TYOLD Day 41: Random Acts of Kindness Day 1

This is Random Acts of Kindness week, so I’m going to do a bunch of them this week as my Differently items.

I started today by going to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf next to my office and I bought a $10 gift card.  I paid with a $20 and the barista said, “And I owe you $10,” as she laid down two $5 bills.  I said “No, you don’t,” and pushed the $10 back toward her.

She looked with suspicion at first and then confusion and then like she was a little freaked out.  She said, “No, you can’t…” and I said, “Sure, I can.”  And then she asked, “But… why?”

I thought there, right there… that a person who is most likely a minimum wage employee at a coffee shop who probably rarely gets a few coins thrown in the little tip jar by the register would ask “why” when someone gives them $10 is exactly why.

I showed her the little cards I had printed out (see below) and told her it was Random Acts of Kindness Week and then told her to pay it forward as I walked out of the store.

Then I went to the parking garage and left the $10 gift card and one of the RAOK cards on the car parked next to mine.

I wasn’t having a great day but I feel a lot better now.

To find out more about National Random Acts of Kindness Week visit actsofkindness.org.