Kindness

Karma is the greatest motivator to do something nice for others. We are all taught, in some way or another, that we should treat people the way we would want to be treated. In “Abi Terms”, if I share my piece of cake with you, I should be able to expect you to do the same for me, right? My example shows that kindness these days has been transformed into something we exhibit because we hope others will do the same for us. I myself lived under this impression of kindness until a couple of Secret Samaritans taught me that true kindness is gladly given, with no strings attached.

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“CAR WASH!!!!! Come get your cars washed!” It was a sunny Saturday morning, and, you guessed it, I was working a car wash for one of my school clubs. All morning kids had either been advertising, waving signs and yelling at the top of their lungs, or scrubbing away at dirty cars. It seems like we are powering this carwash with pure enthusiasm and spirit, I thought happily as scraped away dirt from a car’s rims.

All that morning cars had been pulling in and out of our wash station. With a few sponges, soap, and towels, my club was raising money and awareness for our cause in our community. I was so happy to know we were reaching our service goals, but I didn’t have time to process our success right then. My mind was whirling that morning because I was the leader in charge of our entire fundraiser. Cries of “Abi, where should we move this car?” and “Abi, can we switch our jobs?” echoed in my head all day long. Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I had to constantly remind myself that morning that all the craziness was worth it because we were helping out our community. My friends are doing an amazing job with this fundraiser, I thought as I slid on my blue and brown sunglasses. The least I can do is mirror their enthusiasm and hardwork, right?

This thought and the generous donations of all our customers helped me overcome my worries. Although their monetary donations were much more than what we could have asked, the positive energy each shared with us helped to fuel our efforts all day long.

One couple of Secret Samaritans supplied our car wash with enough positive energy to power a small city! They brought an enormous truck with a bug-encrusted windshield that occupied the time of a few dedicated car washers. Our enthusiastic washers could have finished this truck in a few minutes, but unfortunately, because of our limited supplies, the job took us much longer than it should have.

The SS’s were pleased with their tidy truck after we finished, and paid us just as generous a donation as all our other customers. After they left, we continued to wash more and more cars with our one-house, six-sponge operation. We continued for a little while until we noticed that truck with the once-bug-encrusted windshield was pulling into our parking area once again. Wait a second….I recognize that truck, I thought. I wonder why they came back? Oh no, I hope we didn’t forget to clean any part of the car!

Feeling slightly uneasy, I approached my SS’s truck, and saw that, as they got out of their car, they were carrying a hose, nozzle, and hose splitter.

I must have been wearing my confusion like a mask on my face, because one look at me, and one of the SS’s said to us, “Listen, kids. Your operation here sucks, so we decided to give you these supplies to help you out. “

We all started jumping up and down and smiling until our cheeks were sore. Thanks to this lovely couple, who was just running errands on a Saturday morning, we were able to make more money for our cause. But more importantly, this couple of Secret Samaritans taught us that kindness really does not need to be solicited. Their donation had compensated for the fact that we had scrubbed their bug-encrusted windows clean, but this couple, who noticed that we were a group of kids who needed help, truly demonstrated kindness to us by helping us just because they could.

Lesson Learned: Kindness is something given freely and without any expectations of getting it back. Being nice to someone is not like maintaining a bank account, where you pay kindness to satisfy a debt of someone else being nice to you; when you are truly kind, you do something because you know it is right to do so. Kindness, sincere care for others, will make a deeper impact that the indebted kindness of karma any day J.

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. ~John Wooden