From our Twitter-happy commander-in-chief to the alarming number of missing girls in D.C., to the contaminated water still pouring from faucet's in Flint, Michigan, our timelines, news and politics are filled with so much negativity that it's easy to become cynical. Which is we're so moved when we encounter those rare precious moments of people going out of their way to help people.

This was the case for Keshia Dotson, visiting an IHOP in Springfield, Illinois, spotting a waiter feeding a customer who was unable to feed herself. When Dotson snapped a picture of the incident and uploaded it to her Facebook page, it didn't take long for the post to go viral. For Joe Thomas, the gentle act of kindness came second nature. "I love the people," Thomas told CBS News. "I just love my life and I love the way I am."

The woman he was feeding suffered from Huntington's disease, a genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. She and her husband, both regulars at the restaurant, had a regular routine where her husband would first feed his wife as his food got cold across the table. On this day, after delivering the couple's order, Thomas stepped in, sat down next to the woman and started cutting up her eggs and feeding her. "I didn't really offer. I just started doing it," Thomas said. "I told the gentlemen to 'Sit down, eat your food. I got her." The man accepted his offer and the rest is history.

The 43-year-old waiter, known by his regulars as a warm and personable guy, lives by the 'golden rule.' "I really treat people like I want to be treated," he said. "If I get to be that age and something happened to me I would want someone to help me out."

Golden rule

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