Midnight roses

A friend has me hooked to a program of helping. It's really a way to help the self and the way it works, one has to do an act of kindness every week and write about it (regrettably I manage at a much lower frequency). So recently when I was at a conference in Barcelona (home of Gaudi) I wondered, wouldn't it be great to do a little act of kindness in a far away city? I went through the lively La Rambla street - enjoying the scene and (in the back of my mind) looking for an opportunity of kindness - but I couldn't find something right away. It was mostly tourists and street vendors.

Finally, I returned to the hotel past midnight when a haggardly old man came up and asked if I could buy a rose. He had not sold one all day and was tired and hungry. I had a friend with me. She warned me that this could be simply a 'line' to rope me in. But I knew what to do. I bought 2 roses, gave her one and walked inside the hotel lobby and surprised someone with the second rose.

Ultimately it was really just a couple of Euros but at the end of it, at least 4 people were smiling their way back to the bed.