Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Sandals at New Year's Eve

Many people spend their New Year’s Eve, getting dressed up and dancing their way to midnight. We decided to do things a bit differently. We filled a backpack with clothes, shoes and other goodies and headed out to the railway station. The first person we spotted was a 15-16 year old boy picking up discarded plastic bottles on the platform. We called him over and started up a conversation.  We had a discrete look at his hands and noticed he had long fingernail.  We explained that it was important to keep short nails (studies have shown that disease occurrence in the poor can be reduced by 30% by keeping short fingernails) and then the two of us began cutting them for him.  When we were done, we offered him a chocolate bar, which made him look at us suspiciously. (In India, there is a fear that people cast spells on food and then lure children away).  ... Read Full Story >>

Nice Moment #2

Today my boss bought me a crossiant.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Today I tagged a vibrantly passionate pink-haired musician near Embarcadero in San Francisco, who was belting out Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" with her accordion!

I hid behind a public bathroom to get everything together - SmileCard, $10 gift card to Cafe Gratitude, and a note saying thanks for the rousing rendition of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Then I neatly paperclipped the bundle together, walked up (with my sunglasses on - even more annonymous!), smiled and put it in box where people were putting money, then went on my way.

Super-fun!

Lessons From My Daddy

well, im millie, im 15 years old, and im going to tell you about my daddy =) i dont see him much anymore, but i learnt so much when i was with him. i remember one time, dad, my little brother and i were on our way back to sydney on a plane...we were stuck inside the plane for an hour and a half after we landed because some trailer wouldnt work. anyway, a little girl and her brother were sitting in frount of us, they were about 4 or 5, and they were afraid of being stuck in the plane...the little girl was crying. So my dad started to do "magic" tricks, he had a yo yo and was making it "dissapear" and making funny faces, in no time at all, my dad, me, and my little brother had a small audience, the people next to us and the people behind and in frount. the parents of the kids thanked us, and we havnt seen them since, but i learnt from my dad that day...Laughter is the best medicine.

Seeking Everyday Opportunities

I went to the US OPEN... and getting into my car I noticed that the lady next to me left her lights on so I gave her a boost. She was so thankful that she wanted to give me money. I told her just do a favor for someone else. I think a lot of people have been doing this, but we forget to do this radom act of kindness, the cards will help us remember.

Nice Moment

Today I saw a homeless man feeding the pigeons.

Lonely Boy Playing in the Streets

There was a little, blond haired boy playing in the side streets. He looked kind of lonely kicking a football by himself.  I noticed my two puppies were kind of drawn to the little boy. So, I asked permission for us to watch his football practice.  He was kind of shy and said okay.

Later, the pups were really getting excited watching him practice kicking. I finally told him the most shy puppy I had- for the first time in her life wanted to run up to a boy (and she had been previously terrified of children). We cheered the little boy on as he made attempts to kick really hard.  It was kind of nice to be in the moment rooting for someone else, some stranger in the middle of the street!  I kind of felt he enjoyed the cheerleading squat on the sidelines too.

The Baggage Carousel at Oakland

After being delayed for several hours and then sitting on a long flight from atlanta to oakland, i waited at the baggage carousel utterly exhausted.  I though about what it was that would make me feel good and realized it was something as simple as someone helping me retrieve my heavy luggage from the baggage carousel.  I looked around the other haggard looking passengers and decided that would also help them feel better--so i proceeded to help as many individuals as possible with their luggage.  it was a great feeling and put my tired spirits at bay!

Calming the Storm Brings a Smile

I was working in the house of a dad and his two sons. The dad was feeling like his life was going out of his control, his partner having recently left him and was threatening to take his sons with her. He was frustrated about not getting his two young sons under his control to go through their old toys to figure out what to do with them. He was almost constantly correcting them for this and that no matter how small. It broke my heart as it seemed nobody was getting a moment of peace. I found it hard to think clearly about how to help. I didn't know for sure how to bring the father's behavior to his attention without making him feel criticized in a way that would exxaccerbate a viscious circle. I knew he was angry and fearful of losing control of his life. So what ... Read Full Story >>

Inspiration and Achieving Your Dreams

I was at work this morning and my work roommate was being harassed by his Supervisor. I was on my lunch break and walked past a newsagent and a book on 'Inspiration and Achieving your Dreams' caught my eye. I used my lunch money to buy the book for my roomate and atached an anonymous card thanking him for being such a treasure to the company and put it on reception to be delivered to his desk. The smile on his face was priceless and so was the smile on mine!!!!

Sharing Birthday Love

My sister is on the other side of the world.  I'm volunteerting in India while she's at home in Canada. While I can't be there physically to celebrate her birthday, I wanted to spread some love to mark the day. I set off to the market to get ingredients for cookies when I saw an old man carrying a long rod with a weight on one end and a large tray holding food which he was selling on the other hand.  Perfect! I went up to the man and took the rod off his shoulder and walked with him for the next half kilometer, talking to him and his grandson who appeared after a few minutes.  The grandfather and boy are the only regular income generators in the family.  The boy and granddad go out after the boy gets back from school.  After walking and talking to the wonderful pair, as I left ... Read Full Story >>

Easter Surprise for a Teacher

There is one teacher at my school who's classes were particularly interesting. He actually taught us something new, something useful. About civilizations like the Kalahari desert people, or the secluded people of Orania in Africa and also the Amish. He would show us videos and was very involved in making his classes fun and not boring.

