“Pass it on!”
The idea of “acts of kindness” has been popularized in recent years. Before that - folks just did it naturally I guess!
Last Sunday was even titled: “World Kindness Day”! (I don’t know how well that came across in some areas on this planet!)
Anyway... I got this suggestion from my son, Scott: Can acts of kindness be like a pebble dropping in the water and causing a good ripple effect? He explained: “For all the people pissed off about the election - this is a perfect time to use their ‘pebble’ (meaning themselves) to cause a positive ripple in the ocean in which we all live and positively affect someone near to them.
“Do what you can... do the right thing for someone of a different color, or religion, or economic status, or just out of spite if that helps motivate you, and begin by creating that ripple. This is the perfect time, with our problems out in the open, to begin with our own little ripples.”
So here goes my "Pebble - Ripple"...
So I’m starting a new column in the Beacon with some of the good things I’ve seen and I hope you’ll share your stories with us in the future.
Oh oh! Warning light in car...
The warning light in my car came on and showed that I needed to get the oil changed. My husband had recently died and I couldn’t find any records on when he had last done this. So I brought it to Soulfisher and they explained their charges. Go for it, I said.
A short time later, owner Mark Norton came out to the reception area and explained that they didn’t need to do anything. Everything looked good and all the fluids were at the correct level.
They had checked on the internet and found the oil had been changed but it didn’t say where. They think the previous time the mechanic just didn’t reset the button.
It could last another 5000 miles.
I looked at the rust on my old car and wondered if it would even last that long!
But I was good to go - at no charge.
Keep in mind that I would never have known it was OK - if they hadn’t taken good care of me!
Whoops! I hadn’t remembered the price!
Then there’s the time I was getting apples to slice up and dehydrate for the grandkids. I’m not a grandma who makes cookies... but the kids seem to like these apple slices!
So I headed out to one of our local orchards and brought a tiny bag of my dehydrated apple slices from last year as a treat for John Zimmer, the owner of the Sogn Valley Orchard.
I was planning to select some of the softer apples that are easier for me to core. But the price was a higher than I expected and I must have looked a little disappointed because John asked me: is that OK? What were you thinking?
I had been thinking about $10 less.
He said, OK.
And I replied, No... you do a lot of work to produce these apples. Just give me what the normal charge would be.
He smiled and headed to the back room for the apples.
When he came back I questioned him... is this what you normally sell for that price? He just smiled again.
I said, “OK, I’ll pay more.”
He refused.
He said my gift of dehydrated apple slices was worth the difference!
(Sometimes it’s really hard to do business with the local folks!)
Now it’s your turn!
So Pass It On! Start new “Ripples”! Share your good stories by emailing them to Rosie at mailrosie@me.com or call the Beacon, 263-3991 or drop them off at the Beacon front desk.
And by starting a "ripple effect" by the good things we see or do... we might help make the world a little kinder - every day!
