Holding a Door Open.
I was out shopping and noticed so much activity among all the different people. I had to stop for a moment and just watch. there was a very old little lady that was coming to the door of that store and she was feeble.
I, at that moment, watched a person walk by her and enter. so I went back and opened the door for her. This man that had just walked in and let the door shut kinda shocked me. One day we will all be like that little old lady.
I had to open that door.
She smiled briefly at me and walked in then turned to me and said "that was very kind of you thanks" it was better than anything I have ever received. At that moment I could tell she deals with people like that man all the time and I had touched her just by the simple act of holding a door open with a smile on my face.
- Posted by tina
- Mar 18, 2006
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At Church
At church I introduced myself to an older woman. Discovered she couldn't see. Ordered some cassette tapes of our church magazines and delivered the tapes with the card.
Comment - This card may cause happiness!
- Posted by Jane
- Mar 17, 2006
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A Day of Kindness At School
We had a day of kindness last week. The whole school stayed off timetable and worked in their tutor groups. It was a wonderful day, very peaceful. All the staff had to pick another staff name from a hat and ensure that they passed on three acts of kindness to that person before the end of the week. It was fabulous, the whole school felt so excited, not knowing what nice things might happen. Flowers turning up in pigeon holes, poems being written and pictures drawn. Peoples classes were tidied and lunches left for others. The cooks the cleaners and all the office staff were included. Since then people have not stopped talking about it. I think that this should be done in all achools.
I will ask my class to share how they felt about the day and I will get them to email you. Posting their thoughts on the web would be an act of kindness to them on its own as they all have severe learning difficulties and it is not often that they feel they can have their say. Although these ideas may be simple they will have come from the heart....
I will do this on monday morning. Looking forward to it already.
- Posted by Louise Quaid
- Mar 17, 2006
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Grocery Store Encounter
The past 12 months have comprised the worst year of my life. A rebellious teenager, a vindictive ex-husband, my nest emptying, and a sudden unexpected midlife crisis just make up part of a very turbulent time.
I already had a small bouquet of daisies in my cart with my other groceries, and had prayed for God to show me who needed them the most. Normally, they end up in the hands of a very surprised cashier. But today, I saw a woman in the dairy section who reminded me very much of me...a couple of years older maybe, a few pound heavier perhaps, but she had that tired, sad look that I recognized from my own reflection that told me she was experiencing a hard time. I checked out, and placed a SMILE card in the bouquet. By this time, she was in line, unloading her groceries. I walked over to her, handed them to her, and said "these are for you." She was obviously surprised, and stammered out a "thank you" as I walked away. My daughter and I were driving away when she came out, smiling broadly. It was a well spent $3.33.
It truly IS better to give than to receive.
- Posted by anonymous
- Mar 17, 2006
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Web comment:
I work in a very busy real estate office and it seems like the office needs some cheering up...i'm going to put in each of the agents mail box one of these cards hoping it'll brighten their day and in return they will forward the smile card!
- Posted by Le' Zette Corona
- Mar 16, 2006
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Little Poems
I love leaving little poems, words of wisdom and amusing messages. Sometimes my friends find it strange that i don't hang around to see thet response, like a joke without a punchline. That's the point though, i am sure my little presents and messages say all they need to.
- Posted by Adam Swinhoe
- Mar 16, 2006
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thankyou smile
i was once sitting on a bus and this old man got on, as he did i smiled at him, he walked up to me and said "thankyou for smiling at me, you have just made my day" i felt a sence of glow all day. just to know my one smile could make someone have a better day.
- Posted by Laura
- Mar 13, 2006
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A little encouragement can mean the world!
A few days ago I was at the gym and a soldier was running a timed physical fitness test. He had lapped me once when I decided to catch up to him and just quitely push myself for the last few minutes of my jog. It was just at that moment that he let out an exhausted sigh...a resignation to stop trying SO hard if you will. It was at that moment that I said to him, "Come on...let's go. Don't quit now. I'll run right behind you and we'll do it together." He was so shocked but managed to say, "You don't know how much I needed that. I was going to quit." So as we both ran the track together he introduced himself and wanted to know my "time". Well, sadly enough, I am just beginning to get back into shape and simply said that I didn't keep ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Cindy
- Mar 11, 2006
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Daffodils and sweets to brighten someone's day...
Recently, I was thinking about how the porters in our building here in London have been doing a great job servicing the residents. In particular, there is one porter who manages to brighten up my day every time I come and go from our building and puts a smile on everyone's faces who comes by. He's always cheerful and very helpful and seems to be full of life.
I thought it would be nice to thank him for his kindness. So, I decided to put together a small bundle of daffodils and a box of sweets, each with a smile card attached. The plan was to leave it at the front desk anonymously, along with a "Thank You" card.
When I got down there, he was at the desk, so the anonymous game was over. But, I decided maybe that's the way it was meant to be, and I handed him the sweets, the flowers, and the card and thanked him for everything he does on a daily basis. He was definitely taken by surprise and couldn't get over the fact that someone would do this for him. It felt so wonderful to brighten someone else's day, who never fails to brighten mine
- Posted by TS
- Mar 9, 2006
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Job Interviews and Car Breakdowns!
I was visiting a friend of mine in the SF Bay Area, and we were driving off to dinner when we saw two people walking on the opposite side of the street, and ostensibly trying to flag down cars. No one was stopping, so we took a u-turn and pulled up beside them. A woman, clearly relieved that someone had pulled over, says, "Our car just broke down, and I'm late for an interview, and it's really near by -- could you guys please drive me there?!"
She seemed sincere and her story sounded legitimate, so we picked her up. As we were driving, she was mentioning how much she needed this job, and how thankful she was that we had picked her up. She also said, "And I just couldn't believe that no one would stop for us. As we were trying unsuccessfully to flag people down, I was telling my friend that they just don't know what they're missing out on -- they would feel so good for having helped someone in need!"
