This is for you

Never Done: Gave random gifts to strangers

I went around the apartment and found little things I felt OK about parting with, and then I took little note cards, on which I wrote "This is for you" and then I brought them all to the gym, and I left them in empty lockers.

A bowl of pink and white coral and rose petals.
An earring.
A dollar fifty.
A guest pass and a parking pass to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

And then I worked out for an hour on the elliptical machine.

When I came out of the exercise room, I hung around the lockers for a while, just in case someone opened one with a present in it, but nobody did, which made sense; it's a big bank of lockers, and I had closed the doors, because I wanted people to come by their presents by surprise.

Meanwhile, the music from the Zumba class filled the entire YMCA, so I went to watch for a while, along with about ten toddlers who were dancing in the doorway. You might remember I tried to take a Zumba class a couple weeks ago, but there was a sub so it was actually a strange hybrid Zumba-Cuban dance class that felt impenetrable and annoying. Real Zumba looked pretty fun -- and it's still on the list, so I expect to take a class one of these days.

And then I left the gym, knowing it could be hours before people find my little surprises, and it could be days or weeks. I read a story recently about a woman who donated her kidney through a kidney bank, saying that she didn't care who would receive her kidney. "I just wanted to give somebody else the opportunity that I have.... to get up every day, enjoy life, do whatever they want to do." And even though a day at the Botanic Garden doesn't compare with the gift of life, (although maybe the free parking in Brooklyn does) I can relate to this woman's impulse toward random generosity. My secret hope is that it will inspire more people to do the same, and that by the time Spring comes along, the lockers will be full of little surprises.