Fifty Words, Food, News

Waffle Kindness

43 Comments

In world that sometimes seems cold and heartless, where bad behavior gets rewarded too often, it’s wonderful to see the story of a waitress who was given a $16,000 college scholarship for being kind to an elderly gentleman who needed help cutting up his breakfast.   The story speaks for itself.

 

Has some ever been kind to you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

43 thoughts on “Waffle Kindness”

  1. I think that it’s fair to say, at least for me, that I have encountered far more “nice” than “bad” people. I’ve told before of the American man, Bob Dean, I met in Basel who eight years later enabled me to go to college in the US. It was such a remarkable act of kindness and generosity, and it changed my life. I’ve been paying it forward ever since. There are so many opportunities to do that, and some of them don’t cost a thing.

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    1. Two examples to start off. Building maintenance brings me free corn to feed squirrels and drove me for MRI at end of his work day. Not w I do bake bread to give him. It is not barter. It is shared kindness. I would do my thing if he did not do his. He, likewise. He goes past the job description with guests all the time. Also, a loud man Whois often in B&N cafe, reminds me almond st everybody had learned basic human decency, such as keeping your voice dos, holding the door for the next person, etc. it is the grease of social interaction. I fear what cell phones and Trump are doing to this grease, but a couple of friends commented with the same thought I have, how very nice so many teens are and I think our college crowd is doing likewise. Is that kindness as such? Or is it just being Hunan?
      Kindly forgive blindvtypim
      Ng.

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      1. Funny. Turned on TV to check shows today for Sandy. A voice announced “There is a difference between being nice and being kind.”
        It was an ad for an energy bar.

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        2. Indeed he is. 4:30.
          His teammate runs the mile at 2:50 and on of the women from Carleton runs the mile at 3:00. Hopefully that keeps his brain busy😃

          Liked by 1 person

        3. Would you mind posting the link to the live stream of the race? I’d appreciate it. Don’t recall exactly what date you posted it.

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        4. Here is the link to his race. You want the NCAA DIII 3K. His teammate took third in the mile and Carleton’s entry in the Women’s Mile took 8th, so both All Americans.

          No pressure, my dear s&h.

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        7. Well, missed the podium by one place. I still think it is amazing he got there at all. I sure hope he sees it that way.

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        9. Mueller was the only underclassmen in the 15-runner field. He set the pace early and held the lead for the first half of the race. He crossed the finish line at 8:23.42, which was 12 seconds faster than his winning time at the MIAC Championships in February.

          Lucas may be feeling a little down that he just missed a place on the podium, but that’s a pretty darn impressive performance. Congratulations. And thanks for providing the link, mig, it was fun to watch.

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  3. I’ve received many acts of kindness big and small, and I sincerely hope I do the same for others. One in particular: when our house was foreclosed we moved to another house much like ours that was a rental. After 18 months, we were both out of work and couldn’t afford to live there either. The rental agency had a nice little 2-bedroom in an apartment building they also owned that we could rent for 6 months at less than market value. As they knew we were good tenants, they also made a deal to accept the rent in weekly payments, which was a godsend. Jim and I plus 2 teenage boys lived in that 2 bedroom for 6 months until we could get back on our feet and found this townhome to rent.

    I’m sure there’s many more I could list, but this one sticks out in my mind.

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  4. Oh my gosh, I just watched the video — makes me cry. What a blessing she is to the world and it’s so cool what she’s receiving in return.

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  7. Two recent examples:

    A couple weeks ago, I finished a class at WomenVenture. During class break, I spoke with the lone man who was in the class and we exchanged business cards. Boy, was I surprised a couple days later to get an email from me saying he was impressed with my website. I’ve handed out my cards before, but never before gotten any sort of response.

    Also, a couple weeks ago, Caroline passed on the link to my photography facebook page to her cousin’s husband, who is also a photographer. He messaged me and said some very specific, complimentary things (you know, more than “nice pics”) about my work. It was so encouraging.

    Both these people took the time to say something kind and encouraging when they didn’t have to do so.

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      1. Thanks, Jacque! (although I really wasn’t fishing for more compliments – I was mainly impressed that these two people who either hardly knew me or didn’t know me at all took the time to send me a brief note. I doubt they knew how much it meant to me, but to someone who is easily discouraged, it meant a LOT. And it goes to show that even a couple sentences, spoken or written, can be important.)

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    2. I don’t know if you’ve already shared the link to your Facebook photography page and I missed it, but would you please share it here?

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  8. I remember when I was a new kid at school in 7th grade, just starting to make friends. One girl invited me to a slumber party of about 6 girls, and that was the start of my being part of that group. I’ll never forget it, and noticed over time that she often invited some new girl to join us.

    There has been someone like that at almost every new place I’ve landed. For instance, a college friend let me stay with her when I first came to Mpls in fall of 1976 to hunt for an apartment. People in Winona have included us at gatherings where they knew we could meet more people.

    It’s pretty amazing how many kind people there are. Imagine if these stories were the 6:00 news instead of what we now get.

