The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Frank O. Sotomayor
During a pre-holiday trip to Los Angeles to visit my daughter Teresa, I experienced that thing we hear too little about — kindness. Upon returning home, I was blessed with oodles of kindness when I took an unscheduled trip — to my nearby emergency room.
The kindness shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Barbara, my wife, and me. We know most Americans are good people. But when we're confronted with reports of war, violence, fraud and lies on a daily basis, our perceptions can get warped. It’s the news media’s job, of course, to report on the good, bad and ugly. It's our job to keep our daily situations in perspective.
The kindness during our trip came in simple ways, often from waiters, waitresses and salespeople, as well as from a couple who offered us their table at a crowded restaurant.
I had lived and worked in the L.A. area for 40 years before returning to Tucson, my hometown. As Barbara and I got to the L.A. area, I wondered how much the city might have changed in recent years. After all, a certain man in Washington, D.C. had said only the National Guard could save L.A. from itself.
To the contrary, I found an orderly metropolis with pleasant people going about their business, going to school or work, or enjoying a day or night of entertainment. I was disappointed only by the even-busier traffic and the occasional hothead with an ear-splitting engine roar.
Many of those expressing kindness, of course, were employees carrying out their jobs, but they shared a smile and a “have a good day” as they worked. Others went beyond the call, such as the Southwest Airlines agent at Las Vegas Airport who patiently jotted down details about the cell phone I had left on the plane to Las Vegas.
I kicked myself for losing that phone with its priceless photos and messages. It was dark when we got to Tucson International Airport, and we were tired. Let me check with a Southwest agent “just in case,” I thought. I approached a male agent whose name tag carried his surname, “Rice.” He asked me to follow him to another counter.
And there it was! The second agent handed me my phone. I was ecstatic and thanked the employees profusely for their kindness. I’m only sorry I did not jot down full names and the name of the Las Vegas agent.
Five days later, I was suffering from the flu, asthma, breathing issues and had endured an hours-long bout of vomiting. I am eternally grateful to Barbara for calling 911 before things got worse. An ambulance took me on a four-minute ride to St Mary’s Hospital Emergency Room.
I know that those suffering from illness or injury often wait hours in an E.R. to get treatment. I was lucky. It was a relatively quiet night at the E.R., and nurses and a doctor quickly attended to me. They quickly stabilized my condition and patiently explained to Barbara and me that, besides my breathing problem, my sodium had reached a very low level. Their treatment was another example of kindness combined with professional competency.
I was transferred to the ICU as a precautionary measure. Aaron, my overnight nurse, came to my bed to make me feel more comfortable. I asked him why he was so eager to show kindness with patients, even as he performed a most exhausting and difficult job.
“I love helping people and showing kindness,” Aaron said. “It’s part of who I am.”
For the next three days, teams of nurses, doctors and medical technicians got me in good health, and I returned home just before Christmas. I am very grateful for their competency and their kindness.
In this new year, dispensing kindness to family, friends and strangers is high on my list of 2026 resolutions. Medical researchers have found that not only does the recipient of kindness benefit from it, but it also helps to boost the morale of the dispenser. So, kindness is good for us. It costs nothing. Let’s make it contagious.
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