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Christmas With My Son

I have a five year old son and two 18 month old twins and especially at Christmas time I wanted them to truely understand what the act of giving was all about. So I made a list of people that were less likely to recieve gifts or love and let my five year old chose who we would give gifts to.

He chose homeless people. We purchased some large inexpensive gift bags and filled them with canned goods, used warm socks, new toothbrushes, bars of soap, candy bars, and many other surprises, but to my surprise my son came in with his piggy bank and said they could have his money. We filled several plastic bags with coins and I slipped in a few dollar bills, and we put all the bags in the trunk of the car.

It was several days before we saw a homeless person pushing a cart down the main blvd. and fortunately my son was with me and we pulled over and gave the bag to a man who started to cry when we wished him Merry Christmas. I have never forgotten the look of gratitude on his face and neither has my son.

We have now done this for three years on my sons request.

Meeting Anger With Kindness

From 1993 through 1998 I was a vendor for Chevrolet dealearships. Each week I would take a look at their used cars that were for sale. I would fix cracks in leather, cigarette burns in fabric,  re-color carpets that had stains, repair windshields that had been hit by a rock, etc. Every week I would walk into this specific Chevrolet dealer's used car lot  to see what the used cars needed in the way of repairs. The general manager's wife was named Cindy. Cindy was always very rude,  treating me like I was below her or that she was better than me.  I was always upbeat, possitive and kind, but that never seemed to work with her.  One day she accused me of charging  her to dye the carpet in a mini-van that had a stain in the carpet.  She had driven the van for the weekend and said the stain was not there.  Just trying to continually be agressive, and negitive without ... Read Full Story >>

Top 10 Kindness Stories of 2012, Story #4 - Meredith's Letter From the Post Office

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month.  The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.  She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.  I told her that I thought that we could, so she dictated these words:  Dear God,   Will you please take care of my dog?  Abbey died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much.  I'm happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.  I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls.  I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog.  I really miss her.  Love, Meredith  We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey & Meredith,  addressed it to God/Heaven.  We put our return address on it.  Meredith pasted several stamps ... Read Full Story >>

A Long Way From Iraq

A family of Iraqis live in my neighborhood. The father of the family served as an interpreter for the American Forces for ten years.   When the Americans were withdrawing they gave my friend's family visas to come to America. They didn't give them much else. Two years before Ali, my friend, came to the USA he was able to get two of his sons out of Iraq and they got jobs at Walmart and ATT. They have good English skills and are college educated.   My friend Ali is in his 60s and has worked as an English/Arabic interpreter much of his life. He has worked for some very important international companies doing business in the Middle East. But here in America he is just an old Muslim man trying to get a job.   After more than a year of trying he has finally got a job as a security guard ... Read Full Story >>

Hope, There's Nothing Stopping You

There was about 15 of us folks chalking in front of the downtown Berkeley BART station.  We started with about ten adventurers and as the momentum increased, we gained more energy, creative inspiration, and people.  In the beginning, many pedestrians stopped by us, paused briefly out of curiousity, and for the most part remained rather perplexed by our so-called 'deviant' behavior.  However, after we chalked up some cheerful colors and phrases on the beautiful red stones in the area, people came over just to take a peek and see what adults chalkers really do.  Folks came by with cameras. Small children pointed at us and tugged the hands of their parents to have them take a look.  This one particular man in a suit came out of the station, appearing as if he had had an exhausting day.  Yet, he managed to trudge a bit closer to us to read the ... Read Full Story >>

The Empty Seat Next to Mine

I've been holding on to a good bunch of Smile Cards for some time now and decided it was about time I started using them more often!  Any opportunity I get, no matter how big or small I am going to do an act of kindness and encourage the pay-it-forward idea. The other day I attended a large business event.  I was seated in a row of seats where all chairs were taken except for one chair next to me.  It was the only good viewing spot left in the room.  There were other chairs available, but they were a distance away and to the side of the room.  A few minutes later, two young men stood near me gazing the auditorium for the best seats they could find.  "How many seats do you need?" I inquired.  "Two," one of them replied.  I flashed back to my Smile Card resolution and immediately got up.  "Here, you can my seat and the ... Read Full Story >>

Top 10 Kindness Stories of 2012 - Story #1 - My Sneaky Mirror Of Kindness

High school is always full of girls who have little self-confidence and lots of negative thoughts relating to self-image. so, one lunch break, I did something to help!