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    1. The podcast, “It’s Been a Minute” with Sam Sanders ends the broadcast each week with good news in peoples’ lives called in by the listeners. This feature has really become popular and it is such an upper to listen to each week. Try that on!

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  9. Another funny moment in my annals of kindness” I often leave a loaf of bread hanging on the door of our next door neighbor when she comes home from teaching music all day. I left a loaf Thursday. I just found a note telling me very tactfully that she has given up bread for Lent. 🙂

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    2. If I was your neighbor, I would never give up bread for Lent.

      Of course, I’ve never given up anything for Lent, but if I did, I would give up something like liver or blue cheese.

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  10. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    There have been so many acts of kindness in my life from others. The one I try to pay forward at any possible chance is from a neighbor from my childhood, Harry. Harry was a Methodist minister who retired, then lived 2 doors down. Harry was a stabilizing force in my mother’s life especially, by simply appearing when needed. I do not know what information source fed his mind which then prompted him to appear at our door at the appropriate times, but there he was.

    Harry repaired broken items, appeared at the dining room table after school to teach us to play cribbage and stayed til supper was ready (mom’s most volatile time of the day) when he went home for his supper, tended my father, and provided guidance to us kids about life while playing cribbage. He also had the most impressive set of cribbage sound effects ever. We still imitate those when we play cribbage. There were sound effects for a run, a double run, and the perfect 24 point hand a la Victor Borge.

    Any time I can quietly pay that forward I do. My family’s gratitude for his service to us is unbounded. There were others, as well, but those are additional stories.

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  11. In 1978, a couple I had never met, Robert and Elinor, contacted me. They had heard I wanted to take a week-long vacation in the Park Rapids area. These strangers were friends of a former roommate of mine, plus they knew me from reading articles in my magazine. This was at a time I had never had a vacation because I couldn’t afford one. Heck, I couldn’t afford day-to-day life!

    Robert and Elinor had a simple question: would I honor them by staying at their cabin near Park Rapids? They would leave me strictly alone. They promised to stock the fridge and cupboards with good food. They would leave some booze for us, and if I told them what brand of cigar I fancied they would have some of those stocked for me.

    We agreed. We spent a delightful week in their charming log cabin. It had all the modern amenities and a huge field-stone fireplace in the living room. The cabin sat on a hill overlooking Lower Bottle Lake, a lovely and lightly developed lake where loons are so thick they make it a challenge to sleep.

    We spent many summer nights in that lovely cabin. In fall we’d go up there to hunt grouse. My daughter took her first steps in that cabin. And that initial act of generosity bloomed into a deep friendship.

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    2. Friends of my s-I-l regularly let her (and therefore occasionally our entire extended family) use their cabin on Sweet Lake in NW Wisc., probably similar to Lower Bottle Lake. We did clean up after ourselves and chip in a little something, but nothing like what it would have cost to rent a cabin. They just wanted as many people as possible to experience this quiet wilderness.

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  12. Yes. Just last week, this helpless old lady had five good samaritans grace my life. I got my car stuck in snowbanks three times. Three times I made just one call, and male friends came to dig me out. Then, I lost my cell phone somewhere in the house. I turned the house upside down but couldn’t find it. It kinda panicked me because I’m out here alone with no neighbors. I didn’t know what to do, so I walked out to the country road and flagged down the first car coming toward me. He pulled over. I told him that I couldn’t find my cell phone, then asked if he’d please dial my number when I got back in the house. He kindly did this. The next day, I had a doctor appointment. When I came back out, I couldn’t find my car anywhere and walked three levels, back to front. I was frozen as it was only 1 degree outside. Again, nearly panicked, I walked to the big doors to the building and waited for someone to come out. I approached a woman and said, “Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?”. She graciously offered me to drive around until we found my car.

    What I’ve learned from the last two incidents is that when I get it in my brain that I’ve lost something, I look right past it. The cell phone and the car were right there in plain view. I’m also learning that when an old lady’s in distress, kind people are right there to help out.

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  13. My conscience insists that I tell this story. I once suffered three shattering losses within a period of a few weeks. I called it “hitting the trifecta,” an ironic phrase meant to cloak the severity of the loss.

    I had a friend named Dan, a pleasant fellow I didn’t know well, one of those people who exist on the periphery of your life. Dan worked hard as a landscape gardener for the huge Veteran Administration campus near Minnehaha Falls. I had done some minor favors for Dan, but we had never met.

    Dan phoned me. He’d heard about my losses. He proposed to do me a favor. He would design fresh landscaping for my home. Then he would drop by each day after his work at the VA. He would dig and cut and snip until my old landscaping was gone, and then he would install the new plants. Dan thought this would take about a week to do this work, working maybe four hours each evening. All I had to do was to pay for the new bushes and plants, buying them at his professional discount (about half-price).

    I tried to help out but was so clumsy that Dan sent me away. Working a week in the glowing light of those summer evenings, Dan replaced my old landscaping with a brand new design. He would not take money for this.

    Why? Why would a man tired from a physical job work all those hours for no pay to help a man he hardly knew? Dan said, “I heard what happened to you. I think it is time for something good to happen to you. Maybe this will be a start.”

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