A small action could have a chain effect that reaches across the world. Known as the “butterfly effect”, this phenomenon is usually partnered with the story of a butterfly’s wings starting a tornado across the world. While this theory may be true, it’s kinda hard to know!
Something a lot more measurable is how our kind actions spur others to action.
It’s like those stories that have someone paying for the person behind them in the drive-thru line and starting a chain reaction! It’s a wonderful thing to know that simple action on our part can result in the spreading of kindness to more people than we could have imagined.
For one Florida woman, that “small, kind action” turned into something massive.
Barbara Mack decided to post a story on Facebook back in July. The story detailed how she had decided to do something kind for a homeless man standing outside a store she happened to be in. What happened after her action was what was really incredible.
“I may have inadvertently started a revolution in the convenience store today,” Mack wrote on Facebook.
Barbara stopped to grab a water bottle for the man she saw outside and this is what happened next.
“I stopped to grab a water, and on the way in I saw a homeless man I know sitting in the shade with his bike beside him. He was red-faced and shaky looking. I asked if he was ok, and he told me that he was just resting. This guy’s got the mind of a child, and I’m afraid he doesn’t know he needs to stay extra hydrated when it’s super hot outside.” – Facebook
Barbara told the cashier to hold her other items since she was going to go outside and give the man his water. When Barbara told the cashier what she was doing, however, another customer in the store heard what Barbara was doing.
The other customer was NOT happy that Barbara was “enabling” the man outside.
“When I came back in, the lady in front of me turned around, hands on hips, and told me that I was just enabling that ‘homeless person’ (said with a sneer) and that I shouldn’t be wasting my money on him,” Mack wrote, adding “It’s a good day for heat stroke, and I told her so. I said I’d rather give him a water than call an ambulance.” – Fox
When the other customers heard the mean woman who didn’t want to help the man, they decided to show her up! One by one, they each bought an item for the man outside and delivered it to him as they walked by. It was a huge slap in the face to the hardhearted woman and immediately went viral when Barbara posted about it.
Once she posted the story of the “kindness revolution” she started in the store, it went viral.
The post has 177k likes, 24k comments, and 140k shares. Basically, people loved what had happened and felt inspired to share it themselves! With that many people sharing the story, you just KNOW that it inspired small moments of kindness all across the world. Still, even if it didn’t, a homeless man was going to eat and drink well for a few nights in Florida and that’s probably enough.
Check out the original post below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
https://www.facebook.com/barbara.mack01/posts/10222045692503670
