Random Acts of Kindness

Photo by: Keiran President

I am not really a kind person.

Therefore, February 17 was a very difficult day for me, as I was challenged to partake in this year’s Random Acts of Kindness Day. While I did partake in some genuine random acts of kindness, I also did some out-of-the-ordinary ones as well.

My first act of kindness took place on OU’s campus, where I went around the parking lot putting motivational notes on random students’ cars. These notes said things like:

“Life is short and tomorrow is not sure, so live like it’s your last.”

“Every disappointment is a blessing.”

“Hey! You’re beautiful!”

Then I took my kindness to the tennis court. It was a nice, warm day so my tennis team practiced outside on campus courts. A few kids coming from school stopped to watch us practice, so I decided to invite them to play with me and some of my teammates. We taught them the basics and played some fun tennis games.

It was the best thing I did all day. The smile and excitement on the kids’ faces brought some warmth to my cold heart.

Later that day, I decided to spread my kindness beyond school borders and took to the town of Ottawa, which brought me to the infamous Mexican restaurant El Mezcal.

For those who do not know, El Mez serves margaritas for a dollar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Most patrons of “dollar margs” visit the restaurant about an hour before closing to spend less money before going to the bar.

It was not a Tuesday or Thursday so margaritas were a little more expensive, but I decided to go ahead with my plan. After all, it was Random Act of Kindness Day.

My initial idea was to pay someone else’s bill, but my bank account was in no shape for that. So I made an executive decision to buy 3 margaritas for one person.

My executive decision was then reassessed as I realized three drinks may be a lot for someone and I didn’t want it to look like I was flirting, so my final plan was to buy three individuals one drink.

This was done anonymously and the lucky individuals were randomly selected. Though it hurt my bank account a little bit, I thought it a kind gesture.

That same night, I decided to also have dinner and a couple drinks myself. When I paid my bill, I left each waiter a generous tip.

I prefer to pay with card, which allows me to write in my tip at the bottom of the receipt. Normally when it comes to tipping, I would just even out the bill. For example, if my bill totaled $12.63, I would give 37 cents as a tip, or $1.37 just to even it out.

But this time I was even more generous with my tips, not only to my waiter, but all the waiters that night.

My generous tips for the night are listed below:

1. Do not wear slides when it’s snowing.
2. Wear a jacket when going out tonight— it’s cold.
3. Do not drink or text and drive.
4. Be sure to shower every day.
5. If you improved your customer service, you would probably get better tips than these.

It was really a fun and new experience being kind. However, I do not believe people should limit their kindness to one day or week. Little gestures could change someone’s entire day and could range from a positive message to a simple hug.

If more people acted like me on Random Act of Kindness Day, this would honestly be a better world.