Week of FREE STUFF
So last week I forked over some money to make people happy. This week I wanted to things that didn't cost me anything.
Nice to a pregnant lady.
Event:
I hated being pregnant. It was awful. Seriously, I felt betrayed by all mothers everywhere because no one told me the truth. Pregnancy SUCKS. Your back hurts, you can't see your feet, you get acid reflux, and you can't sleep.
Now I whenever I see a pregnant woman I go out of my way to be nice to her.
The only good thing about preganacy was that strangers were much nicer to you. But once you walked anywhere with a stroller, they turn mean again.
So I went to the mall to buy shampoo, well I went to do other things and one of those things happened to be buy shampoo.
A VERY pregnant lady stopped doing some man's hair and helped me check out.
"How far along are you?"
She rubbed her basketball belly and frowned "9 months."
"Oh you've hit that point where you just want the kid out of you, haven't you."
She looked so tired, but her hair and make up was still perfect. "Yes. You have no idea."
"Is this your first?"
"Nope, it's my third."
WHAT! I have one kid and I look like I just rolled out of bed, this woman has two kids and one on the way and she looks like a model. Me: "Did anyone tell you that you're cute pregnant?"
Reaction
She smiled. "No, but you just made my day."
"Seriously you look adorable."
Then I told her how I got my daughter to come out a month early. I yelled at one of my students for asking me, "what if the plastic forks go bad?" Three hours later I was in the hospital.
Will I do it again? Yes.
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? Total time about 2 minutes
How much effort? none
Reflections on Blogging:
I've found myself constantly LOOKING for opportunities to be nice to people. Stopping people and telling them what a nice coat they have, smiling at people, saying please and thank you, telling everyone to have a nice day.
After every interaction I wonder if its was "big" enough to blog about.
So I wonder, has this little experience affected you? Have you done something nice to someone you might not normally have? Let me know.
I want to THANK EVERYONE who has read this blog and posted a comment or said something directly to me. It made such a huge difference how I've been treating this whole thing. Thank you.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Day 6 Homeless person
Help a homeless person.
This was done on 12-4
Background:
I decided to do this back in November and I asked my 8th grade students to help me come up with ideas.
I received the following suggestions multiple times.
Bake cookie <-- I think they wanted cookies
Donate (clothes, books or time)<-- I do this a few times a year, I don't really see it as being nice and I get a tax write off for it)
Help a homeless person. <-- In my rose color glasses, there aren't homeless people in Howard County. Now I know for a fact this isn't true. But when I read the suggestions I thought, "where the hell am I going to find a homeless person?"
Event:
I was driving to the drug store to drop off an RX for my daughter (She had an ear infection) and I thought to myself, I should do something nice for someone. I walk trough the drug store and sadly no niceness opportunities rises, besides my normal, "thank you and have a nice day."
I walked back to my car and start to pull out of the parking stop when I see him. He's older then I am, maybe in his 50's but clearly his life has been hard and it shows all over his weather worn face.
"Excuse me." he calls out.
I'm half way out of my parking spot and I roll down my window. He's keeping his distance.
"I hate to ask, I really do." He starts off. "I've lost my job with Chrysler and my wife and I are trying to get a room for the night."
Honestly my first thought: He picked me on a good month.
"It's getting cold."
It was, I loathe winter, and the thought of being outside more then 10 minutes makes me grumpy. I looked down at my car display, 43 degrees.
I dug through my purse. I knew I had cash, but a woefully small amount. I'm a debt card sort of girl, cash reminds me of how clumsy I am.
I hand me all my money, which I'm pretty sure was 4 dollars. "I'm so sorry, I wish I could give you more."
"No, thank you God bless you." This God bless you doesn't give me the same feeling it normally does. Normally I'm flustered and flattered. This one makes me sad.
"Good luck, sir." I said, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else. My normal have a nice day isn't going to cut it.
"We need it." He said.
Reaction:
I pulled away but he clung to my brain. Wasn't there more I could do? But how far should I go? The cynical side of me thinks he's just going to use my money for drugs. But there's the side of me that believes everything everyone says. Should I go to the ATM and withdraw twenty dollars? Should I go to the motel near by and pay for a room?
