Eyes that see the good in things: Feb. 24, 2020

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”

—Scott Adams

Somehow I missed National Random Acts of Kindness Day this year until I saw it being shared on Facebook that day. Each year on Feb. 17, National Random Acts of Kindness Day grows in popularity, inspiring people every day to encourage acts of kindness. People everywhere are enjoying doing acts of kindness that not only bring joy to the receiver but spread positive reactions to the giver, too!

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation celebrates Random Acts of Kindness Week. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded upon the powerful belief in kindness and dedicated to providing resources and tools that encourage acts of kindness throughout the year.

This feel-good story is about one of those awesome people who do good to raise humanity to a higher plane. Although the story happened a while ago, it is worth sharing. Ruth Reed was at a local convenience store when she saw a young man ask a young girl for some money when he came up a little short of cash when paying for his groceries.

Reed stepped in and said that she would pay the $5 but the man wasn’t willing to let it go quite that easily. He asked her for her name and after she introduced herself, he said, “Ruth, I’m Keith.” Reed smiled and told the young man that he looked like Keith Urban and then asked him if people ever told him that he looked like Keith Urban? Imagine Reed’s surprise when he told her, “I am Keith Urban.” She couldn’t believe it and actually needed a little convincing.

Too many questions were running through Reed’s mind that needed to be answered before she would believe that this was really Keith Urban. How did it make sense that he didn’t have enough money to buy groceries? Or, wouldn’t Keith Urban have people working for him to do that sort of mundane shopping for him?

Urban was curious about the person who was willing to help him out. In a world filled with pain and misery, this woman was doing her best to help out. If you are not a country music fan, Keith Urban is a well-known singer who fills stadiums when he goes on tour all over the world. Despite how well-known he is, he said his face apparently isn’t as recognizable as he thought.

As it turns out, Urban loves to meander down the aisles at his local grocery store and choose the items himself. To make sure he gets what he wants, he goes into convenient stores and supermarkets to select the items he wants by hand.

That fateful August day, Urban was walking down the aisles like he always did. He made his selections but as he was waiting in line, he realized that he didn’t have enough cash to pay for the groceries. Instead of putting something back, he looked around and asked a younger lady if she had any cash. It was at this point of the conversation that Ruth jumped in and offered to spot Urban some money for the groceries he wanted.

After paying for the country legend’s groceries, Ruth couldn’t believe that he was who he said he was. She thought that he was just another guy, down on his luck. How could it be that he, an extremely popular country singer, didn’t have enough money to get a few groceries? She asked him if he really was Keith Urban, how did it make any sense that he didn’t have enough money? He answered with the truth: he simply hadn’t brought a wallet and only had a little cash in his pocket. It turns out that the woman with him was his sister and she did have $5 that she could have given him, as did the bodyguard who was standing not very far away.

The two started talking, and Urban discovered that Ruth regularly picks up people’s tabs, making it a point to go out and pick up someone else’s tab once a week as part of a New Year’s resolution she had made several years ago. Inspired by Reed, Urban went outside with her for a photograph so she could show all her friends and family, proving she actually did meet him and the story went viral.

According to Reed, the best thing to come out of this encounter is spreading the idea of doing acts of kindness, as she believes stories like these have the power to change the world. There’s just so much suffering and hardship in the world today that it’s easy to become despondent. She believes that all we really need is a helping hand from time to time to make things right and inspire us to pay it forward.

That’s why Reed doesn’t think that she’s anything special. In fact, she says that she pays for people because it helps her feel good. Everyone has the power to do good. Little did she know how much of an impact she would have. A multi-national company even stepped in to make a very enticing offer.

In return for helping Keith Urban, who she thought was a down-on-his-luck young man, Mastercard offered Reed a year’s supply of prepaid cards to help with her Random Acts of Kindness resolution.

Reed believes that random acts of kindness can be done every day of the year simply by using some of the ideas shared by the Random Act of Kindness Foundation.

• Pay for the coffee or meal of the person in front of you in line.

• Leave a kind note for someone, no explanation needed.

• Share words of encouragement. You never know who might need them.

• Put your skills to work for someone in need. For example, offer to create a résumé for someone seeking a new job.

• Drop off a load of groceries at the local food pantry.

• Mail a “thinking of you” card to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

• Order a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to anyone in the hospital. That means, call the florist and tell them to pick a hospital or nursing home and deliver flowers to the person the front desk thinks needs it the most. It could be a sick child, an elderly person with no family or college student down on their luck.

• Send a thank you note to the local fire department, police departments or any military personnel.

Just smile.

It would be interesting to know what kinds of ripples were created by this $5 act of kindness that went viral, wouldn’t it?