Have random acts of kindness really died in 21st century society?
A long while ago, when I was moving from my old place, I had to drop my washing machine pay card by the property manager’s office and sign a few things. The office wasn’t very busy, and the grandmotherly Bavarian woman who runs the place was happy to see me and get me sorted.
While signing on the dotted line, a young guy wandered into the office and took his place in line behind me.
As I was finishing, he asked the landlady for a laundry card; he had just moved in the day before and it wasn’t given to him then.
I casually asked the landlady if he could just take my old card, since there was still around 13 dollars left on it that I had no hope of using up.
“But, are you sure,” the landlady gasped at me, like I had just handed over a million dollars. “You can get your money back if you fill out another form and wait a few months, you know. You don’t have to give it away.”
She seemed so genuinely taken back by my ‘generosity’ an made a big fuss over how that’s never happened before and how I must be such a nice guy.
For his part, the other tenant who had just accepted my laundry card shook my hand and thanked me profusely. He’d just moved in the day before and was clearly young, probably getting ready to start university.
In a small way I felt like I was giving a hand to someone in a situation pretty much like my own just a few years ago. It made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy (as goofy as that sounds) to see the circle of life, as it were, revolve once more.
But the big deal over 13 dollars still blows my mind. It was as if I had just given them a grant for a million dollars. I tried to be as modest as possible , shrug it off and just say the whole ‘treat others as you would like to be treated’ thing.
“Nobody does that kind of thing though! “ she said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t happen!”
I know the world can be a pretty cold, lonely, crappy place. I get the whole feeling down, fighting back against life’s hardships, etc. I guess you could call it the ‘human experience’. But jeez, I gave up like 10 bucks on a laundry card. I didn’t think my small random act of kindness would be taken so out of the blue.
I try to live my life as best I can and be a positive and giving person. What I did wasn’t the least bit out of character for me, but the response was certainly a surprise.
In this cold city, I guess I’m one of the few nice ones left after all.
2 comments:
Yeah, I've thought that you were one of nice ones for a while now. One that I wonder "Why is this guy still single? Why hasn't someone grabbed him yet?" What you did was very kind and considerate. And like others who do good for the right reason, you didn't want a big deal made of it.
Dude, don't hate on the warm and fuzzies! They get me through the day sometimes, haha.
I probably would've done the same thing as you. I mean, $13 that I wouldn't see for a few months and have to fill out a form? Psh, I'd give it to someone and just ask for a cup of coffee in return, haha.
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