Pay it forward

Sometimes, people surprise you. Random acts of kindness, just like the bumper stickers say.

That happened to some us Whine Sisters last summer when a shall-remain-nameless Disney employee snuck us Fast Passes for The Tower of Terror when he overheard us griping about wanting some. (He remains my favorite Disney employee of all time.)

And then yesterday at the Starbucks drive through, I got to the window all prepared to pay for my Venti nonfat latte, tall decaf mocha lite frappacino with whip, and bottle of orange juice (in case anyone ever wants to buy me and my kids starbies…), when the guy said that the person ahead of us had already paid! How nice is that?

So nice I was surprised, actually, and didn't think to do the same for the person behind me. But I will think of something to do for someone….

When I thought that would be a nice thing to blog about, I Googled Random Acts of Kindess to see if I could find some examples. What I found was actually pretty interesting. Apparently it's Random Acts of Kindness Week (Feb 14-20). Did my anonymous coffee benefactor know that? Is it odd that if so I think the act isn't quite as cool?

Not to sound like I'm begrudging or curmudging (yes, I know that's not a word), but it seems to me that Random Acts of Kindness should be, well, random. And if you Hallmark it up, then suddenly it's not random. It's like forgetting your secretary on secretary's day (which was never a good thing). I mean, it's still nice and all, but just as a matter of principle I think I might wait until Feb 21 to randomly act kind.

But does that mean I have to be bitchy until then?

How about y'all? Have you been the recipients or the purveyors of random kindness this week? Ever? What did you do or have done to/for you? Share! Share! And don't forget that your sharing enters you in the Nook contest!