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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/25/2007 12:19:58 PM | I don't give people money often, but when I do its a decent amount. Yesterday I seen a lady begging, she was in a wheelchair and looked so down and out. I was going to give her a fiver, but all I had was a 10 so I gave her that. The most I ever gave a guy was about $80. I'm a tradesman and I had been dropped off downtown while my vehicle was being serviced. I was hanging out, done what I had to do and this guy was there with a shopping cart full of stuff. We started talking and he had been a teamster. But got really sick, this and that long story short, lost his place lost his woman, there he was.
We talked for a while. I had a wad of cash on me for some reason, sold something or was going to buy something I cant' remember. He didn't ask, and I gave him 80 bucks. He was so thankful so I said "hey we're all in this together man. If you get on your feet, do the same for someone else."
I didn't say "buy food, don't buy booze" Not up to me to preach, a gift is without restriction. Maybe a bottle is what he would need to get through the day. I probably felt better about it after then he did.
Again, I don't do that every day. But a couple bucks here and there. 5 or 10 isn't much. You think the difference between u not having it and someone else having it *shrugs* Honestly, the difference between me and him is simply the luck of the draw and who I happened to be born to.
On a side note, if I throw a couple bucks to the person in front of the line its not really an act of kindness, its more to hurry their ass the hell up.
:) | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/25/2007 12:32:16 PM | | ^^ No, prepaying for someone else's coffee is indeed a random act of kindness, just not quite in the same class as helping those much less fortunate. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/25/2007 1:49:47 PM | There is a movie called "Pay It Forward" which I fell in love with, not because it was a great movie but because of the theme: Find three random strangers and do something for them that they cannot do for themselves, and instead of paying you back they pay it forward, to three other people. Each of those three pays it forward, and so on. Undoubtedly, there will be takers that break the chain, but what a concept!
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The other night, I took myself out for a bite at a local eatery. I had a coupon for $8 off the second meal, and took it with me. There was an older couple seated just across from me. I intruded upon them and offered them the coupon, which was just a piece of paper to my check. Cost me nothing to make their day!
Today, my neighbor, whose car is not working, was running late for the bus to get to work, not far from where we live. I got in my car and tracked her on the way to the bus stop. She had a baby stroller in toll, because she is helping out a friend who is having some babysitting difficulties, and they work at the same place different shifts.
I offered her a ride. She had me hold the infant while she attended to the stroller, and I am more afraid of infants than a gun! LOL I had my giagantic dog with me, who is very well socialized but has never met a baby before.
I gladly returned to her the baby, with dog and stroller in the back seat, and Crystal, the baby, and me in the front seat.
I dropped her off at her workplace, five minutes away by car. Getting out, Riley was so gentle with the baby. He wanted to give the infant a big kiss, to which Crystal told him no! LOL I keep a constant watch on my dog and I am astounded by the thread here about the Golden Retriever that mauled a three year-old.
Taking her to her job was out of my way, but how far out of your way, to be a good friend and neighbor?
Random acts of kindness are a good thing! However, I am selective in my recipients, anymore. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/25/2007 5:48:46 PM | | Just the other day I saw two young women who got to there car and it had a flat. I stopped and changed the tire for them, Now I have alwayed done this and I have no problem stopping to help some one in need. Well one of the ladies ask if they could buy me a soda for helping them I told them no, but if you can help someone else in need thats all I ask. she looked at me as she was taking it in and I continued , one of these days it will be me on the side of the road. she smiled and understood. A small act of kindness is all anyone need to make there day better. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/25/2007 7:41:45 PM | On the other hand, one time I was at a street fair and a man asked me for money for "a dollar because he was hungry and wanted something to eat." I told him that I do not give out cash, but if he was hungry I would buy him something to eat.
He responded, angrily, "Man! You cannot buy nothin' to eat for a dollar!"
I replied, "If you are hungry, I will buy you something to eat."
He MF'd me all the way he was walking away from me.
On the other other hand, there was a homeless guy that I used to see regularly going to and from part-time. He knew that I would never give him money. However, we smiled at each other every time I passed. I gave him food very often, and we had a rapport.
Once, a man asked me for money to buy a cup of coffee on a cold day. I told him that I do not give out cash. We went inside, and I paid and tipped the server, and he was set out of the cold for a few hours. He said thank you.
There are so many abuses of monetary donations, that I cannot give cash. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/26/2007 5:11:55 AM | | Oh yes Pay it forward that is my favorite movie although I cryed for 3 days cause he died. I just think he is a beautiful child. Do you know his name? | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/26/2007 7:52:12 AM | whitemagnolia105 asked...
