Karma Kitchen Update

One of my regrets, in life, is that I haven't always been as generous as I could have been. It had to do with the assumption that I had very limited resources, which, in a way, I did; but I think of myself in Bangalore haggling with auto drivers over twenty rupees and I'm a little embarrassed.

One of the pleasures, then, of my life in DC is that I have the opportunity to give more; and I've found that going to Karma Kitchen has made me hyper-aware of ways in which I could pay-it-forward. It also helps that they give you a card at the end of your meal on which you can write down your thoughts (and then drop the thoughts, anonymously, into a box) and I've been using the card as a way to commit myself to various giving actions (e.g. "this week I will donate to such-and-such").

After my experience last week, I wrote that I hoped to be able to pay my meal forward by (once again) feeding someone else. There was, in fact, a specific person I had in mind; he stands outside of the Corner Bakery with a sign that reads "VET NO DRUGS HONGRY" but he too seems to have anticipated my overenthusiastic do-goodery because I didn't see him once this week.

So instead, on Friday with my promise almost due, I brought in donuts for the office and fed twenty-four people instead of one.

(Then, on Saturday, my sister called me up and said "I'm hungry. What do you have in your refrigerator?" so that kind of counts too.)

I also:

• Donated to Nina Paley (as promised)
• Donated an ATL dress (nearly-new; had only been worn 3x) to the Karma Kitchen "kindness table"
• Gave $1 to a guy standing outside of the Metro who said he needed money for a ticket

Not a lot but still better than nothing. I also have a plan for how I'm going to pay-it-forward this week, and will keep you updated. ^__^