As heard on the 1XX Breakfast Show with Colin Magee.
One day, when I was in third form at
High School, I saw a kid from my class was
walking home from school. His name was Kyle.
It looked like he was carrying all of his books.
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home
all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football
game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged
my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms
and tripping him, so he landed in the dirt.
His glasses went flying, and I saw them land
in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up
and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him
and as he crawled around looking for his glasses,
and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses,
I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."
He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face. It was one
of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why
I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to
private school before now. I would have never hung out
with a private school kid before. We talked all the way
home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out
to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to
play a little football with my friends. He said yes.
We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle,
the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the
huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said,
"Boy, you are gonna really build some serious
muscles with this pile of books everyday!"
He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
Kyle was top of our class. I teased him all the time
about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for
prize giving. I was so glad it wasn't me having to
get up there and speak.
At prize giving I saw Kyle. He looked great.
He was one of those guys that really found himself
during high school. He filled out and actually looked
good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and
all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was
nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the
back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really
grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began.
"Prize giving is a time to thank those who helped you
make it through those tough years. Your parents,
your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...
but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you
that being a friend to someone is the best gift
you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told
the story of the first day we met. He had planned
to kill himself over the weekend.
He talked of how he had cleaned out his
locker so his mum wouldn't have to do
it later and was carrying his stuff home.
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
"Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me
from doing the unspeakable."
I heard the gasp go through the crowd
as this handsome, popular boy told us
all about his weakest moment.
I saw his mum and dad looking at me
and smiling that same grateful smile.
Not until that moment did I realise it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
With one small gesture you can change a person's life. Never underestimate.