A Simple Act of Kindness

On a visit to a local cafe last month, Inner West Mum of two Jess Robertson was bowled over by a simple act of kindness.
With her daughters – just four months, and two and a half years old – in tow, she headed to Annandale cafe Revolver for a much-needed coffee and a bite to eat. The cafe is a firm Inner West favourite, whose owner Marc Olding and his staff are known for their friendly, accommodating manner.
‘Just as my coffee and toast arrived, my bub became unsettled,’ says Jess. ‘When I leaned over to get her out of the pram, Marc approached and said, “Why don’t you have your coffee, and I’ll have a cuddle?”’
Jess watched while he strolled around the cafe with her baby for the next ten minutes, cheerily greeting the patrons and interacting with the staff, as she had her breakfast.
‘It might have been a small gesture for him,’ Jess says, ‘but it meant so much to me. Taking my bub off my hands for a short while just gave me some breathing space, the chance to get on with what is a normal day-to-day activity for most but nearly impossible for a mum of two young kids.’
Later that day, Jess decided to post about her positive cafe experience within the Inner West Mums Facebook group. ‘I just thought it was such a lovely thing to do and wanted to share that with other mums.’ Jess could not believe the overwhelming attention that her Inner West Mums post received: more than 1300 ‘likes’.
‘I think all of us mums could do with a bit of extra kindness when we’re out and about,’ says Jess. ‘Not every cafe is quite so welcoming when you arrive with a double pram containing a baby and a vibrant toddler. You get eye rolls, stares. It takes a special person to recognise a mum who might be struggling or exhausted and offer to lend a hand.’