ever have one of those moments when you experience something small, almost insignificant, yet it lingers in the corners of your mind. almost daring you to remember it, in all of it's insignificant glory?
i had one of those moments over the weekend. and it seems the only way i'm going to get it out of my head (so that i can focus on all of the monday-morning-tasks vying for attention), is to blog it. thank goodness it's the perfect day to talk about random acts of kindness!!
on saturday, i had to swing by the "dollar general" for some charcoal (yup, we grilled out this weekend!) a woman in line had just rung up $20.18 cents worth of stuff, and handed the cashier two $20s. the young cashier promptly handed back one of the $20s and said, "Here, I'm not going to have you break a $20 for 18 cents." the customer responded, "are you sure?" (probably assuming, as i had assumed, that the cashier would end up reimbursing the 18 cents at the end of her shift.)
the cashier smiled and mumbled something to the effect of "no problem." the customer was quite gracious. after i paid for my bag of charcoal (yup, it was grillin' weather!), i ended up with a few coins worth of change. i handed the cashier a quarter and said, "do you need 18 cents?" and SHE said, "are you sure?"
this is such a teensy weensy RAK, i'm almost embarrassed to post about it. but i believe that this young cashier is probably the type who does things like this for many customers throughout the day, and likely ends up paying back her employer at the end of the shift for the shortages. she was so gracious at my simple offer - i hope she will continue carrying out her own random acts of kindness.
17 comments:
thanks for sharing that random acts of kindness!!.
Good to know that there are kind people in our world:)
I love little random acts of kindness...people are not used to others doing nice, positive things for them so their reactions do stick with us for awhile...most of the time it's just something that we don't even think twice about doing. Kudos to both you and the cashier for your random acts of kindness!
I'm a dialysis nurse and recently a patient was finishing up his treatment so I buttoned up his shirt for him to send him on his way. The husband of another patient was sitting across the room and commented that he had never seen someone be so nice and tender with the patients before...I was just buttoning up the man's shirt! He said most of the nurses just leave this elderly man to do it himself. It reminded me of how my actions do affect others, no matter how big or small, or how insignificant they may be to me.
I love this. It is just this type of tiny little thing -- that is no big deal to us but meaningful to others -- that I want to try to perpetuate in my daily life.
Exactly what random acts of kindness are all about. Eighteen cents or Eighteen minutes or eighteen hellos. Strong work.
love RAK. and i love that you posted about it b/c it reminds us to practice RAK
What a great story! It's all those little acts that add up to so much goodness and joy in this world.
Thanks, Lelly!
I'm so glad you posted about this...what a circle or RAK it was.
Thanks for sharing. Sometimes we forget even little things can make someone's day.
That cashier sounds like such a cool person as are you for your RAK. I think it's important to document all RAKs. I need to do that more often. :)
I'm glad you took the time to write this...it's just the type of *small* think that makes a *big* difference, and that's certainly what RAK is all about!
Hey Lelly,
Great RAK! I just posted the Mr. Linky at my blog so you can link your post to it!
Thanks for participating!
great story - last week I had a same type of shocked experience - went to Taco Bell drive through my total was like 6 bucks, so I gave the girl a $10, she gave me back $14 - so I gave her back the $10 and she was so so so shocked - she thanked me 3 times and said how at the end of the shift she would have been in trouble - it's so amazing when people are being honest that other people are shocked!!
Hey Lelly, the RAk linky is up at my blog if you want to link to your post.
i love RAKs, although i probalby don't do them enough. it's not always the thought that counts. i always like to shoot down that cliche, "it's the thought that counts." NO, it's not - sometimes you actually have to DO something. anyway, the other day at wal*mart, i found a tiny newborn pink sock on the floor and many people just walking by. i picked it up and hoofed it back like 7 or 8 aisles to where i saw a young couple with a baby carrier in their cart. i know i always hated ending up with two baby feet, but only one baby sock. small thing, but i think they were happy. i also gave back the extra chocolate milk they gave me at McD's the other day - they looked at me a little funny, but i wonder how many people would have been happy to "score" a second milk and just took it . . .
I love stories like this, they restore my faith in humanity. Plus, I can totally imagine how giddy that checker girl must have been to get such a bonus.
Thanks for sharing this Lelly. The little things people do for each other are so encouraging to see and read about. Wouldn't it be nice as these RAK ripple around that we get to a point where niceties are more the norm instead of such a shock?
That is a lovely chain of kindness. So great to be a part of it, Lelly! Good for you.
And this is not insignificant!
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