Do One Nice Thing

Tenzer, Debbie. Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer. New York: Crown Publishers, 2009.

Because this was written in 2009 I was skeptical about how many “nice” things I could still do. I was worried many of Tenzer’s suggestions were tied to events long past (like Hurricane Katrina) or websites now defunct. Despite my misgivings, I browsed Do One Nice Thing for easily accomplished and simple suggestions. Here’s what I jotted down after a five minute browse: Hershey kisses, Eden Elementary Family Resource Center, FreeCycle, parking meters and KidFlicks. Here’s what I found out: a Google search for the Eden Elementary Family Resource Center takes me to the Inez Elementary School page. On that page there is a “Family Resource”tab linking to a page created in 2011 and not updated with any information since. No clear way to offer help or to do “one nice thing.” Both FreeCycle and KidFlicks seem to be alive and well. But, my favorites are randomly giving out Hershey’s kisses (ask my staff, I already do) and putting another quarter in someone’s about to expire parking meter. That last one is getting hard to do as more and more places are going to a ticket-on-the-dash system.

In short, there is a mix of easy/simple ways to be nice. You just have to look for them and be inspired!