Random acts of Kindness

I'm not a morning person. Ask Himself. It takes at least 11tybilllion cups of tea before my brain surfaces and is ready for action.

Every morning on the drive from home to school and back again I have my car radio on, blaring mostly 80s hits with me and the kids singing at the top of our voices. Yes, we are those people, the freaks who love to sing along. When I'm alone in the car I get those stares, the ones from unhappy lumps who aren't morning people either and who haven't had their caffeine fix for the day. I like it, it keeps me (mostly) from yelling obscenities when people cut me off, or hoot at me because I'm driving the speed limit or doing the right thing on the road.

And twice a week I buy a newspaper from the News Dude at a certain set of robots.

News Dude is a young man who stands in the middle of the traffic and very pleasantly tries to sell newspapers to passing motorists. The first morning I saw him standing there, like most others, I rolled my window up because I was in a rush and didn't want to be bothered. The next morning I watched (the lights were out) as he weaved in and out of the cars. It was chaos but he never let any of the bad moods and rudeness bother him as he went about his business. Which intrigued me. The next time the lights were red, my window was open with music blaring as usual. He casually walked by and came back asking if I would like to buy a newspaper. I didn't have any cash on me so said no thanks. He said ok, have a nice day and walked away. The day after, he waved hello and walked on by. And the day after that I bought a newspaper. Now I buy one every Tuesday and Thursday, sometimes on other days if the lights are green and I can't stop. He's always pleasant and friendly, takes the time to say have a nice day.

This all ties in to my friend Jen's blog about random acts of kindness. After this week's challenge of saying thank you or smiling or have a nice day to random strangers, I realised that because of this young man's pleasant attitude and always having a smile ready no matter what, I started buying newspapers from him instead of reading all about it online. I can easily do that but the difference is, we wouldn't have our almost daily exchange which adds something nice to an otherwise dull day.