Delivery boy is 'richer' than the Merc owner

 In this world, people can be very kind, but they can be very cruel too; they can very nice, yet some can be very mean too. Yesterday two similar incidents, reminded me once again of this duality of life. While trying to cross the driveway in the parking lot of a mall, an expensive looking car had to wait for couple of seconds to enable myself and my family to cross over to the other side of the driveway. The owner of the car behind the wheels, very rudely flashed the headlight of the car on our face expressing his annoyance of having to wait those seconds. Yet, in another mall, in a similar situation, another car owner voluntarily stopped for us to cross to the other side of the driveway.

But the incident that really motivated me to start writing my blog again after 2 years (this was not an intentional pause though), was a one narrated by my colleague and dear friend. She apparently ordered some food online on the delivery app. When the delivery boy landed up on her door, she realized that she had about 300 fils (or about INR 65/USD 0.80) less than the bill amount. Although, she had bank card, but she had chosen the cash mode of payment while checking-out and hence the delivery boy did not have any card machine with him. In short, she had no way to make-up for the 300 fils shortage. When the delivery boy came to know of her predicament, he offered to pay the balance from his pocket. Although my friend was moved by the kindness of the delivery boy, she politely turned down the offer. It might be a small amount for her, but still it would cut the pocket more of the delivery boy when he pays for the deficit. But he told her that he made decent tips every day, and he could afford to pay the balance amount. Finally, my friend returned his kindness by giving him a 10 Euro bill that he could exchange for dinars. Ten euros would mean about 4 dinars (or INR 907/USD 11). This was way more than the 300 fils that she fell short of paying. But guess that was the reward the delivery boy received for his kindness and his willingness to go beyond the job description to help a genuine customer.

What does this incident mean to me? I think it just strengthens my belief that this world runs because of people like that delivery boy or the polite waiting driver. People are not rich by the wealth that they possess; people are truly rich when they have a heart of gold. Wealth is outwardly measure of a person’s worth, which is transient and won’t last forever. The richness of heart though is the real measure of a person’s worth and lasts forever.