Kindness matters - pay it forward.

 In a world where so many people are rich in material things and poor in spiritual things, it is heartwarming to read these stories.  I sometimes think about the Jewish people in Europe in the 1930's.  Many were affluent and a few years later stripped of everything.  Still many managed to survive and live fullfilling lives later.  

Financial crisises come and go in our lives.  People work so hard to accumulate more and more things.  You can only wear one outfit at a time, drive one car at a time, sleep in one bed at a time and eat one meal at a time.  Sharing what we have is one of the best ways to make your life rewarding and happy.

I don't eat fast food as much as I used to, thank God, but I used to get Arby's breakfast every weekday morning. I used to, every few weeks or so, pay for the person behind me. I think the cashiers got as big a kick out of it as I did.

 I'm sorry this is not exactly in reply to your post, but I loved The Help. The movie less so, but loved the book.

OK. The kindness stuff is interesting. And this may be just the time of year to practice.

This is a great discussion! Doing little things for people really makes me feel better about my self.  I do not have a lot of extra money. I put aside $20 a month to give away.  I usually give it away $5 at a time to people near my work. There is a local paper called The Street Sheet that homeless people sell to raise money. Earlier this month I bought one from a man, and he asked how I was doing? I said I was doing fine, and asked him how he was. He said, "I'm great now, I can go get a chicken lunch at Popeyes!" That made my whole dang week.

People have helped me at times when I have needed it. I do not believe there is any kind of equal exchange in the universe, but lots of us are doing what we can. :)

Jenni

There was a single homeless guy standing in front of WalMart yesterday. 

We don't have a very visible homeless population here -- so kids will react like:  "What is that guy doing there?" 

Sigh.