So when I was in Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend there was an incident that occurred that really disturbed me. While my family and I were leaving breakfast as McDonald’s, there were two elderly gentlemen walking behind us. Both of them looked like they were struggling a lot to walk, but they were still carrying on with their conversation as if nothing was wrong. I was bringing up the rear in the family, so I lingered behind to hold the door open for the gents, then as they walked through I ran forward so I could get the other door for them. Both of the men were so thankful for this small act of kindness. They called me “little lady” and one of them told me that “not many people would do that” after he thanked me. I was genuinely shocked by this comment, and as I waved the gents off for the day with a smile and well wishes I couldn’t help but feel really sad. Here were these two elderly men who looked like they were in pain as they were walking – and yet not many people would hold open their door or flash them an extra smile? There’s something so severely wrong with that. The fact that I made those two strangers days a little bit better just by something as simple as holding open their door made me wonder why people don’t do that all of the time. For one, it took literally no extra energy to stay behind and hold the door open and for two, it took approximately one minute of time out of my day to pause and chit chat with the gents afterwards before going on my merry way. So to spell that out even more for you, here’s the numbers behind the brief chat and small favor:

• No extra energy
• One minute lost
• Three days made (Mine included!)

I really like the looks of that. There are sooo many small things that people can do throughout the day to make someone else’s better. It can range from asking a stranger how their day is going, waiting those extra seconds to keep the door open for someone, or just shooting out a compliment at someone who looks like they’re having a rough day. When I had my run in with those two gentlemen I saw how much of an impact that one tiny act of kindness can have on someone, and the fact that people choose to hurry past these situations even though they take a minute of time or less kind of sickens me. I don’t understand how someone could let the door slam in front of an elderly man or why a passerbyer wouldn’t offer some extra attention to a person clearly having a bad day. Next time you see a stranger whose day could be improved – I suggest you jump on the opportunity to assist their situation. I’m very confident that both of you will end up feeling a lot better afterwards.

I guess this post is just a Lil Red PSA reminding everyone to be kind to one another – because you really never know what a stranger is going through. Has anyone performed a random act of kindness lately? Has anyone recently made your day with a RAK? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah