Valentines day

February 14, 2020, I woke up early for work thinking of something random that would make someone smile this special heart's day. I initially thought of giving them to my teammates or my close officemate.

As I stepped down at the van, I went straight to the fruits vendor and bought 5 pieces of apple and put them straight to my bag; I did not ask for plastic bag as I am an advocate of no plastic. As I was walking on my way to the officer, I saw the coconut vendor who is looking so un-energetic at that time. Without second thoughts, I approach him and greeted him Kuya (Big Brother) happy Valentine's day and handed him a piece of apple. He was surprised, smiled and greeted me back. I looked back and noticed that he was still smiling and put the apple inside his bag

As I was crossing Ayala Avenue, I also noticed Mr. Taho man busy fixing his plastic cups. I again picked one apple in my bag, gave it to him and greeted him happy heart's day. He asked me why and I just smiled at him.

Then, here comes Mr. Kakanin, vendor of different local delicacies like puto, kutsinta, palitaw, suman, etc. I am a regular customer and he already knows what will I buy. I handed him over my payment plus a piece of apple. Again, I greeted him Happy Valentine's day Kuya. He scratched his head and was hesitant to accept my gift but I insisted.

Now, there are two more apples left and no longer enough for my teammates. So before crossing Malugay St. I thought of giving it to somebody else. And voila, my favorite lady guard was there and so I gave it to her one apple but failed to greet her. She smiled and said thank you but I can see that she was wondering why I gave her that.

And then there was only one apple left so I planned to just slice it during lunch time and share it to my teammates. As I was waiting for the elevator, the supplier of fruits to the grocery store in our building passed by and asked me if I want to buy grapes. I bought a kilo and to my surprise he was giving away free apples not just one (1) but five (5) apples and he greeted me Happy Valentines day! And so, problem solved!

I felt so happy that day because even in my simple way I made some people smile. It may not be an extravagant gift but the feeling was more than that. I was not able to celebrate it with my loves as we were both busy at that time and we planned to just celebrate it during weekends.

It's like a joke but it really happened. It's amazing how God surprises us sometimes or shall I say most of the time. We just need to count our blessings and focus more on the good side and learn to spread more of it. Not all the time we feel good but that should not stop us from showing kindness to everyone. Even a simple smile can already make a difference.

Keep smiling. Keep inspiring.

Thanks for reading!