Random acts of kindness in Calgary promote other selfless acts

Over the last few months our series Calgary at a Crossroads has taken an in-depth look at our city.

Who we are, who we think we are, where we're headed and whether we think we should go there or not. We've covered a lot of ground and we're not done yet.

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Things in our city can seem gloomy what with the downturn and all. It can be a bit much.So, now is a perfect time to celebrate what we love about our city.Let's call themrandom acts of Calgary kindness.

One of those magic Calgary moments when some stranger did something completely and utterly nice for you.

We want to hear about that right here in thecomments sectionbelow this article.Tell us the story. So we can all share it togetheras a city.

Good deeds leadto more of the same

There's more to a random act of kindness than you might think.

There's a psychologist who studies such things, Geoge Fieldman, who says it actually creates a "virtuous circle" where one good deed leads to another.

A sort of "paying it forward" that can make a city a nicer place all around.

Yep. Almost everybody has a story about it.

Faith in humanity restored

A fellow CBC'er Emily Denooij shared hers.

"My favourite random act of kindnesswas literally my first impression of Calgary,"saidDenooij.

She had just arrived in the city after driving from Iowa, and didn't know about Calgary's quadrant system.

"This was before the days of GPS, so I pulled over to a gas station to get directions. The man behind the counter was not very helpful, and I was very obviously confused and flustered," she said.

"This wonderful woman in line behind me asked if I needed help and offered to take me to my destination. So we each hopped in our cars and she led me to the doorstep of where I needed to go. Then she honked, waved and drove off.

"Day saved and faith in humanity restored.I love Calgarians!" said Denooij.

The random kindness thing can happen on a personal level, or even, well, more randomly random.

Caffeine kindness

A couple of weeks ago my friend Cheri and I stopped to grab a coffee at theCadance Coffee shop in Bowness and noticed a pay it forward board.

The idea is simple. You buy a coffee,or beverage of any kind and then donate it by listing it on the board. So if anyone shows up and is short of change, they can just choose a drink from the board courtesy of a stranger.

It just reminded me of how we care for each other in small ways each and every day.

Okay ... so now it's your turn.

Write below in the comments, or on Facebook, whatever.

Tell us about the time that someone here in Calgary surprised you with a random act ofkindness.

Calgary at a Crossroads is CBC Calgary's special focus on life in our city during the downturn. A look at Calgary's culture, identity and what it means to be Calgarian. Read more stories from the series at Calgary at a Crossroads.