As I was pumping my gas, I looked across the street and saw the Dunkin Donuts. (BTW there's a lot of Dunkin Donuts where I live and work- not as many as in Boston.
I had a gift card I had bought my friend for completing NANOWRIMO (Check out my other blog which explains it)
Sorry Alicia, but I think this guys needs a warm cup of coffee more.
So I drove back to the parking lot, ready to give him the gift card. But he was gone.
I went later that night to pick up my daughter's RX and still no sight of him.
Will I do it again? If I can find him again, I'll give him the gift card. If not Alicia get's it.
How much did it cost me? $4.00 and guilt.
How much time did it take? 30 seconds and I drove back around for a minute.
How much effort? Not much
This was done on 12-4
Background:
I decided to do this back in November and I asked my 8th grade students to help me come up with ideas.
I received the following suggestions multiple times.
Bake cookie <-- I think they wanted cookies
Donate (clothes, books or time)<-- I do this a few times a year, I don't really see it as being nice and I get a tax write off for it)
Help a homeless person. <-- In my rose color glasses, there aren't homeless people in Howard County. Now I know for a fact this isn't true. But when I read the suggestions I thought, "where the hell am I going to find a homeless person?"
Event:
I was driving to the drug store to drop off an RX for my daughter (She had an ear infection) and I thought to myself, I should do something nice for someone. I walk trough the drug store and sadly no niceness opportunities rises, besides my normal, "thank you and have a nice day."
I walked back to my car and start to pull out of the parking stop when I see him. He's older then I am, maybe in his 50's but clearly his life has been hard and it shows all over his weather worn face.
"Excuse me." he calls out.
I'm half way out of my parking spot and I roll down my window. He's keeping his distance.
"I hate to ask, I really do." He starts off. "I've lost my job with Chrysler and my wife and I are trying to get a room for the night."
Honestly my first thought: He picked me on a good month.
"It's getting cold."
It was, I loathe winter, and the thought of being outside more then 10 minutes makes me grumpy. I looked down at my car display, 43 degrees.
I dug through my purse. I knew I had cash, but a woefully small amount. I'm a debt card sort of girl, cash reminds me of how clumsy I am.
I hand me all my money, which I'm pretty sure was 4 dollars. "I'm so sorry, I wish I could give you more."
"No, thank you God bless you." This God bless you doesn't give me the same feeling it normally does. Normally I'm flustered and flattered. This one makes me sad.
"Good luck, sir." I said, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else. My normal have a nice day isn't going to cut it.
"We need it." He said.
Reaction:
I pulled away but he clung to my brain. Wasn't there more I could do? But how far should I go? The cynical side of me thinks he's just going to use my money for drugs. But there's the side of me that believes everything everyone says. Should I go to the ATM and withdraw twenty dollars? Should I go to the motel near by and pay for a room?
As I was pumping my gas, I looked across the street and saw the Dunkin Donuts. (BTW there's a lot of Dunkin Donuts where I live and work- not as many as in Boston.
I had a gift card I had bought my friend for completing NANOWRIMO (Check out my other blog which explains it)
Sorry Alicia, but I think this guys needs a warm cup of coffee more.
So I drove back to the parking lot, ready to give him the gift card. But he was gone.
I went later that night to pick up my daughter's RX and still no sight of him.
Will I do it again? If I can find him again, I'll give him the gift card. If not Alicia get's it.
How much did it cost me? $4.00 and guilt.
How much time did it take? 30 seconds and I drove back around for a minute.
How much effort? Not much
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Day 5 Thank the elementary school
Task: Thank the elementary school
This action was completed on December 3.
Event:
Here's what you need to know. My school is really two school attached to each other.
I work on the middle school side. I NEVER cross over to the Elementary school side. The two schools share one common area where the copy machines are located. Middle school teachers NEVER use the elementary school's copy machine NOR do we ever cross over to their side of the building. We might smile and exchange quick pleasantries but despite sharing the same air for 180 days of the year, we are complete strangers. Or at the very least, I am.
Elementary school is not a place I could ever work. It's not my thing and I have a huge amount of respect for those who do.
So the day I went to Dunkin Donuts to buy coffee for strangers, I also bought Munchkins for the Elementary staff.
