First Guest Poster: Beth Root

I feel like I'm cheating...the first guest poster on my blog is my little sister.  But she actually volunteered awhile ago and followed all the directions and rules!  So here is her post (PS, I took the liberty of adding pictures.  Thanks again, Google Images!):

Hola! My name is Beth Root. I’m Amy’s little sister, also here at NAU. I’m a wee little freshman – although since this year is almost over, I’m not a wee little freshman anymore. I’ve been living in Flagstaff for just over 10 months. Flagstaff has a lot of crazies and a lot of punks. But, I’ve found that Flagstaff is filled with some of the most wonderful people. I wouldn’t have survived up here without the kindness of so many people.  So, I’m here to share with you some kindness people have shown me recently.

There was one instance where I was walking to the Institute building (also known as the Welcome Center) and there was a young man walking behind me. As I approached the door, he rushed ahead of me. I was even reaching for the door, but he reached out also, making sure he got it first, simply so he could open the door for me. It was a super simple gesture, but it just showed to me that chivalry is not dead.  He was thinking outside himself, which people can always do more.

Another morning, I was on the bus.  It was crowded and I ended up standing up. At the next stop, some seats opened up. There was only one open seat by me.  I looked at the guy standing by me, uncertain if I should go ahead and sit down or if I should let someone else sit down – remembering some posts Amy’s done here. He made eye contact with me and it looked like he was about to sit down, but then he turned to me and said, “You can go ahead and sit down,” and moved aside. It was once again, a very simple gesture, but I was incredibly grateful.  Because, one, I have pretty much awful balance, and every time the bus has to stop, I feel like I’m going to topple over into someone’s lap. And, two, it just showed that, once again, people are kind! I think we sometimes assume that people we don’t know won’t show kindness – at least, I do. I mean, I don’t think we assume people are horrible, awful, mean people, but that they just won’t go out of their way to show kindness. But they do!

This morning, I was walking to my Spanish class. It was 8:00, it was cold, I was tired, and all those things meant that I was looking down, scowling at the ground. When I looked up, there was a girl walking towards me. She smiled at me and waved, as if we were best buds. At first I was puzzled, but then I was filled with a happiness. Who cares that she had no clue who I was, that I had no clue who she was? Why can’t we just smile and wave at strangers and not have it be questioned?

So, I’ve been trying to show my kindness – I’m not particularly good at it. I have a hard time doing it with complete strangers. But, I’ve done thing like the dishes for my roommates and leaving a note on a friend’s car that I was walking by. You know. Just spreading the love. Because love makes the world go round. 

Who wants to Guest Post? :D

Dear Readers,

It's YOUR TURN!  I want YOU to tell me about kindness that you've seen at some point in your life.  I would love to hear from as many of you as possible!  It's super easy (I realize I use the word "super" rather often...gotta work on that), and here's how you do it:

-Pick a topic: act of kindness you did, kindness done to you, kindness you saw, or something similar
-Email it to me, Amy, at alr264[at]nau[dot]edu
-Make sure to include all pictures, links, videos, etc in the email
-I will reply promptly and let you know if and when I will post your entry!

IMPORTANT:  There are a couple of things I ask you not to include in your wonderful entry:
1.  No profanity, please.  Keep in mind this blog is public, and readers of all ages are welcome.  Let's keep it family-friendly. :)
2.  No personal information.  Name and email or website is fine, but anything other than that (such as phone numbers or home addresses) will be edited out for your safety.

I can't wait to hear from you!

*SUBJECT CHANGE*

I amazingly had a couple hours of free-time today.  After getting over the initial shock of having nothing to immediately do or nowhere I needed to be, I decided to search around for some other places on the internet where people are spreading kindness.  I found some fantastic sites!  I was seriously bubbling over with joy at how dedicated some of these people and groups are to making the world a better, kinder place.  I included a few links on my sidebar; you should take a look!  If you get involved in any of the causes, leave a comment on this post and let me know!

Challenge for the Day:

Write a guest post...and check out some of the links under "Kind Websites!" :)

This is our world today.

You know those stories where people do the right thing and end up getting stung for it?

