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Random acts of
kindness A collection of extraordinary
acts by ordinary people
C O M P I L E D B Y R O T A R I A N M U D A R P A T H E R Y A
A random act of kindness is a show (oftenimpulsive, often anonymous) of kindness to a
stranger without any expectation of gain
If someone were to pay youten cents for every kind word
you ever spoke and collect fivecents for every unkind word,would you be rich or poor?
– Nonpareil Disclaimer. This is a collection of articles collected
from various sources. This has been done with the
objective of inspiring more people to engage in
random acts of kindness. If you should share
experiences of these random acts with the compiler of
this document at [email protected], he
promises to include them in a second document on
the same subject.
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A Soldier, His Wife, and Their Service
P O S T E D B Y B O B . B R U N S O N O N J U L 8 , 2 0 1 0
As I entered the elevator on the third floor of themedical center after a check-up, I noticed an oldgentleman in a wheelchair with an old lady behindhim. I noticed his baseball cap with WWII on thefront. Making small talk, I said, "So, you were inthe big one." His answer stunned me. He said,"Yes, I went overseas a strapping young newlywedand I came back in this thing,” slapping each sideof the wheelchair with his hands.
I stared, looked at his wife, and the magnitude ofwhat he said hit me like a ton of bricks. Hemarried this woman, went to serve his country, waswounded and paralyzed and then returned to hiswife who she stayed with all these years.
Overcome with sadness and awe, I said: "I knowyou probably don't hear this nearly enough, but Iwant to thank you for your sacrifice for me andour country." I then looked at his wife and thankedher for her faithfulness to her husband.
Then, even though I had never been in themilitary, I straightened myself and gave them boththe best salute I could muster.
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This was written by a Metro Denver HospicePhysician: “I was driving home from a meetingthis evening about 5, stuck in traffic on ColoradoBlvd., and the car started to choke, splutter anddie. I barely managed to coast into a gas station,glad only that I would not be blocking traffic andwould have a somewhat warm spot to wait for thetow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before Icould make the call, I saw a woman walking out ofthe ‘quickie mart’ building, and it looked like sheslipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so Igot out to see if she was okay.
When I got there, it looked more like she hadbeen overcome by sobs than that she had fallen;she was a young woman who looked reallyhaggard with dark circles under her eyes. Shedropped something as I helped her up, and Ipicked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.
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A Regular Person'sChristmas Compassion
P O S T E D B Y M I S S D R E O N J U N 2 2 , 2 0 1 0
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she had not been able to make ends meet. Sheknew she wouldn't have money to pay rent onJanuary 1, and finally in desperation had called herparents, with whom she had not spoken in aboutfive years. They lived in California and said shecould come live with them and try to get on herfeet there.
I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quickprayer with her for safety on the road. As I waswalking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you likean angel or something?'
It was so incredible to be a part of someoneelse's miracle. And of course, you guessed it,when I got in my car it started right away and gotme home with no problem. I'll put it in the shoptomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanicwon't find anything wrong.
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At that moment, everything came into focus forme: the crying woman, the ancient Suburbancrammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.
I asked her if she was okay and if she neededhelp, and she just kept saying 'I don't want mykids to see me crying,' so we stood on the otherside of the pump from her car. She said she wasdriving to California and that things were veryhard for her right now.
I took out my card and swiped it through thecard reader on the pump so she could fill up hercar completely, and while it was fueling, I walkedto the next door McDonald's and bought 2 bigbags of food, some gift certificates for more, anda big cup of coffee.
She told me her name, and that she lived inKansas City. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and
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A Hotel Manager Creates Some Magic
P O S T E D B Y L U N A 1 9 6 9 O N S E P 1 6 , 2 0 1 0
About nine years ago I worked at a largedowntown hotel. Since we were connected to amall and a public parking garage, anyone couldpretty much walk into the hotel area. We startedhaving a big problem with homeless youthliving in our stairwells at night. As nightmanager, I ended up being the one to evictthese youths, night after night after night. Theynever gave me any trouble though, they alwaysjust moved on when asked.
One guy in particular stood out. He was over 6ft. tall and 200 lbs, and a tall mohawk. We'd findhim everywhere, asleep sitting on a toilet stall inour banquet floor or sleeping on the stairs up tothe roof, for instance.
One early morning on my rounds I opened anemergency exit and found him face downsnoring in the little exit cavity by the fire hose.
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I started to yet again wake him and send him onhis way, but for some reason, I couldn't do itthat day.
