World Kindness Movement Blog

Man who flew too much grounded

HE IS the man who flew too much.

Steve Rothstein bought a golden ticket from American Airlines in 1987, granting him a lifetime of unlimited travel.

He clocked more than 10 million miles and 10,000 flights. He used his power to fly hopeless strangers home, a friend to the Louvre, and a priest to Rome to meet the pope.

He hopped planes to other cities just for a baseball game or a sandwich.

Everybody, even American’s CEO, knew his name.

“[I] became a hero at the airline,” Mr Rothstein, 61, a Manhattan investment banker, said. “I could just show up and get a seat.”

But in 2008, American Airlines accused him of fraud and snatched his bottomless boarding pass.

31 Days to Warm the World: Kindness Challenge 2012

In a world increasingly divided, a group of Minnesotans is starting a worldwide movement: to warm the world through kindness in just 31 days. During January, 2012, the Kindness Challenge intends to inspire one million acts of kindness throughout the world.

People who want to make a difference in the world are needed to help spread the word and participate in the Kindness Challenge. It’s free, and it’s simple. Doing something nice for others feels great, and it makes others feel great too. Most importantly, it can start a domino effect, connecting people around the world through kindness and generosity.

Small acts of kindness can be as simple as a smile, sending a card, opening a door or helping someone in need. One million acts of kindness create momentum that will change people’s lives and positively shift the world. Starting January 1^st, 2012 – log on to www. kindness-challenge.org and click “Log Your Acts” to make your acts of kindness count towards our goal of one million.

To participate in the Kindness Challenge, or learn more, follow us on Facebook, and check out our website at www.kindness-challenge.org

For holiday travelers, random acts of kindness

Sometimes when you travel, it’s the little gestures of compassion that make the biggest difference, especially during the holidays.

For Becky Brand, it was a Washington bus driver who went out of his way to help her during Thanksgiving week. “While I was struggling with a heavy suitcase in the rain, he made my day by stopping to let me on instead of having me run to the bus stop a block away,” says Brand, who works for a legal advocacy group in the capital. “Although a small and random act of kindness, it made my holiday week and definitely gave me something to be thankful for.”

Jenny Block remembers the nameless American Airlines employee who answered her plea on Twitter. Her cousin had been left in a coma after a traffic accident, and she needed the airline to bend a flight change rule. Block, a writer who lives in Dallas, received an immediate reply: Of course the airline would help her.

“You won’t believe this part,” she told me. “It happened on Thanksgiving morning.”

Random acts of Christmas kindness “overwhelming”

“For the first time ever, I’ve experienced the true meaning of Christmas.”

That’s the word from Fenton Kmart Manager Rick Faulk, who is overwhelmed by the generosity of “Secret Santas” this Christmas, who have anonymously come into the store and paid off peoples’ layaways. “In my 35-plus years in this business, I’ve never seen the generosity of people toward total strangers as I’ve seen this year,” said Faulk.

The Times ran a story on Wednesday about these anonymous benefactors, who stop in at stores and restaurants and pay off layaways and orders of food that are waiting for pick-up. At Kmart, they focus primarily on layaways that have toys and children’s’ clothing, like outerwear and boots.

Schools Take Part in Respect Week

All this week students in Heights will take part in activities in recognition of the district-wide Week of Respect anti-bullying campaign.

Each school has its own schedule of activities for students to take part in which are designed to inspire students to stand up against bullying and remind them to have respect for each other, themselves and their school.

Anti-bullying efforts are ongoing in the school community and on Monday, Oct. 17 the district will bring the entire community together to discuss town-wide efforts. Representatives from all four schools, parents, students and clubs along with town clergy, borough officials and other department heads will gather at the high school auditorium to discuss how the whole community is involved in providing support for fellow neighbors in crisis.

Also this month, students at the middle and high school will take part in a presentation given by John Halligan whose son Ryan was the first suicide documented in the U.S. associated with cyber-bullying.

Selmon had a genuine kindness

TAMPA - We might have learned about Lee Roy Selmon because he was an all-American at the University of Oklahoma. We might have marveled at his athleticism as he helped build the earlyTampa Bay Buccaneers and became a member of pro football’s Hall of Fame. We might even have known of Selmon as the owner of a popular restaurant chain and namesake of an expressway.

But talk to his friends, to his barber, to the children who met him when he visited local public housing projects, even strangers who never spoke to him.

Selmon’s greatest gift might have been his quiet moments of humanity.

“He had what you would call the common touch,” said longtime friend Dr. Juel Smith of Tampa. “He could connect to the common people who would not have the means to see him on a football field or would not see him in corporate office, but maybe knew who he was because they saw him on TV.”

Smith, who knew Selmon when she founded University of South Florida’s Institute on Black Life, was thinking of the hours he spent signing autographs and posing for photos at an inner-city skating rink, and the easy conversations he had in visits to public housing.

“They loved him. The children were all over him. Everyone wanted to feel and touch him,” she said of 56-year-old Selmon, who died Sunday after suffering a stroke Friday morning.

Like many others, Smith spoke of traits that made everyone want to be around Selmon. No matter what the conversation or setting, he always shook hands or offered a genuine smile.

“It was always kind of hard to leave him,” said his barber of 15 years, Joe Demoulin, 57. “He was one of those guys, when you got ready to depart, you didn’t know who was going to get that last word in, like, ‘Okay, now It was so nice to see you again We’ll see you again real soon.’ You didn’t know how to end it.”

Demoulin, the owner of Attitude Plus barbershop on Nebraska Avenue, believes Selmon chose his shop years ago partly because of a sign outside: No profanity, no gossip.

Selmon came in every two weeks and sometimes brought his sons, Chris and Lee Roy Jr., and he often took time to talk to other clients, especially children.

“We felt like he was a part of us,” Demoulin said. “He treated us the same way.”

In more professional settings, Selmon’s character still touched others in a personal way.

Preceding with Kindness

Institute of HeartMath (IHM), California, USA

Random Snacks of Kindness

DALLAS - A new study shows that Americans are crankier than ever, but one North Texas business is fighting back. They’re doing it with what they call “Random Snacks of Kindness.”

awakenourworld:

Say Something Nice (by ImprovEverywhere)

Cop leaves powerful legacy of kindness

Two posts are making the rounds on Facebook.

The first is a link to an MSNBC clip about the last moments in San Diego police officer Jeremy Henwood’s life.

Surveillance cameras show Henwood walking up to a McDonald’s counter. A few seconds later, you see a kid in basketball shorts standing behind him in line. The reporter tells us he’s 13-year-old Damian Tinsley, “short by comparison and also a little short on change.” We see Damian interviewed later. “I asked him for 10 cents. And he asked what’s the 10 cents for. And I said three cookies. And he says, well I can buy the three cookies for you.” He tells how Henwood asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. An NBA star, he answered. You got to work hard for that, Henwood said, and Damian thanked him.

Three minutes later, Henwood was shot dead while sitting in his patrol car. But that’s not the end of the clip. We see Damian at basketball practice. He looks at the camera and says, “Somebody I met was a good guy, and then two seconds later he dies. It’s just crazy.” The clip takes us back to McDonald’s, where the police officer and the boy are standing at the counter, laughing together.

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