A
random act of
kindness is doing something nice for a complete
stranger without expecting any
reward.
Examples of random acts of kindness:
paying the
toll for the person in the car behind you
putting an extra quarter in someone's
parking meter
giving a child a
balloon
putting an extra quarter in someone's
dryer at the
laundry mat
letting someone cut in front of you in line at the
grocery store
Stop and say hello to a lonely person. Engage them in a short
conversation.
Ask an
elderly person how they are doing. Ask about their children. Find out how many
grandchildren they have. Let them brag about their grandchildren.
Ask a fourty-something woman for
ID when she buys alcohol.
Hold the door for someone
One
Christmas Eve I was in the
mall with my sister doing some
last minute shopping when we stopped in the
arcade. I saw the cutest little bear dressed in a nurse's uniform in the claw machine. I wanted that bear so badly, it was just that cute. So I walked up to the machine and put a quarter in and the
claw grabbed it and picked it up. It carried the bear about half the distance to the drop zone and suddenly it fell. Refusing to be discouraged I poured another buck fifty worth of quarters into the machine trying to get it. I came close several times but I just couldn't get it. Sometime during my efforts a man pushing his daughter in a
stroller walked up to the machine next to mine. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him watching me trying to win this stuffed animal. Eventually I ran out of money and I had to give up. I was pretty bummed and by this time my sister had joined in on the efforts. But finally we had to concede, the machine had won. We gathered all our packages and headed for the door.
Just as I was about to
exit the
mall I heard someone yell,
"Miss...Miss..." when I turned around I saw the man walking behind me. When he caught up to me I could see that he was holding the nurse bear that I had wanted. He asked me if I believed in
Santa and when I said yes he held the bear out to me and said,
Merry Christmas! He walked away and I was so surprised and so shocked that I didn't even think to say
thank you.
I think of that day often and his kindness made such a great impression on me that I cannot resist trying to return the favor by touching the life of someone else in the same way that he touched mine.
The best thing about random acts of kindness is that you don't always know that you are doing it. Sometimes your
heart will tell you to do something and you won't know why.