In an emotional episode of a social experiment, an old guy sat in a Jersey diner booth all alone, grieving his lifelong best friend and not knowing the strangers nearby were about to do something pretty incredible.
This was an episode of ABC’s What Would You Do? and the guy was actually an actor named Stu. He sat down at the Miss America Diner in Jersey City and told his waitress, Kara, about his friend Bob. They’d been friends since 1969, but Bob just passed away.
Stu was eating by himself for the first time. You could see his eyes start to fill up as he talked.
It’s a tough thing to even read about.
People in the booths nearby heard him. They didn’t just look down at their plates or ignore it. One woman told Stu he should maybe skip the places that reminded him of Bob too much, just for a bit while the grief was still so fresh.
Another lady invited him to come join her senior group because she didn’t think anyone should have to sit through that kind of pain by themselves.
Then a third woman actually got up and walked over to hug him. She sat down and talked about losing her dog and how she got through it by just noticing the little things.
“You only pass through the world once, so you make it good and do what you can,” she said. “Then when you go, you leave such wonderful memories for the people you leave behind.”
That’s the kind of moment that sticks with you.
Nobody told those people they had to care. They just did it. That is what it looks like to actually love your neighbor.
When we hear the news about wars, violence and hate, we may feel like there is no more hope in this world. But there is still goodness in this world. There are still people who love and care for others.
