Mart Carts

We've all seen them at all the stores, and I'm sure many of you have some kind of story to tell, something funny you've seen with them.

Here's mine from today.....





I'm heading out the door of my BigBox store to pick up the daily mail.  A woman comes "speeding" by on a mart cart through the parking lot.  Mind you, it's a large parking lot!  And at the street's edge on the other side of the mega parking lot there's a strip mall - about 12 smaller stores and restaurants - and she continues to drive this cart, winding her way around the Wendy's drive thru, across a traffic lane, and through the strip mall only to abandon it as close to the street light she could get.  She gets up from her seat and neatly marches over to press the button for a signal, and when it changes, simply walks across the street.

At first, I was shocked that someone would have the nerve to take the cart so far out of the store's reach!  Then I was mad because it was inconsiderate - someone had to take the time to go out and fetch the abandoned cart.  It was also rude - what if a customer with a real handicap needed the cart?

When did people begin to feel they're so entitled?
And why do we put up with it?

My momma raised me right; if I tried this little stunt, you can be sure I'd be hunching my shoulders to hide my ears, cuz momma would be right there, tugging on one to turn me around and march myself right back into the store -- and make me apologize!

Kindness Diaries

All the TV I watch (with the exception of Antiques Roadshow and some of the PBS specials) is on Netflix.  Mostly because of commercials, or rather the lack of commercials.  Back in the late 70s and early 80s, I paid for cable TV in order to watch channels with fewer or no commercials.  Somewhere along the line, most of the cable stations now have commercials.  I haven't paid for cable TV for 20+ years, and don't ever intend to start.  Unless by some freak accident I become a super-sports fan?  I don't see that happening.... but life changes us all.

My newest finding is The Kindness Diaries.  A man named Leon Logothetis, a successful broker, felt disconnected, leading an uninspired life, and sets out on a quest to travel the world on his motorcycle with sidecar named Kindness One.  Without money, he sets out to rely on the kindness of strangers for a place to sleep, meals and gasoline.  I admire his brave spirit in asking complete strangers if he could crash at their place for a night.  And he runs into the kindest people everywhere.  They take him into their home, share their space and food, along with their personal stories.  

In his "previous life", Leon was a money-maker, and sometimes he finds a way to give back to these kind souls.  One family of five was dependent on a single cow for their livelihood -- and he bought them another cow.  Another, a homeless man, invites Leon to stay with him in his 'space' outdoors.  He told Leon, "True wealth is not what’s in our wallet; it’s what’s in our heart."  Leon isn't the kind who just writes someone a check, he takes the time to learn what would be most needed, most used. These strangers changed his life, and he changes theirs as well.

If you look hard enough, you will find kindness abounds.  So why is it so difficult to see?  and more, to acknowledge?  Have we become so inundated with bad news stories, crime tv shows, that we have come to expect to see the bad all around us?

I'll never be like Leon, able to walk up to total strangers and ask for something.  But that doesn't mean I can't take a moment or two each day to 1) be kind to another human and 2) to watch for others' kindness.

Good show, well worth the time to watch.
Bravo, Leon!   With every episode you make me more hopeful.
Be kind out there, folks!