Random act of kindness in Lincoln Park

December 2, 2008 at 4:13 pm | In Fauntleroy, West Seattle news, West Seattle people | 17 Comments

This, we had to share the second we read it. Shelley sent it with the photo you see above:

I had to share this. Today my 13-month-old daughter and I were playing in Lincoln Park when she ran over to a bench that had a little toy sitting on it. She picked it up and under the toy said ‘A Gift: For You’. There was no one on the playground or in our vicinity and it wasn’t a lost toy. I was touched and thought it was an adorable sentiment. My daughter was appreciative too and tucked the little bicycling man under her arm and walked with him toward the swings. My heart is warm from the intentional random act of kindness and will work to pass it on.

17 Comments

  1. That is so totally COOL!! And what a great little toy. This cheered my bah-humbug heart. ;-)

    Comment by Cheryl — December 2, 08 4:44 pm #

  2. Very cool – way better than holiday lights!!!

    Comment by mellaw6565 — December 2, 08 5:10 pm #

  3. This is a good place to plug Sustainable West Seattle’s “Money Free Shopping Spree” – next Monday, December 8, at Camp Long starting at 7 pm. It’s a combination pot luck and trade fair where one exchanges craft items, art, personal or professional services, food, cooking, and the like in a barter atmosphere complete with food, chance for personal stories, and music. Come join us and let’s all start leaving small gifts for others to find and enjoy!!
    -
    Wow – this is SO cool. Thanks to random gift-giver person for doing this.

    Comment by chas redmond — December 2, 08 5:17 pm #

  4. Would love to see this story continue….drop this same toy off somewhere else in WS, maybe with a dollar attached…follow its travels…hear what luck and joy it brings even for a short time.

    Comment by Babs — December 2, 08 5:37 pm #

  5. Make sure its not made in China.

    Comment by toodles — December 2, 08 5:41 pm #

  6. Hoping to find bacon…

    Comment by Irukandji — December 2, 08 5:56 pm #

  7. Random acts of kindness like this warm the cockles of my heart.

    Comment by trellis — December 2, 08 6:47 pm #

  8. Hey! That’s my bike!!

    Comment by Sandra — December 2, 08 8:36 pm #

  9. WOW…It looks vintage too!! Thats cool wish Santa would have left that for me!! Hope she enjoys that gift…

    Comment by BORN&RAISED WEST SEATTLEITE — December 2, 08 9:59 pm #

  10. A flower shop left some unsold (perfectly good) bouquets at the bus stop the other day and past on that nice act as well. I love this city!

    Comment by Zenguy — December 2, 08 10:53 pm #

  11. that’s cool in all the ways!

    Comment by ellenater — December 2, 08 11:03 pm #

  12. … I don’t think I’d let me kid touch it, nor would I. Call me paranoid, but I don’t trust random objects left in parks, note or no.

    Comment by Ben — December 3, 08 9:33 am #

  13. Not to rain too hard on the “This is Really Nice” crowd, but this toy is indeed made in China, and likely has some health issues regarding it’s paint-job. Check the link and see if you read that as “Made In China” too…

    Comment by MAS — December 3, 08 2:45 pm #

  14. Well, I looked further and it looks like this toy _should_ be safe, according to Schylling’s web site. While they did have five tin toys recalled due to lead paint, this one wasn’t on the list and is still for sale on their web site. The recall list for their stuff is here:

    http://www.schylling.com/recall2007.htm

    a little searching on their site will turn up the actual toy (link is too long to paste here.) It’s recommended for “Collectors Only. Ages 14 years and up.” for some reason.

    Comment by MAS — December 3, 08 3:38 pm #

  15. Wow, those last posts were great ways to be a total humbug when someone did something nice. OMG is it SAFE??? Did it come from CHINA??? Don’t let your kid touch it for goodness sake!!!
    .
    I’m glad my parents weren’t convinced everything was going to potentially kill me some how when I was a kid.

    Comment by rjb — December 4, 08 12:05 pm #

  16. rjb – and you know it was someone doing something nice and not evil because????

    In this same park, people have had their dogs poisoned by a sociopath that left a poisoned gift where a dog would find it. You somehow _know_ that a random gift left on a park bench is not from a sociopath, but a kindly person doing something VERY unusual. Nobody would ever poison halloween candy, ask a child to help find their lost puppy, use candy as a lure etc…

    I like your world, I just wish I could find the entrance to it.

    Comment by MAS — December 4, 08 12:20 pm #

  17. Last week a man on the street whom I had never met before donated $500 to me to help me start a scholarship fund for my friend’s two-year-old daughter…

    I’m sure this kind of thing happens all the time, but it certainly has never happened to me before. I don’t know why he did it, but it touched me and decided to write about it.

    http://www.giveforward.org/blog/heroes-random-act-kindness

    Comment by Ethan — December 20, 08 4:11 pm #

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