Thursday, May 27, 2010

Lovely Morning Surprise - Random Act of Kindness

Our family's routine changes on a day by day basis it seems.  I had a late meeting scheduled at work, so knowing that I'd have no chance of making my evening tee time (my Mom's night out), I let my hubby go & play softball for a change.  That meant my schedule was moved around a bit and I would need to catch a different bus in the morning as well as the evening. 

After the morning drop off I settle down onto my seat on the bus only to discover I'd left my breakfast sitting in the refrigerator.  Already behind my usual schedule, I skipped the long line at Caribou and tried a new place "Beyond Juice - Meal in a Cup".  While I was standing in line trying to figure out the menu & what I wanted to order, the woman in line ahead of me turns back & says "It's 2 for 1, you can have whatever you want, on me." I was thinking - you can't be serious, but it turns out 2 for 1 was the special of the day.  My breakfast was free and a perfect stranger had made my day after my hectic early start. It was a lovely morning surprise.

How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it! ~ George Elliston
Since I didn't have to pay, I tipped the kid at the counter, which I normally never do at those types of places. I just hope he appreciated it as much as I appreciated being on the receiving end of someone's random act of kindness.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop
The best part of the story is that on the way home, a polite middle aged woman with a rolling walker came up to me at the bus stop & asked if I could spare any money to help her pay for a bed in a shelter tonight.  I asked her how much she needed & she said she was trying to come up with $12.50 and that she had $2 and change so far.  I dug into my purse & found that I had $8.00 that I could give her, so I did & she thanked me, moving on to the next person in line who looked like they would listen.  That next person pulled a couple of dollars out of his pocket to give her as well, perhaps he overheard what she was going to use the money for.  I'm hoping that she had enough to get that bed, so she could have a peaceful night's sleep tonight.

I was standing there at a time I normally wouldn't have been because of that late scheduled meeting. I don't think it was a coincidence that she came up to me after what happened to me that same morning.  At least I'd like to believe so.  

What would you have done in that same situation? The trick is to just do something - don't even stop to think. Pay It Forward, do what your heart knows is right and you too will be able to sleep peacefully at night.

  
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1 comment:

Marketing Mama said...

Great experience, great post. Thanks for sharing. I like what you said about acting without thinking... :)