Kindness Continued

I have not been keeping good track of my daily acts of kindness, to be honest with you. But I have been sporadically writing them down over the past three weeks, and so being that it it the holiday season, life is busy, and I am still doing my best to be nice every day, here is a summary of those weeks:

• I held the door at a gas station for a man walking with not one, but TWO canes. He was using them as someone would use a walker. If you know me at all, you know patience is not one of my strengths, especially when it comes to simply running into the gas station to pay or get a drink or something. But seeing this man struggle to walk up to the door was just so sad to me, that I had to wait it out for him to get there to ensure he didn't have to maneuver the doors by himself.
• I have a co-worker who has been having a lot of stuff going on recently, and she got turned down for a new job. Having just had this happen to me myself, I got her a "hang in there" card and tried to at least make her smile. 
• I made these hats. 

                                                

• The kids mother laughed a lot when we put them on, and the kids really are smiling behind those makeshift yellow faces. So it was a win for everyone. I put the faces on the kids because while their mother can choose to put their pictures all over the internet, I would like to respect their privacy in case she doesn't want them everywhere.
• I went to a store that sells specific things for a specific, expensive toy that my husband happens to own. Pardon the crypticness, but it isn't Christmas yet and I don't want to give away any spoilers! Anyway, this store caters to mostly men, but I complimented the man helping me for never treating me like I am an idiot because I am female or trying to take advantage of me. I believe this particular brand prides itself on good customer service and creating brand loyalty, so I know this meant something to them to hear it. 
• At least twice in the past few weeks I have left my change behind in a vending machine. I have a Diet Pepsi addiction, and I figure other people should benefit from my addiction if they can. 
• Then there was this:  

                                               

• I was on my way home from work the other night and I saw a fire engine in front of a neighbors house. People who I assumed live in the home were standing in the front lawn, talking to the fireman, with the lights from the fire truck highlighting their conversation. The house looked fine from the outside, but a truck with lights on and a fireman in gear standing in the front yard usually means something happened. I had this thought when I was hanging a Christmas card on my fridge. I had been thinking that I wish I had known what had happened so I could think of something to do for them, when I spied this Target gift card hanging on the fridge. I have had this gift card for a long time, and I have totally forgotten it was there to be used. So Friday morning, I stuck the card in a leftover envelope, wrote the greeting on the front of the envelope, and stuck it in their door on my way to work. When I stopped by there was a van in the driveway advertising fire and water cleanup, so I guess something did happen. Not that a home fire would ever be pleasant, but right around the holidays is even worse. 

So when the new year starts, I will hopefully go back to blogging weekly. But the point is really do just do the random acts of kindness, not necessarily blog about them on time. After the shooting in Newtown, I know there have been a lot of movements for random acts of kindness. I was really pleased to see these and I hope that it can continue. I know that I have been doing things like this before the Newtown tragedy, and I will continue to do it afterward.

Happy holiday season to all (few) readers. I'll be back to blogging after the holidays. Peace on Earth, goodwill towards all, and do a random act of kindness or two over the holidays.