When I least expected it – A Random Act of Kindness Appeared!
For the past year, I have been encouraging people to consider doing random acts of kindness. I have read many reports detailing the good things that have happened through the program we put in place last November. Yet I was flabbergasted when I was the recipient of the very thing I have been advocating.
Allow me to explain. I had just settled down for a five-hour flight on Air Canada. I was in the window seat in the last row of the crowded plane – seat #37A. When the flight attendant brought the snack cart by, I thought that I would buy a bag of cashews and offered the attendant a $5 bill as payment.
“Sorry sir,” she said. “Credit cards only.”
I thought to myself that this was no way to do business. Why should I use my credit card for such a small purchase? So I decided that I would protest by not buying anything. Then my seatmate took out his credit card and bought me a bag of cashews. When I least expected it, a random act of kindness appeared!
In retrospect, what so surprised me was the result of this simple act of generosity. For the rest of the flight, we had an extended conversation about many things. This gentleman went out of his way to make my day better and I was touched by it in a very positive way. To use and old adage, he made my day.
We are just starting to plan for Random Acts of Kindness Day 2011. While we use a single day to highlight caring, I am pleased to report that generosity happens every day in any number of good deeds done when people least expect it. Count me as one who has experienced it personally!
Glenn Stresman is the Executive Director of the WindsorEssex Community Foundation and has over 20 years experience in both writing and evaluating grant applications.
Check out these sites for more information on Random Act of Kindness Day:
- Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation’s Random Act of Kindness Page.
- The Random Act of Kindness Foundation
- Stories of Kindness on Facebook
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Air travel, Charity, community, Community Foundation, Community Foundations, Day, Donors, Essex, Facebook, Flickr, foundation, Grants, Kindness, Kitchener, Legacy Planning, non-profit, pay it forward, philanthropy, RAK, Random Act of Kindness, Twitter, vibrant, vitallity, Waterloo, Windsor | 1 Comment »
Charitable Thoughts 