Day 687: Strike up the band

I wish I had my own orchestra so I could try some of these… I consider them good deeds, they sure made a lot of people smile… including me. Enjoy!

Day 686: Tribute to the Waving Man

In light of the horrific events at the Boston Marathon yesterday, I wanted to share a story I came across that restores your faith in human kindness. (This story reminds me of what a difference small kind gestures can make.) Enjoy!

Every morning on the way to elementary school we’d pass our favorite neighbor: the Waving Man. Outfitted in yellow gloves, a t-shirt, and khakis, the Waving Man held court on his porch daily. Located on busy Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, where Oakland, CA meets Berkeley, Joseph Charles—his real name—had a simple, yet ambitious mission: to say good morning to every passing car on their commute to work, school, or otherwise. He’d greet us with his glorious, gloved, wave, as we traveled to our destinations, still wiping sleep from our eyes.

Most mornings my brother and I were pressed against the windows of my mom’s Volvo, ready to greet our wonderful neighbor with our own waves for the split second we’d speed past. If we were lucky, we’d get stuck in traffic, allowing us to inch by the Waving Man and get in a good, long wave, and potentially even make eye contact with this magical man. We’d furiously roll down our windows, stick our hands out, and return his greetings of “Keep smiling!” or “Have a GOOD day!” We hope this made him as happy as he made us.

The Waving Man was like a neighborhood conductor, orchestrating our morning emotions, keeping them high. He was a beacon of light in an area that was at times rife with class disparity, tension and crime, coming off of the idealism of the 1970s and settling into the 1980s. Charles himself came to the area from Louisiana during World War II, to work in the shipyards, and also won acclaim as a talented first baseman for the Lake Charles Black Yankees, part of the negro leagues. We never knew why he dedicated the rest of his days—his life really—waving to his anonymous neighbors. But we loved that he did. He embodied the spirit of unconditional giving, introducing me to what a random act of kindness was, before I knew the world was in desperate need of them.

I always thought that the Waving Man was me and my family’s special secret, but it turns out he touched the entire community. His gloves are now kept at the Berkeley History Center and every year from 7:30-9:00 a.m. on March 22—what would be his birthday—the entire area stands in front of his old house to celebrate his 30 years of service, despite it being 11 years since his death. People don yellow gloves and the same sunny disposition Charles had, and wave at passing cars.

Denisha DeLane, an NAACP youth council advisor told The Berkeley Daily Planet, on what would be his 100th birthday:

I keep asking myself, how can we keep his memory alive. I want to see people remembering him even after 50 years. He helped to build a healthy community, to make the day better for everyone, especially for southwest Berkeley. We need children to know who their neighbors are. We should be able to look out for each other.

What the Waving Man taught me, and countless others, is that we don’t have to wait for an anniversary, or special reason to spread joy and extend a yellow-gloved, neighborly hand. We can do it each morning for no other reason but to wish someone a good day.

Source 1.

Source 2.

Day 685: A good deed to beat the heat

Sadly it is still freeeeeeeeeeeezing up here in the Great White North, but I can vaguely remember it being so hot that it’s uncomfortable, so I need to keep this idea in mind for when that eventually happens.

Day 684: Happy Easter!

A friend posted this pic on FB… wish I knew where this place was so I could give them my business!

Today I was so preoccupied with trying to do one good deed, I almost missed another. (Clearly not much of a multi-tasker.)

I was at the grocery store on maybe the busiest day of the grocery shopping year (besides pre-Christmas and Thanksgiving) and it was INSANE. People everywhere, carts crashing into one another. I saw a man and a woman at the cheese counter almost come to blows over who was waiting longest and should be served next. It was nuts.

So at the checkout, with all this craziness going on, I was trying to make sure the stuff I bought for the food bank bin didn’t end up at the bottom of one of my bags where I’d promptly forget about it. (A very real possibility, especially today.)

Meanwhile, the mom and cute little girl ahead of us paid for their groceries and moved on. Luckily my observant (and ever-thoughtful) husband noticed that they left without one of their full grocery bags. So without missing a beat, he ran the full length of the store to tell them before they left.

The woman was about as distracted as I was because when she came back to the checkout line, she said, “Oh no, that’s not mine” until she looked at all the items inside and realized it was.

Anyway, hope your Easter is much more peaceful!