If you're familiar with Bible stories, you may know about Joseph and the coat of many colors, who was sold into Egypt and ended up making friends in high places.  (If you're not familiar, you can read about it here, chapters 37 and 39.)  One of these friends was Potiphar, who was married.  Joseph apparently caught the eye of Potiphar's wife, she tried to seduce/proposition him, Joseph turned her down on moral grounds, and she was offended.  She told Potiphar that Joseph tried to seduce her, and Joseph was arrested and thrown in prison.

So Joseph refused to sleep with a married woman, and he got arrested...?

I don't get it either...

 Now, how about getting arrested for being a designated driver?  For PREVENTING drunk driving?  A friend of mine told me the story and I couldn't believe it until I read it for myself.  Read this article for the story.

Quick summary: Jonathan Schoenakase of Quincy, Illinois had a friend who was killed by a drunk driver.  To prevent others from experiencing the same tragic end, he started waiting around outside bars to give FREE rides to people too intoxicated to drive.  Cab drivers started griping...Jonathan has been arrested more than once for not having a business license.  Let me emphasize the part where the rides are *free.*  Admittedly, he has accepted a few donations, but he has never once asked for payment.

So acts of kindness are now illegal.  No wonder they are happening less and less often.

Challenge for the Day:

Thank or compliment someone for doing something nice.  It will encourage further kindness!

And I'm freeee...Free fallin'!

After months of a super dry, non-snowy winter, the weather decided to DUMP on Flagstaff, a few days before Spring officially starts.  And one day after beautiful, sunny temperatures.  Silly weather.

(Borrowed this picture from my friend's Facebook.)  This is the result of not even a day and a half of storm, after a long period of no snow ANYWHERE. 

Something I've learned in my 3+ years of living in this city is that ice is slippery; snow is crunchy.  It's better to walk in snow a few inches deep than it is to walk on a flat, icy surface!  Wear snowboots that are waterproof and have lots of rubber tread, even if they aren't cute.  Don't buy $12 cute Walmart boots that have FOAM soles...they are not waterproof, nor do they grip even crunchy snow.  (And please don't wear stilettos.  Apparently some girls at NAU think that's a good idea...I don't even want to get started on that one.)  Also, if you go slow and step toe-first instead of heel-first, you'll usually do just fine walking on ice.  So after having learned all these great bits of snow wisdom, you think I'd be prone to falling, right?

Theoretically, anyway.

I have AWESOME boots that I love.  They are pictured below, but mine are much rattier looking because of all the mileage they've gotten:

Warm, comfy, grippy tread, durable.  And affordable.  I have NEVER fallen in the snow or even on ice since I've bought these babies!  I may slip, but I've been able to catch myself every time.

Until today.

BUT, in my defense, my boots are not to blame!  My baby is.  Haha :)  I slipped, was able to get traction back, but then lost my balance and biffed it right as I was stepping onto the sidewalk from the road.  Something about being 27 weeks pregnant throws off your whole equilibrium...or something.  I felt a little bit like this:

Scraped my knee a little, but my pride was more wounded than anything else.  :)  Even so, a couple girls walking by stopped and asked if I was ok.  I was fine, so I laughed it off and very ungracefully got back on my feet.  I was super embarrassed they saw my little spill!  For my ego's sake I would've preferred if they kept on walking and pretended like nothing happened.  But for humanity's sake, I am SO happy they were concerned enough to make sure I was alright.  What if I had fallen hard on my belly and induced early labor?  What if I fractured a bone?  Got a concussion?  I would've definitely appreciated their care and attention in those cases.

Thankfully, nothing happened, and all is well.  But I am so glad two girls were kind enough to be concerned about a poor, clumsy stranger's welfare.  Thanks, ladies!

Challenge for the Day:

Lend a helping hand, in whatever way you see fit.

A sad day for NAU...