What I did next I don't know if I will everunderstand. I went downstairs and bought alarge coffee and a chocolate donut, went backupstairs, opened the emergency door and setthe package by his feet. When I closed the doorthis time I let it slam so he would wake up.
I wish I could have been there to see him wakeup to hot coffee and a donut, dropped off bymagic.
A Phone Call, To aLetter... To A Life
Changing Friendship
P O S T E D B Y C H I C A K G K O N J U N 5 , 2 0 1 0
My first full-time job after high school wasselling vacation packages via telephone for awell known company. One day, the dialerconnected me to a man that answered thephone and sounded a bit out of breath.
I started with my normal pitch, and expecting tohear the normal, "I don't want any," and behung up on. Instead he spoke in a faint, weakvoice and began to tell me how he wished hecould take a vacation like the one I was offering,
Never doubt that small group of committedpeople can change the world. Indeed, it is theonly thing that ever truly has.
Margaret Mead (1901-1978), cultural anthropologist
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but couldn't because he was dying ofemphysema.
I apologized, and my heart fell into my stomach.He asked me if I smoked, which I did, and thenbegged me to stop. He told me smoking iswhat was killing him, and how horrible it was.He told me to spend every day with my lovedones, and tell them all the time how much I lovethem.
At this point, I was in tears, and couldn'tcontrol myself, and he could tell. We ended thecall, and I put my phone on hold to preventanother call from coming in so I could collectmyself.
After a few moments, I decided to write downhis name and address, and just send him a cardtelling him that I appreciated his advice and thatI would pray for him and his family. Shortlyafter, I received a nice letter back from Frank,along with a picture of him and his wife. Wecontinued to write back and forth over the nextfew months or so, and became very fond of
each other. He was old enough to be mygrandfather, and in many ways, I felt as if hewas.
About a year later I received a letter from hiswife. She told me how Frank's battle with thedisease had finally come to an end, and hepassed shortly before Christmas. She wanted tothank me for the letters I had written to Frank,and then explained how Frank touched manylives over the years. At his funeral, to show justthat, they read the first letter I had written toFrank to show how he affected a 19 year old hehad never even met.
I will never forget how much that meant to me.
I've learned that people will forget what yousaid, people will forget what you did, but peoplewill never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou
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A Lost Wallet Returned, Across Three Continents
P O S T E D B Y T W O C E N T S O N J U L 2 9 , 2 0 1 0
It was May in Bangkok, and even though I hadarrived from India after six months of volunteerwork, the heat and humidity was exhausting.After a long day of temple visiting, I fell asleepon the sky train for about 5 minutes, only towake up seconds before the door was about toslam shut at my stop. As I rush out onto theplatform, I realize that my wallet was gone!
My wallet had been in my front pocket and Iwas sitting down with my backpack on my lap.Given the heat and stickiness, even I hadtrouble getting my wallet out of my pocket, butthe alleged thief managed to do so despite theawkwardness and obstacles, without waking meup. She certainly deserved something for that,and I had no ill will despite losing about $150across 3 currencies.
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Three months later in San Francisco, one of thefounders of the very same non-profit I wasworking with in India (before losing my walletin Bangkok) was in town for a visit. Friendsand supporters gathered to meet him, and justas we sat down for a few minutes of silence andprayer, I get a phone call from my aunt. Turnsout that she had just got a letter from the USembassy in Sydney saying that they had mywallet! More incredibly, all my money across 3currencies was still inside, and they wanted mypermission to use $5 from my funds to send mywallet back to me!
And that's when I got the lesson I was meant toget. The kindness we put into the world alwaysboomerangs back to us. The beauty of life isthat we have the opportunity to throw aboomerang kindness every second of everyday.
Helping an Old Man to Find Joy Again
P O S T E D B Y 2 Z D R B Z O N J U L 2 7 , 2 0 1 0
1918
This year had been difficult for my family dueto budget cuts and layoffs. With the holidayseason around the corner, I didn’t know how Iwas going to buy Christmas presents for mychildren.
One day while window shopping with my 4month old son, a stranger walked up to me andbegan a conversation asking the usual babyquestions like how old is he, will Santa becoming to see him, was he my only child, etc.He introduced himself as Ralph, and asked forhelp with shopping for his grandkids.
