It's cool to be kind (From Swindon Advertiser)

It's cool to be kind

9:01am Monday 13th November 2006 in

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SOMETIMES in life it can be difficult to be kind.

An illness in the family, a boss breathing down your neck or even a bad mood can make smiling seem like the hardest thing to do.

But today is World Kindness day, so the Advertiser decided to spread some love around.

On Saturday two normally grouchy reporters went into town to make a difference.

We opened doors, offered people drinks and even tried to hand out fivers.

The funny thing was, a lot of people were scared by the prospect of getting something for nothing.

In an hour, more than a 20 people turned down the offer of a pint or a banknote, incredulous that someone would want to hand out cash for nothing in return.

After numerous attempts to give away fivers proved to be shockingly unsuccessful, it fell to charming new mum Caroline Jones to be the first to take us seriously.

The 32-year-old from Lechlade accepted the cash from Anthony and said: "I did think it was all a bit odd or that there might have been a catch, but then nobody has ever just handed me money like this before.

"I think all people are generally kind-hearted - nobody in life goes out of their way not to be."

Others merely laughed the idea away even though the fiver was there in our hands. Perhaps it was suspicion, or maybe they thought they were being insulted.

But dad Philip Newton, 44, from Old Town seemed to have a heart of gold like ours.

After we handed him the fiver he insisted he would return it so that we could give it to charity.

Moments later, Matt ran into Domino's Pizza and finally managed to pick up a tab.

While gobsmacked assistant Jaine Griffin swiped £20 from his card to pay for a Saturday night feast, Allan Trotman and Amanda Milbourne spoke about treating people well.

Allan, 36, said: "Nothing like this has ever happened to us.

"But we believe that what goes around comes around.

"I do a lot of favours for friends and family in Chiseldon and never expect any payment.

"My time for that sort of thing is free, because it's only right to help people if you can."

Amanda, 36, thought that people were scared of being conned.

She said: "I think most people believe there's a catch when someone tries to give them something, which is a sad reflection on our society.

"People are too quick to consider the negative in a situation, which isn't very constructive.

"I make wedding cakes for my friends for free.

"I just do it because why would I charge?"

Amanda and Allan went off to enjoy their pizzas, and we looked for the next act of kindness. Rachel Loveday from West Swindon came into view.

We interrupted her mobile phone call to give her a fiver, which she eventually accepted, while recounting her bizarre experience to the person at the end of the phone.

"There aren't enough good manners these days," said Rachel.

"It really annoys me when you hold open doors and no-one says thank you to you.

"My mum always used to say, good manners and kindness cost nothing. I still think it holds true."

A few moments later, in the Piper's Arms, Matt offered - and then served - engineer Steve Davison a pint of bitter, and gave him the change from the fiver.

Steve said: "It's not something that happens very often, I can tell you. I don't know if less people are less likely to do it today than before, because I gave a girl £10 for her petrol a few days ago.

"She said she was short of money so I decided to help her. She might have been conning me but I've got £5 back, so it's a cycle."

• Anyone been kind to you recently? Contact our newsdesk with your experiences. Email the newsdesk.