First, I want to announce that I revamped my blog a bit because I had several people letting me know they had a hard time reading my font.  Sorry!  Hopefully this is easier to read.  Also, I fixed the link in the previous post to the super funny YouTube clip about driving.  Take a look if you didn't get a chance before...totally worth 41 seconds of your time!  One last thing: my mother pointed out that in the previous post one of the images I used was copywritten, so I changed it.  Didn't feel like dealing with lawsuits or anything. :)

Now, onto the post!  I don't have much to say today.  I am again posting about something that is far from kind...and maybe this isn't even a big deal to lots of people, but it's something that made me extremely sad when I found out.

Northern Arizona University has several creative sculptures around its campus, many of which you can view at this website: http://www.squidoo.com/flagstaff-public-art-murals.  One of my favorites is a sculpture outside a North Campus building, where someone took a tree stump and carved an owl into it.  I think it's so creative!  Here's a picture:

Awesome, right?  I can't get over how much time and skill it would take to do this.  If I were more on top of my NAU history, I could tell you who carved this and how long ago it was created.  But I'm not remembering, and can't find anything in my internet searches.  Sorry!

The other day, I saw this picture circulating around a few of my friends' profiles on Facebook:

Someone beheaded the poor tree stump owl!  A person or a group of people took someone's masterpiece and a piece of NAU's history...and destroyed it, ruined beyond repair.  I really have no words.  Speechless.

I hate to end so abruptly, but I truly feel as if the pictures speak for themselves.  I can't believe anyone would do this, whether they thought it was a funny prank, or what.  To me, this isn't anything but sad and unfortunate.

Challenge for the Day:

Leave a piece of the world more beautiful than it previously was.

Ten Days

For those of you who look at my blog on a regular basis, I apologize for my brief hiatus.  I've been kind of MIA from every aspect of life...work, classes, my internship, normal errands...blah.  I've been alternating between being bedridden and running around frantically trying to catch up on parts of life I've missed.  Forgive me, dear readers!

It has now been ten days since I've posted, and there have been so many things I've seen or heard that I desperately have wanted to blog about.  And maybe because I've been sick, I've been less tolerant of, well, everything.  I've been noticing more and more rude behaviors, and my number one gripe with the city of Flagstaff is ALL OF THE AWFUL DRIVERS.

Here is a brief list of driving offenses that have frustrated me:

-Running red lights.
-Narrowly missing pedestrians in the crosswalk.
-Smoking marijuana while driving.  Seriously, guys?  Medicinal or not, that's just dumb.
-Cutting through my apartment's tiny lot in order to avoid the three-way stop on the road...and almost running down my husband standing by our mailbox.
-Driving 15 mph under the speed limit.
-Assuming the light is turning green, creeping into the intersection, and then slamming your breaks when you realize oncoming traffic has a green arrow.
-Driving down oncoming traffic's turn lane in order to pass the traffic jam in your own lane (and me almost hitting you head-on as I'm merging into the turn lane).
-Tailgating.
-Texting while driving.
-Seeing someone using their turn signal wanting to merge in front of you, and speeding up so they can't.
-Bumping a parked car, and leaving the scene.
-Blocking the intersection because the lane in front of you is backed up, and you didn't want to stop behind the line.

Honestly, I could go on for hours about the horrible driving habits of Flagstaff residents.  But because making this list is getting me wound up, I'm going to stop there.  If you're as outraged as I am, click HERE for a little comic relief.  Actually, just click it anyway because it's pretty funny. :)

I hope I will have a more cheery post for you in the near future...again, I apologize it has been so long since I've checked in!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and please, PLEASE stay safe on the roads.  There are some crazies out there.

Challenge for the Day:

Follow ALL traffic rules, even turning lane-to-lane, and stopping instead of "slow rolling" at stop signs.  And for the love of all that is good in this world, please only drive sober.  Thank you.

Good morning!

Here is a well-known fact about me: I am sooo not a morning person.  I think I stopped being a morning person after, I dunno, third grade.

So naturally, I'm kind of a crab before noon.  Ironically enough, I am the student worker who got landed with opening the office at 8 am...four days a week.  I don't have a key, so I wait outside my office door for my boss to come unlock it, and because we're located RIGHT inside the student union's front doors, I see everyone who comes in.  They are all either going to their own offices, or else heading over to Starbucks for a quick morning shot of caffeine.  Everyone pretty much looks as groggy as I feel, so I don't ever go out of my way to make eye contact or say nice things.  No one else ever does either...

