Do 43 random acts of kindness in 2008.

I’m sure I reached 43, though, even with little things like making the elevator doors open for people instead of making them wait for the next one. Today, I gave two full bags of cat food to charity instead of taking them back to the store for a refund (my cat had to change his diet). My favorite thing was paying for the person behind me in the drive through.

I bought cookies for the folks who sit around me. We’re moving to new spaces and some will be moving to a different floor. I thought it would be nice to have one last “cookie afternoon” before everything changed.

I do this a lot. Instead of leaving it out in the parking lot, I take it back up to the store. I figure it’s a kindness to the workers there and to the people trying to negotiate through the parking lot.

I went to Starbucks drive-thru on the way to work this afternoon. I was watching for a car to pull up behind me because I was feeling happy and brave, and I wanted to pay for the person behind me. When I pulled up to the window to pay, there still wasn’t a car behind me. I held out my credit card to the barista, and she said, “Actually, the person in the car in front of you paid for yours. She said it was a random act of kindness.” I was all like… “Are you serious? I was going to do that if someone was behind me!!”

The person who paid for mine was still in the parking lot trying to turn left onto the busy street. I waved. She stuck her arm out the window and gave me a thumbs up.

How crazy is that? Was it one of you folks?

I made videos of two retirement parties at work. People really liked them.

One of my coworkers is fairly new, and she hasn’t accrued a lot of time off. She has kids that get sick a lot, so she usually ends up using all of her accrued time before the end of each month. She has to work late sometimes to keep from getting docked on her paycheck.

Our manager hid Easter eggs in our cubicles for Easter. Each egg had a number in it. Each number corresponded to a prize. My coworker got $1. I got 2 hours of time off. So I gave her the 2 hours off.

I paid for the lady behind me at the Starbucks drive thru. I almost didn’t because she was on a cell phone, and I get irrationally annoyed at cell phone talkers. But I thought about it and figured that’s exactly why I need to do it.

I saw some people coming toward the elevator, and I knew they wouldn’t make it if I didn’t hold it.

Secret kindness.

I took a lady at work to her car dealership where her car was in for repair even though it was out of the way.