A Little Kindness at the Bank

     I swung by the bank this afternoon because I needed to cash a check.  Noticing that the drive-through lines were completely empty, I figured I'd go that route rather than parking and going inside.  As I pulled up to the window, I decided it might be a good day to surprise the teller with a gift.

     When the teller slid the drawer open for me to place my banking items, I put the check I wanted to cash in there, but I also added a gift card from Chick-Fil-A.  Curiously, the teller made no reaction as I watched her efficiently handle the transaction and count out my cash for accuracy.  Then she placed the money back into the drawer and told me that she was giving me back the card because I must have accidentally left it in there.  When I explained that it was for her, she smiled, almost in an embarrassed way, and asked me "Why?" I responded that I wanted her to have a nice day.  "That's SO nice of you!" she exclaimed, to which I responded that it was my pleasure and asked that she do something nice for someone else.  She assured me that she would definitely "pay it forward" and I left, knowing that she'd be smiling the rest of the day and telling her family and friends about the strange thing that happened at work today.

     What could be better than making someone smile like that?  To be honest, I don't think she was necessarily the friendliest teller I've ever seen.  She wasn't bad, but she also wasn't great.  Her whole demeanor certainly changed after our exchange, and I'd like to think she had a little extra spring in her step and smile in her voice after that.  Hopefully, it even rubbed off on those who were around her, or those customers she handled the rest of the afternoon.

     

A Little More Pay It Forward

     Today was one of those days that occur from time to time where my original plan had to change.  Here's what happened:

     I was heading over to FedexOffice where I had placed an online order for some printing.  This is something I've done many times throughout the year.  I have a booklet that's about 15 pages that I give to audience members for many of my workshops.  I can easily upload the document, select from a variety of setup options, and then have it printed, copied, and bound and ready for me to pick up.  I've done this enough times that I've gotten to know the guys who work there.  I was thinking that today it might be nice to give a Chick-fil-A gift card to the guy who took care of my order as a small way to say thank you.  However, when I inspected the completed job before bringing it home, I noticed that all of the pages had been printed in reverse order!  Needless to say, they're reprinting everything and it didn't feel appropriate to offer a thank you gesture.  So I moved to Plan B.

     I needed to pick up something at Target so I figured that I would pick a stranger in the parking lot and offer them the gift card, at which point I could also create a nice pay-it-forward opportunity.  Parking lots are great for this type of thing because there are lots of people coming and going.  

     I picked out a woman and her teenage daughter who had just gotten out of their car and were starting to walk toward the store.  Stopping them for a moment, I approached the woman and asked her if she and her daughter liked Chick-fil-A.  She gave me a hesitant, quizzical look and offered a tentative "Yes . . ."  I then asked her if she'd like to have the gift card.  Looking at me warily, she seemed to be trying to figure out what to make of me, or if this was some kind of trick.  That's when I explained that the only "catch" was that they had to do something nice for someone else in return.  That brought a big smile to her face as if now she understood what was going on.  She said "Sure.  That's so nice," as I presented her with the card.  I'd love to know what she and her daughter chose to do.  I'm sure they told their family and friends about the strange thing that happened to them in the Target parking lot today!

     As I've noted many times, the pay-it-forward concept is so wonderfully simple, and yet powerful.  I think of it almost like starting a wave that can build and build and perhaps be felt many miles away.  A simple gesture like a gift card can set in motion a series of kind acts that could number in the hundreds or even thousands if each person pays it forward and requests the next person to do the same.  That's pretty powerful.  And that's why I'm trying to put in that specific pay-it-forward request as often as I can remember (and when appropriate).

School Fundraiser

     When our kids were in our local schools, we were always very involved in the school system, especially our Home & School Association (what I knew as the PTA when I was growing up).  In fact, my wife was the H&S chair for each of the 4 different schools that our children attended, and then was the district-wide chair for 2 years as well.  These days, we don't get many opportunities to be involved or to show our continued support.  Today, however, we were able to help out while eating dinner.

     Home & School had arranged one of those restaurant fundraisers where a percentage of all proceeds raised for the day goes back to the organization.  Today happened to be Chick-Fil-A day.  I don't know what the exact percentage was, but the more people who ate there the more money went back to our schools (through H&S).  My wife and I figured we had to eat dinner anyway, at least this way we were supporting the schools as well.  And that's exactly what we did.

     This event got me thinking more about the never-ending passage of time and the continuous cycle of life.  I touched on this topic last week when I wrote about sending someone a baby gift as well as the other day when I talked about the community playground project.  I can remember all those years when our lives revolved around the kids and all their school projects and activities.  While we may be done with that stage, those projects and activities continue to take place every year, with or without us.  There are new children and new parents who are just as wrapped up in this world as we once were.  Their joys, fears, worries, and special moments are exactly like ours were.  And when the current classes of children graduate and move on to whatever is next for them, a new group of students and their parents will replace them.  And on it goes.

     Of course, the mystery of the passage of time has been fascinating (and tormenting) people for thousands of years.  I feel it, and yet I don't quite know how to process it all.