Random Acts of Kindness

 

Ever been on the receiving end of one?

Hopefully you have carried one out before.

Sure you have.   Handed a car park ticket to the next person coming in because it still has an hour left to run?   Held a door open for somebody?  Helped somebody pick up all the money that has just fallen out of their purse all over the floor?

I was reminded today of on act of kindness that somebody paid me 12 years ago whilst listening to the radio earlier.

Whilst driving to Basingstoke today I happened to catch the end of “Supermarket Symphony” on Radio 4.  I have no idea what the gist of the programme really was but a 74 year old chap was telling a story.   A story that he couldn’t tell without crying.   A man who has lived through wars so I thought “wow this is going to be a sad one”.

He explained that he worked in a shop for a number of years.  It sounded like a farm shop with a deli counter.  Normally he worked during the week but he happened to be working one Saturday last year to help out the owner.   A customer asked “are you new?”.    The chap explained that he was not but that he was helping out.   The customer went on to  ask for some dolcelatte as it was his favourite cheese.   Our 74 year old chap remarked how it was also his favourite cheese too and they joked about how unusual that was.

The customer only wanted a small piece so asked for the block to be cut in half.    This was duly done and the pair carried on chatting for a further five or so minutes.

As our man wrapped the cheese and handed it over the customer said   “Oh I tell you want. I will take the other piece, too”.

And so off the customer went to pay for his two blocks of cheese.

Twenty minutes later he was back.

“Is something wrong?”  asked our chap

“Not really” said the customer “but I have spoken to the manager about this”.

Our chap was worried by this, fearing he had over charged or mis-weighed the cheese.

“Here, I would like you to have this block”  and with that he handed over the second block of cheese to our man.   “I would like you to enjoy this as it is also your favourite and you probably don’t buy it very often”.

Our man was moved to tears by this because, no, he didnt buy it very often.

That simple act of kindness has stuck with our man for the past fourteen months since it happened.

And it reminded me of something similar that happened to me.

When 12 years ago I was broke.  That may surprise you about me, but, yes, in a previous life I was broke for a while.   Whilst buying nappies and baby food I got the date my child benefit was paid into my account wrong, and at the check out in Tesco my card was declined.

I tried hard to be brave and fight back the tears as I laughed it off and said I would have to leave it.

Immediately the chap behind me leaned forward and gave me a £20 note.  He insisted I take it and refused to give me his name so I could pay him back.   £18.47 it came to.    He wouldn’t even take the change.

And like our man in the deli, I have never forgotten that gesture.   A simple act of kindness that right then meant the world to me.  And in fact, still does.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all did something kind everyday?

 

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  • I love small acts of kindness. A lot of people forget that it doesn’t only make the person receiving it feel good, you feel good yourself. The art is to tell nobody what you have done, just keep the warmth all to yourself 😉

  • I’m a great believer in RAOK. I perform then as often as I am able to, and have been on the receiving end too. They make the whole world a nicer place 🙂

  • For me it all comes down to Karma, whenever I can I’ll always help out someone else. It makes them feel food and makes me feel good too. It also puts a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

  • Oh, I love random acts of kindness! I found a card with a crochet heart early last year, just over a month after I’d had a miscarriage. I was having a really down day and it meant so much to me. I’ve performed a few random acts of kindness of my own in the past, but I certainly want to do more soon.

    • oh my love, I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I am sending you all the love. And you are right, people leaving random acts of kindness have no idea how much they might mean to the recipient or person who finds them. Big hugs