Changing a Tire and Teaching a Son

Last week as I pulled into the parking lot with my son for his baseball game, I saw a woman trying to change her flat tire. I told my son I would get him over to his practice field and then I was going back to help the woman change her tire. When I got back to the parking lot, nobody had stopped to help her. I went over and offered. She tried to be nice and said that she was fine, but I could see otherwise so I insisted. Besides, my mother as she watches me from above would have cut a deal to send a pigeon to deliver a “special present” for me if her son had walked by and done nothing.  Another woman parked nearby and said she had some wipes in the car, as I was getting dirty from the tire. She waited for us to finish ... Read Full Story >>

A Tank Of Gas

Many years ago a kind farmer bought  a tank of gas for a stranded mom with 2 children.  He wouldnt accept any money and just smiled, waved and said pass it on to someone else.  And so a few weeks ago as my husband and I were filling up our car with a coupon for 99 cents a gallon, I went in to pay and got into a long line.  I could see up ahead a young man who was having some kind of problem and realized he had misunderstood the coupon and thought it was 99 cents to fill his small truck.  Everyone was saying, "99 cents a gallon is unbelieveable - they cant give the gas away."  He was embarressed and was just calling his wife when I got to the counter.  He said to his wife, "Just come down cuz I dont have that much on me."  I ... Read Full Story >>

My First Experience With Smile Cards

Well.....I just couldnt WAIT to try out my smile cards. Last week I set out on my nightly outing -- to a meeting, and then to spend some time with my best friend. I told him I wanted to use my smile cards. First stop, the Dollar Store. I bought 2 nice candle jars with thoughtful things written on them. Next up, 7 Eleven. We parked and looked for someone to give a candle and card to. A woman had just gotten gas and was walking into the store. I hurriedly got out and ran over to her car, put the candle and card on top where she couldn't miss it, and ran back to my truck and waited. When she came out, she saw it, looked around, and acted like she was afraid to touch it! Another man getting ... Read Full Story >>

Baby Shower For Charity

I just received an invitation to a "Baby Shower for Charity Tea" The hostess explained in her invitation that this will be just like a regular baby shower EXCEPT all gifts will be donated to a battered women's shelter. What a fun way to get together and help others at the same time. She included a list of the most needed items which included diapers, baby bottles, clothes (for babies and small children), baby wipes, baby blankets and snugglies, pajamas (for babies and children), etc.  

Just 2 Quarters Worth Of Kindness

This morning there was a young man roaming the campus. He comes from one of the half-way drug rehab/mental illness houses on the surrounding streets. He's quiet, polite, and I think very lonely, and bored. I saw him earlier standing at the soda vending machines, jiggling change in his pockets. It appeared he didn't have enough money for a soda at $1.50. I returned from the adjacent building and he was bending down and looking for dropped change under the vending machines. Nothing to be found. I asked him how much money he needed and he replied "just 2 quarters". I reached into my pocket and magically, I had 2 lonely little quarters in my pocket. Gave it to him and he got his Dr. Pepper and flashed me the biggest smile. I asked him what he was going to eat for lunch. He said they have food back at ... Read Full Story >>

Rock N Roll Never Dies

After 11 years of being "lucky to live Hawaii" my wife and I are moving to Florida to take care of my Mother.  It's a real treat for my wife, who is a local girl who has never been to the mainland.  

To minimize expenses we decided to mail the essentials from Hawaii to Florida -- the cheapest solution we could come up with. This also meant parting with things that we have held onto.  Things like my cassette tape collection,  along with my vinyl record collection. I'm guessing that I probably had about 300+ cassette tapes, mostly 60-70's rock and around 100 or so vinyl LP's, many bootlegs and a lot of great cover art.

I called our local radio station and told my friend DC, the morning jock, that I'd like to donate them to a listener who would appreciate them and give them a good home. He put it on the air, said that the first caller would get the cassettes and within minutes, a listener named "Spike" was over joyed to get them!

