Random Acts of Kindness in Vegas!

Ragina Wilder

October 12, 2015

Random Acts of Kindness

‘Random Acts of Kindness’ have become a way to turn small changes into big differences in the lives around us. What ARE random acts of kindness you ask? It could simply be paying for the person’s coffee behind you in the Starbucks line or leaving a big tip for the server who looks worn down and exhausted at your dinner table.

Regardless of how big or small your gesture is, there are plenty of little things you can do to help put a smile on someone’s face! For my 25^th birthday, I decided instead of moping and whining about turning a quarter century old, I would spread some love and joy to a place that gets love and joy in…let’s just say, not the best ways.

Okay okay, I know what you’re thinking. Why the hell am I giving this homeless man a beer?! I’ll tell you why. How many times have you seen panhandlers with signs that say “Hungry. Anything will help!” and then you give them food and they say they don’t want it? (This has happened to me several times!) I appreciated this man’s honesty. So, my first beer in Vegas went to him and I really hope he enjoyed it!

2.

Yoga has become a widely practiced ritual to promote health, relaxation, and good vibes. We wanted to spread that around Vegas too. It started off great… people were even taking pictures of us and daring us to do things! Even at the pool, we had people cheer and clap for us! I’m going to assume it wasn’t because my bathing suit decided I needed to have a Janet Jackson from Super Bowl XXXVIII moment. We kept this up for a good part of the night… and then things started getting blurry…as you can see from the last 2 photos.

I feel like an unspoken rule of Vegas is to never go off with strangers. EVER! ESPECIALLY if you’re a girl. (So Tinder in Vegas is a NO NO!) We met these super nice guys that apparently had a super nice hot tub at their house (I say house…but it was a mansion) and wanted us to come along. Normally. I would say HELL NO. But, one of my friends really wanted to go. Here was my kindness to her:

Step 1:
I needed to see some identification. If I’m going to your house in a random city and I don’t know you…I’m at least going to be smart if you murder me and that investigation is going to be a closed one. For my parents’, job, and friends’ sake. And yes, I told them why I was taking it. They were good sports.

(I had a clear photo too, but I didn’t want to give all of their info out so I’m using the blurry one)

Step 2:

Visual affirmation. I need height, hair color, eye color, race, all the things the cops need to arrest your ass. As ABQ-Live says, “Smile for the camera!”

Say hello to Chris! (His friend wondered off somewhere for this)

Step 3:

We all know Instagram selfies are bold face lies. I asked these boys to pose like they weren’t having their photo taken so the cops could get their ugly sides too.

They nailed it. Cops were sure to find these guys after all this. You’re welcome, friend who remains un-named.

4.
One of my friends didn’t get to Vegas ‘til 8 hours after I did so she had some catching up to do when she got there. Boy, did she catch up! Helped her walk all the way back to our hotel.

Yep, MY 25th birthday and I’m carrying my best friend home. If that isn’t an act of kindness, I don’t know what is.

5.
Complimenting someone-no matter what they look like, what they’re wearing, what their job is, is a great way to brighten someone’s day. Before I went to Vegas I decided I was going to get 25 guys numbers. (JUST their numbers…chill)

Here how it went down: I had a deck of 52 cards. I’d go up to random dudes, ask them to pick a card, and then hand them a sharpie and ask them to write their number on it. Plain and simple!

By the 5^th number, I started asking EVERYONE—door people, taxi drivers, valet parkers, guys who ran stores… any and all. Some were twice my age, some not so attractive… but who cares! I made their day by asking for their number. Regardless of if I was going to call or not!

Except…

This guy (our waiter, Drew) wasn’t near as pumped as I thought he’d be. No smiles cracked. Maybe he really was waiting for a card trick at the end.

Sorry, Drew. :/

6.
This one was really important to me. I grabbed one of my favorite books from home and decided I’d underline the parts that were the most important to me. This book shaped how I grew up, and I wanted to leave it in Vegas hoping someone would find it—and it’d change them like it changed me.