Day 6: Last Random Act of Kindness and Breakfast

Blog Challenge: Last random act of kindness

How would you know if something you did is indeed an act of kindness? I’ve been thinking of what to blog about this topic since last night and I always come back to this question. What if something you did is just part of what you normally do? You don’t even think about it afterwards. Unknowingly, the person on the receiving end felt like you handed them the world and thinks that you are the kindest person ever? (exaggeration intended :P)

Let’s create a scenario here with the above premise. I will exaggerate it a bit to make a point. So, anyway, there’s these two acquaintances. One will be named A and the other will be named B. (Yeah, I know, no creativity, fine!) We cannot say that they’re really friends, hence, being acquainted.

Out of nowhere, A was craving for coffee with some company. Not being able to contact anyone out of the 1,001 numbers on her phone, she invited B who was sitting in a corner staring out in the open. B, startled and surprised by the invitation, she gladly accepted. So both A and B went to a coffee shop, got their coffee and took a table outside since the weather was fine. A, being her talkative self, talked and talked and talked about trivial things while B on the other hand, listened, smiled, nodded, gave a few comments here and there, got fascinated by A who was very animated as she talked. A couple of hours later, three cups of strong brew consumed, both A and B went on their separate ways.

Unknowingly to each other, A, satisfied with her coffee craving and some company, went about her normal daily routine of whatever she does with her time and not really thinking about the coffee session she just had. Meanwhile, B, who was, shockingly, contemplating suicide (hence the staring into space), forgot about her own depression as she came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, she would give life a second chance.

So… with that scenario, some people would say that what A did was an act of kindness. (Probably B would somehow think of it that way too) But A on the other hand, didn’t know that she had done a random act of kindness. She just wanted company and had no choice but to invite B.

For this blog challenge, I don’t think I can answer it directly. I don’t consciously think about the things I do. I don’t even classify them if they are acts of kindness or not. Maybe you would want to ask other people as they would be able to tell if an encounter with them was a random act of kindness.