The other day I was waiting in the car whilst Hubby went to the bank.
His bank is really small. There is one branch in the whole of Sydney, and it’s in a busy area. Parking is a nightmare. So I was doing laps around the block with Lacey in the back seat.
I stalked this almost elderly couple who were parked right outside the bank. They were about to leave so I was going to park in their spot.
They pulled out, so I reversed into their spot. I look to my left and the couple are stopped right next to me. My first thought was: Geeez, what have I done wrong?
Love, said the older male driver, take our ticket. It’s still got 30 minutes on it. You won’t need to put any money in the meter.
I was so pleasantly surprised. It would have been easy for him to just drive off. He made the effort though, and in doing so, he made my day.
I’m big on Random Acts of Kindness. They so easily make someones day. Making life easier for another doesn’t always have to require much effort and can really make a difference.
Last week I also experienced two more acts of kindness. These acts weren’t so random, but they were still very kind.
On Lacey’s birthday we had opened all the gifts and were playing around with Lacey’s new toys. Hubby was about to take a bag of rubbish out to the garbage bins so opened the front door. Sitting there was a gift. It was for Miss Lacey, on her birthday.
The man who lives upstairs had left her a little gift. It was a little yapping dog that jumps about. She is crazy about dogs (which she calls woof woofs). It was the perfect gift.
He also left her a gift at Christmas but back then didn’t know her name so it said on the card: To Little Girl. So sweet.
The second act of kindness blew me away. Far away.
I’m from the Country. I’m used to knowing everyone. Waving to people in the street. Knowing every one’s business. In our street alone we’d have dinner at each others houses. A big party that blocked off the street at the end of each year. Snooker night at our place on Tuesdays. We lived in each others pockets.
So when I moved to Sydney one thing that got to me was that it was so impersonal. No one said hello. Nobody knew me. It didn’t seem that friendly. I soon realised that I was going to have to create that sense of community myself. And I did.
When I go for walks in the morning I get Hello from left, right and centre. When I go to the cafe the owner steals Lacey away for cuddles and tells all the patrons that she is holding the most beautiful baby in the world. The man who owns the convenience store buys me Christmas presents and gives me a discount with every purchase. The man at the post office doesn’t even to see my card when I go to pick up the parcel. He even knows what football team I follow.
Even at our local Westfield I created a community. I know that the lady in the Newsagents is about to have a baby. Every time I walk past the people there will give me an update on what it happening. The staff at Bakers Delight all know Lacey and go crazy over her when we visit.
This story is getting somewhere. Stay with me a little longer.
The fruit shop I go to isn’t small. It’s not intimate. But still a lot of the staff know us. One lady in particular has taken a liking to Lacey. The other day she gave her a gingerbread man to eat (of course I have kept it because she’s not quite ready for it yet). She knew it was her birthday and had been talking to her Mother about us.
Last week she presented me with a bag with a gift for Lacey inside. Her mother had made Miss Lacey a beautiful bed cover and pillowcases. I was so touched. That would have required such effort and patience. It was so sweet.
So that’s my story. It’s so nice to be surrounded by such kind hearted people.
Have you done something kind lately? Random or not? Please share. xx
Print: Etsy
I hear you…I’m a Country Girl, too and actually moved back after living in Sydney for a while for the reasons you’ve talked about. I couldn’t take the impersonality of the big city.
Canberra is a nice midpoint…and we live in a lovely suburb with local shops where we know most of the shopkeeps by name…it makes it feel like a small town within a larger centre.
Unfortunately I don’t have anything to add to the Random Acts of Kindness question…but I’ll keep an eye out!
What lovely things happen to you! So sweet about the man upstairs leaving a present to Little Girl….awwww!
Random Acts of Kindness is one of my favourite things – I try to do that as often as I can….yesterday I paid an extra two dollars as I drove out of the parking garage, so the person behind me would have theirs paid. Just a little something that I like to think made someone smile!
Ohhhhhh … all of those little stories made me cry, Telle! I love hearing beautiful things like that!
I love making acts of kindness, I try not to make them so random! Most recently we took the kids along to a little fair. We ended up leaving before we’d got to use our last two ride tickets. As we were walking to our car we gave them to some lovely old Grandparents who were taking their two grandchildren out for the morning. It was such a small gesture, and besides saving them $8 we really made their day. It’s good for the soul to show kindness.
I love random act of kindness.
They make my day to.
The other day I was walking through our shopping centre and there was a Mum with three little kids, a stroller and was trying to talk on her phone. She was about to go up the escalator (one of the stair kind of ones) and her youngest was really scared and didnt get on atthe same time. An old man was about to get on, and leaned down to the girl and said “Cmon, lets jump on”. He held her hand the whole way up and when we were about to get off he said “Now get ready to jump off”. The little girl jumped off and ran to her Mum.
It was one of the nicest things I had seen in such a long time.
I wish you were my neighbour when I lived in Sydney. Although you were totally on the wrong side of the bridge, I’m sure we would have been good friends 😛
It’s so nice to hear when people break the mould and really make an effort. Sydney can be such an impersonal place live. But you seem to have made it work.
Your story about car stalking made me laugh. Oh so many memories.
Mackay is a very friendly place, everyone always seems happy to say hello and even stop for a chat. It really make a huge difference to where you live if you have that sense of community.
Not much to say other than this post made me smile. And that was a little act of kindness, in itself.
giving away parking tickets was a regular thing in the UK. I must say they are quite polite on the roads and acting in kind.
I think that this is a very revealing post. You’re obviously the a person who attracts kindness. Like attracts like.
I think that I can be quite hostile and unfriendly in everyday exchanges. This is food for thought!
A few weeks ago, Z, E and I were riding our bikes in the local park, I noticed a digi camera on the ground. It was in a case so I quickly picked it up, zipped it open, and flicked through the pics so I could work out whose it was.
On my left hand side, a group of people who were predominantly Indian were having a large family BBQ. On my right and kind of far away was what looked like a nan and pop couple, each wheeling a pram. Probably their grandkids?
On the camera were several pics of two little guys in their prams next to some bushes.
I raced over on my bike, yelling at them to stop, and handed it over to pop. They had no idea they’d even dropped their camera!
I almost teared up reading about the bed cover! That is so sweet!
All of those RAOK are just wonderful. It is so nice to be reminded that there are nice people in the world (besides the nice people we know of course!).
I try to do RAOK every now and then. It makes me feel happy when I see others happy 🙂
A not so random act today from the most unexpected of people. Today was my little angel’s first time in childcare. I was distraught. I arrived home after a day full of tears to find a bunch of flowers on the doorstep, with a card telling me ‘you are a great mum doing a great job’.
My mother in law, with whom I have had a very troubled relationship, had driven almost an hour to leave them for me. Such a big gesture given our past – so moving.