SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

It would be great to read a good book again, as it's necessary to refresh one's imagination and vocabulary every now and then.

I parked in a paid car park. Before I did, I saw a stranger approaching the car. He had a pleasant, smiling face, but was clearly in distress. I immediately realised he was begging and that something was wrong with him. As he walked slowly towards me, he used a crutch to help himself. He had a magazine and a piece of paper in his hand. I only managed to quickly read from it that he had two children. I deduced he was selling newspapers. Kings of the Street, but they didn’t even offer me the latter. They just greeted me with a sort of Czech-sounding accent: »Dobri dan.« They mentioned the rent for the flat, so they expected me to give them some money. Before I had even opened my wallet with the intention of giving them two euros, they asked me if I had 20 euros.

»I don't,« I replied, giving him two euros.

»Please, twenty euros for rent,« he said again.

I repeated that I didn't, and set off towards the library.

When I return, I first check if I have to pay for parking. This amounted to 1.1 euros. I no longer have any coins, as I gave the last two to the gentleman Czech. We insert a 10 euro banknote, but the machine doesn't accept it. I turn it in different ways, but it doesn't work. In the meantime, I step aside to let people pay, and then I try again, but without success.

At the same time, two men, clearly foreigners, paid for parking. However, they spoke Slovenian and noticed my embarrassment. They went to their car, and then one of them returned with two euros, which he gave to me. I was very surprised. I thanked them, took the money, and paid for the parking with it. They were already in the car and driving past me, and I thanked them once again. I intended to give them back at least 90 cents, but for some unknown reason, the machine only gave me back 20 cents.

I felt pleased because of the good deed, and at the same time, I had a rather strange, almost uncomfortable feeling, as I felt I hadn't had the opportunity to truly thank the good person.

Primarily – the two euros I gave to a stranger have come back to me. What a coincidence. Or perhaps not. Good returns good. It turned out to be more than true. After all, they say that everything comes back sooner or later, and in my case, the good came back almost at the speed of light. It was as if the universe was telling me what everyone should know – that doing good is good for you.

Dušan Kozar