I used to work in Robin Hood to help poor people. One day, afriend invited me to join his volunteer(志愿者) work in a fire company.As a volunteer firefighter(消防员), I had to get to the house on firepretty early to help out.
I still remember my first fire. I was the second volunteer to arrive atthe house, so there was a pretty good chance for me to save others fromdanger.
The captain was talking with the homeowner. She was surely having one of the worst days ofher life. At midnight, she was standing outside in the heavy rain, under an umbrella, without shoes,while her house was burning.
The other volunteer arrived just before me. The captain asked him to go inside and save thehomeowner's dog. Then the captain waved me over. He ordered,"Young man, go upstairs past thefire, and get this woman a pair of shoes."So, not exactly what I was hoping for, but I went up thestairs, down the hall, past the"real"firefighters, who were pretty much done putting out the fire atthis point, into the bedroom to get a pair of shoes.
I carried the shoes downstairs. There I met the other volunteer with the dog. We took otherthings outside to the homeowner. Not surprisingly, his received much more attention than mine. Iknew I was no hero at all.
A few weeks later, the company received a letter from the homeowner thanking us for savingher home. In the note, she said she was especially thankful to me because I got her a pair of shoes. Iknow it was not the shoes, but the act of kindness made her moved.
In both my work at Robin Hood and my work as a volunteer firefighter, I have seen acts ofkindness in different forms. Not every day is going to offer us a chance to save somebody's life, butevery day offers us a chance to affect(影响) one. So get in the game. Save the shoes.
a. The woman sent a thank-you note to us.
b. The homeowner was standing outside safe.
c."I"went into the house to get a pair of shoes.
d. A house was on fire one night.