Bought food for a family in need.
Event:
I work in a upper middle class area and it's hard to remember that we have students whose families need help.
Kids coming to school without backpacks or food, that doesn't happen in our school, in other schools, sure, but not mine.
No.
True the population isn't a huge number, but it's more then 1 and really 1 is too many.
Each year the school puts a paper Christmas tree filled with ornaments. We "adopt" three families. These ornament are pieces of paper with items written on them that a family needs.
One family asked for, "gift card for food, socks and underwear."
My heart broke.
No, this was supposed to happen in Baltimore and in DC, not here.
I picked the ornament for a the food.
I drove to a grocery store near the school and bought a $25 gift card. $25 isn't going to get the family far. But I was going to include all the coupons from the newspapers for the weekend and hopefully that will help out
Will I do it again?: How could I not?
How much did it cost me? $25 and $2.50 for a newspaper
How much time did it take? 20 minutes to drive to the store and buy the card.
How much effort? A little bit more then other activities.
Also how can you do something good with NO Effort at all?
First go here and watch the video explaining the importance of eyelash research verses Malaria research. It's awesome. Then click here and watch her video. If she wins she's going to pay for college and buy an arc.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Day 13 Bought lottery tickets
Bought lottery tickets
Yes, I know I was supposed to go a week of doing free things for people. And I still have a few mentally planned.
So my friend and a big cheerleader of mine, Cindy gave me this idea.
Event
I was at Bloom (for reasons you will learn tomorrow)
I bought my food and stuff, I asked for cash back and instead of a twenty I wanted a ten and two fives. But my brain stopped functioning and I said "Um can I have a ten and um..." then nothing. No words.
The cashier smiled, "Two fives."
"Yep that's what I wanted to say."
Meanwhile, my daughter was being the same loud person she always is, and yelled, "hi!" to the person behind her.
The woman smiled and had a nice little conversation with my daughter while I paid and put the bags into the cart.
Then I walked over to the lottery scratch off and put my five in. I got 5 scratch offs and handed them out.
Reaction:
First to the cashier, the to the woman behind me. They both smiled and thanked me. Then I passed them out to people I had zero inteactions with.
I walked away, I didn't want them to feel obligated to do anything right then and there.
As I was staring the ten minute process of unloading my car, putting the cart away and getting my daughter into the car, I saw the woman behind me in the parking lot.
"Did you win?" I asked.
"No, but the cashier won $2."
Will I do it again?: Sure, it was fun and easy.
How much did it cost me? $5.00
How much time did it take? 1 minute
How much effort? the hardest thing was remember to ask for a 5 dollar bill.
Yes, I know I was supposed to go a week of doing free things for people. And I still have a few mentally planned.
So my friend and a big cheerleader of mine, Cindy gave me this idea.
Event
I was at Bloom (for reasons you will learn tomorrow)
I bought my food and stuff, I asked for cash back and instead of a twenty I wanted a ten and two fives. But my brain stopped functioning and I said "Um can I have a ten and um..." then nothing. No words.
The cashier smiled, "Two fives."
"Yep that's what I wanted to say."
Meanwhile, my daughter was being the same loud person she always is, and yelled, "hi!" to the person behind her.
The woman smiled and had a nice little conversation with my daughter while I paid and put the bags into the cart.
Then I walked over to the lottery scratch off and put my five in. I got 5 scratch offs and handed them out.
Reaction:
First to the cashier, the to the woman behind me. They both smiled and thanked me. Then I passed them out to people I had zero inteactions with.
I walked away, I didn't want them to feel obligated to do anything right then and there.
As I was staring the ten minute process of unloading my car, putting the cart away and getting my daughter into the car, I saw the woman behind me in the parking lot.
"Did you win?" I asked.
"No, but the cashier won $2."
Will I do it again?: Sure, it was fun and easy.
How much did it cost me? $5.00
How much time did it take? 1 minute
How much effort? the hardest thing was remember to ask for a 5 dollar bill.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
day 12 Nice to my hubby
Pack my hubby lunch.