Do you remember the Cashier from Day 3? Well she was the one who stuff the munchkin box. It was over stuffed with muchkins.
I also printed out a little note that said, "All my students know how to read. Thank you, HMS teacher."
Reaction:
Unknown. I did not see their reactions because I was in a team meeting when the teachers would have filtered in. That's fine. I know by the end of the day the box of donuts were gone and the note was still on the table. The next day was business as usual.
Will I do it again?: Yep
How much did it cost me? $5.00
How much time did it take? 2 minutes, to buy the donuts, to type out the note, to print out the note and to walk it into the elementary staff lounge.
How much effort? Not a whole lot.
This action was completed on December 3.
Event:
Here's what you need to know. My school is really two school attached to each other.
I work on the middle school side. I NEVER cross over to the Elementary school side. The two schools share one common area where the copy machines are located. Middle school teachers NEVER use the elementary school's copy machine NOR do we ever cross over to their side of the building. We might smile and exchange quick pleasantries but despite sharing the same air for 180 days of the year, we are complete strangers. Or at the very least, I am.
Elementary school is not a place I could ever work. It's not my thing and I have a huge amount of respect for those who do.
So the day I went to Dunkin Donuts to buy coffee for strangers, I also bought Munchkins for the Elementary staff.
Do you remember the Cashier from Day 3? Well she was the one who stuff the munchkin box. It was over stuffed with muchkins.
I also printed out a little note that said, "All my students know how to read. Thank you, HMS teacher."
Reaction:
Unknown. I did not see their reactions because I was in a team meeting when the teachers would have filtered in. That's fine. I know by the end of the day the box of donuts were gone and the note was still on the table. The next day was business as usual.
Will I do it again?: Yep
How much did it cost me? $5.00
How much time did it take? 2 minutes, to buy the donuts, to type out the note, to print out the note and to walk it into the elementary staff lounge.
How much effort? Not a whole lot.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Day 4 Buy something for a cashier.
Task Buy something for a cashier.
This action was done on December 1. But I am posting it now. It's my game and I can change the rules. :-)
What happened:
I have a 22 month old baby girl, who loves to run around. I went to Target to buy coffee creamer and undershirts for her. I feel dumb walking around with her in a shopping cart when I only have two things I need to buy. So I let her run around. A parenting mistake for sure, since about half way through the shopping experience she decided to be that little girl who goes spread eagle on the floor and now I"m the mom who has to coax her up.
Anyway we get to the line and I see the candy display. I picked up two packages of Turtle Candies, because I love them and I though maybe someone else would like them too.
I was the third person in line. The woman checking out was having a very difficult time, her gift cards didn't have as much money on them as she thought and her credit card was declined. Yikes. The cashier never lost her cool, she helped the woman along. All in all the transaction took much longer then it should have.
Meanwhile my daughter is now sitting on the conveyor belt saying Hi to everyone.
The next woman in front of me had 3 fake flowers and none of them had price tags.
Again a long transaction.
Then came our turn. She started scanning my items. As she scanned the candy I said, "One of those are for you."
She looked up at me, "Excuse me?"
"I picked that one up for you. You were so nice to all the people in front of me, you never lost your cool. It's the holidays and I'm sure people are a little cranky right now."
Reaction:
She smiled, "God Bless you child." <-- I should say I love it when people say this to me. "God bless you" isn't a phrase I use very much unless someone is sneezing. I never say "God bless you" as a thank you. And when people say that to me, I like to think not only are they thanking me but they are bringing in the Higher Up, the Big Guy. For me, its a little bit more meaningful then just a thank you. "Oh thank you." I said. "Turtles are my favorite." "Good I was worried you wouldn't like them." "Honey, I've been working since Black Friday with no days off. Thank you." We finished the transaction with smiles. Here's the thing, the woman behind me was smiling too. What I've been finding with this is that it's not just making one stranger happy but anyone who is witnessing the even too.
Will I do it again?: Yep
How much did it cost me? $.99
How much time did it take? 10 seconds.
How much effort? Reaching for two bars instead on one.
