The boy and girl stared at the ice cream truck, their mouths drooping in obvious longing. “What would you like? An ice cream sandwich?” the ice cream vendor asked, then started naming off frozen novelties. The children’s mother shook her head. She had already told her children no. “Sorry, I didn’t bring any money,” she said.
The vendor pulled out two popsicles, peeled back the top of the wrappers, and handed them to the children. The kids ran off, smiling and licking the treats. A man sitting nearby tried to offer the vendor money to pay for the popsicles; this man did not know the children, but did not want the vendor to lose money. The ice cream man refused the offer. His was a mitzvah in the park, a genuine act of kindness.
Photo by Salvatore Vuono
“It was $3,” he said to me as I watched my toddler run between the grass and sidewalk. “It won’t make me rich or poor.” To him, what matters most is putting smiles on kids’ faces.
Standing outside the ice cream truck, we chatted more as a wind ensemble played marches and Broadway tunes at a free concert in a Lexington park. The ice cream vendor has six children and a seventh on the way; his kids range in age from 2 ½ to 14. He has driven this ice cream truck since 1994 – close to two decades. He said he loves his job. As we spoke, a little boy, perhaps 8 or 9, ran up, and the vendor put his arm around the boy’s shoulders. The vendor said he had been selling ice cream to the boy since he was a toddler, and he even remembered the name of the boy’s first-ever ice cream purchase.
I will always remember this vendor. He lost a little money, but celebrated the loss. To him, children’s smiles are priceless. To him, a job is not just about every dollar made. I spent about four hours last spring participating in my temple’s mitzvah day; I played flute in a band at an assisted living home and loved the experience. It was a mitzvah, but an organized one.
What I treasured most about the mitzvah I witnessed last night was its spontaneity. The ice cream vendor reminded me that helping others does not always have to be scheduled into our lives. It is something that can – and often should – happen naturally.
Note: The ice cream collage photo was used with permission from freedigitalphotos.net and can be found at this link.
Of course I loved your blog post and your realization that each of us can do a small mitzvah or act of kindness spontaneously infact those are often the best ones!!