Happy World Kindness Day!!
The official date was November
13th, but I am only now taking time to sit down and tell you about
it.
A few days before the
holiday I put out an ask for help – WHAT SHOULD KINDNESS ACTIVIST DO FOR WORLD
KINDNESS DAY? There were a few
parameters. The suggestions had to be:
in the evening since I had to work all day, could have a budget but not a
huuuuge budget, and should spread kindness to multiple people.
There were lots of ideas
generated! It was hard to choose just
one, and I am sure that we will use some of the other ideas as the months go on. But one suggestion stood out. The writer said: “You should go to a cheap
gas station and watch for people who were paying with cash. Then you should use Kindness money to help
them get more gas”.
PERFECT! It fit all of the criteria – could happen
after work, needed funds but not a huge amount of money, and would spread
kindness to multiple people. Love it!
The suggester told me that
they had been in the situation of not having enough money to fill their tank
before. They explained that it was
humiliating to only be able to put a few bucks of gas in when everyone around
you was filling up. They said if they ever
had someone offer extra cash to them to fill their tank they would’ve been
delighted.
So once work was over –
off we went!
We had printed flyers with beautiful drawings explaining it was World Kindness Day (one side English, one side Spanish). We drove to our favorite gas station, parked,
and waited.
It was actually fun to wait! We watched people get out of their cars and tried to guess – are they paying cash or credit? When they walked into the gas station before putting in gas, we assumed they were paying cash. But sometimes we got tricked – they were going in to get food or coffee or play the lottery games.
So, we waited more.
And finally… we found
someone!
A man parked at the pump
but didn’t get out of his vehicle. We watched
as he moved around a bit and I realized – he is looking for bills and counting
the cash getting ready to go pay. And sure
enough, when I followed him into the station, he was paying with one and five
dollar bills. He asked for $20 worth of
gas (which we all know does not go that far these day…). I put 2 $20s on the counter, handed him the
World Kindness Day flyer, and asked if we could double his gas.
He was a bit
confused. A bit shocked. And very surprised.
He said SURE, and I wished
him a happy World Kindness Day as I left and got back in our car.
He was texting as he
walked out of the station to his vehicle, I am guessing telling someone, “You
will never guess what just happened to me…”
It was so fun to watch him fill his tank. He was happy.
He smiled and read, then re-read the flyer. When he finished with the gas, he folded the
flyer and put it in his pocket. He saw
us in our car, smiled and waved, and off he went.
We waited again and the next person paying with cash was a woman. I followed her in, wished her a happy World Kindness Day, and explained we wanted to add $20 to her total. She was so excited!! She gave us a big thank you as she passed our car.
The station was closing so
I asked the person who originally suggested the idea if they knew a good place
to try next. They told us about a gas
station not too far away and off we went.
We parked and started the wait. I told David, “I think the employee saw us
park here, what if he calls the police on us?”.
We had a giggle imagining what we would say to explain to the police
just what we were doing.
A gas customer pulled up
and went inside. I rushed in, flyers and
cash in hand, and plopped $20 on the counter to add to his money. He smiled and thanked me, but it was the cashier
who was the most excited. He seemed to have
a hard time believing this was happening – a stranger paying for someone’s gas.
After the person filled
their tank and left, the cashier came to the window and smiled really big. He gave us a thumbs up – so sweet.
One more cash customer
came before the station closed, and we added $20 to his tank, too. Then the cashier started his close up routine
and we made our decision – we wanted to give $20 to him, too. I popped back inside, wished him a happy
World Kindness Day, and gave him a flyer and cash. Wow was he delighted.
We had a great
evening. We didn’t get to surprise as
many people as we had hoped so we are planning to go out and do this kind act
again another time (earlier in the day).
Amazing artwork by neighbors Bella and Joshua |
We also had a big poster in front of our home that invited passersby to add a note saying how they would make the world a kinder place. It was super fun to read what people wrote.
I will pose the same
question we asked neighbors to YOU – what will YOU do to make the world a
kinder place?
Happy World Kindness Day everybody!
Kindness Activist funds used: $100