Mortal kindness: Arcade Ticket Mania

A really fun AOK takes place at a fun-for-all-ages arcade as well as a state or county fair! It makes a really fun date activity or family night with the kids! 

Despite my phobia of germs, I love going to the arcade with my friends. It's an inexpensive way to get out of the house and stir up some friendly competition. We are fortunate enough to have a nickel arcade nearby, but this particular activity was inspired by summer trips to the beach. If anyone has ever been to a beach in Oregon, you'll know that a Summer day at the beach sometimes calls for a break indoors when a windy rainstorm rolls through. What better way to pass the time than to prove your mastery of Skee Ball at the arcade? We usually play some games and earn some tickets then buy a candy bar with our tickets and leave the rest sitting on an arcade game for someone to pick up. We once overheard a little guy telling his dad he didn't want to spend his tickets so he could save up for a prize his sister really wanted. It's impossible to resist handing our fistfuls of tickets over to kids like that.

Here's the idea:

Begin at the Arcade with an equal amount of coins for each person and play games until you run out. While you're playing and collecting tickets, be sure to keep them separated. Once you've run out of coins and have collected all of your tickets, have them counted separately. The person with the most tickets gets to choose the recipient of your combined tickets. Since you were fiercely competing with each other, you should have a TON of tickets! It's really fun to see their faces light up as you hand over gobs of tickets. 

Note: Some people may feel it's most appropriate to ask the child's parent permission before giving them your tickets. If you feel that's the case, try to ask in a way that isn't going to lead to an upset child in case the parent declines for any reason. You don't want this to backfire and upset any little ones during a fun night out.)

Make this act of kindness your own, and remember to have some fun while you're at it!

Do you have any kindness stories to share? I would love to hear from you!

The Little Things

This past two weekends I have held garage sales to help raise money for my new business. I want to take a few minutes to share a story with you about an interaction I had with my first buyer.

Honestly, I am broke right now so the garage sale has really helped. In order to gain the most publicity for my sale, I posted an ad on Craigslist advertising my sale with the dates and times and a list of what I have available. Two days before the event a man responded to my ad inquiring about a set of weights I had available. Weights are generally pretty expensive and he needed a few sets for his wife who was rehabilitating her wrists and arms. He wanted to know if I would be able to sell the weights to him prior to the garage sale and of course I said "absolutely!" We set a time to meet later that day.

The jolly (that is the best word to describe him) man called me ahead of time to let me know that he was down the street and cracked a joke about how he is at Krispy Kreme and he's on his way to pick up exercise equipment. I was excited to meet him not only to earn the money for the weights, but because I truly enjoy meeting people who are enthusiastic and exude happiness.

He arrived on time and handed me a stack of bills totalling $15 more than what we had agreed (which was $25 more than what I had originally requested, he insisted to pay more than what I asked.) I must have looked puzzled because the man let out a chuckle and said, "I knew you would need some change for your sale so I made a stop at the bank for you." I thanked him probably three to five times and shook his hand and he was on his way. It was so thoughtful I had a thought just to give him the weights and not accept any money, but I really am in need of it so I graciously accepted.

It truly made my week so I wanted to make sure I shared this with everyone. It wasn't about him giving me extra money, it was the thought behind his actions. The fact that he stopped at the bank and asked for a variation of bills so that I wouldn't have to make the stop myself. It was touching.


The next weekend at my garage sale, a shopper purchased my microwave. It's a medium sized microwave that is pretty heavy but manageable to carry. Prior to purchasing the microwave, she made a comment on the phone to her husband about not wanting to lug it to her car. After she purchased the microwave, I insisted on carrying the microwave to the buyer's car against her three refusals. At the time, I was just trying to help and do something nice for her and prevent her from having to carry a heavy microwave to her car on a hot day. In the end she was shocked that I was serious when I originally offered and even more so that I made the effort to do it.

It really is the little things that shock people and remind people that there is good in the world.

What are some random acts of kindness you have encountered recently? I would love to hear about them!

Until next time,

Britney

"After You"

Holding the door open for other people is such a simple action, but tends to be a forgotten manner. Not only is it a sign of respect, it has the power to make or break someone's mood.

The other day, I was having a rough morning and pulled into the parking lot of the mall I work at about three minutes until I had to clock in. I parked my car, and began speed-walking toward the entrance. As I approached the double doors, a young woman about my age seemed to be on a mission and was heading for the same door. We made eye contact, I smiled at her and paused my step so she could walk ahead of me. She opened the door to the mall with me closely behind her, and let it slam instead of holding the door. I was caught off guard and I hate to admit this but it instantly put me into a grumpy mood.

As I was leaving for the day, I approached the door to exit the mall. A little boy wearing a bright red super hero cape sprinted ahead of me, pried the glass door open and proudly held it open with a big cheesy grin on his face while several adults walked through the door, thanking the generous young man. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. It made my day so much better.

Then it hit me. Hold the door open for someone is a powerful, yet subtle gesture.

Here's the challenge: For one whole day, open the door for someone each time you enter or exit a door with another person. If you feel like being a Kindness Super Hero, and the person is slightly ahead of you, run ahead of them and open the door for them. Try and challenge yourself to get into a habit of this, and you'll be surprised at the reactions you get.

:)


Thanks for reading!

Mission: Redbox Return

I've been really bad about posting on this blog, but this is the week that changes!

Here's the boring story about how I came up with this idea:

Last week, my boyfriend and I rented a movie from Redbox. As I usually do, I forgot to return it the following day. I also forgot to return it the next day and the next day and... well, let's just say we probably spent $15 on the movie by the time it made it back to the Redbox machine. Where we live, redbox is $1.20 per night, so I was feeling pretty guilty about forgetting to return the movie since it was on the Boy's debit card. This sparked an idea for a random act of kindness, thus mission Redbox Return was born. 

