Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Wisdom of the Big Chill

Driving home from work I passed a donation bin for shoes and clothes for those in need. Conveniently, I had a bag full of these exact items ready to go in the back of my car. Into the container it went, and I was ready to check my act of kindness off my todo list for the day. But the reality was, I needed to get the clothes out of my house and then subsequently out of my car. As I was mulling over whether this was kindness or was I just proving Jeff Goldblum right when he said in the Big Chill “I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations,” I spotted another bin. This one was collecting children’s books. I happened to have a pile of those set aside at my house, no longer of interest to my children and awaiting their next home.

Off I went, packed up the pile, drove back and deposited them in the bin. Clearly the extra effort fulfilled my kindness commitment for the day. Or had I simply used my second ration of rationalizing?

No comments:

Post a Comment