FIREPLACE POETRY

I was having a bad day so decided to go through a local drive-thru and get a coffee. When my order was taken, I was in my own world and just doing everything I could to sound normal and not look like I had been crying. When I got to the window, I was handed my drink and informed that it had been paid in full. I was in complete shock and asked the barista “by who”? Instead of saying anything, they just smiled at me and then looked at the car who had previously been in front of me.

In that moment, I was so overwhelmed with emotion and that small token of kindness ended up making a huge impact on me. What the car in front of me didn’t know is instead of getting a full 8-12 weeks for maternity leave, I had just returned to work after two short weeks. I was so frustrated that day and so very tired. Between waking up every few hours to feed my newborn and then the pain of having a c-section, I had barely gotten any sleep the night before.

When I was handed the cup of coffee that day, my emotion had nothing to do with a free coffee – In that moment, I felt like I had just received a hug from a complete stranger and told “You Got This!”.

Ever since that day, I always try to buy the persons drink behind me and most days, I don’t think twice about it. You never know what people are going through and it might be your small token of kindness that turns their day completely around.

-Alex Garvin (Firepalce Poetry)