A Bowl of Goto Made an Impact

A chilly Thursday night.

Almost dinner time.

There was a busy traffic of people hurrying to go home.

I was on my way to our Kingdom Hall (place where we hold our Christian meetings) when I saw a big-eyed kid staring at the Goto stand in the corner of the street.

For every order of goto, the child’s eyes followed the bowl given to each customer. His mouth watered as he saw customers finish their orders with great gusto. The smell of goto filled his nostrils as if inviting him to eat and pacify his grumbling stomach which hasn’t been fed the whole day.

The goto vendor saw him. Irritated by the soiled appearance of the kid, she started to shout and shooed him off as if he was a stray animal. The child moved a few steps away from the Goto stand. Fuming, the vendor walked over to the kid and spanked him with a stick shouting that he is preventing customers from buying goto because of his foul smell.

I admit, it was not a good sight. The violence and disheartening words of the vendor echoed in my ears and I wanted to walk away so as not to witness the frightening sight. Suddenly, something unlikely happened.

A customer walked over to stop the vendor from harassing the child. She ordered 2 bowls – 1 for the kid to eat and 1 for him to take home. The goto vendor, humiliated, was forced to give the kid the order. The Samaritan customer even said to the vendor, “Keep the change and next time, do not discriminate these kids. They deserve respect as humans.”

I smiled and walked away.

Convinced that there is still goodness in people’s hearts, I made a promise that I’ll always keep this lesson of benevolence.

Yes, a bowl of goto made an impact on how I see the world.