A nice gesture turns away frustrations......

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger."

It's interesting how this verse can be applied in our daily lives....

This morning, I was planning to do groceries in this asia minimart. This minimart is located on a narrow 1 way road, so it is diffcult to find parking & difficult to drive through as well. There was this deliveryman who was desparately trying to unload his cargo down to this asia shop. However, he parked the truck right in the middle of the road, which meant that no cars could pass through. I was the 2nd car waiting in line & the traffic behind me began to build up quickly.

The deliveryman was working by himself - he needed to unload the palette of boxes down as fast as he could. Well, the drivers waiting behind me started to horn at him - a long continuous "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP". This made the deliveryman frustrated. He began to exchange some angry words with these drivers that were horning at him. Worse, he became distracted and his speed of unloading started to slow down.

Well, this old man whose car was in front of me came out & started to help the deliveryman to unload his cargo, even though the drivers behind continued to be mean and to horn. While I was not one of those who were horning at the deliveryman, it didn't occur to me to help him either. However, seeing the old man's initiative, it struck me that if i were to step out & lend another helping hand, things would be much better. Hence, i did so. Not only was the deliveryman grateful at this nice gesture, he didn't seem to be so frustrated anymore.

Up till this point, the drivers behind were trying to reverse and detour round this road. But just as they were about to detour, the deliveryman finally finished and drove the truck off. The road began to clear up almost immediately.

After this incident, 2 things came to my mind - if the drivers behind were to be more patient and not horn at the deliveryman, he might not have been so angry & frustrated, which in the end caused more inconvenience and unhappiness. 2nd, the old man in front of me was a good example of how this verse can be applied - by taking the initiative to help, he caused the deliveryman to forget about his frustration.

So, if 1 day you notice someone who is angry or frustrated because of some mean words or actions, maybe you should be the 1 to initiate a nice gesture or a "soft answer".

Blessed is He whose words bring life to mankind

p.s. I noticed that all the drivers horning behind were female! :P