Day 683: Suspended coffees

A friend posted this on my FB page today and I’m going to try to find out if any places here in Toronto do this:

This story will warm you better than a coffee on a cold winter day:

“We enter a little coffeehouse with a friend of mine and give our order. While we’re approaching our table two people come in and they go to the counter -

‘Five coffees, please. Two of them for us and three suspended’
They pay for their order, take the two and leave. I ask my friend:
‘What are those ‘suspended’ coffees ?’

‘Wait for it and you will see’

Some more people enter. Two girls ask for one coffee each, pay and go. The next order was for seven coffees and it was made by three lawyers – three for them and four ‘suspended’. While I still wonder what’s the deal with those ‘suspended’ coffees I enjoy the sunny weather and the beautiful view towards the square in front of the café. Suddenly a man dressed in shabby clothes who looks like a beggar comes in through the door and kindly asks
‘Do you have a suspended coffee ?’

It’s simple – people pay in advance for a coffee meant for someone who can not afford a warm beverage. The tradition with the suspended coffees started in Naples, but it has spread all over the world and in some places you can order not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwich or a whole meal.”

Source.

And just when I was reading about this, I heard these words on the radio: “Ghandi once said that if we want to change something about the world we should start by noticing that thing within ourselves and try to change that.”

Coincidence? Probably. But I thought it was cool anyway.

p.s. Song for the day, Jill Scott’s “Lovely Day” … theme song for the Have a Lovely Day Campaign to foster Random Acts of Kindness… my kind of campaign!

Day 682: London calling

A dear friend of mine who lives in London, England, told me about a good deed she was able to do with her family recently, and just had to share:

Walking along the waterfront by Strand on the Green near Kew, the tide had not come in yet and my husband and son spotted school books on the river bank. I struggled down some rickety slippery steps and eventually my son came  to help.

We gathered up lots of books, house keys, a calculator and art work for a boy in Grade 8.

We found a name and school diary but no other details.

I phoned the school on Monday and they were shocked… 10 minutes later, the [people who lost all the items ] rang me and came over that night in horrible traffic. They brought me a £15.00 bouquet of flowers.

Turns out, the dad’s car had been broken into and all they took was the boy’s backpack and chucked his work on the river bank.

Apparently the boy was devastated that his art work had been stolen. I was happy to return it to him. It was lucky I had a plastic bag in my pocket to pick up everything, even though it was hard work to get down the steps to the river and there was a lot of mud.

And here’s another story that a Mr. Leonel Ingram left in the comments. Thanks, Leonel!

Two weeks ago while I was out for a 5 mile run on a busy street in my neighborhood, I saw another runner coming at me approximately 75 feet ahead. While I was running facing the traffic, she was running with the flow of traffic.

In my 3 years of running I have always run against the flow of traffic – the reason, I want to see the driver, just in case the driver does not see me; at least this gives me the opportunity to jump out of the way. As fate would have it, a car coming at a fairly high rate of speed for a residential street, was making a bee-line right for the other runner.

I was screaming at her to jump the curb. Thankfully she did and avoided getting hit, but the driver had no clue what could have happened, she was too busy on her cell phone and was not paying attention. Let me tell you, there were two runners quite shaken up. She picked herself up and I picked up my heart.

While I spent the better part of the next 3 miles thinking, I realized I have made many mistakes while running on the roads and thought I would share a few tips to make us all safer runners and walkers.

Gotta love happy endings!

P.S. Song for the day, Churchill’s “Change” … enjoy!

Day 681: Back-to-back good deeds

I rode the bus with some very kind people today. It was a standing-room only crowd all bundled up because the weather turned bitterly cold today.

When a couple got on with their two small boys, an elderly Asian lady, her cheeks crinkling as she smiled, struggled up to her feet to offer them a seat.

The mom turned to ask the youngest boy if he wanted to sit down, he shook his head no, as did the older boy. So they thanked her and she sat back down.

Then the bus rocketed around the corner and everyone standing, including the young family, struggled to hang on and keep their balance. So a young man in a single seat also stood up and offered the boys a seat. Again they said no, probably because we were about to pull into the station.

It still warmed my heart to see that even during rush hour, strangers could show each other kindness.

I was reminded of that kindness later in the day when I dropped off some pasta and tomato sauce into the food bank bins by the Christmas tree in the lobby of our office building. They were overflowing by then and I had a difficult time fitting my bag in. Very nice to see.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

P.S. Song for the day, “The Prayer” … enjoy!