Action done on 12-8
What you need to know:
My hubby is a wonderful man. There's a reason why I married him. He is always placing me and our daughter above his needs.
We've been together for 8 and half years now.
I don't pack his lunch in the morning.
Here's the thing, I didn't know that was something women did. I assumed, "he's a grown man, he's got a job, and a college degree, he can put his own food in a bag." What I didn't know was every other man at work, had his wife pack him lunch.
Jim brought this to my attention a few years ago.
I made his lunch for about a three days.
Then I stopped.
This was my logic:
1) He gets up at 4 am.
2) I don't know if he's planning on packing lunch or buying it.
3) I'm not sure what he would like.
4) He's a big boy and he can put his own food in a bag.
5) HE GETS UP AT 4 AM!!!!!!
Event
He got up at 4 am.
I was awake. Below was my internal debate:
I don't want to get out of bed. No. I'm not getting up. Ugh, all I have to do is move. I don't want to move. The air is cold and the bed is warm. Nope I'm not leaving. The difference between an A student and a C student is the A student does the work, crap that was what I was going to tell my students today in class. Ok get up. You can't lecture your students if you can't get out of bed and make your husband breakfast. 4:25 CRAP. I spent 25 minutes debating if I should get out of bed. I could have been OUT of bed or sleeping. MMMM sleeping is nice. But really what are the odds of me falling a sleep. Not much.
I got out of bed. I walked down stairs and I made my hubby breakfast, lunch and a snack. now when I say I made him breakfast, lunch and a snack, I mean I went to the freezer pulled out some stuff, placed it on the counter neatly.
I didn't cook anything.
BUT I did leave him a note. "I love you, you're my best friend and best husband." He's my only husband... but there is that guy out in Utah.... Just kidding.
Reaction.
I went back to bed. Hubby was still in the bathroom and was completly unaware I had done this. He kissed me goodbye and went down stairs. He came back up, kissed me again said,"thank you."
Would I do it again? Sure. He's a good guy and I like him.
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? twenty five minutes of mental debating and five minutes to make it.
How much effort? Not much, but I knew as soon as I did it he would ask, "So are you going to do this for me every day?"
He did by the way... while we were eating dinner.
Action done on 12-8
What you need to know:
My hubby is a wonderful man. There's a reason why I married him. He is always placing me and our daughter above his needs.
We've been together for 8 and half years now.
I don't pack his lunch in the morning.
Here's the thing, I didn't know that was something women did. I assumed, "he's a grown man, he's got a job, and a college degree, he can put his own food in a bag." What I didn't know was every other man at work, had his wife pack him lunch.
Jim brought this to my attention a few years ago.
I made his lunch for about a three days.
Then I stopped.
This was my logic:
1) He gets up at 4 am.
2) I don't know if he's planning on packing lunch or buying it.
3) I'm not sure what he would like.
4) He's a big boy and he can put his own food in a bag.
5) HE GETS UP AT 4 AM!!!!!!
Event
He got up at 4 am.
I was awake. Below was my internal debate:
I don't want to get out of bed. No. I'm not getting up. Ugh, all I have to do is move. I don't want to move. The air is cold and the bed is warm. Nope I'm not leaving. The difference between an A student and a C student is the A student does the work, crap that was what I was going to tell my students today in class. Ok get up. You can't lecture your students if you can't get out of bed and make your husband breakfast. 4:25 CRAP. I spent 25 minutes debating if I should get out of bed. I could have been OUT of bed or sleeping. MMMM sleeping is nice. But really what are the odds of me falling a sleep. Not much.
I got out of bed. I walked down stairs and I made my hubby breakfast, lunch and a snack. now when I say I made him breakfast, lunch and a snack, I mean I went to the freezer pulled out some stuff, placed it on the counter neatly.
I didn't cook anything.
BUT I did leave him a note. "I love you, you're my best friend and best husband." He's my only husband... but there is that guy out in Utah.... Just kidding.
Reaction.
