Kindness Boomerang

When I was a child my Mum used to shop in Elphicks, a family-run department store in Farnham. It had a particular fascination for me: because while shopping was boring, Elphicks had a couple of children’s sit-on toys. One was a well-loved stuffed animal of unidentified genus, while the other was a motorised horse. Stick in a coin, and this would lurch backwards and forwards in an alarming manner: an exciting prospect for an adventurous five-year-old. I would climb on, trying to look nonchalant, and hope that one day Mum might just dig out a coin as a reward for me being good. I was never good.

One day a kindly old man put some money in, and I was thrilled to be shaken around uncomfortably for a couple of minutes while Mum looked on with a slightly disapproving smile on her face. This was my first experience of a Random Act of Kindness, and I didn’t understand at the time why someone would be so nice to a total stranger.

People today are focused to the everyday grind of struggling against businesses that put profits above service, so it is a rare pleasure to confound their expectations by doing an unexpected favour.

If you are between 13 and 25 and feel kindly towards others, why not sign up as a Junction49er? Come up with an interesting project that will help your community and we can offer advice on Funding and Project Planning; and put you in touch with other Junction49ers – other young people who have completed similar projects. Your reward will be immense personal satisfaction, and you can apply for our v10, v50 and v100 volunteering awards.

To wet your appetite, this great film by Life Vest Inside shows how What Goes Around Comes Around. It never fails to make me well up.