Monday, May 01, 2006

Random Act of Kindness?

I met an interesting woman in downtown Vancouver today. She was riding on the sidewalk behind me. I didn't even know she was there until she stopped beside the woman standing next to me at the stoplight and said, " You are beautiful. I know I don't know you, but you are beautiful". The woman's reaction was as expected. She half-smiled, blushed and quizzically looked at her complementor.

This distributor of feel-good compliments has uncombed, coloured and slightly dirty hair pulled back into a wee ponytail, underneath a bike helmet rammed onto her head. She wore old blue jeans and a track jacket from the early '90s, faded from weather and use. By any current standards she would not be considered a beauty herself, but she seemed completely unconcerned by the paradoxical nature of her comment.

As the light changed to green and the signal to walk lit up, she pushed off on her bike and sedately made her way across the street. About half way down the block I heard her say "That is a lovely skirt you are wearing. I know I don't know you, but I like your skirt". She got about the same reaction she had gotten five minutes beforehand.

You see many interesting things in downtown Vancouver.

I wonder how often she does this. What are her criteria? Has she ever gotten a compliment of her own or been thanked? I think she deserves a compliment of her own. Compliment Woman, thank you for making days a little sunnier for women you don't even know. Your tiny acts of kindness are commendable for their seemingly innocent inspiration and for the feeling they give the women to whom they are delivered. Cheers.