 People in every city and town, all over the world perform random
acts of kindness every day. These random acts can happen to anyone
at any time. The kindness bestowed is random as well.However,
those who perform these acts are not random.
You know the one or two people in your life who would bake a pie
and drop it off at your house even when it isn't your birthday. They
would totally get it when you are "in a mood" and would do something
that makes you smile. These people perform random acts of kindness
on a regular basis, which would make those acts... not random, I
guess.
These people are not performing the act of being kind. They
simply are kind... all the time.
I was sitting in a Taco Bell with my son when a man approached
our table and said, "Excuse me..." I looked up. "I don't mean to
interrupt but..." Somehow he got sidetracked (I suspect ADD) and
made a joke: "Are you gonna eat that?"
He seemed so serious at first that I looked down to see what part
of my meal I was going to have to give up. Because if someone is
desperate enough to walk up to a total stranger and ask for their
food, he needs it more than I do.
He immediately smiled, though, and said, "Just kidding. Would you
like this taco?" He held out a paper-wrapped taco with a questioning
look on his face.
The look on my face must've broadcast suspicion because he
started babbling about how there was nothing wrong with it...
honest.
"I didn't do anything to it," which, of course, made me think he
did do something to it. Who gives perfectly good tacos to total
strangers?
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 If this was the elusive "random act of kindness" I keep hearing
about, he was really bad at it. I took pity on him, though, thanked
him and took the taco, mostly because I didn't want him to fail at
something at which he was obviously a rookie.
My chalupa supreme had already begun to fill the holes in my
hunger, but I thought I would take the taco home to my husband.
On the way home, I made a promise to myself: If I ever decide to
try a random act of kindness, I would not start with a taco.
But again, I suppose that deciding to do it would make it no
longer random. You simply have to do it when the urge hits you. If
you happen to be holding a spare taco at the time, well, I guess
that's about as random as it gets.
I can only hope that when the urge hits me, I'm not holding a
dead trout or my son's boxer shorts. Of course, that would not be
considered a kindness. Trying to pawn off a dead fish or sweaty
undergarments on a stranger would be considered an assault, I think,
not a kindness. So... it wouldn't count.
Let's recap. To perform a random act of kindness correctly, one
cannot plan it or decide to do it.
If the urge strikes to give a stranger something, you must resist
that urge if said something is in any way repulsive.
If the act benefits you in any way, it doesn't qualify. Like if
watching another episode of "Deadliest Catch" prompts you to give
your husband's big-screen TV to a homeless man. It doesn't qualify.
If, after the act is performed, you feel warm and tingly inside
and have a smile on your face all day, you can be pretty sure you've
done it correctly.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist,
author and speaker. You can reach her at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more info.
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