15 May 2007

Smile! You're it!: Cards you leave behind

Ta-da! I made you a gift. As I previously wrote in my first blog entry, it was important to me that I made Austin specific "Smile Cards". I've dubbed our version "You're It!" cards. These are business cards that you can print out at home to pass out as you perform your senseless acts of kindness. Hopefully the person who receives your card will check out this blog and send us their story. If they do, I will post their story and perhaps you will see how your act of kindness brightened their day (and maybe even changed their life).

If you'd like to print some at home, I recommend going to Target to pick up the Avery Ink Jet Business Cards. For only $4.99, you get an astounding 200 cards that are already perforated (no cutting needed!). Of course, you can always print the cards out on plain paper, but the sturdiness of the business card paper will extend the longevity of each card.

If the blog traffic keeps rolling in like it is, I will print off the rest of the cards and leave them in a few central locations (feel free to do the same if you happen to purchase the 200 pack). Most likely I'll pin a few to some bulletin boards around town. I'll post the locations of the cards as soon as I've made a drop. If you see any around town, feel free to take a few and start performing your senseless acts of kindness. Let Austin's kindness revolution begin!

.pdf file links (for at home printing):
You're It Cards [front]
Your It Cards [back]

For Andrew: A pen bouquet

In my second post, I wrote about a Craigslist poster who was upset because someone had walked away with his beloved ink pen. I wrote to him to let him know that I'd like to replace it. He responded by saying he'd trade me a pen for a mix CD. Tomorrow, I am going to plant these pens in a super secret location. After I've hidden them, I am going to email him the location so he can pick up his new pen bouquet!

Note: it's difficult buying pens for a total stranger. I wasn't sure if he preferred black ink, blue ink, rollerball, ball point, or what. The "writing instruments" aisle in Office Max has more options than Starbucks!

I finally settled on seven pens that cover most of the bases for pen preferences. Let's just hope that it will be a while before all seven of these are unwittingly nabbed from Andrew by accidental pen robbers.

I'll write more about this tomorrow after the plant.

By the way, I have been very pleased with the response to this young blog. I sincerely appreciate your words of encouragement and your stories of generosity. I'll begin compiling snippetts and posting them here in the coming weeks.

With that, I leave you with this: Remember that "No one has ever become poor by giving." -Anne Frank

Online help: Grammar Girl and Amélie Anonymous to the rescue!

Ok. I admit it: I'm a huge fan of Grammar Girl, and because I regularly peruse Craigslist for needs I can help fulfill, I often run across ads like these:

church need your help...
Reply to: sale-330576038@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-14, 6:41PM CDT


church that is growing need your help:

with folding chairs, art craft for childrens fron 1 trhue 12

years old, we also need bibles spanish and english we need the new international version.

we please ask to donated instrument like guiter, flutes, violens, piano
cristiam movies for children.

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP OR DONATION TO OUR CHURCH...
GOOD BLEES YOU.
There was a point in time when I seriously considered becoming a 7th grade English teacher just so I could do my part in improving communication within the English language. Needless to say, I felt like it was my obligation to help fix this church's ad so that their needs could be met. I wrote the poster the following:
Right now, I can't help you with any of your needs, but I would like to help you rewrite your Craigslist ad. I realize that English may not be your first language, but unfortunately, it is the first language for most of the Craigslist readers. You ad was difficult to understand. As a child of parents whose first language is not English, it is my pleasure to help you.

Here is the new ad with corrections (I hope it helps):
---------------------------
Church that is growing needs your help!

We have a great need for the following:

* Folding chairs
* Arts and craft supplies for children ages 1 through 12
* New International Version (NIV) Bibles in both Spanish and English
* Musical instruments: guitars, flutes, violins, pianos
* Christian movies for Children.

Thank you for any help or donation to our church. God bless you.
To be quite honest, I was a bit afraid that my email message would come off as a bit pompous and would remain unanswered. I'm not sure how I would respond to an anonymous message correcting my grammar, so imagine my response when I got the following email back:
THANK YOU''' IT HELP A LOT. HAVE A GREAT DAY.
Can I just say that I am mightily impressed that the poster made sure that "a lot" was two separate words? The usage of the non-existent word "alot" seems to be the most common grammar mistake. Reading this email made me realize that there is hope for the world, after all!

As of right now, the original ad has been deleted, but I am hoping they will post a new ad soon. I'll update this blog accordingly if they do, indeed, post a revised version of their original ad.

Perhaps more important is this: if you can help with this need by donating any of the above mentioned items, please contact me at atx.anonymous @ gmail.com. I have the poster's original email address, and I'll make sure you get in touch.
[photo credit: god speaks]