1. Random
acts of
kindness
A collection of extraordinary
acts by ordinary people
COMPILED BY ROTARIAN MUDAR PATHERYA

2. I f someone were to pay you
ten cents for every kind word
you ever spoke and collect five
cents for every unkind word,
would you be rich or poor?
Disclaimer. This is a collection of articles collected
– Nonpareil
from various sources. This has been done with the
objective of inspiring more people to engage in
random acts of kindness. If you should share
experiences of these random acts with the compiler of
this document at mudar@trisyscom.com, he A random act of kindness is a show (often
promises to include them in a second document on impulsive, often anonymous) of kindness to a
the same subject. stranger without any expectation of gain

3. A s I entered the elevator on the third floor of the
medical center after a check-up, I noticed an old
gentleman in a wheelchair with an old lady behind
him. I noticed his baseball cap with WWII on the
front. Making small talk, I said, "So, you were in
the big one." His answer stunned me. He said,
"Yes, I went overseas a strapping young newlywed
and I came back in this thing,” slapping each side
of the wheelchair with his hands.
A Soldier, His Wife, I stared, looked at his wife, and the magnitude of
and Their Service what he said hit me like a ton of bricks. He
married this woman, went to serve his country, was
wounded and paralyzed and then returned to his
POSTED BY BOB.BRUNSON ON JUL 8, 2010 wife who she stayed with all these years.
Overcome with sadness and awe, I said: "I know
you probably don't hear this nearly enough, but I
want to thank you for your sacrifice for me and
our country." I then looked at his wife and thanked
her for her faithfulness to her husband.
Then, even though I had never been in the
military, I straightened myself and gave them both
the best salute I could muster.
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4. This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice
Physician: “I was driving home from a meeting
this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado
Blvd., and the car started to choke, splutter and
die. I barely managed to coast into a gas station,
glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and
would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the
A Regular Person's tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I
Christmas Compassion could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of
the ‘quickie mart’ building, and it looked like she
slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I
POSTED BY MISSDRE ON JUN 22, 2010 got out to see if she was okay.
When I got there, it looked more like she had
been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen;
she was a young woman who looked really
haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She
dropped something as I helped her up, and I
picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.
4 5

5. At that moment, everything came into focus for she had not been able to make ends meet. She
me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent on
crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back January 1, and finally in desperation had called her
(1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95. parents, with whom she had not spoken in about
five years. They lived in California and said she
I asked her if she was okay and if she needed
could come live with them and try to get on her
help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my
feet there.
kids to see me crying,' so we stood on the other
side of the pump from her car. She said she was I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick
driving to California and that things were very prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was
hard for her right now. walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you like
an angel or something?'
I took out my card and swiped it through the
card reader on the pump so she could fill up her It was so incredible to be a part of someone
car completely, and while it was fueling, I walked else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it,
to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big when I got in my car it started right away and got
bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop
a big cup of coffee. tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic
won't find anything wrong.
She told me her name, and that she lived in
Kansas City. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and
6 7

6. A bout nine years ago I worked at a large
downtown hotel. Since we were connected to a
mall and a public parking garage, anyone could
pretty much walk into the hotel area. We started
having a big problem with homeless youth
living in our stairwells at night. As night
manager, I ended up being the one to evict
A Hotel Manager these youths, night after night after night. They
Creates Some Magic never gave me any trouble though, they always
just moved on when asked.
One guy in particular stood out. He was over 6
POSTED BY LUNA1969 ON SEP 16, 2010
ft. tall and 200 lbs, and a tall mohawk. We'd find
him everywhere, asleep sitting on a toilet stall in
our banquet floor or sleeping on the stairs up to
the roof, for instance.
One early morning on my rounds I opened an
emergency exit and found him face down
snoring in the little exit cavity by the fire hose.
8 9

7. I started to yet again wake him and send him on
his way, but for some reason, I couldn't do it
that day. A Phone Call, To a
What I did next I don't know if I will ever Letter... To A Life
understand. I went downstairs and bought a Changing Friendship
large coffee and a chocolate donut, went back
upstairs, opened the emergency door and set
the package by his feet. When I closed the door POSTED BY CHICAKGK ON JUN 5, 2010
this time I let it slam so he would wake up.
I wish I could have been there to see him wake
up to hot coffee and a donut, dropped off by My first full-time job after high school was
magic. selling vacation packages via telephone for a
well known company. One day, the dialer
connected me to a man that answered the
phone and sounded a bit out of breath.
Never doubt that small group of committed I started with my normal pitch, and expecting to
hear the normal, "I don't want any," and be
people can change the world. Indeed, it is the
hung up on. Instead he spoke in a faint, weak
only thing that ever truly has.
voice and began to tell me how he wished he
Margaret Mead (1901-1978), cultural anthropologist could take a vacation like the one I was offering,
10 11

