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| Sholeh Patrick |
Give randomly
One of the nice things about living in this community is its sense of community. On a stressful morning at the end of a stressful week, I stopped at my favorite coffee shack. As I offered payment, the employee said, "Oh no -- that other lady took care of it." I missed the stranger as she drove away from the shack; my thank you was too late.
"She's done it before," said the employee. "She just randomly pays for the customer on the other side."
See the movie, "Pay It Forward?" The idea is that practicing random acts of anonymous kindness, from small to life-changing can set in motion a ripple effect of giving. At minimum, giver, receiver, and witnesses get a reminder of the basic good in people, easily forgotten with news of strife, war and cruelty too commonplace.
In this community I've seen strangers buy a meal for a soldier or seniors at the next table. Or groceries when the customer ahead says, "Sorry, Johnny; we can't afford that right now." Once in a while, giving reaches across a city, nation and around the world.
The Random Acts Foundation began when young D.C. resident Juanita Britton dreamed she was looking out the window of a bus in Africa. She saw a woman walking wearily, balancing a basket on her head and a baby on her back. When dream-Juanita reached out to hand her money, the woman's strained face alighted.
Juanita spends two weeks each year handing gifts randomly from a small bus to strangers in foreign lands. Her foundation does much more in poor and rural areas around the world. And is hardly the first or only example of the magnitude of random acts of charity.
Some reason that life has been unkind, so they owe nothing. Others think giving takes too much effort or money, but small opportunities are everywhere (opening a door). Giving creates energy; consider giving with a selfish element -- these acts add self confidence, stimulate endorphins in the bloodstream, and have measured effects on health.
So to the woman in the gray car who treated me at Rooster's by Ironwood Friday around 8 a.m., thanks for the drink, for cheering me up, and most of all -- for inspiration.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Send e-mail to sholehjo@hotmail.com.
