Why I Like My Bus Driver

I have a very nice bus driver coming home.  He not only does his best to get me home safe and sound every day, but is also pleasant and very alert.  Twice, he's gone above and beyond his duty to be helpful to me.

Once, I was sleeping when we got to my stop.  I dozed off reading a dull book and he not only stopped at my stop anyhow when someone else was getting off, but invited my husband to come on the bus and get me!  My wonderful husband comes to meet me at the bus stop everyday.  It was a bit embarrassing but pretty funny.  I like to make people laugh even if they are laughing at me.

Yesterday, he outdid himself again.  This time it is very dark when I come home and I was so engrossed in reading Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix that I didn't even look up.  I was at the part where Professor Snape was about to tutor Harry.  We were making such good time that I had no idea we were already at my stop.  My bus driver stopped anyhow, even though no one rang the buzzer to get off and called back to me that we were at my stop.  I quickly put my book away and jumped off the bus, thanking him.  I'll bring a little treat for him today.  If he hadn't sad something, I would for sure have gone way past my stop.

Thank you Mr. bus driver!

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Friday Fragments (games, celebrities, kindness, Books)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

New Game

Last Friday the ladies at church had a game night and I played a game I never heard of before: Mexican Train Dominoes. It isn't hard but was fun because we had six people playing. I liked that the winner got to hit the button on the gadget to sound the train whistle. It was loud! (I would have taken a picture but didn't bring my camera with me.)

Tom Brady

Gerard's favorite QB--Tom Brady

I was surprised to learn that Tom Brady, the Patriots' Quarterback, makes less money than his wife does who is a model. (He makes a LOT of money!) It's nice to see a pro athlete who isn't all about money and greedy for more. In fact, when offered a bigger salary, he told the Patriots organization he had enough. Interesting.

Kindness

Who buys girl scout cookies just to give them away? An attorney at work stopped by my desk before work and gave me two boxes of girl scout cookies--thin mints and tag-a-longs! He also gave some to the secretary next to me just because he's a nice guy. I'm glad I ordered less this year! I kept the thin mints at work and gave the tag-alongs to my husband. It was a nice surprise!

February Favorites

Gerard's favorite read for February was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes about caring for a paraplegic and Karen's was In Need of A Good Wife by Kelly O'Connor McNees about Mail-order brides.

Book Giveaway

We are giving away Mighty Inspiration--Love Letters From God by blogger, Barbara Bernard Miller of "Mighty Inspiration" over at our other blog to the first U.S. commenter who says they would like to have it.Click the title link to see our review at Grab A Book From Our Stack and leave a comment if you'd like it.  (UPDATED:  Congrats to Rebecca Jo from Knit By His Hand who was the first to comment.  Will mail this book to her on Monday.)

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Random Acts of Kindness

Who buys Girl Scout cookies to give away?  At work one of the attorneys surprised me with a couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies this week.  I kept the thin mints and work and brought the tag-a-longs home for my hubby.  He gave his secretary some boxes too!  I'm glad I cut back on my cookie buying this year since I got free ones anyway. 

I received an email from my Women of Wonder group asking for donations for a family who is friends with one of our members.  Their house burned and they lost everything!  That is so sad and my heart goes out to them.  Tonight I sacrificed watching "Survivor" (DVR) and instead spent all evening packing up towels, glasses, bowls, bedding, and some kitchen gadgets to donate.  We have so much stuff that we never use.  Glad we had some bubble wrap and packing material on hand. 

See Gerard, those boxes I saved up came in handy!

Have you been the recipient of a random act of kindness lately or have you done one?  Please tell us about it in a comment.

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World Kindness Day—To Help Or Not To Help?

November 13 is officially designated as “World Kindness Day.” Now, I try to be kind every day and since I read One Simple Act—Discovering The Power Of Generosity by Debbie Mecomber, I try to be even a little kinder.

However, last Thursday on my way to the bus stop, at the corner of my street was an elderly gentlemen who called me over saying he needed my help. I noticed his car was parked in front of the Mower repair shop with the trunk open. I asked what he wanted but he just kept telling me to come over and help him. He shuffled along as he walked which reminded me of my dad. I said I was on my way to catch a bus and again asked him what he wanted. He just repeated to come over and help me, it’ll only take a minute.

At this point, I just wasn’t sure I had a minute. Here are the thoughts going through my head:

(1) I should be willing to sacrifice my agenda and time to help someone.
(2) Why won’t he tell me what he needs?
(3) Women get abducted all the time, this could be a ploy to get me into his car.
(4) What if I go over and he throws me into the trunk?
(5) I might miss my bus, it could come any minute.
(6) If I don't help, I'm not being like the "good Samaritan."

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What a Nice Bank Teller! (Writer's Workshop)

It's so easy to make a mistake in my checkbook. I do online banking now and both our checks are automatically deposited so I do not go to the bank every week like I used to. When I got a nice cash Christmas/Birthday gift from one of my bosses, I went to the bank to deposit it in my checking.

First off, I gave the teller my deposit slip but forgot to give her my money . . . oops. She was very nice and simply asked if I had the money. I quickly pulled it out of my coat pocket and gave it to her, thanking her for being so nice and not saying, "Give me the money you dumb woman." Then she mentioned that I had two overdrafts on my account. I was shocked! She was very nice, again not calling me stupid or anything and told me which checks were overdrawn, both I had written. She said she'd waive the fees which were $35 each for a total of $70!

Good thing I had some cash to deposit so I had to go to the bank. (I got a bank notice about it which didn't come in the mail until the next week or so.)

I couldn't get back to the office fast enough to reconcile my checkbook. It was longer than I thought that I had done this (time goes so fast) and I found not one, but two numbers that I simply copied down wrong. One was the balance when I carried it forward to the next page which was a $100 error and the other was an incorrect amount for my phone bill which resulted in a $32 error.

I was so grateful to her for waiving the fees and took her a little gift the next day to show my appreciation-an autographed book of "My Funny Dad, Harry," a decorative Christmas boot with some chocolate covered pretzels and a little card with my PNN blog URL letting her know where she could read about what a nice teller she is.

Although I made stupid mistakes, which happen, because of them, I received a blessing and in turn can be a blessing to someone else. Little acts of kindness can really make someone's day. How about this for a New Year's Resolution: Be kind to someone each day and try not to do so many stupid things!

This was revised from an earlier post on another blog in response to the Mama Kat's Workshop prompt to tell about a time when a stranger helped you out. Go visit her to participate or see other posts.

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