I just think he is a beautiful child. Do you know his name?
In the movie it was Haley Joel Osment playing the character "Trevor McKinney" | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/27/2007 6:15:11 AM | | There are so many ways you can be nice to other people. Taking their grocery cart saves them from walking it back. Opening a door for someone. Or just smiling and saying hi how are you today? Or offering to cook for a sick friend. Visit a nursing home because a lot of old people have nobody to talk to. Bake some cookies and put them on individual little plates you can buy at yard sales. Wrap them up in colored celophane and give them away. Inviting a lonely friend over for dinner. My least favorite one, offer to clean the house for a friend who s very busy. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/27/2007 9:07:08 AM | Joyce,
The sad part is that with so many con artists (short for confidence artists) out there, it is really difficult to trust strangers. Look at how Ted Bundy lured his victims!
I guess I am lucky that being small and female, I am less threatening and more approachable. Perhaps it is just an aura I have developed over the years, also.
I am the person that if riding the bus or the rapid transit will offer to give up my seat for an elderly person. It is funny because elderly gentlemen do not want to take a seat from a lady.
My Dad and an elderly friend have both been suffering some health issues lately, and I am discovering that there is a lot of pride involved in the formula, as neither of them want to lose their independence and self-sufficiency.
On occasions, I have had store personnel load heavy objects into my car, and smile and ask if I can take them home to unload it for me.. When I see an older person at the grocery, I will usually offer to help them with their loading their bags and more often than not, they decline.
There are so many sick segments of Society these days, that it is difficult to know when and where one can trust and accept a random act of kindness as being legitimate.
I hear tell about the old days, when you could leave your front door unlocked and still feel safe, and now when people leave their cars running for a moment while they run into the store, someone drives away in that.
So here is my random act of kindness here: I am advising ALL of you that even if you are only going to be absent from your car for a moment, take your ignition keys with you! I hardly think you can be in that much of a hurry, and a LOT of cars are stolen this way, and think about how much the theft of your car will hold you up!
I somewhat wish that I had been an inhabitant of the Old Days versus the social climate that prevails today, even with less technology, though I would miss my computer. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 3/27/2007 3:42:18 PM | Dear NocturnalPrincess
Yes you are right you have to be very careful nowadays. And i ve had it happen that men misunderstand me being nice so i stay away from them. I dont stop anymore for people that are stranded at the side of the road. The last time i did was on a lone highway. I didnt even give it a thought. It was very hot and i felt sorry for them. But then once i stopped and got out of the car i had a very bad feeling. I drove the female only to a gas station . they ran out of gas. When i told my husband about it he got very mad at me and told me never to do this again. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 6/24/2007 7:57:44 PM | When I lived in Miami, I'd often pay the toll of the car behind me, because it WAS paying it forward. I'd left a relationship in Chicago, and driven home to South Florida to start all over, with basically what I could fit in a Mitsubishi Eclipse (which wasn't much!). Before I got to the last toll, I had to pay the toll with pennies from my ashtray. The plan was to just beg the next toll booth lady to let me through, as I all I had were my credit cards. It was about 3 am, with not another car in sight, as I pulled into the last toll plaza. Before I could open my mouth, the lady just said "Keep on going, the last guy through here paid your toll, about 10 minutes ago".
Since then, I've NEVER gone through a toll booth without paying for the next car. You never know who behind you is going through a really trying time and needs a reminder that there are still decent people in the world. And even if they're not going through tough times, sometimes it's just the small things that turn "just another day" into a great day.
 <--- I've also been bought a beer a few times by complete strangers, when traveling in uniform... that's nice :) | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 6/25/2007 10:29:15 AM | A few months ago, I encountered a homeless man, 3 days in a row. The first two times I
ignored his pleas for money. I was in a financial slump myself and just couldn't afford
to buy his drugs or boozeor whatever. On the 3rd day, okay, someone 's trying to tell me something -maybe my kindness meter is running too low- who am I to judge,maybe he needs that stuff to get him thru the day. I gave him 10 dollars because that's all I had on me.We started talking and he was actually quite funny and intelligent. I never asked him what he needed, we both smiled and I left with mixed feeling s- my heart was lighter, my pockets emptier and I wondered what if that were me. I decided that 10 dollars wasn't gonna hurt me and probably wouldn't do much for him.
Within weeks, things started to improve for me, not just financially,but in acts of kindness that were extended to me. That 10 dollar investment was well worth it all around. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/2/2007 12:20:20 PM | As a police officer, because of an injury, I have been condemned to office duty for hopefully only another few days. I think the phone must ring every five seconds after you hang it up! It is fun to write a report when you write a word and a half, take a phone call, and the pattern continues.