8. but couldn't because he was dying of each other. He was old enough to be my
emphysema. grandfather, and in many ways, I felt as if he
was.
I apologized, and my heart fell into my stomach.
He asked me if I smoked, which I did, and then About a year later I received a letter from his
begged me to stop. He told me smoking is wife. She told me how Frank's battle with the
what was killing him, and how horrible it was. disease had finally come to an end, and he
He told me to spend every day with my loved passed shortly before Christmas. She wanted to
ones, and tell them all the time how much I love thank me for the letters I had written to Frank,
them. and then explained how Frank touched many
lives over the years. At his funeral, to show just
At this point, I was in tears, and couldn't
that, they read the first letter I had written to
control myself, and he could tell. We ended the
Frank to show how he affected a 19 year old he
call, and I put my phone on hold to prevent
had never even met.
another call from coming in so I could collect
myself. I will never forget how much that meant to me.
After a few moments, I decided to write down
his name and address, and just send him a card
telling him that I appreciated his advice and that
I would pray for him and his family. Shortly
after, I received a nice letter back from Frank,
I've learned that people will forget what you
said, people will forget what you did, but people
along with a picture of him and his wife. We
will never forget how you made them feel.
continued to write back and forth over the next
few months or so, and became very fond of – Maya Angelou
12 13

9. It was May in Bangkok, and even though I had
arrived from India after six months of volunteer
work, the heat and humidity was exhausting.
After a long day of temple visiting, I fell asleep
on the sky train for about 5 minutes, only to
A Lost Wallet wake up seconds before the door was about to
Returned, Across slam shut at my stop. As I rush out onto the
Three Continents platform, I realize that my wallet was gone!
My wallet had been in my front pocket and I
was sitting down with my backpack on my lap.
POSTED BY TWOCENTS ON JUL 29, 2010 Given the heat and stickiness, even I had
trouble getting my wallet out of my pocket, but
the alleged thief managed to do so despite the
awkwardness and obstacles, without waking me
up. She certainly deserved something for that,
and I had no ill will despite losing about $150
across 3 currencies.
14 15

10. Three months later in San Francisco, one of the
founders of the very same non-profit I was
working with in India (before losing my wallet
in Bangkok) was in town for a visit. Friends
and supporters gathered to meet him, and just
as we sat down for a few minutes of silence and
prayer, I get a phone call from my aunt. Turns
out that she had just got a letter from the US Helping an Old Man
embassy in Sydney saying that they had my to Find Joy Again
wallet! More incredibly, all my money across 3
currencies was still inside, and they wanted my
permission to use $5 from my funds to send my
POSTED BY 2ZDRBZ ON JUL 27, 2010
wallet back to me!
And that's when I got the lesson I was meant to
get. The kindness we put into the world always
boomerangs back to us. The beauty of life is
that we have the opportunity to throw a
boomerang kindness every second of everyday.
16 17

11. This year had been difficult for my family due suggestions, we parted ways and I continued to
window-shop.
to budget cuts and layoffs. With the holiday
season around the corner, I didn’t know how I When I left the store I heard a woman calling
was going to buy Christmas presents for my out “Ma’am, ma’am with the baby, you left
children. something”. At first I kept walking because I
One day while window shopping with my 4 didn’t think she was speaking to me because I
month old son, a stranger walked up to me and knew I didn’t leave anything. When she caught
began a conversation asking the usual baby up with me, she said that she had something for
questions like how old is he, will Santa be me at customer service. I followed her to
coming to see him, was he my only child, etc. customer service and she pushed a shopping
He introduced himself as Ralph, and asked for cart full of bags toward me. She then handed
help with shopping for his grandkids. me an envelope with a card which read:
While shopping, he told me that he had been a “Thank you for helping an old man find joy
widower for 2 years and his children and again. You made me believe that Martha is
grandchildren were grown, and how the looking down on me from above to send one of
holidays weren’t the same without them. When her angels when I needed one the most. The
the cart was full of clothes and toys, Ralph said presents you helped me pick out are for you and
that he also wanted to buy something for his your children. You are a kind person and this is
grandchildren's mother. I made a few my thanks to you. Never change. – Ralph”
18 19

