I believe in paying forward the kindness that others have shown to me.
I believe that when someone does something nice or goes out of their way for you, you should be grateful. I also believe you should then do your part to pay that kindness forward.
It’s one of those principles that is emphasized throughout childhood and throughout life in various ways and with various levels of importance. In our early years of education, starting in preschool and kindergarten, we’re told to be nice to other kids — how are they expected to be nice to you if you aren’t nice to them? I went to a Catholic grade school and then moved on to Catholic high school where year after year we memorized and dissected the theology of the saying “love thy neighbor as thy self.” It’s a lesson, a teaching, that we are told over and over again but doesn’t always stick the way it should. I think we all experience it, but don’t always realize its importance or impact.
Years ago I read a book called Pay It Forward. I don’t know how well known it is but the plot surrounds a young boy who starts a project for class where he does something kind for someone in need and they in return, must pay it forward to someone else. In the book, the project becomes a worldwide phenomenon of human kindness. I like to believe that could be a reality.
Last year on a return bus ride to State College from visiting my boyfriend in the Baltimore area, I got stranded on the side of I-83 when the bus broke down unexpectedly. I got shown a lot of kindness that day, with people around me going the extra mile to help me out. My boyfriend and his roommate drove out to pick me up off the highway shoulder. My boyfriend’s mom detoured off her drive home from Philly to pick me up in Towson and drive me back to Harrisburg. My parents drove me back up to State College late at night so that I would back for classes the next day.
This year, while driving home to Harrisburg for Thanksgiving break, my mom and I came across a Greyhound bus stopped on the shoulder of 322. I had a gut feeling that I would know someone on that bus, and looking out at the group of evacuated students on the shoulder, I recognized an old classmate from high school. We gave him and two of his friends a ride back with us to Harrisburg. It seemed so fitting that I was paying forward the help that I’d received in almost the exact same situation I’d been in a year ago.
I know receiving such an act does not go unrecognized and I know that giving back to someone else is rewarding. I can’t be sure how much farther the paying forward goes after I act. I hope my old classmate thinks of that car ride home with me and my mom if he ever sees anyone else in need of some help. Maybe he’s payed it forward already. Maybe the opportunity hasn’t revealed itself yet. Maybe he won’t pass on a kind act. Like I said, I can’t be 100% sure how it all happens but I know that generosity and compassion continue to be shown in this world everyday.
I believe there are lots of other people doing good and others who then pass it on. Doing kind acts for others, whether big or small, that’s why people have faith in each other and in humanity.