Kindness Received, Given, and Received Again (all in one day)

I started the day filled with a long to-do list.

I end the day with only 2 items checked off the list, but a heart filled with happiness.

As I was rushing about trying to get things organized this morning, a neighbor came over to let me know that the little girls who have sold their art in front of their home previously were hosting a KINDNESS YARD SALE today!!!  Brilliant – the tradition is being passed down to the youngsters!  These are the same sweethearts who donated proceeds from their art sale to the Kindness Yard Sale, and now here they were having a sale of their own!!

I got some money ready (figured this was a cash event…) and went down to ask the youngest guest staying with us, Hareer, if she wanted to come to the sale with me.  I think “yard sales” are probably not a thing in Afghanistan, so she wasn’t quite sure what I was up to…  She seemed to want to come but wasn’t quite ready for her family outing so could not join me.

Fast forward a couple of hours – I had completely forgotten to walk across the street to shop.  Life had distracted me (damn to do list!).  But those 2 sweet girls who held the Kindness Yard Sale walked up on our porch and presented me with the proceeds!  Yes, they donated $25 to Kindness Activist!!  They were very proud (as was I!).  I love it that kids get it.

Tiny Kindness Activists

Another great thing happened today.  A neighbor has been contacting us every Saturday for about a month so that we can come “save” food.  Her work hosts events on Saturdays and always serves delicious food.  They order too much, she rescues what is left, gives it to us, and we find good homes for it!  She is out of the country for a month but arranged with her co-worker to continue the mission.  Today we rescued delicious chicken kabobs, rice, salads, and baklava!  There was more than usual so instead of delivering it all to neighbors, we stopped in DC to hand some out to people living in tents.  Most of the tents were empty – we figured because it was a nice day and people were out in the sunshine.  But we gave meals to 3 people and they were super appreciative.  I also gave a meal to a police officer who drove by as we were handing out the food.  

When we got home I posted the meals in my local Buy Nothing group and neighbors came to get them.  It was SO FUN when one couple came!  It turned out they were on their way home from the ceremony where one of them had become an American citizen!!!!  I rushed inside and grabbed tiny flags (pride flags, they are the only ones we have!) and the 6 or 7 people who were here at the time cheered and waved flags.  Cars driving by honked and waved – it was brilliant! 

Finally, we ran to Trader Joe’s tonight to pick up some pumpkins for an event I am hosting tomorrow.  The woman behind us in line looked tired.  She had a reusable shopping bag filled with roses, but for some reason I thought that maybe they were the flowers that were going to be thrown away and she had been gifted them.  I guessed that she was going to work on a corner and sell them.  Anyway, I could see that she was buying a bag of frozen dinner and 2 bananas.  I wondered if she was experiencing homelessness – but that is impossible to know for sure.  As our cashier was ringing up our purchases, she went to a cashier near us.  I went over to her area and, without saying anything, put in my credit card to pay for her purchase.  “What are you doing??” she asked rather sternly.  “Umm, I am getting your items for you,” I replied meekly.  “Why??” she asked.  “Because you look NICE.  You were behind us in line, and you look like a nice person.  I like to treat people to groceries sometimes…”  She looked at the cashier and asked, “Do you know her??” and he said, “She is a secret agent” and grinned.  The woman thanked me and I went back to our register. 

Then the woman approached ME.  In her hand were 3 beautiful red roses from her bag.  Now she was passing kindness on to me.  My heart swelled.

Total spent on her groceries:  $3.77

Total received from her gift of flowers:  not measurable