While shopping, he told me that he had been awidower for 2 years and his children andgrandchildren were grown, and how theholidays weren’t the same without them. Whenthe cart was full of clothes and toys, Ralph saidthat he also wanted to buy something for hisgrandchildren's mother. I made a few
suggestions, we parted ways and I continued towindow-shop.
When I left the store I heard a woman callingout “Ma’am, ma’am with the baby, you leftsomething”. At first I kept walking because Ididn’t think she was speaking to me because Iknew I didn’t leave anything. When she caughtup with me, she said that she had something forme at customer service. I followed her tocustomer service and she pushed a shoppingcart full of bags toward me. She then handedme an envelope with a card which read:
“Thank you for helping an old man find joyagain. You made me believe that Martha islooking down on me from above to send one ofher angels when I needed one the most. Thepresents you helped me pick out are for you andyour children. You are a kind person and this ismy thanks to you. Never change. – Ralph”
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One day, my son and I were in line at theDollar store buying an assortment of products.In a line next to ours, a woman was waiting tomake her purchases. She had a few necessitiesand one bag of chips. She stepped up to registerto make her purchase and said, "I'm sorry. Ineed to put the chips back. I can't afford themtoday."
The woman completed her purchase and beganto leave the store. It was finally my turn tocheck out. I quickly explained to the cashierthat I wanted to buy the chips for the lady whohad set them aside. The cashier hesitated for justa second. Then she looked me right in the eyeand said, "I didn't think people still did thingslike that for anybody else." She handed me thechips and I quickly handed them off to my son,who knew exactly what he needed to do.
My son changed that day.
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A Bag of Chips Changes My Son
P O S T E D B Y D G R A V O N S E P 1 4 , 2 0 1 0
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I run a hotel in London. During the problemswith the infamous ash cloud, I was listening to aLondon radio station called LBC. I spent themorning listening to people calling in tellingtheir stories of woe....some had missed flightsfor holidays, some couldn't get home followingthe volcanic eruption.
The story that most struck me was a call fromPeter who had just gotten married the previousweekend to Maz and were due to leave for theirhoneymoon to the Dominican Republic butcould not due to the ash cloud. When JamesO'Brien, the radio presenter, asked if he wasupset, Peter said: "Not at all, I've married theloveliest girl in the world whom I adore, so no,I'm not unhappy at all". Both, the presenter andI were blown away by the beautiful answer.
A little later, I called LBC and spoke to theproducer of the show and asked if she couldcontact Peter to offer him and his wife a room
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A Volcanic Eruption ofKindness in London
P O S T E D B Y J E L L Y L E G S O N S E P 9 , 2 0 1 0
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me but I won't be giving you a ticket".Considering traffic wardens work on commissionand having had numerous run-ins with themmyself, I was dumb struck.
Peter and Maz decided to celebrate and go out toCovent Garden for dinner. While eating, theywere chatting to their waiter, who asked why theywere in London. When Peter told him about theirhoneymoon, and then the hotel room gift andfinally the traffic warden, the waiter was just assurprised with all the generosity they hadreceived. When Peter came to pay the bill, all thewaiter said was “Your dinner's on me" andwished them all the very best!
I love how a simple phone call, led to a sequenceof events that would touch so many. I was sopleased to have made a bad situation better for ayoung couple, but what I really love is how itsnowballed into so much more.
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for the weekend at the hotel. She later calledback to say Peter and Maz were delighted andwould love to take up the offer.
So, in two days later, Peter and Maz arrived atthe hotel and checked in. What is interesting isthe sequence of events that followed after myinitial offer.
The hotel is situated in Kensington, which ismainly a residential area and thus parking can bea bit of a problem. Peter had parked outside thehotel in the residents parking zone and hadwritten a note explaining the situation abouttheir honeymoon and staying at the hotel andleft it on the dashboard of the car. Later thatday he spotted a traffic warden reading the noteand walking off! Kensington traffic wardens arenotorious in their severity and ruthlessness.When Peter ran outside to see if parking therewould be ok, the traffic warden said, "I don'tknow if another traffic warden will be as nice as
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One day, while I was walking to work, Idecided to bring some flowers that I had pickedfrom my garden that morning. I came across arandom stranger, and was inspired to give thebunch to him with a smile card.
Struck by the sense of joy I felt from givingflowers to another person, and maybebrightening his day, I wanted to do it again.
When I got to my office, I had the idea ofanonymously leaving flowers around theworkplace. So, for the past month, I've beenputting flowers in a little cup on the sink in thebathroom. Each week, I change the flowers andthe quote.
