Experience Kindness with Join Me Collective

[brewnog]

Some of you may be aware of the Join Me collective; a group of like-minded people who perform one random act of kindness (RAoKs), on a complete stranger, each and every Friday.

Tens of thousands of people have now experienced random acts of kindness as a result of other people joining this collective. Cups of tea have been bought for homeless people, train tickets have been bought for stranded teenagers, flowers have been delivered to old peoples' homes, cakes have been left on doorsteps, and peanuts have been given to an old man.

So, what random acts of kindness have you done lately?

 

[Berislav]

So, what random acts of kindness have you done lately?

I gave some money to some guy that sleeps outside my house and spends most of his time feeding cats.

 

[hypatia]

I try and incorporate them into my daily life, it makes the quality of my life better. And it reminds me of how things use to be.
If someone is struggling, lend a hand. If their hungry, give them food. If their sad, give a smile.

 

[JamesU]

So, what random acts of kindness have you done lately?

hmmm...

 

[SOS2008]

Oh dang it brewnog, I'm trying to get to level 6 of hell.

I try and incorporate them into my daily life, it makes the quality of my life better. And it reminds me of how things use to be.
If someone is struggling, lend a hand. If their hungry, give them food. If their sad, give a smile.

Exactly, or visa versa. An elderly woman offered to let me in front of her in the check-out line at the grocery store because I had only a couple of items in my hands. She seemed lonely, so we enjoyed a chat--at least for awhile.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There are many other cult groups that do this sort of thing. They are known most generally as churches.

But this is a nice thing to see. Perhaps we have finally gotten beyond the "greed is good" generation. But you do have to be smart about how you help some people. I once noticed a woman who had been hovering over the candy machines at the bus terminal. She was clearly hungry, and I felt so bad for her that I handed her a $20 bill. She looked at me, grabbed the money, and shot out the door- obviously on her way to see the drug dealer. I don't kinow what the hell I was thinking!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Oh dang it brewnog, I'm trying to get to level 6 of hell.

YAY! Hope to see you there.


I do various random things. I let people ahead of me that are having trouble changing lanes on the freeway. I open doors for people. I always say please and thank you and have a nice day. My favorite is reminding my lady friends how beautiful and wonderful they are and trying to make sure they have a smile that day.
It's been a while since I have done anything big though. The one thing that stands out most at the moment was one time I had someone ask me if I could spare some change and I reached into my pocket and handed them all the change in my pocket which probably amounted to about $5.

 

[Moonbear]

There are many other cult groups that do this sort of thing. They are known most generally as churches.

Let's see, I let the 80-something neighbor waste a good half hour of my time talking about the same stories she's told me a few dozen times. In the winter, I shovel her walk when it snows.

I hold the doors open if someone is coming through with arms full of stuff, which seems like an obvious thing to do, but you'd be surprised how many people would walk right past them. I always use "Please" "thank you" and "you're welcome" as appropriate.

I've helped countless people move in and out of apartments and houses.

Oh, that reminds me, now that I know I'll be moving in September, I need to call our international office and arrange to donate some of my older furniture that I won't be taking with me (when the international students arrive, they need inexpensive furniture to help furnish apartments and don't know about garage sales yet, so the international office has a "garage sale" of sorts).

Of course, being nice to people is really selfish...it increases your chances that they'll be nice back.

 

[JamesU]

I've helped countless people

 

[Clausius2]

So, what random acts of kindness have you done lately?

My last exam. I fulfilled the answers absolutely randomly. Who knows what will happen now.

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, they never stand still long enough to count them.

 

[Evo]

Darn, you're all so nice!

Ok, I'm the one that let's people over on the highway and I wave a thank you to people that let me merge when lanes end.

I let people with fewer items ahead of me in the grocery line (unless I really need to get out fast).

I donate money to the animal rescue league. I've also personally collected and spayed/neutered and immunized numerous stray animals in my county (thanks to volunteer veterinarians who do this for a very minimal fee). I donate my time to several charities (diabetes, leukemia, heart & lung foundations) each year.

I collect furniture & household items for a local charity for autistic children and Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

 

[brewnog]

Ok, so most of us are nice, let people go in front in queues, hold doors open, and say please and thank you, and some charitable donations. I think most of these things should go without saying, and round here it's all commonplace anyway.

But what about the more unusual (read interesting) things that need a bit more thought?

 

[Gokul43201]

So is everyone of the opinion that a random act of kindness is a good thing ?