I went back to bed. Hubby was still in the bathroom and was completly unaware I had done this. He kissed me goodbye and went down stairs. He came back up, kissed me again said,"thank you."
Would I do it again? Sure. He's a good guy and I like him.
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? twenty five minutes of mental debating and five minutes to make it.
How much effort? Not much, but I knew as soon as I did it he would ask, "So are you going to do this for me every day?"
He did by the way... while we were eating dinner.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Day 11 Thank someone with a thankless job
Task Thank someone with a thankless job- at the Gym.
Action done on 12-8
I go to the most amazing gym on the planet. Lifetime Fitness. This place has marble walls, a rock wall (not to be confused with the marble walls), two pools, an amazing daycare center and seven trillion cardio machines. It's what Heaven's gym must be like.
Its easy to get wrapped up in the beauty of it. (I didn't even discuss the steam room.)
However there are many people constantly working, cleaning up, folding towels, wiping up after the "members." They move silently, I've rarely heard them speak English. To most of the members of the gym, they are invisible. However, in my two and half years going to the gym, I've never seen them sitting around, I've never seen them goofing off.
Event:
I drove over to the gym, I had intentions of working out. But I was starting to get a headache and opted to just to this instead. I walked over to customer service. One of the employees there was a former student. I smiled at her and asked to speak to a manager.
One popped out from the back.
"how can I help you."
"I just wanted to tell you, that every time I'm here, the support staff is working incredble hard and I thought I should tell someone."
He smiles, "Thank you. Many of our members are well off and our support staff tends to struggle, so its really nice that someone noticed."
"I don't think there's ever been a time where I didn't see someone working hard. The gym looks so great."
"Thank you, I'm going to tell the other managers that at our meeting." He pulled out a small card.
"Can I fill something out?"
"That would be great."
Reaction:
I filled out the card, it took about a minute to say nice things and to thank them for all their hard work.
The manager came back and said, "Thank you for coming by. We hear negetive feedback all the time, it's really nice to hear something positive."
"I know. Have a great day."
I would like to say I worked out.
But instead I walked out.
Will I do it again?:
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? About three minutes total
How much effort? I did have to hand write something- which I hate to do because I have bad handwriting.
The lesson for the day, thank someone who would normally be invisible or go unthanked.
Keep your eyes open and you can see some great things.
Action done on 12-8
I go to the most amazing gym on the planet. Lifetime Fitness. This place has marble walls, a rock wall (not to be confused with the marble walls), two pools, an amazing daycare center and seven trillion cardio machines. It's what Heaven's gym must be like.
Its easy to get wrapped up in the beauty of it. (I didn't even discuss the steam room.)
However there are many people constantly working, cleaning up, folding towels, wiping up after the "members." They move silently, I've rarely heard them speak English. To most of the members of the gym, they are invisible. However, in my two and half years going to the gym, I've never seen them sitting around, I've never seen them goofing off.
Event:
I drove over to the gym, I had intentions of working out. But I was starting to get a headache and opted to just to this instead. I walked over to customer service. One of the employees there was a former student. I smiled at her and asked to speak to a manager.
One popped out from the back.
"how can I help you."
"I just wanted to tell you, that every time I'm here, the support staff is working incredble hard and I thought I should tell someone."
He smiles, "Thank you. Many of our members are well off and our support staff tends to struggle, so its really nice that someone noticed."
"I don't think there's ever been a time where I didn't see someone working hard. The gym looks so great."
"Thank you, I'm going to tell the other managers that at our meeting." He pulled out a small card.
"Can I fill something out?"
"That would be great."
Reaction:
I filled out the card, it took about a minute to say nice things and to thank them for all their hard work.
The manager came back and said, "Thank you for coming by. We hear negetive feedback all the time, it's really nice to hear something positive."
"I know. Have a great day."
I would like to say I worked out.
But instead I walked out.
Will I do it again?:
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? About three minutes total
How much effort? I did have to hand write something- which I hate to do because I have bad handwriting.
The lesson for the day, thank someone who would normally be invisible or go unthanked.