This action was done on December 1. But I am posting it now. It's my game and I can change the rules. :-)
What happened:
I have a 22 month old baby girl, who loves to run around. I went to Target to buy coffee creamer and undershirts for her. I feel dumb walking around with her in a shopping cart when I only have two things I need to buy. So I let her run around. A parenting mistake for sure, since about half way through the shopping experience she decided to be that little girl who goes spread eagle on the floor and now I"m the mom who has to coax her up.
Anyway we get to the line and I see the candy display. I picked up two packages of Turtle Candies, because I love them and I though maybe someone else would like them too.
I was the third person in line. The woman checking out was having a very difficult time, her gift cards didn't have as much money on them as she thought and her credit card was declined. Yikes. The cashier never lost her cool, she helped the woman along. All in all the transaction took much longer then it should have.
Meanwhile my daughter is now sitting on the conveyor belt saying Hi to everyone.
The next woman in front of me had 3 fake flowers and none of them had price tags.
Again a long transaction.
Then came our turn. She started scanning my items. As she scanned the candy I said, "One of those are for you."
She looked up at me, "Excuse me?"
"I picked that one up for you. You were so nice to all the people in front of me, you never lost your cool. It's the holidays and I'm sure people are a little cranky right now."
Reaction:
She smiled, "God Bless you child." <-- I should say I love it when people say this to me. "God bless you" isn't a phrase I use very much unless someone is sneezing. I never say "God bless you" as a thank you. And when people say that to me, I like to think not only are they thanking me but they are bringing in the Higher Up, the Big Guy. For me, its a little bit more meaningful then just a thank you. "Oh thank you." I said. "Turtles are my favorite." "Good I was worried you wouldn't like them." "Honey, I've been working since Black Friday with no days off. Thank you." We finished the transaction with smiles. Here's the thing, the woman behind me was smiling too. What I've been finding with this is that it's not just making one stranger happy but anyone who is witnessing the even too.
Will I do it again?: Yep
How much did it cost me? $.99
How much time did it take? 10 seconds.
How much effort? Reaching for two bars instead on one.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Day 3 Buy people coffee
Buy people coffee
Task: I will buy the people behind me coffee.
Today I drive to Dunkin Donuts to do really two nice things. But I will talk about the coffee today.
Event:
I walked in and sighed, it was a ghost town again. UGH! Universe, what are you trying to do to me?
I figured at the very least I could do my back up of one nice thing and I could come back some other time and buy coffee.
I walked up to the front and placed my order. Then a man walked in. YES! Thank you Universe. We'll call him Man#1. He started to place his order. Man#2 walked in a few seconds later.
As I was finishing my order, I smiled and added, "I would like to pay for these two gentleman's coffee."
The cashier smiled, "Really? Are you sure?"
"Yep."
Man#2 "Wow thanks. Why?"
She paused and told the other cashier, "stop your order, she's going to pay for his coffee."
Man#1 blinked, stunned, "Really?"
I explained I was doing something nice for strangers and I'm going to blog about it.
The cashier took their order.
Man#1 "Wow that's really great I'm going to pass this on."
Me "Wonderful, that's the whole point. A little thing can make someone's day."
Man#2 is this like those two college kids?
Interesting side note: Since I started doing this, lots of people have been coming up to me and telling me about other good deeds. So the more hear about the more I will post up here.
Me: No, but its in the spirit.
Cashier hands them their coffee. Man#2 thanks me, takes his coffee and leaves.
Reaction:
Man#1 was waiting for his breakfast sandwich and I was waiting for my bagel. Man #1 says, "This is really great."
Me, "Thank you."
Man#1 "Do you feel like you get enough appreciation in your life?"
Me, laughing, "I;m a teacher, I never get appreciation, but I'm happy."
Man#1 "I"m going to give you a gift."
Me: No, that's not why I'm doing this.
Man#1, he looked me in the eye and with complete honesty in his voice he said, "You are prefect the way you are. I am going to bow to you." And he bowed. It was like a Japanese bow of respect. I started to tear up.
Here in Laurel Maryland, in a Dunkin Donuts a stranger bowed to me.
Now because I'm me, and my personality, I wasn't embarrassed, I didn't blush or shun away. The cashier looked just as amazed and moved by the situation as I was.
Will I do it again?: YES YES YES and I will not be expecting someone to bow to me.
