Do something to make someone else's day nice

[GeoffnCheri]

We have all experienced events which have caused us to become disillusioned. In a thread which sparked this topic, someone mentioned it was possibly due to upbringing. It reminded me of a time many years ago where I was taking the truck to the car wash and the line was backed up for a car where the driver was obviously having an issue getting the machine to accept his payment. We had been waiting for about 5 minutes for the driver to get the machine to accept the payment and the line of cars were backed up to the highway. Cars began honking and my son said something to the affect of "Dad, that stupid person the car is holding everyone up". I put truck in park and made my son get out with me and we walked to the front of the line. It was an elderly man who did not speak English well and was as frustrated as anyone else. He only had a $10.00 bill which was wrinkled and the machine would not accept it. I traded cash with him and the machine accepted the money. He thanked us and we walked back to our truck. When we got back to the truck my son said something about everyone being happy the line was now moving. I patiently explained to my son that I thought the situation was pretty sad because there were at least a dozen cars in front of us and half a dozen were honking their horns and voicing their displeasure, but not a single one of them was willing to get out and help a stranger.


Taking a quote from a previous thread "Do something to make someone else's day nice" made me look at what we do for others. I have great neighbors and we regularly do things for each other such as mowing the neighbors lawn, making homemade soup or baked goods etc. The previous quote reminded me of a random act of kindness from a total stranger which was completely unexpected. It was a very simple act and I elected to incorporate this into my habits.

The simple act? "Buying a meal for a total stranger" One day about three years ago I had pulled into a fast food drive through and ordered. It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon. When I got to the window to pay and pick up my order, the employee handed me my meal and said the people in the car in front of me had paid for my meal. My immediate thought was how do I thank them as they had already driven away. I handed the employee my debit card and said I would like to pay for the order for the vehicle behind me.

Now, each time we hit a fast food joint I pay for the car behind me. Not a huge or extravagant thing, but it does make someone else's day nice.

So what habits do you have or practice to make someone else's day nice? The purpose of this thread is not to brag on your own selflessness, but to provide others with examples of random acts of kindness which you do or have experienced so that others may incorporate them into their daily lives.