Friday, October 31, 2008

Random Acts

Traveling with my family is ALWAYS an adventure. Sunday we decided to load up the Big Black Bus and head off for North Carolina to visit Aunt Paula Pooh. We were on the road by 6pm and we decided to drive until either 1) our eye balls fell out of our head or 2) we were ready to throw out one of the kids.

Over the next few days I will share our adventures. And they were fun...However tonight I want to share with your that Random Acts of Kindness do come back to you. Two fold.

10 days ago I was at the local grocery store to buy a few things. I was in line getting ready to purchase my items and I looked behind me and a somewhat frazzled looking dad was behind me. In his hands he held pedialyte and diapers. I instantaneously remembered the good ole days of babies with diarrhea and leaky diapers and I smiled at him and told him, "You go ahead of me. You only have a few items and your family needs them quickly". He smiled at me and informed me that his son (13 months old) was diagnosed with Rotavirus. (For those of you who have never had a child with Rotavirus...COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS!!! It makes the tummy flu look like nothing!!!)My heart went out to him and I told him that he just might want to buy another pack of diapers and gave him The Smile. You know the one that says, "Oh buddy I know what you are going through and I empathize with you" smile. He bought his items and left.

Last Sunday as we were leaving for NC, I noticed that my cell phone battery was almost dead. My car charger had broken and I was hopeful that all would be fine until we got to the hotel and could charge my phone. (Tommi and Kristen-I was not ignoring you-Dying phone =) ) We headed down the interstate and within minutes my phone was dying. Powering down. A little further down the road traffic stopped completely. We were 0.1 mile from an exit so I started up the ramp and hit DETOUR on my handy little Mother's Day Gift. (Which BTW has been worth its weight in Gold) We took a scenic route through a ton of small farm towns and I knew that they were going to take us into Lafayette. I told my mom, if it takes us past a Walmart I am going in to get a phone charger.

15 minutes later there was a Walmart. I quickly stopped and ran into the store. I bought a phone charger, individual packs of Teddy Grahams and Gold Fish and got into line. Of course Lafayette is the home of Purdue University. (Darren would say the greatest university in the world. Jess and I would disagree strongly with him-GO IU!!!) There were a ton of college students and the few cash registers that were open were packed. I got into line and was patiently waiting. (My mom was in the car with 4 children...Not me ;) ) This young man (Purdue College student) looks at me and says, "Oh, Please go in front of me. You just have a few things." I kindly thanked him and told him that my mom would also thank him since she was stuck in the car with 4 excited children.

I believe that Acts of kindness come back like this when you do them. I challenge you all to do 1 Random Act of Kindness and let me know if it comes back to you. :)

5 comments:

S,D,J,K's Mom said...

We have to put coins in our shopping carts here which we get back after we return the wagon. It is liek one ro two bucks .... well sevreal times I have helped older people try to get their coin back (they are tricky to manage sometimes) or simply given my wagon with my coin in it to them and told themnot to think twice about it. LAst night at the store Iw as buying two packs of bagels. I need two packes that the kids all get one. WEll, one pack fell behind the divider thingy and it didnt get rung up. I paid with my card....then noticed she only got one of the bagel packs. I searched my pocketbook for cash to no avail I strated hunting on the bottom of it for coins. I found 3,80 and needed 3,90. I thought darn all voer ten little rappen....well, the cashier then asked how much are you short. I told her and she said no biggie and let me take it for 3,80. It was only 10 rappen, but it was breakfast the next morning that was to me so important.
It was a small gesture on her part but a big relief on mine- so there were 4 happy fces this morning each with a bagel :)

Queen of the House said...

That's awesome!! I'm anxiously waiting to hear how your trip went. Happy Halloween *smiles*

Linda said...

Hi there! Travelling with a good GPS is a must. And yes, I have had many Random Acts of Kindness returned.

Cole Twins said...

OMG Cooper had gotten Rota when he was 18 months!! IT WAS TERRIBLE! He was hospitalized for 7 days at childrens. YUCK!!! I sure hope that dad bought TONS of diapers!

Cole Twins said...

OMG Cooper had gotten Rota when he was 18 months!! IT WAS TERRIBLE! He was hospitalized for 7 days at childrens. YUCK!!! I sure hope that dad bought TONS of diapers!