PATIENCE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

IT DOESN'T COST ANYTHING TO BE CONSIDERATE, WRITES JENNIFER WESTENDORP

I'm not usually one to focus on the negative. There are people in this community who go above and beyond for complete strangers, just because it's the right thing to do — whether it's opening the door for someone, stopping to check on them when they're pulled over on the side of the road or clearing a neighbour's driveway after a snowstorm.

Kindness persists in its own quiet, unassuming way.

But something happened the other day at a local gas station that really bothered me. I stopped in to fill up my tank and when I went inside, I noticed a father with his two young

kids picking up a few things and bringing them to the cash. The three of them were ahead of me and for whatever reason, one of the drinks wouldn't scan. The cashier asked him to go grab another one, which he did. There were two other people behind me, waiting in line. The man directly behind me started cursing under his breath and then abruptly accosted the cashier, demanding he serve the next people because "some people have places to be."

To be clear, it took 30 seconds for the father to go get another drink. It wasn't like he was dawdling and weighing his options on flavours.

The man set my teeth on edge, especially with the two little kids standing there, so I turned and offered for him to go ahead of me. He mumbled something along the lines of "no, it's fine" and stayed silent.

Maybe he was having a bad day, or something was going on in his life, but that's no excuse to take out your frustrations on random people.

People are busier than ever these days and it seems patience is flying out the window. It doesn't cost anything to be considerate and there's truly nothing more valuable. Rudeness should be met with kindness because nothing kills it faster.