A boy waits in the queue on his first school day, quiet and full of nerves to go to class. His new teacher walks by and her pencil falls (in modern days, her smartphone or laptop cable). This boy jumps out of the neat row of schoolchildren to pick it up for her.
Being a small school in a small town, this act of kindness got this boy the nickname Polite. He grew up with his peers calling him that and in a big way, he became that.
This is the legend of Nicholaas van der Merwe, the boy who grew up to become my grandpa.
As a child, I felt and knew many people loved Nicholaas.
Polite has many meanings, but looking at Grandpa Nicholaas’ life, it means courtesy or decency to me. Back then, this was what shaped families and communities. And many people feel these are amiss in today’s world.
I do understand that the worlds of then and now are totally different. People discovered their voices and are not shy to use them in so many ways.
Basic politeness in today’s world may change many situations and relationships. Politeness may shape a generation to live a less self-centred life, even though they still do have a voice. It can manifest itself in small acts of kindness we do for those around us like something small as returning a lost pencil. It could be greeting someone at a traffic light, like my recent discovery in my blog- post https://annathewarrior.com/2022/09/23/307/?fbclid=IwAR3VP3oylFm9Pu2tgtPjA_0qbRVYC4zTVD1AxMJ2umXbCi-Od2VuNjdUS9A ❤ Let Nicholaas who jumps first to be kind and to make someone else’s day, be our inspiration!
Copyright Annalie Anticevich© October 2022
Photograph: A hard copy was taken long ago in Adderly Street, Cape Town by Aubrey Hall
#WordsDrippingWithHoney 