Sharon, your RAK will result in others, and we all need more of them!

Chase you are so right.

Here is something that went on here last week.

At a restaurant here in Charlevoix, all meals were free, one day last week. No one knew this was happening until they received their check. A note on their check said, "Your check has been paid by an anonymous donor. All the donor asks is that you do something to help someone else or make a donation to a cause you believe in".

This act even made one of the major morning news programs.

Nancy

you just made me feel so good! Thank you for sharing :-)

I should have looked for a link... had the facts wrong...

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Random Acts

Sharon, You were someones special angel yesterday. Thank you!

Sharon, what an amazing and confirming story of your faith in humanity. You're a very special person, but then again, I knew that!

Sharon, I love these random acts of kindness stories and a special person such as you doing them makes them even more special.

Sharon, good for you, I just took a dozen eggs to the kid who runs the local feed mill, does that count? LOL

If more of us did just one nice thing a day, it would be a heckuva a lot better world, that's for sure.

Annie

You go girl! Talk about paying it forward! I'm sure that lady will be telling that story to everyone she meets, and yea those random acts of kindness DO make one feel all gushy inside :-)

Alexa

the stories give me chills and actually tears in my eyes.

You're right it feels so good. a couple weeks ago, I stood in the rain in the BJ's parking lot for 20 minutes helping a couple ladies try to maneuver a rather large lawn chair into their rather small car...I had to hoist around some heavy bags of kitty litter or sometihng, and some cases of water and eventually we got it! I was drenched but felt good too.

I especially love it when the opportunity comes up when Will is with me. He's learning how good it feels, too.:-)

Stacy

Chase,

I'm so glad that worked out well for both you & the other woman.

My DH? Not so much.

When we lived in NH, we had the most lovely elderly widowed neighbor woman...upper 80s if she was a day. She was always friendly & we visited outside but she was a bit standoffish (wouldn't come over for tea, etc.). Apparently, she'd not liked the people who owned our home previously & that was enough to make us suspect.

Anyway, to set the scene...

Mid-winter. New Hampshire. Cold. Snowing. Mid-day & no plows yet through.

DH had gone to the new grocery store about a mile from the house. Driving home, he noticed our neighbor trudging through the snow pushing her little cart full of groceries towards our houses.

Without really thinking about what he was doing...DH pulled the car over to the side of the street & got out...walked towards her calling her name, "Pearl, please let me help you home with those groceries. It's cold & the snows getting to deep to push your cart."

Apparently, Pearl did not recognize him bundled up in his heavy winter coat with hood & she turned coming at him with her purse swinging! She caught him upside the face...SMACK! Another driver saw Pearl haul off & take aim at DH so he pulled over & ran to help Pearl fend off her "attacker"! DH ended up spending a couple hours at the police station filling out forms & having a "conversation" with the officers. Neither Pearl nor us ever mentioned the incident. I don't believe she ever realized it was DH she smacked! But, I'm sure she told all of her friends about how she was "attacked" on the way home from the grocery store in the snow!!!

Nevertheless, random acts of kindness are laudable. :)

/tricia

I try to do a RAK every chance I get because I see so many "me first" out there. We have become a "it's all about me" society to the point I'm ashamed of a lot of people. Good for you Sharon and it does make you feel better.

I'm still not picking up hitch-hikers! LOL

Beverly

Sharon, As you know, there are long-lasting intangible rewards for RAK. Beau gets stickers on his sticker poster for "good deeds".

Beverly, My DH always cringes when we see a hitch-hiker because he knows I'm going to go into my trance imagining what direr straights the HH might be in. I saw an elderly well groomed man hhing. He was on the other side of the highway where I was stopped at the light so I had time to debate with myself. I did a u-turn and picked him up. Sme things I learned during the 25 miles back to his home:
he was 78
working at the lumber yard
car was repoed while he was in the hospital
hitch-hiked everyday 25 miles to and from work, rain or shine
kids on the school bus were the worst--they hollered obscenities at him and threw things
had to leave for work 2 hours early because it usually took a long time to get a ride
no co-workers live out his way so they went will to take him home
he was an author in an earlier life
great-grand daughter was in Iraq

The next day I went to the lumber yard to see what could be done for Mr. Sarvis; the manager said "hey, I gave him a job!".

I told DH that I knew I was going to wake up every morning worried about Mr. Sarvis getting a ride to work. He said you better not be driving to Zephyrhills to get him! I still worry about him especially since the lumber yard went out of business a couple of months ago.

I am always friendly to people when I have a chance. Except men who are alone, although if they are accompanied by a nice 4-legged creature I will speak with them!

Sharon, you did a wonderful thing, and I hope the woman pays that forward.

Cathy, I would worry about Mr. Sarvis too. Poor man - has to go through all that at his age.

Today, the guy who parks his mobile pet grooming van at the beach frequently (illegally, LOL), noticed that Odo's nails were tap-tapping on the sidewalk, so he offered a free Dremel-grinding. I told him Odo wouldn't stand for a stranger to do that, but 2 minutes later he was done and no shrieks or anything. Good job too. I know it was to hopefully get my business in the future, but still, he didn't have to do that, and he didn't try to sell me while he was doing it. I took his card and will refer business to him when I can.

Awwww.

Nice RAK, Sharon. I'm sure Clive would agree. darfc.

Sharon, what a nice story, and clever solution.

Tricia, your poor husband. If nothing else, I bet he brightened the police officers' day when they figured out what had really happened. They probably got a good laugh on your DH's behalf.

Sally

I really enjoy reading about these experiences and random acts of kindness. I guess you could say that I performed one many years ago - something that I bet some others of you here have also done.

My oldest son (while in high school) had a friend who was having problems at home with his mother and step dad. Chuck asked if Joe could stay with us for a while. I said sure. I fed him, I made him get up and catch the bus for school every day, I asked about his homework in the evening, I made sure he came in at night, washed his clothes, etc. I cared about his well being and made sure he was safe, just like I did for my own boys. He was a good kid and not any trouble at all while he was staying with us. He stayed for several months.

In all that time and after he returned home, I never heard from his mother. She never called to ask me how he was doing. She never came to the house. She never offered to help pay for groceries or anything. After he went back home, she never thanked me at all for taking in her son for all those months. I found this to be very strange.

I did not take him in to be thanked or paid. I took him in because he was unhappy at home and needed to get away for a while. If one of my boys were so unhappy and wanted to leave our home, I would have hoped for the same solution for him. I've just never understood why she never contacted me at all.

Teresa

Very cool Sharon! I'm sure that will come back to you three-fold one way or another.

I've picked up HH or two when I lived up at the lake. It was always some local that had car problems. The ones on the interstate were to scary for this guy.

There have been several reports on the news of various RAK's down here. I think it's great.

LOL EJ!!

David

Cathy,you are one brave lady.

I would worry about him too though.

I try to do nice things as often as possible. It just feels good! The other day a man was hunched over his engine with the hood open on the side of the road. Of course it was pouring down rain. I stopped and let him use my cell phone to call his wife. I even offered him a ride home, but he declined. I suppose even kindness can be looked on as a bit suspicious at times (see Tricie's story!). I also do mid-day visits for dogs with my pet sitting business. I had a light schedule about a month ago and cleaned up everyone's backyard, and believe me a couple hadn't been pooper-scooped all winter! I never got a thank-you for that, which would have been nice, but I did it as a kindness and with that didn't expect anything in return.

Duane