Pay It Forward

Today, Thursday, was a great one, and not only because it's my Friday due to a day off from school tomorrow. It was a great day because of a simple act of kindness...




Ever have one of those days when everything seems to be going your way? All the traffic lights are green, traffic is light, you get a great parking spot, everyone is nice to you, and you can't help but think life is good. Ever have one of those days? Well today was kinda like that.

My students and I just finished a novel study on The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis this week, and I have never read a book with my students that they've enjoyed more. They love this book so much that they cannot wait to read the next three books in the series, and so I promised them I would try to get a class set of the final book in the series, and we would read that book for our end-of-the-year novel study. The problem was, where would I get the money to pay for these books, aside from paying for them myself, which I had contemplated. I need 30 books at just under $10 a piece.

Then I had an idea. I remembered attending a staff meeting earlier this year and a woman, who works closely with our school's community garden, told us that she had many connections and to never hesitate to contact her when we needed help. So I did.  A few days ago.  And the good news? I received an email today from someone she emailed who is going to get these books into the hands of my students!!!

So...not only was I excited to get the news (I can't wait to tell my students!), but then the instructor of my Thursday night class let us out early! I could actually make it home in time to have dinner with my family! No school tomorrow means no alarm clock...I can sleep in tomorrow!!! Could this day get any better?

As I stood in line later at Chipotle, I was still feeling the highs of the day when the customer ahead of me was told his card was declined. The poor guy was flustered and had no way of paying for his dinner. And because I've been there, and because someone is going to put smiles on my students' faces by purchasing books for them to read, I paid for his meal! After he thanked me, I told him, "No worries. Just pay it forward."