"Huh?" I was very confused!
Totally random act of kindness? Well, turns out he also left his business card, so purists on the subject of charity would argue that since the fellow took credit for it, the act became more of a public relations gesture than a true random act of kindness. Still, I think he gets points! It certainly left my husband with a positive feeling, and we both enjoyed telling the story.
Just before Christmas, the kids and I decided to pay-it-forward. When we got to the drive up window, I asked to pay for the next fellow's order too. I had heard it go through in the loudspeaker behind us, so I knew I wasn't springing for his entire office's coffee run! (We're new at r-a-o-k, so we did play that a bit safe!) The attendant at the window was a bit perplexed but she took the money and smiled. Then we took off giggling... we didn't wait to see the reaction (even though we wanted to) and the kids kept an eye on the car that was behind us in line to be sure he didn't follow us to say thank you... or whatever! We skipped the business card and really had fun escaping detection, and then imagining how everyone might have reacted:
"What if he just got some really bad news and this helped him feel better?"
"Did you see the look on her face? How do you think she'll tell him?"
"That was fun!"
It was so exhilarating that I started to wonder whether the random-act-of-kindness purists would criticize us for boosting our own mood more than the recipient of our scheme. Nevertheless, it is an act of kindness I'll probaby repeat, because everyone is a winner. And if it made our day too, well, so be it!
Today in Walmart, my 7-year-old was recipient of a r-a-o-k! He'd been saving for a few weeks to earn a game that he had his eye on. I helped him with the math and it turned out he was a bit short. His choices: select a slightly cheaper game or wait a week to earn enough for the one in his hand. Well, a bystander overheard the deliberations and tucked a looney in my son's hand with a wink and a smile, "problem solved!" She took the "no credit" approach and quickly disappeared down an aisle before either of us came to our senses enough to be able to thank her. Perhaps she sensed that she also single handedly destroyed a mother's teachable moment! Nevertheless, the grin on my son's face was worth it, and he did learn a valuable lesson: "Gee mom, it's a good thing I'm cute!" (Okay, so that was not the lesson we were going for!)
So the point is, make someone's day. It feels great to be the recipient, but it feels just as good (perhaps even better) to be the one who aims the r-o-a-k and hits the mark. Win-win! Try it!
"Go on, make my day!"
~Clint Eastwood
We'll talk soon!
