I am a firm believer in being kind everyday. I try to do what ever I can for who ever I can, sometimes it comes around and bites me in the butt though as doing something nice for some people = they think they can hit you up over and over sigh. I am very very fortunate I know that and I appreciate it, I believe in paying it forward. I also believe in Karma and if I do good things for others hopefully good things will happen to me. Last year I was fortunate enough to do many awesome things for others, this year I will scale down a bit but will still do my best to help as many people as I can. One thing I would like to share and it is simple to do with sales and dollar store buys is providing backpacks of school supplies to schools in lower income areas. You can find back packs on clearance usually after school has started, collect pencils, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, colored pencils, boxes of tissues, rolls of paper towels, spiral notebooks, folders pretty much whatever you can find. I can usually put together 15-20 backpacks over the course of a year to get ready for the next school year. Biggest cost is usually the paper towels believe it or not. You would be surprised at how appreciative the schools are as they have quite a bit of children who do not have this stuff and then the teachers have to supply. Also grab coats when they are cheap at goodwill and donate to schools to give to children who don't have them. If you not into kids, animal shelters love your old towels and blankets they don't care if they are stained and have fraying they appreciate anything they can get.

If I get really good customer service, I make a point to go to the manager right away and tell them that the employee was wonderful. Not only does it make the employee happy, it makes the manager happy that they're being called up front for GOOD news for a change. I also try to always be nice to cashiers-even if they're crabby. I give them a smile and say thank you. If they seem to be having a bad day I try to joke with them or tell them I really appreciate that they're helping me, it must be tough to deal with people all day long. That usually elicits a smile and I hope it brightened their day. I also buy $5 Starbucks gift cards this time of the year and hand them out to crossing guards. Those poor folks are always standing out there on the street corners in all kinds of weather making sure the pedestrians are safe (not just kids, adults too!).

A few months ago, I received a wonderful act of kindness. I am in Canada and had gone to Fargo, ND for some shopping. I had taken US funds on my trip and used the last of the $ to pay for purchases at Kmart. However, after the cashier took the cash, he announced that I was short by $1.11. I asked that he return my cash and I would pay for my purchases by credit card. He refused to return the cash, saying that he already rang it in and that I should use my CC to pay the $1.11. I didn't want to use my CC for this tiny amount, so we were at a stalemate. Fortunately, a gentleman standing behind me in line paid the $1.11. This was a very kind gesture and I was extremely grateful.

Teens usually get a bad rap in my area, but I find the ones I come across so kind. A few weeks ago, my partner and I were walking on a sidewalk. I heard voices behind us, and it was 2 boys, about 13 I’d guess, coming up behind us on their bikes. Dark hoodies, a bit forboding. We stepped aside so they could pass. As they did, one of them said, ”Thank you, miss. Thank you, sir.” Small gesture, but appreciated.