One Thing Led to Another

Posted on by Wynne Leon

I’d guess 90% of my days are pretty predictable. That is to say, there is probably a low probability of randomness within any given day. Sure, we might head out for an evening walk to pet some bunnies and end up going to the ice cream shop, and making new friends along the way. But with two kids in tow, I generally start and stick to the outline of a plan. However, every once in a while, something completely unpredictable happens and one thing leads to another. I’m just guessing here, but could that be one of the definitions of “adventure” in Oxford languages?

It all started with a bus ride this past Friday. My friend, Eric, suggested that taking the bus to the central Seattle Library would be a fun outing for my kids. Our flagship library was designed by Rem Koolhaus and built almost 20 years ago so it’s almost old news. But it’s been years since I took Miss O to the central branch and Mr D has never been.

Miss O was nervous about the random people we’d meet on the bus. We don’t ride the bus very often, but she’s witnessed some anger that scared her, even though we haven’t been threatened directly. I assured her it was all part of the fun and we would be fine. But then we boarded the double-length, accordion bus, and wended our way back to the 3rd row from the back, a Hispanic man in the very back started waving and talking to us in Spanish. Miss O looked at me like “see?”

We sat down with me in the aisle seat, Miss O tucked next to me by the window, and Mr. D across the aisle next to Eric. The man came to me, cracked open his wallet, and handed me a $100 bill from a wallet that, from the quick glimpse I got as I was wondering what he was digging for, held at least several of them. I gathered from his gestures that it was for the kids. I tried to give it back but he wouldn’t take it. He was “mucho gusto” to see us. He was spraying drops from the empty beer can in his hand, but he didn’t seem inebriated.

When he went to get off, my friend Eric tried to give him back the money. Nope, he wouldn’t take it. He was focused and insistent.

So now we had $100, and in my mind, an implied obligation to figure out how to pay it forward. The beginning of the adventure. Eric had the good idea to change it into smaller bills. After we took the escalators up to the very top of the library, rode the elevators all the way back down, and gathered a pile of books, I took the kids to the bank. We switched it for five $20 bills and told the teller our plan. She looked like she was considering putting up a “be back later” sign on her cubicle to join us.

The original plan was to head home after the library but now we had money to give away. Eric had to leave so the kids and I walked to the waterfront to ride the Seattle Ferris wheel and find people as we went. We stopped by Starbucks, and as we were divvying up some fruit and cheese and waiting for our drinks, a man came in asking for change for a meal. In the urgency of fueling up, I’d almost forgotten about our mission until he popped by, seemingly by Divine direction. I peeled off a $20 and Miss O handed it to him. He said, “God Bless You,” turned on his heel, and headed out of there.

After we rode Great Wheel, I told Miss O we could take an Uber home. Despite the fact that someone GAVE US $100 on the bus on the way down, an act of unsolicited generosity that probably belongs in the Guiness book of world records, Miss O was maxed out on random encounters. I was down to 10% battery on my phone, just enough to order an Uber.

But we still had our mission to give away the money. We had a short family conversation and decided to hand the second $20 to a guy with a pedi-cab. We explained we didn’t need a ride, but someone gave us money earlier in the day, and we were paying it forward. He was delighted and Miss O and I found ourselves swept into his cab for some pictures of us – while Mr D got launched on the driver’s seat of the pedi-cab. He snapped picture after picture. We got a little nervous that we wouldn’t have enough battery for the Uber, but smiled wide at the goodness nonetheless.

With the last 5% of battery life, and an outing that lasted far longer than I’d anticipated, we ordered the Uber and on the way to the pickup spot, spotted a man lying on a street corner. Miss O handed him the $20. He was a little dazed but woke up long enough to say “God Bless You.” Then he shook his head and said, “Wow, the vibes I’m feeling today.”

We got into our Uber with a delightful young man named Davis. We told him of our day of one thing leading to another, and he told us about his day job of animating videos for a company that delivered digital school content like the fifth grade history project he’s working on now.

We had another hushed family meeting and agreed that when we got out of the car, we’d hand Davis one of the twenties for him – and a second to pass along to someone else that he encountered during his day that needed it.

At the end, Miss O whispered “that was the best Uber ride I’ve ever had.” She may have just been relieved to not be riding mass transit, but I think it was more. Did the man on the bus think the money would fuel an adventure? Hard to say. But he intended it for my children, and I think we used it to its best effect.

Please see the companion post on my personal blog about loving-kindness meditation as it relates to strangers: Does Loving-Kindness Actually Matter?

Photo of the Seattle Central library from okaluxna.com

Featured photo from Pexels

43 thoughts on “One Thing Led to Another”

  1. Pingback: Does Loving-Kindness Actually Matter? – Surprised By Joy

  3. You “made” several days and modeled kindness for your children and others. Research supports the personal benefits of that kind of generosity, too. And your blog post carries the message to the rest of us. Thanks, Wynne!

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  4. Such an inspirational post Wynne. You could have simply treated the kids, and I’m sure many would have. But by your actions, and involving then in the decision-making, they’ve learned so much more.

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    1. Thank you, Brenda! It was fun to follow where the thread led – and I think my kids enjoyed it too. When I buy things for them, it goes in a pile of toys. Hopefully the memory stands out more! 🙂 Thanks for the lovely comment!

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      2. An interesting offshoot lesson, Brenda. Although her fear comes more from unpredictability than appearance and this was still pretty unpredictable. She loved the fun of it – but was relieved we weren’t doing a bus again anytime soon. 🙂

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  5. Wow, what an adventure indeed, Wynne. What I love about this story is how you took that unexpected generosity and paid it forward in big ways. What a teachable moment for your two kids. I love it!

    And Seattle’s central library is a beauty. I hope to visit it one day!

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  6. What a wonderful demonstration of generosity of the heart. Maybe it was divine providence. Maybe the man was an angel who gave you the money knowing that you would share it with others, then tell the story of it to inspire goodness in others by spreading it around. Well, maybe….. 😇

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    1. I love all your maybes, Julia. Maybe they are all true! It was a fun adventure to see where his generosity led us and I’m grateful we had to time and opportunity to take it! 🙂 ❤

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  8. This will be a day your kids will never forget, and what a beautiful lesson learned. How many lives were touched that day? The man who give your the $100, your family, the bank teller, the recipients, the friends and family of the recipients, those of us reading now, and perhaps more. One small act of kindness has rippled out to touch dozens. How lovely! We all need those small moments of kindness that renew our hope in humanity. Thank you for sharing, Wynne. 🥰

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  15. What a marvelous life lesson for the kids. It must have made an impression on them when they saw the reaction to the acts of kindness.

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  17. Amazing post Wynne. What a great lesson for your kids. So cool. You have to remember this and ask your kids in three or five years what they remember about the day. I’m guessing, but something tells me that they’ll have some wonderful memories of it. Love the family meetings too.

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