Keep your eyes open and you can see some great things.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Day 10 Daughter Day
Daughter Day
So overall it's been things that I've done to make someone happy. I never thought that it would have an out reaching effect on other people doing something to make people happy.
The gentleman behind me in Target was not having a good day. I had seen him earlier in the store and he was a little grumpy. My daughter was with me because she was home sick with a double ear infection and strep. She's amazing, she really is. You'd never know at all that she was sick.
Her face was a mess, all crusted what God knows what. But she has this smile that shows through her whole face. Even her eye shine. I've never seen anyone else like it. I thought it was some bad writers cliche with "sparkling eyes." But it's a real thing and my kid has it. And when she says "hi" her whole body says hi. It's big and loud and it makes your day.
She said Hi to the gentleman behind me in Target. Then she pointed to her shoes, "My Shoes." But it came out, "mmmm sshhhoooo"
I translated for him.
He laughed, "That just made my day, looking at her face, her smile. She made my day."
YAY- there was one and I didn't even have to try!
"Thank you so much." I said. "You just made my day."
My daughter went back to talking about her shoes.
Since starting this blog I've had people come up to me and tell me they did something nice for a stranger. Good that was the whole point of this little experiment.
Look you don't have to be nice to everyone, or even all day. JUst pick one person and be nice to them for 30 seconds. You never know what that can do for someone.
One woman came up to me and said, "I was in the post office waiting in this huge slow line when I heard the woman behind me say,'I guess if I'm going to wait in this line I might as well buy a whole book of stamps,' I turned to her and asked, "You still but individual stamps?' She said yes, she needed three. I said, 'Shoot I've got three stamps.' And I thought of your blog while I was doing it. "
YAY!
Little things make a big difference.
So overall it's been things that I've done to make someone happy. I never thought that it would have an out reaching effect on other people doing something to make people happy.
The gentleman behind me in Target was not having a good day. I had seen him earlier in the store and he was a little grumpy. My daughter was with me because she was home sick with a double ear infection and strep. She's amazing, she really is. You'd never know at all that she was sick.
Her face was a mess, all crusted what God knows what. But she has this smile that shows through her whole face. Even her eye shine. I've never seen anyone else like it. I thought it was some bad writers cliche with "sparkling eyes." But it's a real thing and my kid has it. And when she says "hi" her whole body says hi. It's big and loud and it makes your day.
She said Hi to the gentleman behind me in Target. Then she pointed to her shoes, "My Shoes." But it came out, "mmmm sshhhoooo"
I translated for him.
He laughed, "That just made my day, looking at her face, her smile. She made my day."
YAY- there was one and I didn't even have to try!
"Thank you so much." I said. "You just made my day."
My daughter went back to talking about her shoes.
Since starting this blog I've had people come up to me and tell me they did something nice for a stranger. Good that was the whole point of this little experiment.
Look you don't have to be nice to everyone, or even all day. JUst pick one person and be nice to them for 30 seconds. You never know what that can do for someone.
One woman came up to me and said, "I was in the post office waiting in this huge slow line when I heard the woman behind me say,'I guess if I'm going to wait in this line I might as well buy a whole book of stamps,' I turned to her and asked, "You still but individual stamps?' She said yes, she needed three. I said, 'Shoot I've got three stamps.' And I thought of your blog while I was doing it. "
YAY!
Little things make a big difference.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Day 9 happy notes inside books
Task Place happy notes inside books at a book store
This event was done on 12-7-09
Event:
So this was the nice needed that reminded me NOT ALL people are being nice to strangers this month. Note to the world, if you see a woman with a stroller, please DO NOT Slammed the door in her face. Strollers and doors do NOT get along.
Also Borders, I understand the publishing industry is in a state of upheaval right now, but you are not helping matters with isles that are not accessible with a stroller or your YA section that apparently doesn't follow the rules of the alphabet.
That being said, my task was an different sort of one. I took this idea from an on-line community called Nerdfighters. On my other blog I I wrote all about them.
