Giving a sh*t! June 11, 2009
Posted by Jane Matthews in acts of kindness.Tags: Kindness, random acts
4 comments
pic credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenjonbro/
Apologies for the language but how else to describe the pile on the pavement outside?
Some acts of kindness are bound to be small – unlike this pile, which would have put our national debt in the shade.
Anyway, there it sat, festering on the pavement and presenting a hazard to the procession of kids on bikes, pushchairs and pedestrians who pass by my window everyday (not that I’m easily distracted or anything.)
Scoop a poop
It reminded me of the time I volunteered to help out at a charity run, holding the ribbon while 2,000 runners strained to get going around the lake. As we waited for the whistle a dogwalker nipped across the path, stopping only for her pet to deposit a pile in front of 4,000 feet.
Amazing how much noise 2,000 people in shiny new white trainers can make.
At first the dog’s owner just shrugged and continued on her way but she hadn’t reckoned with the feisty mum of one of the runners who dashed from the crowd grabbed her arm and redirected her attention back to the mess, demanding “you can bloody well clean that up”.
A new experience for this particular dog lover it turned out for she wasn’t carrying the tools of her trade. As the crowd’s baying rose louder she threw them a disdainful look, then bent down, picked the poo up in her fingers and shoved it into her jacket pocket. Not an act of kindness, of course, but very definitely an act of recovery!
Birth of an idea
No way was I offering to do the same on our street but a shovel and several buckets of water later the streets of Great Linford were once again safe.
Sometimes there’s no glamour to kindness. Just practicality.
And sometimes it’s simply about being the first one to step up (watching where you put your feet) and take action.
On which note I wanted to share a couple of stories on kindness that I’ve picked up this week.
The first, a new take on charity shops, the Angel Mission in Minnesota, US, which gives away clothing, food and househoold goods free with no questions asked. Now that’s seriously nice. Look them up at http://www.myspace.com/angelmissionmichigan.
And secondly, one I may possibly struggle with: the suggestion, in a list of 15 RandomActs Green Kindness, that I should ‘bring an organic meal to friends after just having a baby’. Not quibbling or anything but won’t the meal be a bit cold after nine months?
