Giving more than expected

 He reminded me of my dad, though he looked nothing like him. He was in his late 30s, dark skinned, polite and, unlike my dad, spoke understandable English.

"Excuse me, may I clean your windshield?" the man asked when I parked outside the Mexican restaurant where my friend and I were about to eat lunch.

Honestly, I didn't want the man to clean my windshield. Granted it was super dirty, but my poor "piñata," as I call it, would get dirty on the way home anyway. I told him "No, it's fine, just leave it," and gave him all of the three dollars I had in my wallet.

He didn't want to take my money and said, "You can give it to me after."

"Well, what if I don't see you after?" I asked, and made him take it as we went inside the restaurant. We sat by the window and I watched the man cleaning my windshield. He left it impeccably clean and moved on to the rest of the windows. He cleaned my hood, getting all the little spots and bugs off.

My heart hurt; this man was surpassing my expectations. He was going that extra mile for just the three dollars that I had given him.

I wondered if he had already eaten lunch. I asked my friend how much cash she had on her, she told me five dollars. I asked her for them and told her I would pay for her lunch. She handed me the money, knowing what I was about to do.

I went outside and introduced myself to him. At first, I spoke to him in English but realized he didn't speak it that well, so I spoke to him in Spanish. "Soy Saramaria. Por favor ya déjelo que así quede gracias. (I'm Saramaria. Please just leave it like that. Thank you)"

His name was Hector (I wish I could remember his last name.) We started a conversation and he told me he liked helping young college students like me, because he knew we are generous and we are also trying to better ourselves. I told him I imagined he probably had family and respected what he was trying to do and asked him if I could buy him lunch.

He didn't want me to; he felt that with the money I had already given him it was enough to buy himself lunch. I really wanted to buy him lunch and let him keep the money, so I did. I told him how he reminded me of my dad: humble, hard working, honest as well as virtuous.

Before I left, I gave him a burrito and said, "Good bye and God bless." He returned the blessings and asked me to say hi to my father.

I gave Hector a little money and bought him lunch, but he in turn taught me a priceless lesson: give more than what's expected, even if you're just cleaning someone's dirty windows. Money really isn't everything; caring is greater, and listening is crucial. A simple "hi" to a stranger can be plenty and "How are you doing?" more than enough. Let's not forget to just give the simplest and greatest gift of all: a smile -- genuine, real, free and beautiful. It can make a world of difference to someone in need of just that.

Saramaria Rangel is the opinions editor for the Pirates' Log and can reached at srangel3@student.yosemite.edu