We dropped her off, and it just so happened to that we had just received a bunch of smile cards from you, and so when we gave her one, she was so excited about it and took 15 more!
As your motto says, Kindness really is contagious!
- Posted by Trishna
- Mar 8, 2006
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Favour Factory
I am a student at the University of Dundee. My current project is ‘The Favour Factory’. Which is a service primarily based on the concept of seamless interconnection between ‘philanthropy’ and ‘sharing of time’. The service consists of users ‘registering’ with the Factory, in doing this their availability, unique skills, talents and experiences are exposed to fellow members. Subsequently, required favours are carried out in exchange for ‘credits’. As a result, physical and virtual communities are both targeted and created through the ‘Favour Factory'.
- Posted by Lauren Currie
- Mar 8, 2006
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Web comment:
For a long time now I've wanted to better myself as a person and pull myself out of the depression that has really claimed my life the past 7 years. Thankfully now I am starting to really love life and want to encourage those around me. However, sometimes due to the nature of this disease, I find myself fighting for motivation. When I read about this site and got here, I was completely inspired, I feel that something as little as this cards could help encourage me (and others) to make a true difference!
- Posted by Jaimie Mennell
- Mar 6, 2006
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Web comment:
The elections have just finished in my island, and many relationships have been broken because of it. I plan to use these cards as a way to get families and the community back together. This is time also where many young men and women from my island are off in the military; these cards could help bring the community to help the families of those who are away. Sometimes even though we want to help we just don't know how or need a little push, and that is how i plan to use these cards.
- Posted by Avery Hocog
- Feb 21, 2006
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Overworked Pregnant Waitress
Recently my husband was in the hospital after a heart attack. As I sat alone in the cafe at the hospital, I felt such empathy for the one lone waitress in the large dining room there. This young woman looked very close to giving birth and she was working so hard, my heart went out to her as she waited on table after table, including a group of about 12 or more people. I was inspired to leave a smile card but that felt too insignificant in itself so I went to the hospital gift shop & bought a little stuffed animal for her baby. I planned to just leave it anonymously but she came back in the room just then so I presented the bag to her with a smile card inside & just told her it was something for her baby. The look that came over her face was one of shock and disbelief. It was though she was frozen there for a moment. She smiled and thanked me as I walked out of the room. I've thought about that young woman many times since and hope it has made a small difference in her life.
- Posted by Marilyn J
- Feb 20, 2006
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Simple Surprise For Sister
I plan to put one in each of my sisters lunches with a special surprise snack and note of love. I will then give them 4 more cards to encouarge them to take part in their own acts of kindness, while I use the remaining cards with random acts when I see a need. I hope encouranging my sisters when they are young will help them and their friends discover a joy of helping others that they will carry on throughout there lives.
- Posted by Jen Davies
- Feb 20, 2006
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DMV Guy and a Stolen Car
Mondays are usually pretty hectic for me. On one of these typical Mondays, I get ready to go to work thinking about all the things I have to accomplish on that day and walk down to get to my car scolding myself for being late to work, but surprisingly the car was nowhere to be found. I parked right across my apartment the previous night but it wasn’t there that morning. This was at 8.00am in the morning. I made trips to all the towing places, police stations all the time thinking that it was towed by cops. By around 10.00am, I couldn’t find it anywhere and the cops decided that it was actually stolen. After filing a report with the them, I finally get to work thinking how my day was completely messed up. Later in the day I went to pick up a rental car at Enterprise only to realize ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Sudha
- Feb 18, 2006
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Drive Through Wonder Gal!
Hi, I love your cards and have been thoroughly enjoying "spreading the smile". I frequent the local Hardees on my way to work to pick up breakfast and had gotten to know the girl at the window. One day I pulled up to the drive through to pick up my order and asked how much the persons order was behind me. I explained what I wanted to do, much to her confusion and then delight:-), and we went from there. Ever since, I have begun doing this the morning after every payday or when I have some/any extra cash in my wallet. Sometimes I buy as many breakfasts as I can down the line. The funniest was a police office whom I bought breakfast for. The cashier said he was in shock!!:-) I apologize for writing on such short notice but I am headed to the Peace Corps in 12 days ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Loren Deal
- Feb 14, 2006
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Anonymous act of kindness
My kids and I bought inexpensive fresh flowers from a store and randomly picked 2 women from the supermarket parking lot to give them to and said "these are just for you... have a great day". The response was touching: The first woman started crying and said she just lost her husband of 50 years a few weeks ago and she was just sitting in her car thinking about him. We cried and hugged each other and talked about her loss...I told her I think we were sent to her that day ...maybe her husband sent us to give her the flowers. The other woman stated that she could really use the flowers because she was really sad that her mother was ill in the hospital. My kids are always retelling this story... "Mom remember when we gave those flowers to those ladies and they cried because they were so happy".
- Posted by Colleen Schmidt
- Feb 13, 2006
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A Simple Act
My mother recently wrote a thank you letter to Medicare to express appreciation for their patience in guiding her through the new prescription card process. They were totally shocked, and someone called to thank her. Many people everywhere provide services for us. We complain about the buraucracy, but forget that these are people like us who are just trying to make a living.
- Posted by Anonymous
- Feb 11, 2006
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Fast Food Freebie
I was at a fast food drive up window, and just got my order and I asked how much was the ladies' order behind me. It was only a couple bucks so I gave them more than enough to cover it and said "Tell her I said 'Have a nice day'" and I smiled and drove off and it made me smile all day and every time I think of it. I ended up receiving a lot more than I gave!!!
- Posted by Nancy
- Feb 7, 2006
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