19 is such an insignificant number. Don't get me wrong the fact I share such a glorious day with my father has always been beyond special; a privelage most daughters do not share with their dads. This week will consist of dinners, parties, and undeserved gifts. Today, however, it is my turn to give deserved gifts just for the hell of it.
Money is the essence of every celebratory day and holiday for a college student. There can never be enough to spend on Ramen and alcohol, which is what first popped into my head upon receiving a gift card from my grandparents. Happy Birthday to me.
Far too often do I take pity on myself for the things that may go wrong in my life. These problems are insignificant in comparison to the rest of the world. However, I do believe in karma. This is what sparked the idea of giving back on my day of receiving. With my giftcard, I traveled to Target and picked up a few cans, puzzles, crayons, coloring books, cards and notecards, leaving with a head full of ideas and the plastic of a used giftcard.
19 random acts of kindness. Some easy, some took some time. But all worth it.
Here is my day:
1. Deliver Coloring Books, Crayons, and Puzzles to a daycare.
I am mildly disappointed in myself for this one. Due to a busy schedule, I was not able to accomplish this until local day cares were closed. I left the items in a bag with a note attached simply stating, "Enjoy." I would have loved to visit and color with the kids.
2. Help people with their groceries.
This is more difficult than one would think. When asking others, some declined and others gave a puzzled look, probably thinking "Why would I let this girl touch my groceries." I'm not a hoodlum, kind sir. However, I finally found a few takers and they made my job enjoyable with their warm birthday wishes and offers for a tip. No, I don't take tips.
3. Deliver cans to Harvesters.
People should do this more often. They literally have barrels in the front of the grocery store, inviting shoppers to fill them with cans. This is the easiest way to give back, a few spare dollars and no extra travel time. I gave a total of 19 cans.
4. Read to children.
Today I ventured to the Dusty Bookshelf and found a few of my favorite titles from my childhood, including Dr. Seuss and The Rainbow Fish. I saved this one for the afternoon in hopes more children would be around for me to read to. I had three kids and a surprising amount of four adults circled around me for a reading of three books. This was another one of my favorite tasks for the day and it concluded with me listening to the sweetest little girl reading Goodnight Moon.
5. Pay for someone's laundry.
I ventured to a laundry mat, collected my ten dollars in quarters and loaded up a few washers and dryers with them. I made sure to leave a note assuring the potential taker these were for them. Throughout the day, I gave out all these quarters in various activities.
6. Make Thanksgiving cards for the elderly.
Hand turkeys never get old. I made 19 hand turkey cards (plus collected a few more) to deliver to the assisted living here in town. Some may not have families and others maybe just want to see a hand turkey on a beach.
7. Send texts to the people I appreciate the most.
I consider this an act of kindness considering the texts sent were not "wats up have a good day, yo." No. These were thoughtful, heartfelt messages I needed my loved ones to hear. Since I also used my birthday as a day of reflecting, it made me realize the beautiful people I have in my life and how a few words on a little screen can make your mother tear up.
8. Feed parking meters.
Luckily I live in a college town, that means there are plenty of expired parking meters. Yes, I do realize this is illegal but it was easy being sneaky about at 9am... it's a college town.
9. Strategically place coins heads up on a playground.
This was a fun one. What child wouldn't want to pick up a coin, heads up? Put these in the bank. You'll thank me in college.
10. Buy the person behind me at Starbucks their coffee.This is the only time a non-drive thru Starbucks came in handy. I walked into an empty Starbucks, leading to a feeling of discouragement. Eventually a man walked in and ordered. I walked up to him a kindly offered to pay for his house coffee (he made it easy on me). His face was priceless; one of confusion and enlightment. I explained to him my plan for the day and slipped the barista money, eventually leading to a store-wide singing of "Happy Birthday." He claimed he was thankful and promised he would never forget this and will do it for someone else. This was my favorite part of the day to say the least.
11. Place inspiring notes on cars.
I wish I was clever to come up with life-changing words on my own. But I'm better at researching and stealing them. I found a few cars in various places and slipped notes of inspiration and thoughtfulness into their windshield. Hopefully these words will be passed on or at least taken into consideration. Ralpha Waldo Emerson is a classic.
12. Return grocery carts.
Props to the grocery-cart-getters at every grocery store. How carts manage to end up in the farthest corner of the parking lot beats me. I considered this my work out of the day.
13. Mail a letter to my brother.
I am lucky to be very close to my brother. However, now he is across the country accomplishing an internship with Johnson and Johnson in Pennsylvania. I don't talk to him as much as I wish so I figured sending him a "Thinking of You" card complete with a drawing of our beloved pug will suffice.
14. Deliver cookies to my neighbors.
Just being a friendly neighbor. And what boys wouldn't want free cookies?
15. Place balloons on cars.
Smiley-faced balloons are a classic. The smile is contagious. This was easy as I placed the balloons with notes attached saying "Smile and love today" to cars looking for some love.
16. Give a red bull to the saddest looking kid in the library.
And boy was he stoked. It is amazing what a little energy can do for a college student. I just placed the drink in front of him and said "Go get 'em."
17. Tape $1.25 in quarters to a vending machine.
You have the Coke. I'll have the smile. Wish I would have stuck around the see the reaction to this one.
18. Place notes on mirrors.
I have to credit this one to the group Rebel at my old high school. I will never forget the amazing job these ladies and gentlemen did for keeping the chins at our school, up. I added a little twist to mine, however. I try not to be cheesy with every phrase I posted. So, I added a few to get people thinking and hopefully make changes in themselves much like I did today.
19. Talk and donate to every group on Wescoe Beach.
This is a triumph, my friends. The dreaded Wescoe Beach only had a grand total of 3 organizations collecting money today. I gave my time and a little bit of cash to each. It is amazing how dedicated students are in doing whatever it takes to benefit their organization as well as their school. Two boothes were dedicated to veterans and the other to increasing awareness of unfairness of education.
I enjoyed my day. Consider this my promise to continue completing random acts of kindness every birthday. It is too easy to receive, however giving back a little time and money today made this birthday that much special. 19 may be an insignificant number, but this birthday is significant to me.
