Ok, so since my first post last week I have been working alone in the USA and I wanted to share some of my thoughts & experiences here.
Being away from your family is tough, we all know that! But when you’re working away in a different city, in a different country with no family, friends, business partners or colleagues to hang out with what do you do? Do you reach out on social media to see if you have any friend there that you know? Do you eat out or go to a bar every night in the hope that there maybe someone to talk to? Do you join a running club (which seems all the rage here in Boston by the way) or some other social group? Me? I went to a bar!
I like to think that I’m quite a sociable person but I’m sure there’s always that fear of rejection for everyone when thrust into new and unfamiliar situations! So, after a while I got chatting with a couple in a bar who lived out of the city and we shared our stories as you do. At the end of the night, as my back was turned, they paid my entire bar tab and left without another word!
What did I learn from this situation? Firstly, be nice to everyone because you have no idea when they might buy you a drink! :-) Secondly, this is not the first time I have heard of a random act of kindness! It happened to my parents at a restaurant in Australia; when they came to pay, someone had already paid it. Someone they had never met and are unlikely to ever meet.
But it got me thinking; why does it have to be ‘random’? Why can’t this act of kindness happen all the time? It doesn’t have to be buying someone a drink or a meal, it could be as simple as holding a door open for the person behind you or checking in on an elderly neighbour to see if they are ok. Anything that puts someone else before yourself. All the time hoping that it will become infectious and be passed on.
I like to think my experience in that bar was a reward, karma if you believe in it, for the good things that I have done for others in my life but also a reminder to never stop giving! “Pay it forward” is the term many people use so I will follow suit: Pay it forward people! Go forth and act kindly to one another and make this world one to be proud of!
I would love to hear about any “random acts of kindness” stories you have experienced, either by you or to you! Also, see if you can guess how much the bar tab came to??!!