I’m waiting with a full cart in a checkout line at the grocery store. Someone lines up behind me with a cart barely containing half a dozen items. I gesture at my full load, then at his few things, and wave him in ahead of me. He’s aghast, but I persist.

“No, really. C’mon.”

Finally he sheepishly agrees, and I feel like a million bucks. And from his expression, so does he. Everybody wins. The details of the deed matter less than the fact that a stranger’s need was recognized.

It’s similar when you hold a door for a stranger, offer a hand to someone who struggles to hold their packages or point the way to the bus stop for a confused traveler. Doing things like that revives belief in community spirit.

I pass a woman wearing one of those dramatic, wide-brimmed hats and without breaking stride quip, “Great hat.” I can hear her giggle as I pass.

Unlike the old days when our families filled most solitary spaces, it now behooves us to acknowledge people we may not know anything more about than what we can share in a moment: the smiles, waves, the help we offer and the help we receive.

And in the course of our daily lives that continues to gain importance. It awakens our sense of community and connects us. It reminds us who and how we are. And that we are not alone.

Nice hat. Season Greetings.

CK Wolfson is a frequent contibutor to the Gazette.