kindness activist

kindness activist

Sunday, November 13, 2022

World Kindness Day (Kindness Yard Sale Accounting Report)

Happy World Kindness Day!


Part of me wishes that there wasn’t a “special day” set aside for kindness around the world, that instead, it was an everyday occurrence.  But I guess if we have Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, National Donut Day and all of the rest – we should have a day set aside to think about kindness, too! 


I celebrated World Kindness Day in a few different ways.


First – instead of the “poll of the day” that I put out daily on our corner, I put out a small box with paper and writing instruments inside.  Where the poll usually goes, I put a note explaining that it is World Kindness Day, and asking people to write a note explaining something kind they have done and leave it in the box.  Two people participated (I do not know who).  Of course, I wish more would have been curious and brave enough to stop and get involved, but on a very cold Sunday, two is a good turn-out.  They wrote:

-         “If you read this, please be good with your inner child and be happy“

and

-         “Working on my health.  Trying to be kind to myself!  Note:  Happy Holidays!”


And actually, now that I examine the notes, I think they both have the same handwriting.  That means only one person was curious and brave enough to stop and participate.  Thank you, whoever you are!  I am very thankful that you joined in.


Another thing I did in honor of World Kindness Day was buy 10 big holiday tins of popcorn to hand out.  You know the ones – the trio of white popcorn, caramel, and cheese.  Yummy!  We had to go to 4 or 5 different stores to find them, but Target to the rescue! 


My plan was to hand them out randomly to people stopped at the red light in front of our house.  But…  By the time we finished everything else we had planned for the day and got home for popcorn time, it was dark.  And very cold.


But I would not let that stop us!!  (I say “I” because I think my partner David would have preferred if I said, “Ya know, let’s just extend World Kindness Day into tomorrow, when it is warmer and sunny…”)  Nope!  We stood out in the dark and gave away 10 big popcorn tins. 



That sounds like an easy task, but it was not!!  First – not a lot of traffic tonight.  Second – did I mention it was dark out??  Third – see above, really cold!  And fourth – well, let’s just say that not everyone was excited about the popcorn as I was!!  😊 


People.  Are.  Suspicious.  And rightfully so, I guess.  I mean, this is a dangerous world sometimes.  So, when a woman in a stocking cap and pink fluffy vest walks up to your car window smiling, waving, and holding a tin of popcorn up – some people choose to not engage.  They behave in several different ways:  pretend you are not there (eyes firmly glued to the stoplight ahead of them), look and shake their head “no” even though they have no idea what the question is, LOCK THEIR DOORS (click!) as you stand on the sidewalk waving (awwwk-ward!), or crack their window open to listen to your spiel then say a quiet, “No thank you”.  Oh, there was also the guy that David approached who said, “I am an atheist”.  Hahahaha – ooookkkkk….  But we aren’t offering you a religious item here, sir!  It’s popcorn. Also, the last time I checked, kindness was agnostic and not in the least bit religious.



But SOME PEOPLE – the fun ones, the lucky ones – THEY GET INTO IT!  They might be suspicious at first, but when they roll down their window and hear, “Hi!!!  It is WORLD KINDNESS DAY!  To celebrate, we are handing out popcorn!  It is really tasty – 3 flavors – regular, cheese, and caramel!  This is for you!  Happy World Kindness Day!!” – when they hear that – they SMILE BACK at you!  They might say, “Really???” or “Wait, huh???”.  But when you explain it again, they reach for the popcorn and thank you genuinely.  They smile and wave as they drive away.  Yeah, those people rock.


I really liked giving the popcorn tins to two bus drivers.  They were so happy!  One was so willing to let us board his bus and chat that he sat parked at the light through a while light cycle, trapping the cars behind him.  It is a miracle no one honked.  We also gave one to a bus rider who was sitting up front – he was happy, too!

On the bus



Kindness Activist funds spent:  $116.49


Another kind action we did today was give a neighbor something that she had wished for in a neighborhood chat.  She asked for a juicer, and the photo she showed of the one she hoped for is the exact same one we have.  I took that as a sign!  We delivered her the juicer and a big bag of oranges tonight.  I bet she has a fresh cup of OJ with her breakfast tomorrow!


Kindness Activist funds spent:  $35.01


We are expecting our first hard freeze this week, so we picked all the remaining vegetables from the garden today.  While we were in a grocery store later (hunting for the popcorn tins…), I saw a big table of fresh produce that was on sale for $1 a bag!  And it looked as pretty as the produce we had just picked out of our garden!!  So, I grabbed 2 bags – 4 yellow peppers, 2 tomatoes, a red onion, and a container of mushrooms – for the Little Yellow Pantry.  Fresh produce is always appreciated by visitors because it is usually so expensive to buy at the store!


Kindness Activist funds spent:  $2.05


That’s it for this update.  More to come!

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