After I graduated from Indiana University, I moved to California on a whim with a friend of mine. While living there I met my wife, so I would consider the move an unequivocal success. While out there though, there would be times that I became extremely home sick and saddened from being away from friends and family. One of the things that really calmed me down and allowed me to feel like I was home was seeing one of my favorite teams whenever they came to the Bay Area. It was my little piece of Chicago, and more often then not, it gave me the opportunity to interact with other transplants in the area. It is hard to put in to words, but the ability to break into "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" with strangers is extremely therapeutic when you are homesick. I'm not sure I would have lasted the whole 2 years there if it wasn't for seeing my teams in person every now and again.
There is a guy named Adam who works in the front office of my building. He is, honest to God, one of the nicest people that I have met. I thought that I was typically in a good mood, but he puts me to shame. Every time we have a visitor, they make a comment about how nice of a guy he is. Adam is from the Buffalo, NY area and is a huge Buffalo Sabres fan. I thought about how much seeing my hometown teams meant to me as a transplant, so I thought that for today's random act of kindness, I would get Adam tickets to the Blackhawks game tonight vs. Buffalo. The only issue: I didn't have any tickets.
When I started this, one of my goals was to inspire others to spread kindness. Well that goal really came to fruition today. A friend I've known since I was a young child, Stephanie Sims, donated her tickets to tonight's game. She was doing it because she believed in the mission to spread kindness. I couldn't be more grateful for her gesture. Because of her, hopefully Adam can feel like he is back in upstate New York for a little while.
Awesome!!! Last year I was able to meet up with a soldier I'd adopted while she was in Iraq and take her and her son to a Cubs game since she's a huge fan. Was totally one of the highlights of my year.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever want to repeat something with a sports team...find someone in the military and set them up with tickets. They totally deserve it and always are so appreciative.
What a great random act for today! And how nice that your random acts are multiplying by others doing random acts! I hope Adam enjoys the game (but I still hope the Hawks win!). :)
ReplyDeleteRyan I saw an article about your random acts of kindness and it mentioned you would like suggestions. I myself have done the following random acts of kindness in the last year:
ReplyDeleteI gave a city worker (sweeping sidewalk on Main St) $10 and thanked him for his service.
I paid for 2 female soldiers snacks at a BP gas station and thanked them for their service and gave both hugs.
I gave a gift card (AMEX) that I received as a gift to a fast food worker at the drive through.
I paid for someone's groceries at the 10 item or less lane at the grocery store- Mom with 3 little ones.
Hope these ideas help!
Lisa
Thank you for being so inspirational! I have started a blog because of you, in order to practice random kindness with my 3 children around our little town. Keep up your great work!
ReplyDeleteI just found your website today thanks to Huffington Post. I read a few entries and when I read this one and ended up getting choked up with Stephanie donating her tickets, I knew it was right to get involved. And thank you for doing your part. It's bigger than you may ever know. And will go forward longer than you ever expected. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteI Listned to you story on a radio station and thaught that i would share with you something that I would like to share with you I met a woman that moved in next door to me and told me she had a daughter my age but I never seen her for the first month or so I just noticed that the ambulance was there all the time at least twice week sometimes more well after sometime passed I met her daughter and we right away became friends after a short time I realized she was dying of kidney failure and was on a list to recieve a kidney but had been waiting for six years already so I decided that I would offer her one of mine if I was her blood type and surprisingly I was and through the long process later that year we was in the hospital and the procedure went great its been about three years and she is doing great has had no problems I just figured as a mother I would want someone to be able and willing to due this for my daughts if I could not and watching her and her mother going through the heartache of never getting that call and knowing that she had had her heart stop three other times I couldn't imagine going throught that and so I gave her mine and it was the best feeling ever knowing that I gave someone a chance at life that they didn't otherwise have it was a great experince and I wish that more people could and would have more knoledge of things they can due to help people in small or big ways help is help and thats what counts and kindness goes a long way goodluck on your journey ......
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