A Random Act of Kindess – My Story

I just met one of the world’s ‘good’ people. Good kind of seems like an understatement actually, but I’m not 100% sure how else to describe her. Let me tell you the story – it’s only a short one – and you can decide for yourself. 

This afternoon I drove to Double Bay to do my grocery shopping. My plan was to grab a few things from the new About Life, then head in to Woolworths to do the big shop. I took my time wandering around About Life, grabbed myself dinner and a some other bits and pieces, then headed to the cash register… which is when I realised that my debit card was no longer in my vest pocket. I asked the girl at the register if she would mind holding my things for me while I ran back to the car to see if I could find it, and promised I would be back to let her know either way.

Well of course, I couldn’t find it.

I headed back to the register to check whether there was any chance they’d take credit card over the phone. They couldn’t unfortunately (it was always a long shot) but advised they could hold my things for me while I went home to grab my card. It was at that point that the girl behind me in line chimed in, asking how much my groceries were. I told her (they were around $50) and she told me she wanted to pay for them. I told her no, that I couldn’t accept that, it was my own silly fault etc. and she looked me in the eye and said ‘you would do it for someone else, wouldn’t you?’ I said ‘well, yes, I would’ and she said ‘I want to do this’. I kept saying no, she kept saying yes and I was quite overwhelmed at this point – I really didn’t know what to do. Finally I said that I could accept it if she would pass on her details so I could fix her up for it. She refused and said that was not what it was about, and then her partner handed $50 over the person behind the counter. She repeated ‘you would do this for someone else, wouldn’t you?’ I said ‘yes’ again, thanked her (about a thousand times), asked their names and we parted ways.

So, Megan and Jordan. This is my promise to you.

I will pay forward your kindness to me today. It was completely unexpected, unprompted and I am so grateful. Not just for the act itself, but also for the reminder that there are still some people in the world who will do something for others, without ever asking for something in return.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

p.s I’m telling this rather rambling and disjointed story in the hope that it may encourage you to show a little kindness to a stranger this week, this month, this year. It doesn’t have to be $50 – it doesn’t even have to be $5. It could buying a suspended coffee next time you grab yourself a flat white, sharing your lunch with a homeless person, helping someone cross the road, putting up flyers for a lost pet… anything that you do for someone else, without expecting anything in return.

Imagine if we all committed to doing this. What a wonderful world it would be.