I placed notes in book I've enjoyed reading. There were ten different notes ranging in comments like, "This book was amazing, I hope you enjoy it." to "Smile it's free."
My feeling thought was it would be cool to read a good book and find a little note inside from someone else who read the book.
On the back of the note had this website on it. Maybe people will read the note and post to the website.
Some of the books were
Paper Towns by John Green
The Book Thief
Sloppy First
Reaction: Unknown at this time. This one is something that will take time. Maybe it will work, maybe not.
How much did it cost me? The act itself was fine, and free, the trip to Borders I could have done with
How much time did it take? Total time about 10 minutes
How much effort? This took the most effort, between writing out the notes, cutting and pasting the info about the blog, driving to the store and dealing with my child.
Will I do it again?: We'll see how this goes. I think it's a cool idea.
This event was done on 12-7-09
Event:
So this was the nice needed that reminded me NOT ALL people are being nice to strangers this month. Note to the world, if you see a woman with a stroller, please DO NOT Slammed the door in her face. Strollers and doors do NOT get along.
Also Borders, I understand the publishing industry is in a state of upheaval right now, but you are not helping matters with isles that are not accessible with a stroller or your YA section that apparently doesn't follow the rules of the alphabet.
That being said, my task was an different sort of one. I took this idea from an on-line community called Nerdfighters. On my other blog I I wrote all about them.
I placed notes in book I've enjoyed reading. There were ten different notes ranging in comments like, "This book was amazing, I hope you enjoy it." to "Smile it's free."
My feeling thought was it would be cool to read a good book and find a little note inside from someone else who read the book.
On the back of the note had this website on it. Maybe people will read the note and post to the website.
Some of the books were
Paper Towns by John Green
The Book Thief
Sloppy First
Reaction: Unknown at this time. This one is something that will take time. Maybe it will work, maybe not.
How much did it cost me? The act itself was fine, and free, the trip to Borders I could have done with
How much time did it take? Total time about 10 minutes
How much effort? This took the most effort, between writing out the notes, cutting and pasting the info about the blog, driving to the store and dealing with my child.
Will I do it again?: We'll see how this goes. I think it's a cool idea.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 8 Hold the door open for strangers
Task Hold the door open for strangers
It's the easier one to do. Hold the door open for someone.
I went to the mall to get my laptop fixed. I ended up leaving the mall because I left my wallet on my car seat. Normally I'm not that much so space cadet, but I've had a lot on my mind. I ended up leaving using the mall's doors 4 times. Each time I held the door open for the people around me.
I even walked to the opposite side of the mall where I know a lot of people come with strollers and I held the door open.
I ended up holding the door open for about ten people.
Hardly a monumental task, but still, it's little things that count in the moment.
Reaction:
Everyone expect one woman, said thank you.
Will I do it again?: Sure, I do it every time I go to the mall or any store where I need to open the door. For some reason I better with strangers then the people I know. When it comes to holding the door for a friend, I don't know what to do. I spaz and end up making it more complicated then it needs to me.
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? about 10 seconds per person.
How much effort? None, but I did get a little cold
It's the easier one to do. Hold the door open for someone.
I went to the mall to get my laptop fixed. I ended up leaving the mall because I left my wallet on my car seat. Normally I'm not that much so space cadet, but I've had a lot on my mind. I ended up leaving using the mall's doors 4 times. Each time I held the door open for the people around me.
I even walked to the opposite side of the mall where I know a lot of people come with strollers and I held the door open.
I ended up holding the door open for about ten people.
Hardly a monumental task, but still, it's little things that count in the moment.
Reaction:
Everyone expect one woman, said thank you.
Will I do it again?: Sure, I do it every time I go to the mall or any store where I need to open the door. For some reason I better with strangers then the people I know. When it comes to holding the door for a friend, I don't know what to do. I spaz and end up making it more complicated then it needs to me.
How much did it cost me? Nothing
How much time did it take? about 10 seconds per person.
How much effort? None, but I did get a little cold
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