Then today, when I walked in, I noticed newflowers in the cup, and a quote that someone elsehad written!! It said, "Be the change you wish tosee in the world" – Gandhi.
I did a little dance and am smiling wide for therest of the day! :)
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Small Gestures in the Workplace
P O S T E D B Y S M I L E S W I T H H O P E O N A U G 7 , 2 0 1 0
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doctors had dentists but most of their oldpatients had no teeth!
In Bangalore, you just had to make a wish andit came true in JGW. A 3-year-old boy wanted atoy elephant but was terrified when his giftarrived - for it was bigger than him! The boybegan to cry but later fell in love with his newtoy.
Students of a few Mumbai night schools are infor a surprise this month. Instead of the usual oldclothes that they are handed every year, they'll begifted new tees.
0ver 300 Mumbai-kars were divided intogroups by NGO Akanksha on the basis of theirhobbies. The art group encouraged pavementdwellers at Lower Parel to paint and draw. The'cooking and eating' group visited an old agehome and cooked pav bhaji for its 100 residents.An animal lovers group bathed and walked strays.
Source: Times of India (Date: 03.10.10)
There is joy in giving
Times of India implemented a Joy of Givingweek that generated the following responses inSeptember-October 2010:
Mumbai's vada pav event had 10 volunteersdistributing 225 vada pavs to the homeless.Excited by the success and goodwill created bythis event, more college students came forwardand on Oct 1, volunteers distributed 500 vadapavs.
A group in Ahmedabad offers a bunch ofvery poor old people a free ride around the cityfor a day. The group has served more than 500such grandmas and grandpas over the last oneyear.
A geriatric care camp was organized byBangalore's Ramaiah Medical College for basicmedical checkups. interestingly, each team of
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IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
Bring flowers to work and share them with coworkers.
Adopt a student who needs a friend, checking in periodically to see how things are going.
Volunteer to be a tutor in a school.
Buy a stranger a free pizza.
Distribute lollipops to kids.
Sing at a nursing home.
Slip paper hearts that say “It’s Random Acts ofKindness Week! Have a great day!” under the
windshield wipers of parked cars.
Have a charity day at work, with employees bringingnonperishable food items to donate.
Serve refreshments to customers.
Pay a compliment at least once a day.
Call or visit a homebound person.
Hand out balloons to passersby.
Be a good neighbour. Take over a baked treat or stop by to say “Hello.”
Give the gift of your smile.
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IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
Send home a note telling parents something their child did well.
Volunteer to read to students in the classroom.
Write notes of appreciation and bring flowers orgoodies to teachers or other important
people, such as the principal, nurse, custodian, and secretary.
Incorporate kindness into the curriculum at area schools, day care centers,
or children’s classes in faith organizations.
Give a hug to a friend.
Tell your children why you love them.
Write a note to your mother/father and tell them why they are special.
Pat someone on the back.
Write a thank-you note to a mentor.
Give blood.
Give another driver your parking spot.
Clean graffiti from neighbourhood walls and buildings.
Tell your employees how much you appreciate their work.
Let your staff leave work an hour early.
Tell a bus or taxi driver how much you appreciate their driving.
Drop off a plant, cookies, or sweets to the police or fire department.
Open the door for another person.
Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk of a colleague at work.
Call an estranged family member.
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IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
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Pay for the person behind you in the movie line.
Renew an old friendship by sending a letter or small gift to someone you haven’t talked
with in a long time.
When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.
Distribute kindness bookmarks that you have made.
Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person.
Plant a tree in your neighbourhood.
Make a list of things to do to bring more kindness into the world, and have a friend make a list.
Exchange lists and do one item per day for a month.
As you go about your day, pick up trash.
Send a letter to some former teachers, letting them know the difference they
made in your life.
Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
Buy books for a day care or school.
Knit or crochet a baby’s blanket for the next baby born in a local hospital.
I stand while riding the bus even when there are seatsavailable, so that someone else can sit.
Give out kindness ribbons to be worn and passed on.
Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
Include a note or joke in your child’s or spouse’s lunchbox.
Slip a Rs. 20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.
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IDEAS FOR KINDNESS IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
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Do all the good you can. By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can. In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.
John Wesley If you should share experiences of these random acts
with the compiler of this document at
[email protected], he promises to include them
in a second document on the same subject.
Random acts of
kindness A collection of extraordinary
acts by ordinary people
C O M P I L E D B Y R O T A R I A N M U D A R P A T H E R Y A
