A Random Act of Kindness

We hear that phrase all the time, don't we? It's on bumper stickers. We have even been urged by our new president to perform random acts of kindness. To help and encourage each other. It sounds great, in theory, but how many people actually go out of their way?

Yesterday, I was the recipient of a random act of kindness. The act itself was small, but it left a huge imprint on me.

I went to the Water and Ice store to grab a couple of bags of ice. We need a lot of ice. We did finally just break our streak of 14 100 degree days in May, which was a record, by the way. So I'm standing in line to buy my two 79 cent bags of ice.

There was an older gentleman in the store, with his granddaughter maybe? They were getting some ice cream, and he was directly in front of me at the cash register. As he was paying for his ice cream, I heard him say to the cashier,

"And her two bags of ice also, please," pointing back at me.

The total of the two bags of ice was all of $1.62. It wasn't the amount, but the gesture that really got to me. When I arrived at the store, I was not in a good mood. I had just finished yelling at Shannon that there are only 6 days left of school, and by God she'd better get her Language Arts grade up, or else. I was hot, frustrated, and tired.

After I had a stranger randomly buy my ice for me, my whole attitude was different. I went home and told the kids what had happened. They thought it was kind of random, but nice nonetheless. I just couldn't even be mad after that. That man's act changed my whole day.

So thank you, nice man in the Water and Ice store, for your random act of kindness. In the coming days, I will make it my mission to do the same for someone else. I promise.