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My neighbor saw me crying over a broken washing machine and said something I'll never forget
It happened about two months ago. My washing machine just stopped mid-cycle, flooding my kitchen floor in my apartment. I was already stressed from work and just sat down on the wet tile and started crying. My neighbor, Mr. Garcia, heard the noise and knocked. He didn't come in, just stood in the hallway. He said, 'You know, my wife and I ate beans and rice for a month to buy our first machine. It broke after a year. We fixed it with a part from a junkyard.' He wasn't telling me to fix it. He was just saying that hard stuff happens to everyone, and you get through it. It made me feel less alone in that moment. What's a small, kind thing someone said to you when you were totally overwhelmed?
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the_nina12d ago
Honestly, that reminds me of when my car died in a grocery store parking lot. I was just staring at the engine like it would magically fix itself. This older guy walked over, handed me a cold soda from his bag, and said, "The tow truck will get here faster if you're not thirsty." It was such a weird, simple thing that completely broke the panic.
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margaret_jackson7312d ago
That "completely broke the panic" line from @the_nina feels a bit over the top. It's just a soda, not a rescue. People get too worked up over small car trouble. A tow truck was already coming anyway.
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