Anyway, this past week has also been good for me and educational, and I got to participate in some citizen random acts of kindness.
The one that most people will say "is my job" and they would be correct, except that I know of no one else in the police station that would have done this, is to council a young woman on Domestic Violence. She happened to show up at a time where I had a couple of reports to complete (see above) but the lobby was finally clear, and she said she "just had some questions."
Holding a stack of paperwork, I told her that I could handle some questions, and as she talked she began to cry. My reports could wait. She needed someone and needed some help. I know I spent an hour with her, easily.
I set down my paperwork, and got my duty tin (my work box) which is packed with information for when I work on the road. I sat down with her and did a domestic violence report and counselled her on the Cycle of Abuse and tried to help her figure out options. In sum, I worked through my lunch break, because it took my lunch break to finish my reports after that. It was worth it!
Yet, since that was work related, that is a minor act that left someone with a glimmer of hope and not feeling so all alone.
Here is a REAL random act of kindness:
On 7/1, a woman came into the police station to turn in a folded payroll check dated 6/29 that she had found. I could have done a "Property Found" report, because by the books that is what I am supposed to do. This woman went out of her way to deliver it to the police station! That is a random act of kindness!
I called our dispatcher and got a phone number for the name and address, but it had been disconnected, as the trend these days is to dispense with landline phones and rely upon a cell phone. Since Radio was not too busy, I called for a one-person car to try to deliver the check, in which he was successful.
This person resides in one of the war zone parts of our City, where many people hate cops. This woman was so happy and so grateful! We were only the middlemen in the random act, the TRUE Heroine is the woman that discovered the check! 
A woman called the station because her 9 month-old puppy had gotten loose. I could tell she was frantic and upset, which I also would be. I took down information and contacted Radio. They did a broadcast for me, so the cars on patrol could be on the alert. Yes, I got teased by my co-workers, but everyone knows I am a critter lover.
I gave her reassurances from experience. The dog is not a pure-bred and has been altered, so it is of no use to anyone that wants to make money by selling puppies. It has a collar, and most dog people would realize that it is someone's pet, and not keep it. I gave her resources to check on Monday, if someone took it to a shelter.
She was worried that Louis got hit by a car, and I was worried that he would be dehydrated.
I called her back before I left work, and he still hadn't been found.
The next day, I called her and asked about her puppy, which I am sure shocked the heck out of her. No luck, but she and her friends were canvassing the area, out looking.
Several hours later, she called back and asked for me by my first name, that I had given her. They found the puppy, and she took the time to call me back.
The REAL Hero here though is the Good Samaritan who found this puppy loose and secured it! The owner told me that someone on _____________ found the dog and took it in for safety, until they could try to find the owner by his tag number! | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/2/2007 1:06:01 PM | | I love random acts of kindness as both the giver and receiver. When I do them, it gives me a happy glow, when I receive them, it restores my faith in the world. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/2/2007 6:07:16 PM | | -sneaking my mom's Rice Epicurean Carrot Cake (whew, yum!) away from her and giving it to a senior neighbor. HE sure enjoyed it! | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/2/2007 8:32:49 PM | I was out at a camp ground and met these squatters in a Bolero trailer one summer. After I had chatted with them for a bit, I learned their story. He had lost his job in Ontario, they had one girl and one more born on the road. I asked them to come home with me and they spent the summer living in my huge back yard. They slept in the trailer, but lived with us for that summer. He got a seasonal job and by fall they were able to move into a house. It cost me nothing to share my home with these people and I thank them for the experience.
I'm deliberately vague on the details as they are in the mainstream again.
Let us all be fishers of human
Happy
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/3/2007 12:05:00 AM | | I was riding the nyc subway and reading a paper,I feel a tug on my leg,I look down and there is a guy on a board with wheels legs cut off.He holds out a cup could you help a vet?I talked to him found out he served in vietnam Since I read a lot of books on the subject I asked him where when he was there.Then I noticed the 1st air cav tattoo on his arm,I gave him $10 he started thanking me profusely.I felt embarrassed I told him thank you for your service.This was 2 yrs ago I still think about that guy.I guess since my uncle served in nam. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/4/2007 12:31:17 AM | | sewing clothes clothes for the homeless, when it is their only pair of pants, bra, or underwear and it has tons of holes. Giving a toothbrush to someone who is too proud to ask for one, and taking extra care of the less fortunate, no matter how nutty they might be, or how scared you might feel. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/4/2007 2:01:18 PM | This is a good topic for me today. The past couple of days have been hell workwise and on the personal front...the kind of days where you just want to crawl back to bed and stay there!
