The old woman was trying it on again.
The baker saw it coming and was having none of it this time.
When it came to paying for her deli bread,
She said she was 10 cents short and could she pay him the extra next time?
As she always said this and never brought the 10 cents,
Over the years the baker was down quite a few dollars.
The old woman felt a tug on the bottom of her coat and was about to snarl at whoever was doing it when she saw a small girl offering her a dime.
Please take this,
The girl said.
The next day a rather charming middle-aged lady turned up at the shop.
A widower who drank his coffee there each day took notice.
His heart fluttered for the first time in five years.
The baker wondered who this woman was in the pretty dress with an alluring smile.
The woman ordered her bread and paid in full.
Then before she left,
She took a jar from her bag.
It was full of dimes.
She gave it to the baker and said,
If anyone is short of money,
Please tell them to take some from here.
I'll bring some more in next week.
The baker's jaw dropped as he realised who she was.
So breathe in and breathe down.
So the woman,
Who was really middle-aged but just looked old,
Had discovered the secret of random acts of kindness from the small girl.
They should of course be random.
The biggest secret though is that when one is bestowed on you and you return it,
You should pass your act of kindness on to someone else.
Of most importance when you give them out,
Don't expect one back directly from the person you've just given it to,
And you'll find they come back from the most unlikely sources.
They are of course massive time savers.
So take a minute out today to be kind to a stranger.
Then when you're least expecting it,
Something beyond your wildest dreams that will save you bags of time and effort will arrive at your door.
What's more,
When you get into the habit of performing random acts of kindness each day,
You will find that they come back at you at a higher rate than you can possibly give them out.
