Coronavirus Created Questions, But Kindness Was the Answer
Dr. Jeri Foshee needed groceries, and like many of us, was stressed when she used her lunch break to grab them.
“As a dermatologist, I am not on the frontlines, but my office is staying open to help with rashes and abscesses that might otherwise go to an ER or urgent care,” she said.
Foshee ran into a snag, though.
“After filling my buggy and the checker began bagging my groceries, I realized I had left my wallet back on my desk at my clinic,” she said of her April 13 visit to the Whole Foods at the Shops at Park Lane. “Under stress, like many of us, I started to cry, but just said I’m sorry, I’m going to have to come back with my wallet.”
Then a Good Samaritan stepped in.
“The woman behind me bought my groceries – no small task either as I had plenty, and wine, too,” Foshee marveled, adding that the woman would only tell her that her name was Linda, and insisted that she didn’t need to be repaid.
The story doesn’t end there.
“So I decided to pay it forward,” she said. “After my clinic, I went back to the same Whole Foods and bought three gift cards – one for the cashier, one for the bagger, and one for the person that helped me to my car.”
But Foshee feels like she isn’t done. “I want to find Linda,” she said. “I want her to know that her kindness had not only an effect on me but also benefited three others.”
Linda’s kindness, though, has been duplicated in a myriad of ways in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow during the pandemic.
From companies like New York Sub, Mimi’s Pizzeria, Pecan Lodge, Two Sisters Catering, and Savor donating meals, to ones like CBD American Shaman providing medical-grade cleansing washes to first-responders, we’ve seen the business community band together to help.
But it’s also been in simple, small ways from within the community. Dallas International School students brightened neighborhood walks with displays of rainbows. University Park city staff checked on residents by phone. Highland Park’s introduced a ‘Chalk the Walk’ program to send messages of support. Children made cards for VNA Meals on Wheels homebound senior citizens. Streetwear brand Centre paid for 800 meals at Urban Taco. Alex Perry and Alexis Smith started Kids Save Dallas Restaurants to help businesses and provided meals for children served by Dallas CASA.
Foshee said she feels that despite the stress everyone is under, kindness – and grace – have gone a long way in helping everyone get through shelter-in-place orders.
“A little kindness can go a long way,” she said. “Pay it forward.”
Foshee does want to find Linda, too. “Pandemic or no pandemic, nobody should have to pay for my pinot.”