Today, as I was having my lunch break from work, I decided to go out and mow the lawn. The next couple of days are supposed to get brutally hot, so I wanted to get the yardwork done today.
With the sun beating down, I pushed the lawnmower up and down, contemplating the events of the past couple of days. Sweaty and hot, I felt horrible until a truck drove past, honked his horn and the driver gave just a simple wave (no catcalls, thankfully!)
He made my day!! Just a simple honk and wave perked me right up...okay, it helped a bit that he was a hot, tanned construction worker! lol
Anyway, I love sending small gestures to those close to me, just to brighten their day up a bit....it makes them feel good and if they feel good, I feel good! | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/4/2007 5:41:43 PM | | Have you ever noticed that just a smile will brighten someone's day? Next time your in the grocery store..or where ever..and you see someone who looks sad, or grumpy, give em a big ol' smile and a hi....catch them a couple of isles over and guess what? They are smiling. It's too easy. I never forget those times when I'm wrestling with a 50 pound bag of dog food and someone gets it out of the cart and into my car for me. They have no idea how much less pain I will suffer because of their kindness because my disability is not visible. Believe me, I always try to lend a helping hand to those who can do less than I, a tiny pay it forward. Random acts of kindness bring hope to this crazy world. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/7/2007 8:27:27 AM | I always notice the cashier's or clerk's name when I'm about to purchase something. When the sale is complete, I always call them by their name and wish them a great day, extra effort if they've been yelled at by the previous customer. These individuals are taken advantage of every day by customers who think that it's okay to transfer their anger unto someone who doesn't have a high social/financial status. It's called social responsibility. If we don't do our share - these sometimes unappreciated individuals will be more likely to unload their own frustration on their kids at home.
Think who's really missing out...That's my random act of kindness. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/7/2007 12:25:26 PM | Integritas,
I spent many years as one of those kids, and my job at the coffee house in a business district was by far the very best, most fulfilling job I have ever had. Fifteen years later, I still exchange Christmas cards with some of the regular customers!
On another thread, someone recommended a wonderful book called, "Nasty People" which talks about "invalidators" and how to deal with them. Instinctively, I have always done this, but the book's contents reminded me to be a validator rather than an invalidator!
Yesterday, I was at the pet food store without the dog, which is rare, because going there for him is like a guy going to Home Depot.. The young cashier asked me where Riley was, and I said at home. She volunteered that of all of the dogs that come through the store, he is her favorite.
I loaded my purchases in the car and went back. I told her, "Thank you for making my day!" Not everyone is comfortable around big dogs, especially Rotties, and I have worked hard with Riley (my first dog), and the reason I adopted him was to give him a good home and to keep him from falling into the wrong hands a second time.
I also have to give kudos to my landlord that allows me to keep Riley in my apartment.
Actually, all of the neighbors now love having him around, because he is very sweet, and he keeps the bad people away! They didn't love him at first, though, because of the breed's reputation.
It takes so little to extend a sincere compliment or a kind word!
I am less generous with my cash, but I would buy someone a meal and tip the server. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 7/7/2007 12:37:58 PM | One time, I gave a woman cash, many years ago, and I got taken, because she was in an emergency crisis and supposed to pay me back.
I have spent eleven + years dealing with crackheads, scam artists, and victims. I will not give money. I have had food graciously accepted and learned peoples' stories, and I have been cussed out for not giving up the cash, too.
I know this sounds harsh, and is really sad, but a lot of people are homeless because they are drug addicted and their families finally got tired of them stealing from them.
It might just be one side of the coin, but it is a valid side that happens all of the time.
This might sound even more harsh, but how do people that rely on the food bank to feed their families afford hundreds of dollars of fireworks?
At some point shouldn't you prioritize? Oh, yeah...they did. They can get the compassionate citizens to donate food, so they can spend their money on fun.
This post may not be so randomly kind, but I think it does raise a point. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 8/15/2007 6:17:05 AM | This morning is garbage pick-up day. Every week, these guys work so hard, in the oppressive heat or the frigid winter. It has been so hot here lately.
I was still awake as they made their rounds, so I went to my fridge and got a bottle of water for each of them and took it out to them. I thanked them for all of their hard work at such a thankless job.
When I was growing up, in the summertime, every day, Mom would greet our mail carrier with a big glass of ice water. Of course, that was 30 years ago. | |
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| Random Acts of kindness
Posted: 8/20/2007 12:15:52 PM | Wow it really makes my day.. when I go through Tim's for coffee and the car in front of me pays for my coffee ...
Thank you.. so of course I pay for the car behind me..
applause:
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