 

[Moonbear]

So is everyone of the opinion that a random act of kindness is a good thing ?

I suppose they are a tad better if they are thought out and planned. Not very meaningful if it just happened randomly, by accident or such.

 

[Evo]

So is everyone of the opinion that a random act of kindness is a good thing ?

Well, you know, after I trip those little old ladies at the store, I *do* offer to help them up, I guess that's kind of random.

Seriously, I do believe that what goes around comes around and that being nice can't be a bad thing. After all, the price is right...it's free.

 

[Gokul43201]

How about when I randomly give a ride out of the state to an escaped fugitive? And how is beer money for a lazy drunk 'a good thing' ?

Perhaps we don't want to be completely random, wot ? Mightn't the random person on the street be a wife-beater, or a child-molester or a lousy human being (by your standards) in general ?

 

[Arctic Fox]

I was about to post about my RAoKs, but then felt as if I was bragging, so I won't post it.

I will say this; there are times in my life where I just know I have to do something, and I do it with no hesitation or questions asked. Not because I'm nice or kind, but because it has to be done in order to move on. And I refuse to move on until that which was placed in front of me has been taken care of.

 

[Evo]

How about when I randomly give a ride out of the state to an escaped fugitive? And how is beer money for a lazy drunk 'a good thing' ?

Perhaps we don't want to be completely random, wot ? Mightn't the random person on the street be a wife-beater, or a child-molester or a lousy human being (by your standards) in general ?

So, I can trip them and not be ashamed. Even better. Muwahahha!

Sorry, this is why I mostly help animals and known associations "american heart association", etc...

Years ago, my secretary was three months pregnant and her husband was killed by a hitchhiker he picked up. It's not even funny to me.

 

[Moonbear]

How about when I randomly give a ride out of the state to an escaped fugitive? And how is beer money for a lazy drunk 'a good thing' ?

Perhaps we don't want to be completely random, wot ? Mightn't the random person on the street be a wife-beater, or a child-molester or a lousy human being (by your standards) in general ?

Well, gee, it's easy to be kind to nice people. It's much harder to be kind to a sociopath.

 

[Gokul43201]

I'm killing this thread aren't I ? Or derailing it at least ? If I'm being bad, spank me...I'll crawl away.

It's much harder to be kind to a sociopath.

So, is that where you'll draw the line then ?

 

[Evo]

If I'm being bad, spank me...

YES! Oh...YES!

Uhm, I mean. Uhm...

Moonbear, help me out here...

 

[Arctic Fox]

You have to trust you instincts.

 

[Moonbear]

YES! Oh...YES!

Uhm, I mean. Uhm...

Moonbear, help me out here...

*Grabs Gokul to keep him from crawling away*

Okay, see, you keep your hand open like this, and then you... ...that's not the kind of help you meant, was it?

 

[DaveC426913]

But you do have to be smart about how you help some people. I once noticed a woman who had been hovering over the candy machines at the bus terminal. She was clearly hungry, and I felt so bad for her that I handed her a $20 bill. She looked at me, grabbed the money, and shot out the door- obviously on her way to see the drug dealer. I don't kinow what the hell I was thinking!

The thing about charity is that it is to be given without judgement. If you act out of selflessness, you cannot then put conditions upon its acceptance. To do so is to turn it into a self-serving act.

 

[Lisa!]

What about smiling so nicely at people who needs to think others like them?or even giving a compliment to someone in order to increase his/her confidence?or listening to people who needs to talk to someone?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

So is everyone of the opinion that a random act of kindness is a good thing ?

That was my point as well. For example, handing cash to a street person may be doing no one any favors. That for one is why we have charities - to manage the available resources properly. But I think the spirit of the effort is to do the little things that show we care.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The thing about charity is that it is to be given without judgement. If you act out of selflessness, you cannot then put conditions upon its acceptance. To do so is to turn it into a self-serving act.

I disagree; you are not helping a person like this. For all that I know, my $20 was all it took to kill her. You see, I didn't do this out of some grand sense of selflessness, I did it because she needed to eat and I had assumed that she would if she had some money.

 

[Gokul43201]

I disagree; you are not helping a person like this.

But where does Dave say that doing charity must result in helping the person ? And when is it good to help a person ? Always ? Never ? When they need it ? When they earn it by doing their best to help themselves, but failing due to external circumstances ? Yeah, when ?