How much did it cost me? 2 coffees = $3.00
How much time did it take? Under 1 minute to order and explain what I was doing
How much effort? One sentence and swiping my ATM Card.
Lesson of the day, people are awesome.
Question:
has this blog brightened your day? Have you done something nice since reading this?
UPDATE: DAY 2's EVENT IS BACK ON! I spoke to the person who was offended by the sign, we're cool with each other. A new take a nickel, leave a nickle sign is up.
ALL IS WELL IN THE WORLD.
Task: I will buy the people behind me coffee.
Today I drive to Dunkin Donuts to do really two nice things. But I will talk about the coffee today.
Event:
I walked in and sighed, it was a ghost town again. UGH! Universe, what are you trying to do to me?
I figured at the very least I could do my back up of one nice thing and I could come back some other time and buy coffee.
I walked up to the front and placed my order. Then a man walked in. YES! Thank you Universe. We'll call him Man#1. He started to place his order. Man#2 walked in a few seconds later.
As I was finishing my order, I smiled and added, "I would like to pay for these two gentleman's coffee."
The cashier smiled, "Really? Are you sure?"
"Yep."
Man#2 "Wow thanks. Why?"
She paused and told the other cashier, "stop your order, she's going to pay for his coffee."
Man#1 blinked, stunned, "Really?"
I explained I was doing something nice for strangers and I'm going to blog about it.
The cashier took their order.
Man#1 "Wow that's really great I'm going to pass this on."
Me "Wonderful, that's the whole point. A little thing can make someone's day."
Man#2 is this like those two college kids?
Interesting side note: Since I started doing this, lots of people have been coming up to me and telling me about other good deeds. So the more hear about the more I will post up here.
Me: No, but its in the spirit.
Cashier hands them their coffee. Man#2 thanks me, takes his coffee and leaves.
Reaction:
Man#1 was waiting for his breakfast sandwich and I was waiting for my bagel. Man #1 says, "This is really great."
Me, "Thank you."
Man#1 "Do you feel like you get enough appreciation in your life?"
Me, laughing, "I;m a teacher, I never get appreciation, but I'm happy."
Man#1 "I"m going to give you a gift."
Me: No, that's not why I'm doing this.
Man#1, he looked me in the eye and with complete honesty in his voice he said, "You are prefect the way you are. I am going to bow to you." And he bowed. It was like a Japanese bow of respect. I started to tear up.
Here in Laurel Maryland, in a Dunkin Donuts a stranger bowed to me.
Now because I'm me, and my personality, I wasn't embarrassed, I didn't blush or shun away. The cashier looked just as amazed and moved by the situation as I was.
Will I do it again?: YES YES YES and I will not be expecting someone to bow to me.
How much did it cost me? 2 coffees = $3.00
How much time did it take? Under 1 minute to order and explain what I was doing
How much effort? One sentence and swiping my ATM Card.
Lesson of the day, people are awesome.
Question:
has this blog brightened your day? Have you done something nice since reading this?
UPDATE: DAY 2's EVENT IS BACK ON! I spoke to the person who was offended by the sign, we're cool with each other. A new take a nickel, leave a nickle sign is up.
ALL IS WELL IN THE WORLD.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Day 2 Leave a penny, take a penny.
Leave a penny, take a penny.
Task
We have a vending machine at work. It only takes EXACT change and it's counter intuitive to what you would expect.
I am leaving a small container of change, filled with what was sitting at the bottom on my purse.
I'll keep an eye on how much money is in it every once and a while.
I posted a sign about the cup, "Take a nickel leave a nickel. Let's face it this machine eats our money, let's help each other out."
Reaction: It lasted a grand total of 10 minutes.
Someone was offended by the sign and I took it down. I believe it was the wording of the sign. For that it was a poor choice on my part.
Will I do it again?: Nope.
How much did it cost me? my pride
How much time did it take? 1 minute total
How much effort? Not much but on further refection I would rewrite the sign.
Task
We have a vending machine at work. It only takes EXACT change and it's counter intuitive to what you would expect.
I am leaving a small container of change, filled with what was sitting at the bottom on my purse.
I'll keep an eye on how much money is in it every once and a while.
I posted a sign about the cup, "Take a nickel leave a nickel. Let's face it this machine eats our money, let's help each other out."
