Random Act of Kindness and Eye Contact

Kindness. What is it? Kindness is characterized by the quality or state of being kind. When people go to extremes in the name of selfless kindness, more often then not something good happens in the end. What is fascinating is how individuals react to unexpected kindness.
I spend a great amount of time in the downtown area, where I do not witness much kindness happening. Everyone seems to be in such a hurry that they barely make eye contact with others. I decided I would not only be kind to my family and friends, I decided I would also spend some time downtown and on the buses. I would be extra kind to everyone I came in contact with while downtown, and on the buses that I rode. This made the day very interesting and very rewarding.
On the morning of my “kindness day” I decided I would take my daughter to school instead of making her ride the bus. When I told her I was taking her, she looked very puzzled and asks me if she had missed her bus. We took the COTA bus to her school, which is a pretty long trip. This was a great opportunity to be kind to others on the bus. When we boarded the bus I made sure to make eye contact with the other passengers, smiled and said “good morning”, although most of the passengers did not make eye contact with there were a few that lit up and smiled back. I sat in the front of the bus so that I could greet anyone who boarded the bus. I got a lot of strange looks, after all it was pretty early and some had already decided they were having a bad day. My perkiness probably threatened that. When we arrived at my daughter’s school, I stopped to hold the door open for the other parents dropping their children off, also saying “good morning” with a smile. This time I got a lot of great responses, some ask me if I was a new teacher!! With my daughter at school it was time to head downtown to see how much kindness I could spread.
When I got off the bus I made sure to look the driver in the eye and tell him I appreciated the job that