Materials: 

• -Redbox rental
• -$1 or $2
• -Tape (optional)
• -Sticky Note & Pen (optional)

Directions:

First you may write a note to the recipient if you like. 

I wrote a short note on a sticky note and stuck it to the dollar bill. 

Then fold the dollar(s)however you like in order to make sure the money is able to fit in the Redbox case without popping open (we don't want to cause any trouble with the Redbox machines by having them pop open.) I folded mine in half hotdog style (or for the more serious readers, fold horizontally) and then folded each corner down, kind of like a "dog ear." Put the money into the DVD box, as not to interfere with its ability to close and stay closed. You can use tape to hold the money down if needed.

All you have to do now, is return your Redbox movie to the machine!

If you have any ideas to share or feedback on this Random Act of Kindness, please share!

Flower Power

 Flower Power

I apologize for my lack of photos on this next one, I just couldn't wait until next week to post it!

Here goes:

Recently, I logged on to Facebook and someone had posted a picture of a rose on their windshield with a caption that it was from a stranger and it totally made her day. 

This next random act of kindness is inspired by the sweet gesture of giving flowers to someone you love. Of course, we won't be giving flowers to someone we love, we will be surprising someone who least expects it: a stranger.

Materials: 

• Flowers: Individual stems or a bouquet.
• A piece of paper or card
• Ribbon
• Optional: Tissue paper

Instructions:

• Write a nice note on the card and attach the card to the flower with a piece of ribbon
• Leave the flower(s) on a random windshield in a parking lot.
• Walk away

If you have a garden and can spare a few, go ahead and cut some flowers. You can also stop at your local dollar store and purchase some pretty faux flowers for (wait for it...) a dollar. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, that is where I recommend purchasing real flowers.You can usually get about six stems for just a few dollars and they are locally grown. The goal is to do as many random acts of kindness as possible, so feel free to leave more than one person this small gift.

I purchased my flowers (six of them) and with my leftover cards from Michael's, I wrote "Have a Beautiful Day" in each card. I didn't want the note to seem too personal, or give anyone the wrong idea (thinking along the lines of a secret admirer or mistress.. I was slightly afraid of having the opposite effect on someone's day by starting an argument with their significant other.) With a hole punch, I punched a hole in the corner of the card and attached it to the flower with some ribbon. I was out of tissue paper, but you could also wrap some tissue paper around the flower before tying the ribbon to make it a little fancier. I will probably do this next time, because I think the extra step makes it look more extravagant.

I work at a mall, so there are a lot of cars to choose from. On my way into work, I stopped at a few cars and placed the flower on their windshields, careful not to let anyone-especially the driver-see me do this. This time, I didn't stick around to see the outcome, but I have a good feeling someone appreciated their surprise.

Once again, I would love to know how many people have participated in this, and also for suggestions on future acts of kindness. 

Stay tuned next Monday for our next act of kindness!

Have a beautiful day!

Our First Mission

Our First Mission

Our first mission is to make someone smile. This might sound miniscule, but you just might make someone's day.

Materials:

• Piece of paper or card
• Envelope
• Pen or Marker 

Instructions:

1. Write a silly joke or a nice note in the card and seal the envelope
2. Hand to a stranger with a furrowed brow or have someone deliver it for you to keep it more random and secretive

The important part of this, is to make sure you pick someone you don't know. It will have such a greater impact.

I got a pack of blank cards at Michael's craft store that have cute cows on them for fifty cents. Inside, I wrote "What do you get when a cow laughs? A Milk Shake! Have a good day!" I have a few of these in my purse to hand out as needed. I walked up to the first person I saw today who looked unhappy, and just said "this is for you," and walked away. It wasn't much, but I couldn't help but to linger close enough to see them open it.

Mission accomplished.

  

I would love to know how many people have participated in this, and also for suggestions on future acts of kindness. Stay tuned next Monday for our next act of kindness!

A Better World

 Active Kind Teens Nurturing Our World

When I was in the third grade, my elementary school had an after school program titled: A.K.T.N.O.W. which stood for Active Kind Teens Nurturing Our World. At first, I was the only participant from my school. Two high school students were the program directors and we came up with different random acts of kindness each week. One act of kindness I remember well was a trip to the local high school. Under the guidance of my high school leaders, I hand wrote hundreds of notes that said "Have a Good Day! :)" and taped them to pieces of gum. Then my high school leaders and I walked to the nearby school and slipped each note into each locker for the high school to open the next day. I remember feeling so excited that those students would open their lockers the next day and have a mini Christmas-like experience.

The year went on, and  we continued to do activities such as picking up trash, collecting food and gifts for families we "adopted" throughout the year, cleaning up the school, and leaving more surprise gifts and notes. By the end of the year, four other students had joined and we even made it into the local newspaper. I continued to participate in the program until I was in fifth grade, and by that time, nearly fifty students had joined the program.

We had a positive impact on the community and since then, I have done as many random kind things as possible. I open doors for people, smile at srangers (they say a smile is contagious), and when I can afford it, I leave money with the barista at the coffee shop with instructions to use it to pay for the order of someone who is having an especially poor day.

I now have a goal to get as many people involved with a "secret" mission, Operation: A Better World.

Each week, I will post random acts of kindness and ask each of my readers to participate. My goal is to eventually get people together to perform acts of kindness in the community. I believe that kindness is contagious and I hope to infect as many people as possible. 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stay tuned for acts of kindness large and small. 

Thank you!