Parking Kindness

Matt Pauli is a cool guy.  He is sweet, smart, funny.  Oh, and he is a CLOWN.  Like, a literal real life clown. 

You miiiight not want to call Matt if you have brick work to be done...

Matt clowns at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.  He works for Healthy Humor, an organization that sends clowns into children’s hospitals around the country (full disclosure:  my sweetheart also works for Healthy Humor – it is a great organization). 

Anyway, recently Matt went to work at the hospital and went out of his way to park in a kind manner.  I don’t think he thought of it in that way, he just thought he didn’t need to get in or out his passenger door, so why not make things easier for other people in the parking garage.  Here’s how he put it, “There are two parking spaces in the garage at Johns Hopkins tightly tucked in between two concrete pillars. When I parked for my clown shift, I put my car as close to the pillar on the passenger side as I could, as I didn't need access to that door.”

There is the first kind action in this story – Matt parked considerately, leaving space for whoever decided to pull in next to him.  When I asked him if he often parked that way, he explained, “…it is as much about trying to minimize the chances that someone will scrape against my car while trying to squeeze into a tight spot as it is about anything else.  I have seen SUVs parked in the spaces between the columns straddling the lines to ensure that no one can attempt to park next to them.  Because of the columns, the spaces are just a little more narrow than standard.  I get very frustrated when I see a single car in two parking spaces.  I was taught that one of the responsibilities of driving is that you have to follow all the rules.  Fitting one car into one space seems like an easy one to follow and failing to do so makes a driver look not only rude but incompetent, in my mind.” 

Yes Matt, that makes total sense.  The rules of the road also apply to the garage, but still, many drivers do not follow them.  But you did, and you went out of your way to squeeze close to the column to let another driver have a wider space.  It might not have felt like you were doing anything special at the time, but honestly you were.  You were being KIND, and really, isn’t that an easy thing we could all do if we took a moment to think when we pull into a parking spot?

But that isn’t the only kind thing that happened…  Matt said, “When I came back at the end of my shift, I saw that someone had left a note on the door of my car. I thought, ‘Oh crap, that’s never good’.  I was afraid that someone had scraped my car trying to get into the space next to me.  I was ready to get very frustrated and angry.  But I was mistaken in that assumption.”

LOOK AT THE NOTE SOMEONE LEFT HIM TUCKED IN THE WINDOW OF HIS CAR!

Kind note - simple gestures like this mean a lot

After reading only half the note, Matt really wanted to show it someone.  He rushed to find his co-worker, but she was already pulling out of her space.  So, as he drove home he thought about taking a photo of the note and sharing the story.  Within an hour of posting it on Facebook nearly 100 people had “liked” it or commented.  This simple gesture really resonated with people.

Isn’t that terrific?  Someone took the time to notice, write the note, and put it on his car.  And this was not just a person going grocery shopping – this was a person who was going to the hospital for a family member to get a serious treatment.  Isn’t is so kind that they wrote a note of thanks?  I think Matt expressed it perfectly by saying, “There are too many things that can bring us tension. I'm a little in awe that this person chose to express the release of some tension to a stranger.  And that action can serve as an example to me to release some of my own tension."

I am guessing the next time Matt parks at the hospital he will have a smile on his face remembering the blue note...

How many times have you been tempted to (or actually did…) leave a note on a car with a COMPLAINT?  “Thanks for taking up 2 parking spots, jerk!” or “Hmmm, failed driver’s ed, did you??”.  But have you ever taken a minute or two to write a POSITIVE NOTE for someone??  The note the stranger left for Matt now hangs on his refrigerator. 

This story shows two easy ways to be kind – things most of us could do every day if we thought about it:  be a considerate parker, and leave positive notes for people.  Keep a pad of post-its in your glove compartment or backpack to be ready – I dare you! 

Spread a little kindness.  We all know the world could use more of it.

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!

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