...Except for this morning.  This young man, maybe 20 or so, waltzed right in the front door with a staggering amount of energy, flashed the biggest grin ever at me, and boomed out a resonating "Good mornin'!"  I couldn't help but return his smile; I even managed a weak, croaky "Morning!" of my own.  I felt instantly less grumpy.  Goodness knows I needed that boost of happy.

I think I'm going to try to be a bit happier and more friendly in the morning now, because I know it made a huge difference when that guy was friendly to me.  Why don't you all join me in this challenge? :)

Challenge for the Day:

Smile at a stranger and tell them "Good morning."

Chivalry is not dead

Walmart is not the first place I'd expect to see acts of kindness that impress me enough to write about.  But maybe there's just a stigma against Walmart customers.

I was standing in one of Walmart's notoriously long check-out lines today, and was so excited when I got up to the register that I almost didn't notice that a little ways behind me was a little older woman with a big cart full of stuff.  The young man directly behind me turned to her as she struggled to pull a case of water bottles out, and asked, "Would you like me to get that for you, ma'am?"  My heart melted.

Challenge for the Day:

Lighten someone's load.

Were the pancakes really that worth it?

Thought I posted this yesterday...my apologies!

Tuesday...oh, Tuesday.  It was National Pancake Day, and thus IHOP served free shortstacks until 10pm.  (PS.  An unnamed source told me Pancake Day was the same day as Fat Tuesday.  Made sense in MY head!  Sorry for all those people I mistakenly announced it to!)

Husband and I decided to make a date of it, because who doesn't love mid-week dates?  We went around 6:30ish pm.  It was a ZOO.  We had expected as much, so we just sat back patiently and watched the chaos unfold around us.  I have to say, kindness tends to fly right out the window in large crowds.  I understand we were crammed into a small, enclosed area with hundreds of other hungry people wanting a free meal.  But if we willingly choose to put ourselves in that situation, do we have a right to complain and verbally attack others?  Just a thought.

I was saddened by the number of inconsiderate acts I witnessed in the hour or so that I was in the restaurant.  People were pushing in front of other people to get their name on the wait list; customers just getting the free shortstacks and water weren't leaving tips for their overworked, overwhelmed servers; they also were begrudging the paying customers who were taking awhile to eat because they had more food than just three little pancakes.

I was impressed by how gracefully the hostess and seater were handling all of this.  I also couldn't believe how quickly they were seating customers!  We had at least 6 other parties ahead of us, and were still called back within 15 minutes.  But when a party of 7 came in asking about the wait time, the hostess informed them it was a 20-25 minute wait.  A girl in the party scoffed, "Wow, are you serious?  I GUESS we'll wait."  When my husband and I were told we had a 20 minute wait, we almost celebrated because of the size of the crowd.  I didn't understand why everyone was being so impatient.

When we sat down at our table, we heard loud complaints from other customers about how long the food was taking, and how bad the service was.  I glanced at the kitchen area...here's an idea of what it looked like:

There were SO many cooks and servers juggling plates for the dozens of hungry, unsatisfied customers, doing everything they could to do get orders right.  I agree, service was not up to it's normal standards that night.  My glass never got refilled, and our server didn't stop by once to see how everything was going.  But considering the circumstances, I'd say service was pretty fantastic; our order was correct, and the food was delicious.

Recognizing the poor servers probably would not get anywhere NEAR the amount of tips they normally would, since free food apparently means free service as well to some of the customers, my husband and I decided to double our tip.  It still wasn't a big tip at all, since we didn't order much food.  But I still hope it made some sort of difference to that exhausted IHOP employee who had the bad fortune to be stuck working on free pancake night in a city full of starving, penniless college kids.

My challenge is simple today, but I believe it will make a major difference in everyone's attitudes.  And I also encourage everyone to make this a routine part of our lives, myself included:

Challenge for the Day:

When you feel impatient toward someone, stop to consider their perspective for a minute.