12. One day, my son and I were in line at the
Dollar store buying an assortment of products.
In a line next to ours, a woman was waiting to
make her purchases. She had a few necessities
and one bag of chips. She stepped up to register
to make her purchase and said, "I'm sorry. I
need to put the chips back. I can't afford them
A Bag of Chips today."
Changes My Son The woman completed her purchase and began
to leave the store. It was finally my turn to
check out. I quickly explained to the cashier
POSTED BY DGRAV ON SEP 14, 2010 that I wanted to buy the chips for the lady who
had set them aside. The cashier hesitated for just
a second. Then she looked me right in the eye
and said, "I didn't think people still did things
like that for anybody else." She handed me the
chips and I quickly handed them off to my son,
who knew exactly what he needed to do.
My son changed that day.
20 21

13. I run a hotel in London. During the problems
with the infamous ash cloud, I was listening to a
London radio station called LBC. I spent the
morning listening to people calling in telling
their stories of woe....some had missed flights
for holidays, some couldn't get home following
the volcanic eruption.
A Volcanic Eruption of The story that most struck me was a call from
Kindness in London Peter who had just gotten married the previous
weekend to Maz and were due to leave for their
honeymoon to the Dominican Republic but
could not due to the ash cloud. When James
POSTED BY JELLYLEGS ON SEP 9, 2010 O'Brien, the radio presenter, asked if he was
upset, Peter said: "Not at all, I've married the
loveliest girl in the world whom I adore, so no,
I'm not unhappy at all". Both, the presenter and
I were blown away by the beautiful answer.
A little later, I called LBC and spoke to the
producer of the show and asked if she could
contact Peter to offer him and his wife a room
22 23

14. for the weekend at the hotel. She later called me but I won't be giving you a ticket".
back to say Peter and Maz were delighted and Considering traffic wardens work on commission
would love to take up the offer. and having had numerous run-ins with them
myself, I was dumb struck.
So, in two days later, Peter and Maz arrived at
the hotel and checked in. What is interesting is Peter and Maz decided to celebrate and go out to
the sequence of events that followed after my Covent Garden for dinner. While eating, they
initial offer. were chatting to their waiter, who asked why they
were in London. When Peter told him about their
The hotel is situated in Kensington, which is
honeymoon, and then the hotel room gift and
mainly a residential area and thus parking can be
finally the traffic warden, the waiter was just as
a bit of a problem. Peter had parked outside the
surprised with all the generosity they had
hotel in the residents parking zone and had
received. When Peter came to pay the bill, all the
written a note explaining the situation about
waiter said was “Your dinner's on me" and
their honeymoon and staying at the hotel and
wished them all the very best!
left it on the dashboard of the car. Later that
day he spotted a traffic warden reading the note I love how a simple phone call, led to a sequence
and walking off! Kensington traffic wardens are of events that would touch so many. I was so
notorious in their severity and ruthlessness. pleased to have made a bad situation better for a
When Peter ran outside to see if parking there young couple, but what I really love is how it
would be ok, the traffic warden said, "I don't snowballed into so much more.
know if another traffic warden will be as nice as
24 25

15. One day, while I was walking to work, I
decided to bring some flowers that I had picked
from my garden that morning. I came across a
random stranger, and was inspired to give the
bunch to him with a smile card.
Struck by the sense of joy I felt from giving
flowers to another person, and maybe
Small Gestures brightening his day, I wanted to do it again.
in the Workplace When I got to my office, I had the idea of
anonymously leaving flowers around the
workplace. So, for the past month, I've been
putting flowers in a little cup on the sink in the
POSTED BY SMILESWITHHOPE ON AUG 7, 2010
bathroom. Each week, I change the flowers and
the quote.
Then today, when I walked in, I noticed new
flowers in the cup, and a quote that someone else
had written!! It said, "Be the change you wish to
see in the world" – Gandhi.
I did a little dance and am smiling wide for the
rest of the day! :)
26 27

