Simple Act of Kindness Challenge

• By Laurence Colletti
• December 19, 2017

Dear Listeners, Podcasting Partners, and Hosts,

Before we say goodbye to 2017, we wanted to close things out on a note of gratitude. First of all to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. Without your support, we could not do what we love doing best. We very much appreciate and value your time, feedback, and all the occasions you shared our content with your friends, colleagues, and social media channels. We promise to keep doing our best to deliver the high quality audio you tune in for.

To our podcasting partners and hosts across the country, without your continued efforts we could not create the trusted content for our listeners everywhere in the world. Thank you for working with us and being part of our continuing podcasting adventures. We look forward to many more years to come!

Looking back on our 2017 year in podcasting, I can’t help but be extremely thankful. We published over 440 episodes, visited over 14 different cities (some of those more than once), attended more than 11 conferences, and met countless new faces. Needless to say, we were very busy.

For all of the reasons listed above, I wanted my last blog post of the year to center around simple acts of kindness and a challenge of good will. In our daily scramblings to get everything done, focus is required and we, as people, sometimes miss the little things around us that make the world a better place. If you’ll humor me for a couple minutes, I’d like to share an act of kindness that caused me to slow down and appreciate both the good and generosity of people.

This event occurred at Denver International Airport on my way to our Denver studio. That trip was going to be an extended one with two important events, the first in our Denver studio and the second at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As you can imagine, I was packed to the hilt with audio gear, suits, and clothing to weather a variety of elements in distinctly different climates.

For those who have not recently traveled to DIA, there is now an electric train that takes you from the airport to Union Station in downtown Denver. Travelers access the train by riding a really long escalator down to the outdoor platform where they can buy tickets. And that’s where I was, walking to the kiosk to purchase a one-way fare. Because I travel at a variety of hours often carrying a lot of equipment, I have developed a watchful eye of people, especially at points of sale. And, that’s when I spotted someone who was clearly making their way over to me, eye contact and all.

This individual was a young man, probably just out of college. He was thin, shorter than me with long hair, wearing a flannel shirt, and definitely had not shaved in awhile. As he got closer, I noticed he was carrying a courier bag and a large camping-styled backpack which was older but obviously never used outside. Denver, you see, has a surplus of gentlemen like this who don their Oregon-Chic whilst adventurously commuting. Was he a coffee shop poet or perhaps working on his first novel or screenplay? You never can tell but my fear was that I was about to be propositioned for money or, worse yet, asked to sign a petition.

As I dreamed up phrases of refusal, the stranger spoke in an unexpected manner. Instead of asking me for something, he was offering a gift. This young man had purchased a day pass for the train and now that he arrived at the airport, he no longer needed it. Instead of throwing it away, he decided to give it to someone who could use it and apparently chose me. The reason he approached so quickly and directly was not to hit me up for a donation but to save me from buying a ticket. And with a confused look and chuckle, I thanked him for his kind gesture and accepted the offering.

Although this gift did not cost its bestower anything, the thought and trouble to give it made it meaningful. Not only did the stranger trouble himself with time and effort but he braved a potentially awkward exchange with a wary traveler. As I rode the “free rails” to my destination, I contemplated that act of kindness which not only saved me money but left me less cynical. Thank you kind stranger whoever you are.

So to conclude my last blog post of the year, I’d like to extend a Simple Act of Kindness Challenge to our listeners, readers, podcast partners, and hosts during this holiday season. Please do a simple act of kindness for a stranger (or someone you don’t know that well) and send us a short story (3 paragraphs or less) about it via our Contact Us Page with a subject line of “Simple Act of Kindness” or on Twitter using the hashtag #LTNKindnessChallenge. We’ll then do our best to share as many of your stories as we can and also give you a shoutout in social media. We will accept stories up to and until January 31st 2017. We hope to hear from you and have a wonderful holiday season!

Holiday Regards,

Laurence Colletti

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