Some of you might recall from a previous blog post that I owe the world a favor, and so I decided that I should do something really nice for a complete stranger. I’ve come to realize that this is a really hard thing to do. I mean, of course, you can always donate to your favorite charity or support a cause. But to do something nice specifically for someone that you actually see with your own eyes – that’s different.
When I was in Madison, I was walking along State Street with my nephews. I stopped to pick up a towel that a man dropped and handed it back to him. He looked up at me and said thanks. Zach asked me why I did that, and I responded, “Because he dropped it.” The man looked a little disheveled, somewhat dirty, and appeared to be carrying all of his belongings in a backpack. I figured that whatever made the cut to be in the backpack at that point must be important. Besides, he dropped it. So I picked it up.
But I don’t think that counts. It wasn’t something “really nice” for someone.
Tom and I went to the cherry blossom festival last weekend in DC, and we decided to buy some soft pretzels as a snack. Yum. There was a woman in front of us ordering hot dogs or something, and she appeared to be very put out by the fact that there were no “grilled onions.” Or maybe it was that she had to put the raw onions on herself, I wasn’t quite sure. Regardless, there was an awful lot of sarcasm and eye-rolling going on. She was essentially, non-verbally, telling the woman behind the counter that she was really stupid. Man, she was so irritated. Over a hot dog. So when it was our turn to order, I smiled nicely and ordered nicely and said thank you – nicely.
I’m pretty sure this doesn’t count either. So I’ll keep trying.
Incidentally, my mom sent me this video today, so I thought I’d share:
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