Writer's Post: Little Things That Make Me Smile

Corinne Rodrigues from the Writer's post is sponsoring this week's topic of "Little Things That Make Me Smile." Perhaps when you see girl scouts outside the grocery store, you'll remember this post and pass a smile forward. 

Memories From The Cookie Sales

Many years ago while helping my daughters sell Girl Scout cookies outside the Kroger store, a slender, well dressed man approached us with a task. He paid for six boxes of cookies but only took three. Bending down so that he was eye to eye with the girls, he said, "I'm leaving three boxes of cookies, and I have something I want you to do." He asked the kids to find three people who looked like they were having a bad day, give them a box, and tell them, “Someone wants you to have these cookies.” 

The scouts spent the next several hours observing every Kroger shopper to decide who needed a pick-me-up and then reveling in the joy of giving away cookies. Thirty minutes after presenting a free box to one woman, she returned with tears in her eyes and money to pay for someone else’s cookies. She told the story of how her car had broken down and she was having an awful day until the troop lifted her spirits with a simple gift.

This pattern of buying and giving continued throughout the weekend and had become a practice of the troop each year. Now that these girls are grown-ups, they still remember the man in the suit and continue to perform random acts of kindness when possible. I dare you to buy an extra box of cookies for a stranger who needs a little thing to make a smile.