Soon after...I saw a movie called "pay it forward" and also found this website. I decided to surprise this teacher by putting some chocolate eggs into his mailbox at school.

I never found out what his reaction was, but I'm sure it was a nice surprise that he most definitely didn't expect!

Giving up Bus Seat for a Smile

After reading the "Drawing a smile" posting by our friend this morning, I was inspired to scribble something too.
I am a regular traveler of the local bus in bangalore, India. Most of the people in the city travel by these buses which get very very crowded at the peak hours of the day.

In the morning I always get a seat as it is the first stop of the bus. Evening though I usually get a seat 3/4th way in the journey. But what I have noticed is a simple act of giving a seat to someone gives them so much joy. Sometimes when I see an old lady standing, I make it a point to give her my seat. You should see the sparkle of joy in their eyes.

A simple thing as a seat gives such joy and brings smile on someone's face. I better not miss any opportunity to spread this smile. Let me be a greedy in being kind...

Service With a Smile

Last night a friend and I went to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant.  After we were seated it took a while before anyone came to take our order, and eventually a nice waitress stopped by our table and asked if anyone had served us yet.  We said, "No", and she was incredible apologetic and said there was a mix-up and they weren't sure which server was assigned to our table.  For the rest of the evening she was super nice and friendly, and kept checking in with us to make sure we were doing okay.  Then when we got our our bill she hadn't charged us for our drinks! 

So in the spirit of paying it forward, since she had been so kind as to do that for us, I decided to leave her a $20 tip (our meal was only about $10) and a smile card :)

Babysuits, Books, Wheelchairs and Gardenias

Recently we were blessed with a little boy and we are still overwhelmed by all the wonderful gifts he received with Smile cards!

The first tag was a beautfiful, organic cotton, custom babysuit that said in big bold letters - "Be the Change You Wish To See In the World - Gandhi"

Another was a tag for a struggling teacher in Fremont on behalf of our little one. She got an entire year's supplies of books so she could keep her school going.

And then an organization that arranges wheel chairs for disabled poor was donated one in out little one's name.

Recently, we discovered a smile card hiding inside a little Gardenia plant.

The fragrance from the Gardenias and all these tags was quite refreshing and now we have quite a few acts of kindness and smile cards to pass on :)

Tagging a Neighbor

I don't know my neighbors. I see some in the elevator sometimes but other than that I don't know who lives behind the doors i pass everyday.  made me realize it was a perfect opportunity for a tag:) Yesterday I left a calendar on their doorstep that had beautiful pictures and quotes, hope the neighborhood tagging will be paid forward!

An Inspiring Comment

I love to buy things for people w/out them expecting it...especially people i don't know. For ex. When i'm at the drive thru at McDonalds I'll purchase my food along with paying for the car behind me. And ssk the cashier at the window to give them this card and drive away w/out turning back to see their reaction.

I've done this about 5 times and my spirit is uplifited higher and higer everytime.

Lunch in Walnut Creek

I have been meaning to post this story for the past few weeks--my husband and I were in Walnut Creek to run errands.  We decided to stop off at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch; we asked to eat on the patio.  It just so happened that across from us, on the other side of the glass (in the restaurant) two women had just sat down for lunch. 

One woman was visibly upset and repeatedly left in tears.  I decided that she would be a perfect candidate for a tag--it was kind of difficult to tag her without her noticing as she was sitting directly across from us but luckily we had the same waitress.  When we told our waitress what we wanted to do, she broke in a huge smile and said that she was happy to accomodate.

I just happened to have a smile card on me--we had our waitress tag her.  It was the best feeling and a new experience for my husband who is now addicted to the feeling.  Hopefully, this made her day a little better! :)

Listening Life Raft

She recognized my face, but didn't know my name.  It didn't seem to matter though.  For me, it had been more than two years since I saw her, but my guess was that this had nothing to do with  me.  She had gone through a lot, that much was clear.  In the past, it was tough to tell if her continual distress was a result of on-going chaos or the residual mental effects of prior suffering.  Not only was she not open about this, but found ways to inappropriately interject her own issues into any conversation and lead it down a negative path, which meant that most people would try and end their conversation with her in the first minute. The moment I was free, she rushed over to talk to me.  We moved quickly from the opening pleasantries to heavy issues-- abuse, immigration matters, law suits, discrimination, exploitation-- that had all been a part ... Read Full Story >>

Drawing a Smile

I spent most of last Saturday painting and drawing.  I realized how quickly time passes by when you are inspired by a "feeling".    The next day I realized that it would be even nicer if I could extend that inspiration so I left a drawing in front of my sister's home with a smile card and a rose...  I hope she liked it. :)