Things to do

5 random acts of kindness to take on in Charlotte for $5 or less

I used to ride the light rail a lot. I was working in South End and attending a healthy chunk of charity functions uptown. The Blue Line was such a better option to me than pretending I was competent at parallel parking or suffering through a creepy parking deck experience.

One day last year, I was standing in the kiosk line waiting my turn when the man in front of me turned around and handed me a two-way ticket.

I had no idea who he was. I took it, stunned, and we boarded the train separately and never saw each other again. It made my whole day.

Suddenly, I felt seen. That little gesture seemed to say, “I don’t know you, but you still matter.”

Now it’s our turn. We never know what the stranger standing next to us is going through. We never know what one easy action might make someone else feel. Lift a stranger up today.

5 random acts of kindness for $5 or less:

(1) Travel boost.
Buy a stranger a two-way Blue Line ticket.
Price: $4.40/adult
(2) Sweet gesture.
Buy the person in line behind you at Nova’s Bakery a marble brownie. 1515 South Blvd.
Price: $2.15
(3) Inspiring words.
Leave a motivational card from Paper Twist under a stranger’s windshield wiper. The gift inserts at the front counter are perfect tiny cards. 2902 Selwyn Ave., Suite A.
Price: $1.75
(4) Generous pour.
Leave a bottle of wine from Total Wine on your neighbor’s stoop. 1600 E. Woodlawn Road.
Price: Canyon Oaks Cabernet, $4.97
(5) Spray of color.
Hand a bouquet of flowers  to someone on the sidewalk. You can get them from Summer Fresh Flowers Farm at Kings Drive Farmer’s Market. 938 S. Kings Dr.
Price: $5 per bunch of zinnias

Ready? Get set. Go.


Katie Toussaint hopes the person whose windshield on which she just left a motivational note takes the gesture as complimentary, not creepy. When she’s not messing with strangers’ windshield wipers, Katie edits for  CharlotteFive and community news at the Charlotte Observer. Follow her on  Twitter @katietoussaint.

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 12:07 AM with the headline "5 random acts of kindness to take on in Charlotte for $5 or less."

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