Man with cane refused when stranger offered help carrying laundry to his car—her unexpected reply had 'ripple effect' on him
Sometimes the littlest things we say can leave a mark on a person, spiralling into a lesson they’ll carry for life. Shared in NPR's “My Unsung Hero” series, a man named Brian Perkins revealed that a stranger he chanced upon at the laundromat had left a lasting mark on him. Perkins had been using a cane to walk and was getting laundry done when a woman asked if he needed help. Refusing kindly, the man was met with an unbelievable response that caught him off guard. She left him with a statement that transformed his perspective in a mesmerizing way.
Perkins recalled an incident from a few years ago when he started using a cane to walk. It was causing him slight inconvenience. “The thing about walking with a cane is that you've only got one hand to carry stuff,” he remarked. The man had done his round of laundry and was in the process of collecting his belongings. Next, he was at the counter, paying whilst holding quite a load in one hand. That’s when the stranger spotted him and made a prompt offer. “This woman, she was sitting by the laundromat and looked at me and said, 'Do you need any help?'” As one would remark, almost out of reflex, Perkins kindly declined.
“I said, 'No, no, I've got it. I've got it,” he explained. He thought that would be the end of the conversation, and he’d make his way out with his laundry. He took one pile, left the laundromat, and got busy putting it into his truck. “I was just getting through putting it in the back seat when I turned around and I looked, and there she was, marching out of the dry cleaners with the rest of my laundry in her hands,” Perkins recalled. The man was a little taken aback as he had initially refused the help and never thought she’d insistently go all out irrespective. However, along with the help, she also had a fitting response to render.
She began by noting an observation she had made. “She said, ‘I know you. You've been helping people all your life,” the man recalled. He was then hit with the unexpected response — “Now it's your turn. Accept it.” She offered the impromptu help and walked away. “I didn't know this woman. I had never met her and I'd never seen her before. But her words had a ripple effect on my life,” Perkins remarked. He was left with his laundry and his thoughts, revisiting the event that had just unfolded so profoundly. As he reflected on this stranger’s words, he was moved to learn that kindness still exists and there are still a handful who want to help.
“I learned that it was okay to accept help. And so over the years, I've gone from being grateful to my one unsung hero to having a whole chorus of unsung heroes who've helped me in many little ways and made a difference in my life,” Perkins delightfully said. He also added that it was a much needed reminder that he'd received and that he would be “eternally grateful” for it.