To paraphrase my August-hating mother, February is my 12th favorite month. I hate it. Like, I really hate it. It’s the looooongest month of the year, and it always brings bad news. There’s not a lot of sunshine. People die. Marriages bust up. The buttons on my jeans stop closing properly. You know, that sort of stuff.
Oh, but “they” say — Valentine’s Day is soooo cute! Yeah … no. For every stolen sweet Valentine’s moment of my life, February has paid me back with really bad haircuts, dog diarrhea, funerals, broken hearts, totaled cars, and static cling. So, I’m not really a fan. Well, I mean, the discount chocolate’s pretty nice, I guess.
Each year as the dreaded month approaches, I seek out new strategies to muddle through those bitter 28 (or, ugh! 29) days .
Make!February!Fun! has become kind of a yearly mantra now. And I must admit I’ve had some pretty decent moments sandwiched between sobs and Oreo binges.
The first year I started this project, I tried to something different every! single! day! By day 19 I thought a random act of kindness would be a good idea — it made me feel better to focus on someone else. I had it all planned out: I would pay for the car behind me in the Dunkin’ Donuts drive through on my way to work.
But when I was at the window, I made the mistake of turning around and eyeballing my target. There sat a young, very glamorous, very beautiful woman in a new red Mercedes.
Needless to say, my tired, haggard, money-struggling evil side took over and I let that bitch pay for her own damn coffee.
But then I felt terribly, terribly guilty, because she deserves a random act of kindness as much as anyone, right? Being young, beautiful, and wealthy doesn’t protect you from human heartache and suffering. What if she was also struggling with a dark February-dealt something, and that coffee could have brought a little sunshine to her day?
Or, let’s say her life is all roses and loveliness. Maybe that coffee would have inspired her to use her beauty and riches for good. Like, maybe she would have pulled out of that drive through and — emboldened by kindness and caffeine — then donated walloping sums of money to help the homeless or to fight cancer or to save a baby seal or something. That coffee could have made a huge difference in the world.
Or maybe she would have simply bought a cup of coffee for someone else slogging through the longest month of the year, and made an equally huge difference in someone’s world. I’m sure you get my point. Who am I to say the rich and beautiful can’t appreciate a free cup of coffee?
So, the next day I successfully managed to buy a coffee and egg-wrap sandwich for the person behind me. To keep my evil, jealous, judgey side at bay, I only glanced in the rear-view mirror long enough to see a black car — no idea if it was a Bentley or an old K car.
I attached a note that said “bought for you as a random act of kindness, please pay it forward.”
Every once in awhile now, when I’m feeling low or have a little extra cash in my pocket, I treat the person behind me. I figure maybe one day Mercedes lady will be behind me again, and finally get that cup I stole from her.
And it just might change the world. 😊
laudydahdee 