A December Challenge to Revscene - Random Acts of Kindness
 

As an extension of the venerable, "Random Acts of Kindness," thread, I propose a December challenge to the members of Revscene.

In the spirit of the holidays and final exams, times which can be as stressful and trying on the emotions as they are rewarding, each day this month perform one, "Random Act of Kindness."

Any act that brightens another person's day qualifies, no matter how significant.

You might:
resign your seat on the bus for a fellow passenger,
pay for the coffee of a person behind you in line,
lend a stranger a 14mm socket at 1am and proceed to help them install lowering springs,
offer someone less experienced a moment of advice or encouragement at the gym,
hold a door open or remember to thank a person for doing that for you,
compliment a co-worker on something,
smile at a person who looks down,
donate a food item at the grocery store,
make room for someone to merge ahead of you while driving,
drive someone home as a part of the Operation Rev Nose program,
or ANYTHING else that would even momentarily make you feel good if you were the recipient.

By the end of the month, all those little things will add up to a lot of good, especially if people remember to pass it on.

Each day post in this thread or the original thread to keep track and inspire other members.

Who's in?

I tipped the pizza delivery boy.

great idea Mindbomber. Get into the spirit of Christmas and giving the way things should be. Sometimes the littlest thing will mean so much to someone!!

I'm in. I work from home and don't get out much, but I'll do what I can.

Friend of mine posted this on her FB status just now:

She followed it up with this comment:

Think I'll point her to this thread and the other one...

The other day I gave someone my shopping cart before getting mine... she was somewhat shocked but very thankful. Her mom did that old school Hong Kong thing of "pretend not to notice anything" and she swept in and took the cart quickly and walked away looking down.

I literally LOL'd

I try to do most of those things regularly. Including donating to Wikimedia/Wikipedia.

What we should be doing, instead of "getting into the spirit of the season" is making this the spirit of every season, all year long.

Then we'll have accomplished something.

Im asking everyone to get me non-perishable food as my bday gift again this year so i can donate to the food bank.
Worked out pretty well last year.
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I do my best to have this attitude year round, and do my best to volunteer a bit on the side.

It truly is a good feeling, and very rewarding.

I get the impression some people find it taxing to extend simple kindness to people, which I don't really get.

Hopefully this challenge will motivate people to get started, and they'll continue come January.

Can you explain the old school Hong Kong thing, I don't understand.....

pay for the coffee of a person behind you in line

this is a great idea but i am sure most ppl would be like wtf creep

I have one to add that happened yesterday to me...

I was at UBC right by my office and lady drove up to me to tell me an old man had fallen and was bleeding from the head...my first thought was why she is telling me this and not doing anything her self...needless to say i dropped what I was doing and headed over to the area where she said the man was (in-between the hospital and Health parkade).

I go over to find an elderly man literally crawling on the ground in a small pool of blood trying to pick up his now broken pieces of glasses...I am sure others may have even walked by this man without even seeing him...I tried to help him so he could get balanced with his cane and luckily another random guy came to help me lift him.

I asked if he was ok to walk with me to the hospital urgent care area (maybe 300 meters away) as I did not want to leave him there. I held his arm as we walked over and because of the rain we walked under the covered area (anyone who knows UBC in this area knows that the covered area is a small pathway)....The thing the bugged me the most as we were walking slow the amount of people that cut us off to pass us...people in suits/students/delivery people/ect. all to much in a hurry to give us room to walk!!!!

Anyway I took him to urgent care where I handed him over to them...the man thanked me as did the receptionist there.

They actually called my office an hour later I guess giving an update that the guy was fine which was good to hear...

I guess not really a random act of kindness more of the right thing to do....it just really amazes me that people will walk past this man to 'pass' the info on...or because they are in a hurry try to cut you off while walking.

Anyway that is my contribution for today

that is because it has become so uncommon to do something and not expect much in return. Kind of like how i try to tell people their lights are burnt out, brake lights stuck on or their tire is going flat. I get the same first reaction when i wave them to put the window down
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...b6y2RSqeuE7GI5

You did what no one else around you did that day. I would buy you a beer for being a good human.

Sub'd
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i'm hoping that this 'challenge' should not be only for the month of december but anytime of the year and all the time that you can...

I went to McDonalds' yesterday to grab a quick snack after work. As I was lining up, there was a line already infront, and two young brothers behind me. I was checking my email when I overheard one of the brothers complain about who would get which contents of the meal. One of the brothers (I'm assuming the younger one) argued he never got any of the fries because the other sibling would eat them all. It was quite nostalgic because I remembered I was the same with my cousins when I was younger. I would never get any fries, at least not until the box was basically empty and I would get the burnt ones. It turns out their parents gave them just enough money to share one McChicken meal. When it was my turn to order, I got myself a chicken snack wrap and proceeded to order two chicken meals, supersized and also two ice cream cones. I turned around and told the kids to put away their money, and that I ordered for them. Their eyes lit up. Their initial reaction; handed me the money their parents gave them. I told them it was fine and the kids said thank you and just stared at each other in awe. The order was ready, I grabbed my chicken snack wrap, handed the big bag to the older brother. They said thank you once again and walked over to the sitting area, I was assuming the parents were sitting down waiting.

It felt very rewarding seeing the reaction on their faces, but honestly I did feel guilty afterwards feeding young boys an entire supersized mcdonalds' meal with an icecream lol

a observation, maybe explain later
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need to be able to thank on mobile
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I dunno...while that's really nice of you to do, if I was one of their parents, I'd feel really disrespected.....not everybody wants "help"...I know I'd never accept someone else buying me a meal because they pitied me and/or my living situation....

Buying a meal for someone with a sign up on the street asking for help - that's great...

Buying a meal for someone (who is not asking for it) because you pity them.....errr, no thanks.

Just my opinion.

stupid small one tonight but it was something.

Took the skytrain a couple of stops got out and as I was walking to my ride I saw a older again women going through her purse to grab her ticket. I just handed her mind and the look on her face she was really surprised I did that.

It wasn't much but it put a smile on her face which made it worth while.

ughhhh thats agains the rules :badpokerface: but it is still a nice thing to do :fullofwin:

fuck the rules and fuck translink :)

I paid for my ticket and as the freedom for being Canadian I will do what I want with it...

As shitty as McDonalds is, if I was already buying my kids it and only had enough money for one meal, I would be beyond grateful to a complete stranger for doing what he did. Maybe it's because I grew up with very little, I learned to appreciate everything someone does unexpectedly without worrying about being pitied. If it feeds my kids, I'm going to be thankful either way.

Just my opinion :)