Reaction: It lasted a grand total of 10 minutes.
Someone was offended by the sign and I took it down. I believe it was the wording of the sign. For that it was a poor choice on my part.
Will I do it again?: Nope.
How much did it cost me? my pride
How much time did it take? 1 minute total
How much effort? Not much but on further refection I would rewrite the sign.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Day 1 Chick-fil-a
Chick-fil-a
Task: I will buy chick- fil- a for the car behind me in in the drive thru line. Maybe the person behind me will buy for someone else. Maybe not, but worst comes to worst, I made the day for the person behind me.
What happened:
I got up early, I dropped by child off at daycare early and drove to Chick- fil-A. Every other time I've been there, 100 million cars are there. Today. It was a ghost town. Didn't the universe know I was trying to be nice today? Grrr. So I pulled into the drive thru, very slow. I spoke into the speaker slowly, "Um, I would like, er, um, Chick- fil- A chicken biscuit and um, I, er I guess a fruit salad."
No one was behind me. I drove slowly around the corner. No one. I watched my mirror the entire time and as I was planning to come back for lunch a car pulled up behind me. I pumped my fists up the in air and of course the woman could see me, but she had no idea she was the reason why I was happy. The car in front of me pulled forward and it was my turn at the window. "That will be $4.75."
"Can I pay for the person behind me."
"Sure. That will be $2.50" I handed him my card.
It was that easy!
I got my food, my card and drove away.
Reaction:
I was stopped at the traffic light and the woman pulled up behind me.
She had no idea I was the one who paid for her food. She was smiling. Not one of those hey a got something for free smile, but a smile so big it reached her eyes. It was one of those smiles that you see from someone and it makes you smile.
I made her day. That was the whole point of this.
She made mine. Because every time something went wrong today, then I thought about her smile.
Will I do it again?: Yes.
How much did it cost me? $2.50
How much effort did it take? None- I was doing it anyway, I had to say one more sentence.
How much time did it take? 5 seconds.
Truth be told I did one more nice thing today, but I will be posting it on another day. The important thing to do is post something every day.
Best part, I don't have to super nice to everyone, at all times. One person for 5 seconds and its that easy.
I'm not about to do something impressive like this.
But one little thing to make the world a slightly nicer place.
Does anyone have any suggestions
Task: I will buy chick- fil- a for the car behind me in in the drive thru line. Maybe the person behind me will buy for someone else. Maybe not, but worst comes to worst, I made the day for the person behind me.
What happened:
I got up early, I dropped by child off at daycare early and drove to Chick- fil-A. Every other time I've been there, 100 million cars are there. Today. It was a ghost town. Didn't the universe know I was trying to be nice today? Grrr. So I pulled into the drive thru, very slow. I spoke into the speaker slowly, "Um, I would like, er, um, Chick- fil- A chicken biscuit and um, I, er I guess a fruit salad."
No one was behind me. I drove slowly around the corner. No one. I watched my mirror the entire time and as I was planning to come back for lunch a car pulled up behind me. I pumped my fists up the in air and of course the woman could see me, but she had no idea she was the reason why I was happy. The car in front of me pulled forward and it was my turn at the window. "That will be $4.75."
"Can I pay for the person behind me."
"Sure. That will be $2.50" I handed him my card.
It was that easy!
I got my food, my card and drove away.
Reaction:
I was stopped at the traffic light and the woman pulled up behind me.
She had no idea I was the one who paid for her food. She was smiling. Not one of those hey a got something for free smile, but a smile so big it reached her eyes. It was one of those smiles that you see from someone and it makes you smile.
I made her day. That was the whole point of this.
She made mine. Because every time something went wrong today, then I thought about her smile.
Will I do it again?: Yes.
How much did it cost me? $2.50
How much effort did it take? None- I was doing it anyway, I had to say one more sentence.
How much time did it take? 5 seconds.
Truth be told I did one more nice thing today, but I will be posting it on another day. The important thing to do is post something every day.
Best part, I don't have to super nice to everyone, at all times. One person for 5 seconds and its that easy.
I'm not about to do something impressive like this.
But one little thing to make the world a slightly nicer place.
Does anyone have any suggestions
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