16. doctors had dentists but most of their old
There is joy in giving patients had no teeth!
In Bangalore, you just had to make a wish and
it came true in JGW. A 3-year-old boy wanted a
Times of India implemented a Joy of Giving toy elephant but was terrified when his gift
week that generated the following responses in arrived - for it was bigger than him! The boy
September-October 2010: began to cry but later fell in love with his new
Mumbai's vada pav event had 10 volunteers toy.
distributing 225 vada pavs to the homeless. Students of a few Mumbai night schools are in
Excited by the success and goodwill created by for a surprise this month. Instead of the usual old
this event, more college students came forward clothes that they are handed every year, they'll be
and on Oct 1, volunteers distributed 500 vada gifted new tees.
pavs.
0ver 300 Mumbai-kars were divided into
A group in Ahmedabad offers a bunch of groups by NGO Akanksha on the basis of their
very poor old people a free ride around the city hobbies. The art group encouraged pavement
for a day. The group has served more than 500 dwellers at Lower Parel to paint and draw. The
such grandmas and grandpas over the last one 'cooking and eating' group visited an old age
year. home and cooked pav bhaji for its 100 residents.
A geriatric care camp was organized by An animal lovers group bathed and walked strays.
Bangalore's Ramaiah Medical College for basic Source: Times of India (Date: 03.10.10)
medical checkups. interestingly, each team of
28 29

17. 04
Buy a stranger a free pizza.
05
Distribute lollipops to kids.
06
Sing at a nursing home.
07
Slip paper hearts that say “It’s Random Acts of
Kindness Week! Have a great day!” under the
windshield wipers of parked cars.
08
Have a charity day at work, with employees bringing
IDEAS FOR KINDNESS nonperishable food items to donate.
09
Serve refreshments to customers.
10
Pay a compliment at least once a day.
11
01 Call or visit a homebound person.
Bring flowers to work and share 12
them with coworkers. Hand out balloons to passersby.
02 13
Adopt a student who needs a friend, checking in Be a good neighbour. Take over a baked treat or
periodically to see how things are going. stop by to say “Hello.”
03 14
Volunteer to be a tutor in a school. Give the gift of your smile.
30 31

18. IDEAS FOR KINDNESS IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
15 24
Send home a note telling parents something Give blood.
their child did well. 25
16 Give another driver your parking spot.
Volunteer to read to students in the classroom. 26
17 Clean graffiti from neighbourhood walls
Write notes of appreciation and bring flowers or and buildings.
goodies to teachers or other important 27
people, such as the principal, nurse, Tell your employees how much
custodian, and secretary. you appreciate their work.
18 28
Incorporate kindness into the curriculum Let your staff leave work an hour early.
at area schools, day care centers, 29
or children’s classes in faith organizations. Tell a bus or taxi driver how much you
appreciate their driving.
19
Give a hug to a friend. 30
Drop off a plant, cookies, or sweets to
20
Tell your children why you love them. the police or fire department.
21 31
Write a note to your mother/father and tell them Open the door for another person.
why they are special. 32
22
Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk
Pat someone on the back. of a colleague at work.
23 33
Write a thank-you note to a mentor. Call an estranged family member.
32 33

19. IDEAS FOR KINDNESS IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
34 42
Pay for the person behind you in the movie line. Send a letter to some former teachers,
35 letting them know the difference they
Renew an old friendship by sending a letter or made in your life.
small gift to someone you haven’t talked 43
with in a long time. Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
36 44
When drivers try to merge into your lane, Buy books for a day care or school.
let them in with a wave and a smile. 45
37
Knit or crochet a baby’s blanket for
Distribute kindness bookmarks the next baby born in a local hospital.
that you have made. 46
I stand while riding the bus even when there are seats
38
Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person. available, so that someone else can sit.
47
39 Give out kindness ribbons to be worn and passed on.
Plant a tree in your neighbourhood.
48
40 Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
Make a list of things to do to bring more kindness 49
into the world, and have a friend make a list. Include a note or joke in your child’s or
Exchange lists and do one item spouse’s lunchbox.
per day for a month. 50
41 Slip a Rs. 20 bill to a person who you know
As you go about your day, pick up trash. is having financial difficulty.
34 35

20. Do all the good you can. By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can. In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.
John Wesley
If you should share experiences of these random acts
with the compiler of this document at
mudar@trisyscom.com, he promises to include them
in a second document on the same subject.
A PRODUCT
info@trisyscom.com
36