The following day DC gave away my vinyl collection and I'm glad they will have a home where they will be listened to.

The Egg & Spoon Race

My friend & I were at the school games. Her son Andrew has cerebal palsy but he was insistent that he was going in the races. In the flat race he ran well, but came in last.

In a short pace of time the egg & spoon race was on.

What we saw next brought tears to our eyes.

The school principle handed Andrew his the spoon with the egg glued onto it. Needless to say Andrew came in at the Number 1 and our tears were mixed with laughter and so much joy.

An act of kindness makes us all winners.

Tandem Acts of Kindness in Two Cities

A few weeks ago, I was in a crowded local train in Mumbai. I was sitting in a window seat of the super-crowded ladies' compartment. I was lucky to find a seat as I had got in at the first station. In a few minutes, the seats were all taken, and most people had to stand jam-packed in the aisles. Anyone who has been in Mumbai knows how frustrating a crowded train can be. In the middle of all this, I saw a young girl, about 10 years old, probably from a poor family. It was evident that she was used to the crowd, and the pushing and jostling, because she would silently shift position to be just that little bit more comfortable. I felt a little sad sitting there watching her having to stand. It struck me, that this is the time to practice a random act of kindness. However, I had to overcome some ... Read Full Story >>

Life is Like a Bank Account

This story is about a 92 year old, petite, well-poised and proud lady. She is fully dressed each morning by eight, with her hair fashionable coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind. She is moving to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight year old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room yet.  Just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something ... Read Full Story >>

One Garbage Bag at a Time

I live in an apartment building where there are several elderly people and other tenants that are on a low or fixed income. There is a older gentleman neighbor of mine that is always willing to help out and go out of his way to help anyone in need. A few weeks ago, I was taking a large amount of trash out to the dumpster. This neighbor saw me and stopped to help me as he was taking out his own trash. When we got to the dumpster, he dumped his trash out of the bag. However, he kept his trash bag. "Why don't you throw the trash bag away?" I asked him. He replied that he has been using the same trash bag for a couple of months because he really didn't have money to spare to buy new ones. This immediately made me tear up. I thought about how we can ... Read Full Story >>

The Waffle House Waitress

I was recently traveling with a friend when we decided to get something to eat. Being a huge Waffle House fan, we scouted out the area we were in, and found one. If you have never been in one, or have never heard of it, Waffle House is kinda like a chain of diners that serve the best waffles around! They won't be found at the top of any Zagat's list of Fine dining, but they are my favorite! Our waitress took a while to take our order, asking the same questions a few times. We made a few substitutions and "complicated" the order, but she wrote it all down. When the orders came, they were not right. When the bill came, it was not right either. The only thing that was right was the taste of the food and the smile of the waitress. She may not ... Read Full Story >>

A New Old Friend

My daughter and I have recently moved across the country to the West Coast. I know no-one here other than my sister and her husband. I started feeling a little lonley and missing my friends and family back east. I have now started to go back to college and have been enjoying getting the education I should have gotten long ago. I'm an extrovert and I love to talk, that's why I enjoy going to school so much because it gives me the opportunity to meet new and different people. I think you learn the most from people and life experiences. I love talking with and learning about people from different walks of life, different religions, and age groups. Children and the elderly are the most interesting to me. Children look at everything with eyes full of wonder. The elderly have been there, done most of it, and can tell you all about it. You can learn so ... Read Full Story >>

Finally, This Was My Moment

Below is my story which I shared on Facebook about my act of kindness yesterday. Many of you have done this often. Yet I've never had the opportunity until yesterday.  Yesterday I was finally able to do act of kindness I have always wanted to do. This isn't an everyday ordinary kindness that you can just 'do'. It sorts of just happens. If your open to it .... After my visit with Olga yesterday I needed to pop into the supermarket quickly on my way home to grab a few things. So there I was, in the 15 items or less line, waiting to be served when I noticed a young lady in front of me.  She was quite young and had a toddler with her in a stroller. She was really struggling with and juggling her items, which is probably what drew my attention to her. So I stared, as I do ... Read Full Story >>