Arriving back at the bus after an early morning cup of coffee, I noticed the voice-mail icon on my phone was lit. There was a call from Karen Myers, Director of the child-care program at Carilion Hospital. She asked if I could stop at her school so the kids could meet Bogart, see the bus, and learn about the kindness program. What a great opportunity for the kids and great teaching tool. Karen used the messages on the bus to interact with the kids on the importance of kindness. Even Bogart sat still listening to her creatively talk to the children about being kind to one another. Bogart and I left with a care package from the hospital and I made sure Karen had a stack of stickers for her students and staff. They are going to track our travels across the country as part of their day. Kindness needs to be an ever-present thought in our minds at every stage of our lives.
Getting back into the routine after a very long weekend was proving to be very hard for Adrienne, a student at Radford University. She was walking on the other side of a busy road when she spotted The Kindness Bus. She walked over to see what it was all about. After hearing the message and seeing the bus up close, she said, “You made my day”. She told me during the conversation that she is an art student, so I gave her some colored markers to have at it. I then paid a visit to a very popular spot for students, The Deli Mart, across from campus. When I pulled in, I didn’t notice how close I was to the parking lot security camera. I got inside and Neda, Natasha, and Rico were all checking out my “ride” on the monitor inside the store. I parked so close to the camera that the bus filled the entire screen of the monitor. Neda instructed me to put a sticker on the inside and outside of the window of the main entrance door to the deli. Natasha told me my cappuccino was on the house. I gave Rico stickers for the entire group. I think they should re-name the place The Kindness Deli.
A magazine named The Cleveland Canine had expressed an interest to feature Bogart in their next issue. Needless to say, this pooch of mine is already the most popular dog on college campuses, now this to add to his portfolio. I agreed to have him on their cover. The interview took an hour and a half. This was the only period that it did not rain today. I had the chance to talk to fifty or so students as we dodged the rain, which seemed to fall horizontally at times.
I enjoyed this very much! Just charming! Your composing manner is pleasing and the way you managed the subject with grace is notable. I am intrigued, I presume you are an expert on this subject. I am subscribing to your updates from now on.