💬 A teenager held the lift for me and my 6 shopping bags

Saturday evening I came back from the market with 6 bags. 10 kg of rice, vegetables, a melon. My arms were going numb by the time I reached the building lobby. The lift was open. I started walking toward it and I could already see the doors starting to close. I did the little shuffle people do, bags swinging, and a hand shot out from inside. It was a boy, maybe 15, with a phone in the other hand. He didn't look up. He just stood there with his foot against the door and said, which floor, uncle? I said 4. He pressed 4. Then he took 2 of the bags without asking and held them. The lift went up and nobody said anything. His eyes were still on his phone screen. At the 4th floor he handed back the bags and I said thank you. He said, no problem. I asked his name. He said Rayyan. I said, which flat? He said 2nd floor, and got out. He wasn't even going to 4. He'd taken my floor, ridden up with me, and walked down. 2 flights of stairs, just to help an uncle with some rice. I stood there for a moment. I told my daughter later and she said, that's Rayyan from the 2nd floor, he's like that. Next day I left a packet of biscuits at his door. The packet was gone by evening. My daughter thinks I should've offered him something bigger, like a small cricket bat. I'll think about it. He seems like a boy who'd prefer biscuits anyway.

Foot against the door and eyes on the phone, that is a generation doing kindness on autopilot. A boy in our building once pressed my floor and then asked if I needed the bags carried, and I almost gave him 50 rupees. I did not. He looked offended. Kindness like that is easy to miss when it looks like laziness. Did you say anything to the boy, or just nod?

The foot against the door is a perfect detail. Hands free, eyes on the phone, and still helpful. A boy in my building does the same thing, and last week he pressed 6 for me without asking. I tried to thank him but his headphones were already back on his ears. The biscuit packet was a good move. Those always get noticed by the end of the day.