ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at Hidden Brain. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. And today's story comes from Brian Perkins. A few years ago, Perkins started using a cane to walk.
BRIAN PERKINS: Now, the thing about walking with a cane is that you've only got one hand to carry stuff. And so this was just post-pandemic. I had dropped off a bunch of clothes at the dry cleaners to get done, and I had just gone back to pick them up. And I was standing at the counter with my cane, and I was paying and clearly had more than I could carry in one hand out.
And this woman, she was sitting by the laundromat and looked at me, and she said, do you need any help? And I said, no, no, I've got it. I've got it. And so I hobbled out to my truck and was just getting through putting it in the back seat when I turned around and I looked, and there she was, marching out of the dry cleaners with the rest of my laundry in her hands.
And she put it in the truck, and she looked at me, and she said, I know you. You've been helping people all your life. Now it's your turn. Accept it. And just like that, she walked away. Now to be clear, I didn't know this woman. I had never met her, and I'd never seen before. But her words had a ripple effect on my life.
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PERKINS: I learned that it was OK to accept help. And so over the years, and it's been a few years, I've gone from being grateful to my one unsung hero to having a whole chorus of unsung heroes who've helped me in many little ways and made a difference in my life - and learned that people like to help other people and that kindness is not something that's forgotten. And for that, I'll be eternally grateful.
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SHAPIRO: Brian Perkins of Biddeford, Maine.
You can find more stories of unsung heroes at hiddenbrain.org.
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