Small Acts of Kindness

Hey there, Wendy!

Working with the public is, for the most part, pretty enjoyable. One of the best things about working in a public library is that it brings me out of my shell. It forces me to be an extrovert. Of course, when I come home, I'm completely introverted. But I meet some amazing people, hear incredible stories, and I like knowing that some of the small things I help others with can impact them in a big way.

With the good comes the not-so-good. Fortunately, the percentage of the not-so-good is very small, but those people tend to stick out in your mind more than the amazing people. I try my hardest to remember the good and forget the bad, and sometimes that's difficult. However, in the past week, I experienced two beautiful acts of kindness directed to the staff at my library from regular patrons.

One man has brought us two "deliveries" of carnations on two separate days. The carnations were beautiful and still in displayable condition, but the florist he works at was going to just discard them. Come to find out, he was making regularly deliveries of the day-old flowers to a local retirement home, and the past few days he rescued more flowers than usual. He comes to our library at least twice a week to use a computer and thought we could appreciate the flowers. Many of the bouquets made it to vases strategically placed around the library for everyone to enjoy, while some of the staff took bouquets home to enjoy.

Fast forward to the end of the week: A patron visited us at lunch time and brought everyone one on staff a small treat from Wendy's... just because she appreciates the work that we do. Seriously.

My faith in humanity is continuously renewed by these sweet acts of kindness and appreciation. Because while it's so easy to focus on the negative, focusing on the positive takes effort. The reward for the effort is worth it though. Most of us don't do what we do for the praise or recognition -  we do what we do because we love it.

Someone's appreciation for what you do just makes life that much more wonderful.