He's got to be an octogenarian, they're more susceptible to the virus.  They have weaker immune systems  Oh geez. 
Then I very quickly came back to my senses.  Suddenly I felt ashamed for entertaining the notion that I might have done the wrong thing by helping an old man.  Of course I didn't.  What I did was good and right.  I went to his aid without thinking.  It was one of those circumstances when doing the right thing is instinctive.   
Perhaps if my life had been in immediate danger, my instinct for self-preservation might have elicited a more selfish reaction.  But that was far from the case.  And as I sit here writing this a couple of hours later, I'm not worried that I put myself into any health risk that may be looming on the horizon.  But this whole coronavirus business has certainly made me more aware of my actions and interactions.  That can only be good.
The little episode this morning certainly was an eye opening experience.  I've learned something about myself that I wasn't entirely sure about before - I'm basically a good person. 

I'm also a vain person, which I've admitted a few times on this little web o'mine.  (Irish contraction for a Saint Patrick's day blurb.  By the way - hope you have a nice one, given the current situation and all.) 
Anyway - where was I?  Oh yeah.  I'm vain, and most of the time my vanity serves me well.  So does kindness.  Now I suppose those of you less concerned with your appearance than I - and that's most people - wonder how vanity can be equated with kindness.  Well, wouldn't you know, I recently read a quote that explains it all...
Kindness does wonderful things to a face.
- g.p.
p.s.  The store was out of toilet paper - again.