Secret Ikea Kindness

Often people think of ACTS OF KINDNESS as huge, elaborate things that require preparation, time, and money.  But many times they can be simple, spur of the moment, and not that pricey!  And on the very rare occasion, they can be a bit magical and mysterious!  Here is the quick story of one of THOSE acts of kindness…

The other day my sweetheart and I were heading to Ikea.  I saw a neighbor post in a Facebook group that she was hoping someone had an Ikea shelving unit to give away.  I commented on her post that I would be happy to pick up a new one for her while we were at Ikea if she would repay me.  She replied that she didn’t have it in the budget to buy one right now, but was hoping someone had one they were no longer using that they would pass on.

I thought that was the end of my interaction on the matter and had my fingers crossed that someone would give her their old one.  But I never imagined that a different person in the group would see the short exchange and volunteer to be a “mysterious kindness fairy”!

Someone messaged me and said, “Susan, if you go to Ikea and they have the item she wants, grab it and I will reimburse you”.  Just out of the blue!!!  I replied and told her she was amazing, to which she humbly said, “Nah, it’s just been a crap year and this stuff makes me happy”.  AMEN, mystery kindness fairy!!!

THEY HAD IT IN STOCK!  Ikea for the win

Ikea DID have the item, so we bought it and delivered it to the person, telling her that someone wanted her to have it but not giving any names.  She was REALLY SURPRISED and delighted.  Later that evening she wrote, “Some faith restored in the kindness and generosity of stranger(s) this evening.  Thank you, whoever you are!”.  And the next day she sent me this photo of her brand new, fancy storage area!

PERFECT!!!  Printer stand.  Storage boxes.  Ahhh, organized!

So, you see, kindness doesn’t have to be elaborate.  It can be done in secret if you like!  All it has to be is heartfelt.  Your actions can make a difference.  Especially NOW, in this time of turmoil and anxiety in our country, little actions mean a lot.

What can YOU do to make a difference?

Stuffed Animal Kindness

I parked at Ikea this sunny afternoon and was surprised to find THIS on my walk into the store:

A MONKEY ON A CAR!!!

A vehicle with a STUFFED MONKEY on the side mirror.  Isn’t it fabulous??? 

It made me smile.  It made me curious.  It made me so happy!  And it made me wonder…  How did that monkey GET there???  Did someone see it outside the vehicle on the ground and think the people dropped it getting out, so “returned” it??  Did the owners always put a little monkey on their mirror when they went in places, maybe making it easier to find their car later??  Or did someone GIFT it to the people from the car, put it on there while the car owners were in Ikea shopping????  That was the theory I went with – a GIFT!

But then, of course, my mind started wondering MORE…  Who gifted it??  And WHY?  Was it maybe an inside joke between friends?  Was it a gift between lovers??  Or did a complete stranger just decide, “I am going to give these people this adorable stuffed monkey!”???  Such a MYSTERY!

But since I was the one that saw it, and since I got to do the pondering about it and enjoy it, I decided on this theory:

A complete stranger bought this brand new cute stuffed monkey.  They bought it for the sole purpose of surprising a stranger with it, and today was the day! 

And then I became inspired… 

You know, the whole premise behind the Kindness Activist project is this:  if we see kindness in action, if we receive it or are told about it, we in turn are inspired to BE KIND – to go out and spread more kindness in the world ourselves. 

SO THAT IS JUST WHAT I DID!!!  I got everything I had come to get at Ikea (and then some, because that is what always happens at Ikea…).  Then I headed for the children’s section to check out the stuffed animals.  To my surprise, the monkey from the parking lot was NOT being sold at Ikea.  But there WERE lots of other stuffed things to choose from!  (Side note: I often look at Ikea’s stuffed toy collection, and it is bizarre…  I don’t know if you have checked it out before, but they have strange stuff!!  For years they have had a stuffed red heart with ARMS – why it has arms I am not sure – but that one is on clearance now (so if you are really hankering for a heart with arms better rush to Ikea soon…).  They have, I am not making this up, STUFFED VEGETABLES.  Today I saw stuffed BROCCOLI.  I like broccoli as much as the next guy, but I don’t think if I was a kid I would want to PLAY WITH IT.  And they have these little stuffed RATS.  I have always thought they were gross and wondered WHO in the world buys them.  Today I found out – 7 year old boys seem to think they are amazing!  “Mom, look, a little stuffed RAT!”.  Ewwww.

Anyway, I narrowed it down to a stuffed bunny and a stuffed panda.  In the end, the panda won out.  I checked out, put my purchases in my car, and set off with the panda to find the perfect car to put it on!! 

The Ikea parking lot is crowded on the weekends,
so there were loads of cars to choose from

I decided I would choose a car with a car seat in it, because not all adults dig stuff animals but I THINK all kids car seat size do.  So I found this car, and I put the panda on it:

Panda hiding on unsuspecting car...

Doesn’t it look cute??? 

Cute little panda butt

I watched as a couple of people walked back to their cars in the area, but they weren’t the owners of the “lucky car”, so I left.  I put a Kindness Activist card with the bear, so the people who find it would know it was done in kindness and wasn’t, like, some skanky old bear with poison on it or something 😊.  So maybe they will find it and send me a photo, who knows.

What I do know is that was $4.99 well spent.  It was fun picking it out, fun choosing which car to put it on, and fun imagining the people’s surprise when they found it. 

Thanks for inspiring me, stuffed monkey giver. 

And maybe reading this has inspired YOU to do something kind for a stranger on a sunny spring day.  I hope so!

(You can follow Kindness Activist on Twitter @KindActivist and on Facebook at Kindness Activist)

Ikea Kindness

As I look over the stories so far in this blog, I see that many of them are big, grand gestures of kindness.  And I want to make sure that people reading are reminded that KINDNESS comes in small bits, too.  J  Kindness can be simple, quick, and easy!!

So let’s quickly look at one example of kindness that anyone could do.  I will call it IKEA KINDNESS, but it could just as easily be called Safeway Kindness, or WalMart Kindness, or Publix Kindness.

TADA - Ikea!

David and I were shopping at Ikea.  We had, maybe, 7 items to purchase.  As usual, the lines were super long.  There is never a “quick” line at Ikea.  While waiting in line, I noticed the guy behind us only had a couple of things.  So when we got to the front, I gestured that he could go ahead of us.  He was surprised and happy.

Then we let the NEXT person go ahead of us.  They, too, were excited to receive this tiny gesture of kindness and be able to get through the line a tiny bit quicker to get on with their day (which likely involved hours of putting together Ikea furniture…).

My point in telling you this story is this:  it wasn’t a huge sacrifice on our part.  Letting two people get ahead of us in line didn’t change the world.  But it DID help make those people’s days a little brighter.  It showed them that there are kind people around.  It didn’t “put us out” – it probably added 4 minutes onto our wait time, which we used to stand around and tell jokes. 

Sometimes, if you look around, there are simple acts of kindness you can do that make other people’s lives a little better.  Let them ahead of you in line.  Offer to take their empty shopping cart back to the store as you walk in.  Make space for them in traffic to get into your lane when they are signaling. 

These are all teeny, tiny acts in the grand scheme of things.  But teeny tiny things add up.  And I believe that in the end, they make the world a better place.

Now get out there and BE KIND.

And tell me your stories of kindness!  Email me at kindnessactivist@gmail.com