How To Get To Know People No. 5

This blog is about bringing people together around good things. In your life, in my life, and in the world we share. But people won’t come together around good things unless they first find a reason to meet each other. Along these lines, this weekly post provides one fun, simple idea for meeting and getting to know the people around you.

No. 5 Stage an Independent Act of Kindness.

A few weeks back, I logged into Facebook and noticed a crafty set of Valentines gift bags in my feed. They were posted by my high school classmate, June Gauss.

When I clicked on them, expecting some artsy little note on creating great bags, I found a story that was a lot more communal.

My classmate, June, got an email invite from her friend Heather. It welcomed June to a gathering designed to “give heart” to people, especially on a day where some might struggle with bitterness or resentment over their difficult relationships (or lack thereof).

The night’s festivities, Heather explained, would include a dinner, a “delivery dash” and a dessert.  After the meal, which the host provided, everyone would go out to give away some sort of unexpected Valentines gift of their choice.

Suggestions included cookies for firefighters/police, Hershey kisses for nurses in the ER, balloons for a nursing home resident,
flowers for a convenience store clerk working on Valentines day, stickers for a bored kid in a grocery cart, a Starbucks gift card for a Wal-Mart stocker and a note of thanks to a janitor. After they delivered the gifts, the guests would return to have dessert and talk about their experience.

My friend June recounted her experiences expressing God’s love in her community below.

“We had a group that went to the hospital and a group that went to various locations.  We delivered our gifts and came back to my friend, Heather’s, to discuss our experience.” June wrote to me, “During dessert, we each talked about our experiences.  The group that went to the hospital, one person gave their bag of chocolate to the staff in the ER (the night was a bit slow for them), one person gave chocolate roses from Malley’s to the ladies at the front desk, the other person was hoping to give his candy to the children (since is was kid themed), but {because they didn’t house children, ended up giving them to moms of newborns}.”

“My group went to various locations.  The couple I was with, delivered their box of chocolate covered cherries to a worker at a nearby nursing home.  I delivered my bags to a female clerk at Kmart (who ended up giving me a hug at the end), a female clerk at Aldi’s, and a gentlemen, named Rodney, who worked the desk at Red Roof Inn.  It was interesting how unsure people were at first. (Rodney asked me what he did to deserve the gift.)  I won’t say I wasn’t nervous at first, but in the end I think I could have handed our gifts the whole night to people.  While eating dessert, we talked about how unsure people were but once they understood they were receiving a gift, their face immediately brightened.  It was great to see their expressions change.  It’s funny though, how random acts of kindness are so foreign to us these days.”

“I think all of us were on a “high” after we returned from our delivery dash.” June summarized, “It really was so much fun and I can’t wait for next Valentine’s Day.  But it makes me think….why wait til next Valentine’s!?”

Go back and read How To Get to Know People No. 4.