Thread: What act of kindness did you show today?

At SRP we pride ourselves on our gentlemanly conduct. And to me part of that is kindness. I'm not talking about politeness like saying please and thank you. I'm not meaning letting someone in front of you in a queue. I mean acts of kindness that you go out of your way to do.

Let me be clear here. Many people do jobs which might be seen as 'kind' jobs. Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers... all are caring professions but at the end of the day all are paid jobs. You get money for the work you do, there is incentive for you. I'm not even meaning voluntary work. Perhaps you work unpaid in a charity shop or something. This is very commendable and I take my hat off to you, but thats not what i'm talking about.

The kind of thing i'm talking about are acts of kindness that are spur of the moment things, things that you go out of your way to do. Perhaps nobody else would do it or even think of doing it. You remember good old fashioned empathy dont you? Looking after your fellow man because you could? Let me tell you my example which I hope illustrates my point.

Today I was coming back from Glasgow to my parents house in Cumbernauld. I've been travelling a long way today and as some of you may know I have done my back in recently. This has kept me flat on my back for nearly a week. Today was the first day I was out and moving. I had a heavy backpack on and had been around Glasgow most of the day. It was around 9pm as I passed through Condorrat, a subur of Cumbernauld. The bus stopped and the doors opened to let a guy and a dog on.

The guy told the driver that he had been on the preceeding bus and the driver had let the dog on thinking it was his, which it was not. When the man got off the driver insisted he take the dog too. The man reluctantly did so because the driver was going to chuck the dog off either way. The man then had to wait for my bus to come along and ask if anyone could take the dog to the police station.

And that is what I did. The police station was out of my way, my back was in pain and it was late at night. But I looked at the poor dog who was obviously terrified and heavily pregnant and thought that I was still better off than she was. I offered to take the dog to the police station.

The lady who met me there took her in and said that the dog warden would pick her up tomorrow and that she would be taken to a dog shelter to be rehomed. I hope that things turn out OK for the pooch but I guess i'll never know.

So this is my question to you ladies and gents. What act of kindness, what moment of generosity have you shown recently? Tell me all about it. I dont believe it is bragging or boasting because kindness is something which should be encouraged and shared. So tell me, what have you done?

I heard somewhere that good deeds don't count if you tell anyone about them.

Dont count? Count towards what? I put a huge effort into starting this thread icedog. I thought it might start something really nice. Seems not.

Hey now, as someone who gets paid to help people all day long, I don't think it's fair to exclude us from acts of kindness.

We may get paid for it, but doing it with feeling counts IMHO.

You know what, forget it.

Don't forget it Sydney! Mr. Icedog tried the same thing with my cubscout thread! Don't let it get under your skin. I gave a flower to a rather depressed looking lady and gave away three dozen chicken eggs from my own chickens! Not much I know, but lets get this thread rolling!

Thank you Mark! At last! You know what I mean it seems. despite my best literary efforts it seems people didnt even care about the dog! I dont want a well done for what I did. I dont want a pat on the back. I want to make you smile and see there is some kindness in the human race still. If you read my initial post and your first thought was 'what about me, where is MY credit?' then perhaps you are the reason why people need to smile more.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by JMS

I gave a flower to a rather depressed looking lady and handed gave away three dozen chicken eggs from my own chickens! Not much I know, but lets get this thread rolling!

Thats EXACTLY what i'm talking about. Well done you! Who's next?

Ahem...It's Mark Sir.

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Thank you James! At last! You know what I mean it seems. despite my best literary efforts it seems people didnt even care about the dog! I dont want a well done for what I did. I dont want a pat on the back. I want to make you smile and see there is some kindness in the human race still. If you read my initial post and your first thought was 'what about me, where is MY credit?' then perhaps you are the reason why people need to smile more.

Hey man, take a breather! Remember to look at icedog's header... I think he was just prodding you gently.

Anyhow, taking the time to actually talk to (and listen to) and elderly stroke patient can really make their day.
A smile and a firm handshake with an old man who thinks nobody cares about him can be a beautiful thing...even in the US healthcare system.

I try to pick up trash when I see it on the ground