It's Kindness Week in the city of Ottawa, Canada. I only found out this morning when Don from FoodiePrints made a comment about buying coffee for the person in line behind him.
I live in Gatineau, which is across the river from Ottawa, and therefore don't quite know what "Kindness Week" entails. I can only assume there are cameras and undercover officers everywhere, and they're watching to make sure you're busily spreading joy and niceties to your fellow citizens. That has to be pretty nerve-wracking.
My mind immediately started worrying for all the folks on the Ottawa side. What happens if they can't find something nice to do? Does The Man come knocking on your door? Can you get fired from your job? Will you get banished from the city and have to live in a hovel in the outlands?
I went looking online and found out that acts of kindness are not, in fact, compulsory this week. Or so they say. Maybe that's just at trick. Maybe it's a test to see just how thoughtful you are when you think no one's looking. And when you don't hold the door open for someone - SLAMMO! - you're thrown in the stocks outside city hall and getting rotten tomatoes lobbed at you.
I have a good friend who works in Ottawa, and I'm concerned for her. I wonder if she needs to be spreading the happy around, too. What if the Kindness Week applies to all who enter the city, regardless if they live there or not? Was she aware of the potential peril she's in? How could I help?
So, being the great friend that I am, I did my best to save her. I texted her to let her know about Kindness Week:
She laughed at this like I was telling a joke or something. How frustrating. I was trying to save her.
I figured that maybe she's just tired today and needs me to be more direct. Perhaps some step-by-step instructions would help. So, I sent her this email:
I sent the email, confident that I had reached her. But no more than a couple of minutes later, I received this reply:
You can't save everyone. But at least I tried. Reaching out to help her was, well, rather kind of me.
Happy Kindness Week, everyone! No matter where you are, do something randomly awesome for someone else. Give change to the guy on the street, buy someone a lottery ticket, smile big. Here are some other ideas from official site.
(And if you can't manage to do those things, I can still point you towards some great private islands I'd like.)
I live in Gatineau, which is across the river from Ottawa, and therefore don't quite know what "Kindness Week" entails. I can only assume there are cameras and undercover officers everywhere, and they're watching to make sure you're busily spreading joy and niceties to your fellow citizens. That has to be pretty nerve-wracking.
My mind immediately started worrying for all the folks on the Ottawa side. What happens if they can't find something nice to do? Does The Man come knocking on your door? Can you get fired from your job? Will you get banished from the city and have to live in a hovel in the outlands?
I went looking online and found out that acts of kindness are not, in fact, compulsory this week. Or so they say. Maybe that's just at trick. Maybe it's a test to see just how thoughtful you are when you think no one's looking. And when you don't hold the door open for someone - SLAMMO! - you're thrown in the stocks outside city hall and getting rotten tomatoes lobbed at you.
I have a good friend who works in Ottawa, and I'm concerned for her. I wonder if she needs to be spreading the happy around, too. What if the Kindness Week applies to all who enter the city, regardless if they live there or not? Was she aware of the potential peril she's in? How could I help?
So, being the great friend that I am, I did my best to save her. I texted her to let her know about Kindness Week:
"It's Kindness Week in Ottawa. So be sure to do something kind for me while you're over there, ok?"
She laughed at this like I was telling a joke or something. How frustrating. I was trying to save her.
I figured that maybe she's just tired today and needs me to be more direct. Perhaps some step-by-step instructions would help. So, I sent her this email:
Here are some things you can considering doing for me during Kindness Wek. I know there are only a couple of days left, so I'll keep them small:
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| Hugh Jackman would be more than acceptable. Can you try and get the vintage car thrown in? |
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| Hugh Jackman AND a private island would be like TWO acts of kindness rolled into one. Way to avoid the stocks! |
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| A parade in my honour would seriously boost my morale. Major kindness points! |
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| Or, if you're on a budget, you could just get me this. See? Now I'm being kind to YOU! And I'm not even in Ottawa this week! You're welcome! xo |
I sent the email, confident that I had reached her. But no more than a couple of minutes later, I received this reply:
"You f*cking wish!!!! LMAO!!!!!"
You can't save everyone. But at least I tried. Reaching out to help her was, well, rather kind of me.
Happy Kindness Week, everyone! No matter where you are, do something randomly awesome for someone else. Give change to the guy on the street, buy someone a lottery ticket, smile big. Here are some other ideas from official site.
(And if you can't manage to do those things, I can still point you towards some great private islands I'd like.)