Have you noticed? Everyone is always in a hurry and on the go; impatience rules and tempers are quick to rise. People honk at me if I drive the speed limit, in spite of the several cars in front of me. Where do they expect me to go?

A truck swerves into the oncoming lane to pass not just me but the car in front in order to make a left turn. Pedestrians yell at me when I don’t stop while they attempt to jaywalk across a busy street.

In this time of Google – when information is at the tip of our fingers, when technology keeps getting better, satisfaction is lean. There’s always something better. We rarely have to wait anymore … for anything. So when we do, we tap our fingers at best, road rage at worst. Yet amidst all this anxious hurriedness appear random acts of kindness, the term now so trite, the acts seem no longer quite as random.

I discovered one random act at the local library last week. Someone sent a box of colorful bookmarks, handmade with ribbons, quotes, and pictures of flowers.

The librarians displayed the bookmarks in a basket on the front desk, encouraging patrons to take one or several. I did and shared the story as I handed a few to friends. The act made me smile and reminded me to slow down.

Trip taken May 2013.