Restoring Faith in Humankind

A snowstorm started this evening so it was the perfect time to whip up a homemade pizza.  I had everything on hand and boy I shocked myself!  I usually need to run for one or two necessary ingredients for a last minute something or other that I want to make.  I made the dough and pizza sauce myself.  It turned out delicious.  I use a cookbook by Antonio Cecconi.  He wrote it for Betty Crocker/General Mills.  Here is the dough recipe.  Antonios Pizza Crust.  I took his Pizza Class at Cooks of Crocus Hill and he was the instructor and I loved his recipes.  I bought his book and have made several things ranging from soup to pizza. It is stained, dog eared and marked with several post-its. 

Random Acts of Kindness is something that I believe in completely.  And it is most definitely the best when you are on the giving end.  There have been many times Carlos and I have gone through the drive through at Taco Bell and we pay for the car behind us-gambling on the fact that they aren't buying 100 taco for their ball team or their co-workers. We were on the receiving end one time and it was pretty fun for Carlos to see it come around his way, but it is the giving that he loves doing and mentions if we are there, not the time the lady in front of us paid for our order.  And that is what I am trying to teach him.  

Another example is my friend that saw that our sons karate instructors were out for dinner while she was looking at Instagram and called the restaurant and paid for their dinner.  I loved this-what a fun idea and something I love to do as well.  She is that kind of person, someone that really enjoys doing nice things for people.  

Last year I received a $50 gift card from Pier One from my sister-in-law and I simply had not needed anything until this year.  I ventured over there yesterday to get some candles.  At one point I was standing at a display with another woman, who, like me, was trying to find just the right one.  She looked to be about the same age and like me had no make up on and was just out and about on a nice Saturday afternoon trying to see what kind of bargains she might find.  She asked me to smell one of the candles she had and said it was her favorite.  It was not a particularly long or personal interaction but she was nice.  I made my way to the cashier to buy my armful of clearance candles.  My total came to $46.06 and I handed over my $50 gift card.  The cashier swiped it and told me I had a balance of $3.94.  I looked up and saw the woman I had been talking to on the other side of the cash/wrap area buying candles, and some clearance Christmas things.  I walked over to her and held out my gift card and said you can have this, there is only $3.94 but every little bit helps, right? She looked at me so astonished and then was so profusely grateful I became astonished myself.  In my mind it seemed like a no-brainer-instead of buying another something and end up paying out of pocket, why not just give it to somebody else to use?  I went into self-deprecation mode and said well, I will probably lose it if I don't use it right away..." or something silly like that.  She just said that it was so nice and that I made her day.  The next thing she said I will always remember.  She said that I restored her faith in humankind and then she gave me a hug.  It made me so curious about what had happened to make her feel this way.  A teeny tiny $3.94 Pier One gift card balance was all it took to make this woman's day. I was so happy that something so seemingly small could have such a big effect.  When you give, and I mean truly give without the intention to receive something in return, be it that day or in the future is when you will see and feel the full and complete meaning of Random Acts of Kindness.  Go ahead!  Buy that coffee for the person behind you, hold the door for someone (come on, that is common manners, people!), shovel someones drive way, give that gift card balance, heck pay for somebody's dinner the next time you are out.  Do it for the sheer joy of giving.

So, hunker down, make tasty food for people and be kind.