Little Things

While I was on my way home from a morning jog, I saw an elderly woman (around 70-80 yrs old)  sitting on the side of the pathway, crouching while reading a newspaper. Upon seeing this, I immediately remembered that I have to read a lot of international news for our upcoming quiz in our English 2 course. It looks like she's selling it so I asked, "Is this for sale?" (Binebenta nyo po ba ito?). At first, she was not able to hear it clearly so I repeated my question. Then she nodded in response. I asked her again, "How much is this?" (Magkano po?) She was a little startled with my question that she was like looking for the price of the newspaper on the front page. With this, I searched for the price at the topmost portion while she was holding the newspaper. (NINJA MOVES OF MY EYES ALA SPY 😆) I was able to find the price sooner compared to her and brought out my 20-peso bill coz it costs 18-pesos. I gave her the money and she gave me the newspaper she was reading awhile ago. Upon receiving it, she realized that she has to give me change so she scrambled through her bag hoping to find some coins. My first instinct was to stop her so I said, "Wag na po. Sa inyo na lang po yun. 😊) Then she answered me with a genuine smile (the kind of smile you give when you are being grateful to someone) and said, "Salamat ah." With that, I smiled back and continued on my way. 

What really struck me is that, even if it's only 2-pesos (well for some, not for me) you could really see in her face how happy and thankful she was. Maybe for some, it won't be a big deal but to her, it is. Maybe for some, it's just nothing, but to her, it's part of her everything. In situations like this, it clearly convey that it isn't in how much a big or how expensive a certain thing you give to someone that matters, it is in how much that person appreciates and gives value to what you've given, that is.