One thing that I find so
admirable in people is the ability to be vulnerable. It is not easy opening up, showing
your “less than perfect” side. Especially
these days. It seems like everyone has filters on their Instagram photos and,
if you believe people’s Facebook statuses, the whole world has happy marriages
and perfectly adjusted children.
That’s why, when someone
is willing to open up and be vulnerable, I take time to embrace it.
One underused part of the
Little Yellow Free Pantry is a special request box. There are instructions on it in English and
Spanish that say if you have a special food need, write your name, phone
number, and what you need on a little card and leave it. There is a pen in the box, too (though it
often finds its way home with visitors and has to be replaced).
I check that little box
religiously but rarely find any notes in it.
But Monday I did! I opened it to
find a card, folded in half, that said:
GUS (phone number)
Vegan.
Thank you!
(big heart drawing)
You can bet it wasn’t long
after I found it that I gave Gus a call!
He was surprised that someone was actually getting in touch with him. In fact, he was sort of speechless. I explained that I found his note and just
needed his shopping list. He stammered,
unsure of what to do.
So, we talked a bit. I asked if he lived in the area. Nope, he told me, he just happened to drive
by the pantry when he was making some deliveries. He explained that times are tough right now –
he is between jobs. He was almost out of
gas when he noticed the pantry and stopped.
He said he is fasting for Lenten.
He is eating a vegan diet for the month and eating fish on Fridays. I commended his efforts and again asked for a
shopping list. But he could only sputter
out a couple of items. I think that is
when I told him how much I respected his vulnerability. “You know, not many people are brave enough
to put a note in that box,” I told him. “And
I am really glad you did. I love when
people are honest and up-front about what they need. That’s what this whole project is here for.” He confessed that it hadn’t been easy to
write the note. He said he stood
squarely in front of the pantry as he wrote it, so that no one passing by could
see him.
After we talked a while more, I said, “Listen, Gus. You need
some TIME. Let’s hang up. You think about what you want! Text you list back to me at this number, and I
will shop for it!”. The silence made it
feel like he was pinching himself to see if this was really happening. I asked if he had enough gas to come to pick
the groceries up, and volunteered to deliver them if he didn’t.
A few hours later his very
carefully crafted shopping list popped in.
He is using an app to plan his meals, so the items he was requesting
were very specific:
Half an avocado
A 1 inch piece of ginger root
Half a bunch of radish
1/8 a cup of pine nuts
And the like. Well, Gus, you were brave, you were
vulnerable, you deserve much more than HALF AN AVOCADO! So, I loaded up 2 heavy bags of items that I had
in pantry storage and we headed out to buy the rest (and more healthy things
that were not on his list but he deserved).
Let me tell you, finding
Nutritional Yeast Flakes was not easy!
But the 2nd store had them, so we were good to go! We drove over to Gus’ place and met him. What.
A. Cool. Guy!
David and I both got a great feel from him. He was thankful and kind. He assured us if there was anything he didn’t
need he would share it with others. I sure
am glad he stopped to write a note – I am glad we got to meet him! |
| Nutritional Yeast Flakes, baby!! |
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $127.85
A neighbor recently posted
in a Facebook group that she was looking for glow sticks for a “glow party” for
a first grade classroom. Well, she had me
at GLOW STICKs, and I was ALL IN AT GLOW PARTY!!! I mean, what even IS a glow party?? I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted to be
invited!!
I told her I would hook
them up then ran out shopping. I panicked
a bit when I couldn’t find glow sticks, but a clerk helped me (first she took
me to the GLUE STICKS and I had to explain, no GLOW, not GLUE…). I stocked up on all of the glow stuff I could
find in 2 stores (blow necklaces, glow sticks, glow balls, glow wands –
anything that had “glow” in the title went in my cart!) and dropped them off at
the requestor’s home.
She contacted me after the
glow party and told me that it went really well. She said, “We really appreciate your going
out and buying the glow in the dark things!
The kids voted on a “glow in the dark blanket party”, which is not
something either of us teachers had ever heard of! And of course, we were going to do the party
the next day. The lead teacher is nicer
than I am, I would have either limited theme choices to stuff we could do
overnight or postponed the party until Monday.
You really “saved our bacon”. “
 |
| 1st grade GLOW PARTY! |
The lead teacher sent this
note to the students’ parents: “The Glow
in the Dark – Compliment Party. Mrs. A
and I were able to get some glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, and
balls. Mrs. A. found an organization
that provided our class with numerous items that the class enjoyed in the effort
to celebrate their dedication to learning and kindness. We even played a glow in the dark ball
game. How fun! The students used their flashlights and glow
sticks to read today. Some used their
blankets as tents while others held them.
The classroom looked very creative.”
Glad to do it, first
graders! Everyone should get to
celebrate with a glow party (and teachers in the US should not have to spend
money out of their pockets to make special events like that happen).
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $47.22
Another neighbor recently
asked for an armoire in a group.
She didn’t get the
armoire, but she got a whollllle lot more.
She was looking for the armoire
to solve a vexing problem, one that was delicate and probably a bit difficult
to admit in public. But it turned out
when she admitted it, when she was willing to be VULNERABLE, people came
out of the woodwork not only with suggestions and ideas, but with, “Us, too! We have the same issue!!”. All of the sudden she was not alone, plus she
had creative ideas on how to try and solve the problem.
I did not have ideas to
help her, but I DID have Kindness Activist funds, and time to go get her a
special treat. I left this on her
doorstep:
Sometimes when you are
down and having a hard day, you just need some flowers. And chocolate. And maybe wine. They won’t make the difficulty go away, but
they WILL remind you that there are many good things in life.
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $27.41
And finally for this report, my partner David was approached at the gas
station by a woman who asked for $10 to help fill her tank. She had an old truck, which was probably a
gas guzzler. At first David said
no. But as he filled up his own tank, he
had a change of heart. Gas is really
expensive right now, and people who were already living paycheck to paycheck
are obviously getting hit the hardest.
He went up to the woman and asked if she needed the gas to get to work. She said yes, she is a security guard (her logoed
shirt confirmed that). He said he would
be happy to put $10 in her tank, and proceeded to do so.
When
he pulled out, the woman stayed at the pump.
She was asking others to pitch in $10, too. I hope she got enough to fill that truck
up. And I hope she made it to work on
time.
This
was such a good example to me of how when everyone pitches in, things can get
done.
Kindness Activist funds
spent: $10.00
