This morning, I was on my way to a meeting (about my upcoming TV show - stay tuned!!) and popped into Starbucks for a wintery and warming caffeine boost. As I stood second in queue I noticed a young girl say something to the couple in front of me, which he declined as they had already paid, but I didn't hear what was offered.
Next, she moved on to me.
"Hi, can I pay from for your drink please, I'm doing random acts of kindess today', she said to me in a shy, American accent.
Well, my reaction was, I think, (or at least hope) similar to most people's, which I think could be a somewhat sad reflection on the human race. I took her up on the offer, since she handed a five pound note to the cashier before I'd stopped stuttering anyway, but I was quite reserved about it. I felt bad accepting her gesture but I also felt like it would be rude to decline. Instead, I asked her why she was doing it.
"It's a school project, we want to see what happens when we do random acts of kindness."
As I left the store I promised the girl that I would do the same for someone else as I wanted to do something good back.
At first I was incredibly awkward, which I think is sad. The fact that we find it so difficult to accept compliments, kindness and gifts just goes to show how little we actually do these things... We aren't used to it. After I'd got over the initial shyness though, her act made me really happy. It made me happy to think that things like this DO happen. So I have decided that I want to do this sort of thing more often.
And, I didn't get to do anything quite this unexpected, but despite being offered my coffee in my meeting, I did the treating instead. Then, at lunch with a friend, we got talking to the very lovely waitress, so gave her a large tip, which she was incredibly happy with, and called us the best customers ever. Smiles all round - I thoroughly reccommend it.
Kisses,
Misty x
(image is not mine)
