About six months ago, I walked into a small wine shop in Malibu to grab what else? Wine. I remember how I felt that day, but not why. Just one of those days the wind was out of my sails and my feet were full of lead. I wandered down the short aisles aimlessly staring at labels, nothing registering. A man appeared in front of me and asked if I needed any help. He may as well have played a Hallmark commercial for me as my eyes welled up and I thought for a moment I was going to break down right there in front of the Bordeaux. It must have appeared that the complexity of choosing a bottle of wine could actually bring a woman to tears.
As I quickly tried to gain my composure, he goes, “Wait. You like chocolate?” That did it. The puddles of salt water overflowed. “I-is that a ‘yes’?” I couldn’t even nod. In an instant he handed me a giant bar of Godiva and said, “Take this. It’s on the house.” He smiled and I handed him my credit card to pay for a mystery bottle of red that I managed to grab (my priorities were still in tact even if my emotions weren’t). I choked back more tears and whispered, “Thank you.”
I felt lighter when I left. It wasn’t the wine. It wasn’t the chocolate. It was the fact that a stranger went out of their way to be nice. And I’ve thought of it ever since.
I’ve gone back in the wine shop a few times since but never saw him again.
Tammy
“A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Wine tip of the week: Educated Guess Cabernet Napa Valley 2011 $22 Rich and complex for the money
unWINEd in Malibu 
Such a simple gesture that meant the world…..more simple gestures could be used on an everyday level, it never ceases to amaze me how so many people cannot see around them…..e.g. the elderly person reaching for something off a supermarket shelf, or an elderly person walking home with a shopping bags on sweltering hot day, an obviously lost dog wandering the streets with not collar and tag. I urge everyone to just STOP! for a moment and look around you there is always someone that could use a kind act every single day, a simple good morning sometimes is all it takes and it costs nothing and does not take time. Thank you Tammy for sharing. x
It takes a wise person to know when it is important to be gentle and kind. They know at some point that person will pay it forward.
You mean to tell me men aren’t going out of their way to be nice to you?
You deserve all the happiness in the world, my friend.
Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it.