Pay It Foward

Pay It Foward

   12:12 PM       Cassie

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Not sure if you have see or heard anything about this on Facebook or not, but I saw a friend said she was attending it the other day, so being the serious creeper I am, I had to check it out. Come to find out I have no idea who this David creator is, but regardless what he has started is awesome. As of around 11:00 this morning he has around 182,000 people "attending;" that's quite the accomplishment. Of course I immediately clicked "attending." I mean really, how hard is it to do this? And just like the FB event says, 'Tis the season.'

I mean heck, just this morning on my way to work I saw a homeless guy, with his little "home" set up: blue tarp to block the wind, a few sticks to help hold it up, shopping cart, and a book bag for a pillow. As I drove by wearing my new shoes, in my warm car, bundled in my $150 North Face jacket, flipping off the person in front of me for driving like an idiot (ok, just kidding, but that is how it is most of the day, damn you MO drivers) I was ashamed. All I could think about is wow, life could be so worse. I wanted to go and delete my post complaining about lack of sleep, because in all reality I have nothing to complain about. I get to comfort my baby in a warm house, with a warm bottle, in a comfy recliner every night. That homeless guy, probably hasn't had a good nights sleep in weeks. I get to drive to and from work in a brand new car, while this guy walks every where. I know I have food to eat every.single.day, this guy, probably never knows.

But do I do anything about it? Not really. Sure I hold the door open or people, or smile at someone who looks like they are having a bad day, or pick up something someone dropped as they were walking in or out of a store, but I don't feel like that's much. But sometimes it means more than you can ever imagine. So then it got me thinking about this Pay It Forward event on FB. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I will pay it forward as much as I can tomorrow. Yes, it's sad that it's just a one day thing, people should do these types of things randomly throughout the year, but that's a different story, post, soap box, etc.

A few of the things is says you can do is:

Pay for some one's coffee

Buy some one's groceries

Get the next person's gas

Help someone out

Donate something

Or some other ideas I thought of:

Say you have an old lady for a neighbor and she has to walk out to the end of her driveway every morning to get her paper. Why don't you walk your young booty over there and place that paper on her front steps.

Or say you have some money left on a gift card after you make your purchases. Hand that gift card to the person behind you and let them finish using it. Even if it's a few cents, or a few dollars, you are helping someone out.

If you travel, leave that magazine you bought at the airport. The next flyer won't be stuck with nothing to read but the boring airlines magazine.

Simply hold open the door for someone behind you and let them step in first.

If you have a great waiter or waitress, go out of your way to let them personally know how much you appreciate them. Or tell the manager what an excellent employee they hired. It doesn't hurt to give a generous tip as well. *I experienced this one time at CK. Someone left a note on a napkin complimenting my service to them. It was so sweet and it totally made my day!!*

On my street Wednesday is trash day. So instead of driving around your neighbors trash can rolling through the streets, stop and place it back in their yard.

There are so many other things out there that can be done. Easy little things, that could mean the world to some total stranger.

It does not have to be anything costly, and it does not need to come with praise.

Do it, be quite about it, and go on with your day knowing that you "paid it forward."