Last night I met my sister and her fiancé for a round of drinks, as it had been long months since we’d last seen each other and they’d just come back from a great trip to Africa. The hours stretched out and her fiancé got caught up with some old friends from his time in Oslo, and we were invited to the Blitzhouse in Olso. Drinks and laughter ensued for hours, and it got quite late before we went each to ours.
Sometime during the night, I’d gotten a message from my uncle which I hadn’t read, that said to not drink so heavily, since I had to help him move furniture at 11AM and outwards the next day. Grump.
So I spent most of my day today carrying a car’s weight of furniture and mishmash down three floors from their old apartment and up four floors into the new one. I wasn’t done until around 9PM. Bought a micro-dinner and told one of my room-mates that yes, I knew it was washing day, I just wanted a small hour to catch my breath and relax before I did the bath. (We usually do it quite late - we’re an old nest of students) And I fully intended to do it.
The thing that’s absolutely made my day and broke me a smile, was that when I was done eating my hold-its and watched this week’s episode of Pushing Daisies, she’d done both kitchen and bath with a smile on her face.
I could really kiss her for that, and I did hug her and profess my undying love. So tomorrow I’m taking her out for dinner, and I’ve already strikken her name from next week’s list and put myself up for both kitchen and bath. It’s a real shame she’s moving out in two weeks on account of our live-in landlord.
So, what small kindnesses have been shown to you lately?
My girlfriend took out the trash while I was at work yesterday. It was nice to come home from having to work parents’ weekend and not have to worry about it.
While I was recovering in the hospital from surgery, a friend went out and bought, and set upa tivo system on my tv, and bought sketch pads and a set of charcoal/pencils, and a book. She stayed 2 weeks to help me out. Way above and beyond
Yesterday at the mall, I stopped at a coffee shop with my daughter (6 months old) to grab a coffee and feed her her lunch bottle. All the tables with sofa chairs were taken, so I headed towards a regular table, when a gentleman sitting on his own at one of the sofa tables stood up and said, “Please sit here - it will be much more comfortable for you both.”
Mine wasn’t all that recent, but it really made me feel so appreciated.
I work for an employment agency so you can imagine the disgruntled people I see everyday. Sometimes it gets really hectic and I try my best to give my attention to everyone, but you can’t give your undivided attention to everyone.
I went through a particularly rough week with tons of people coming in everyday and basically acting really rude to me. Why piss off someone who’s trying to get you a job? It boggles the mind.
Back to the subject, I came in one morning about a month ago, and I was feeling pretty crappy. My boss tells me that one of our applicants had written a letter detailing to her how much she appreciated my and my co-workers’ kindness and that we had shown her more care and attention than other agencies have in the past. Her letter then went on to say how other agencies have treated her badly in the past, but despite her timidness to come in and talk to us, we made her feel welcomed and cared for.
That meant the world to me. It’s because of people like her that I feel like my place in life is to help people. I just hope I have the energy and strength to keep it up for people like her.
I bought a really good used travel book on Ireland for $1.00 including shipping. (The book itself goes for considerably more in used book stores.) When it arrived. the previous owner had included other books, Celtic CD’s, and a Waterford crystal bottle stopper in the acorn pattern! It all came from a beautiful woman who did it with no strings attached.
