Kindness+Videos

flat = = @How to Add Videos = = = = = Commuter's Laugh is Contagious on Morning Train = Watch this short film about a contagious laughter that spreads throughout a subway train crowded with sullen strangers. Called Bodhisattva in the Metro, the fun begins when a man enters the subway car filled with gloomy silent commuters, but begins to giggle -- then laugh -- out loud. The chuckles spread from one person to the next until everyone was slapping their knees glee.
 * Kindness Videos **

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= Amazing Softball Sportsmanship = media type="youtube" key="yaXVk5GBx-s" height="587" width="719"

Now read the SI follow up story about what happened as a result of their act of sportsmanship.
 * Follow-Up:**

Money poured in after the game, along with candy from strangers. Gary Frederick's team got nearly $25,000 in donations, including at least one check from a soldier in Iraq. The university matched every dollar. The Wildcats got new uniforms for 2009 and new protective screens for pitching practice. Instead of riding to away games in three vans driven by the coaches, they were chauffeured around the Pacific Northwest in a luxury charter bus.

Mallory wants to be Central Washington's next head softball coach, whenever Frederick, who turns 72 in July, decides to retire. In the meantime she and Sara have formed a nonprofit organization, the Mallory Holtman and Sara Tucholsky Sportsmanship Defined Foundation, with the aim of doling out scholarships and teaching kids the right way to play. They have a publicist and a booking agent. Corporations pay them to deliver motivational speeches, including a recent appearance in Florida to educate five or six thousand mortgage brokers on character and responsibility.

Her mother says fame has not changed Mallory, not in the least, but Mallory does admit to one prima donna moment. Last summer, when they were on vacation at a cabin in Idaho, Christy asked Mallory to take out the trash. Mallory had just returned from several plane rides—from a televised awards show to the All-Star Game and back—and she complained about being tired.

"Mallory," her mother said, "you're with family now. You need to check yourself." And Mallory took out the trash.

In July of last year, the girls were honor by ESPN with the ESPY award for Best Sports Moment. Good choice.

Sports is a venue where simple acts of sportsmanship, heroism and courage can shine a light on the more complex aspects of our lives. We can see that people will do the right thing, will act in a self-sacrificial way, and will act heroically. This is a great story made better by the realization that Mallory wasn't grandstanding her sportsmanship. She was just doing the right thing.

= **Christian the Lion** = Touching story about the impact two people had on the life of a lion (and the lion’s impact on them). media type="youtube" key="pNv2A4Kfx4k" height="653" width="801"

= **Free Hugs Campaign** = A simple sign and an idea helped to lift the spirits of thousands and sparked an international campaign. media type="youtube" key="vr3x_RRJdd4" height="655" width="803"

= **Would-be Robber Pays Back Store Owner Who Showed Kindness** = A would-be robber in Long Island has paid a store owner back. In June, a robber tried to steal money from a deli, but the shopkeeper provided the man with forty dollars and a loaf of bread, and made him promise never to steal again after saying a prayer. The robber has now paid that money back, sending a letter that read in part, "I know it was wrong, but I had to feed my family." He said he had turned to religion instead. media type="youtube" key="U-dXK529UZ4" height="655" width="803"

= **Service Dog Turned SURFice Dog** = A dog raised (unsuccessfully) to be a service dog turns disappointment into joy in helping others. media type="youtube" key="BGODurRfVv4" height="655" width="803"

= **Local boy with cancer turns into a superhero for a day** = Erik Martin, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation made 13-year-old Erik Martin's dream of becoming a superhero come true.

Thursday was shaping up to be just another school day for 13-year-old Erik Martin, but then something extraordinary happened: Spider-Man called.

Spider-Man happens to be one of the few people who knows that Erik, too, has a secret identity — he's Electron Boy, a superhero who fights the powers of evil with light. And Spider-Man needed Erik's help.

Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

The local chapter, which serves four states, grants more than 300 wishes every year to children with life-threatening medical conditions, but only a few of them involve so many participants.

Pulling off a wish like this one required a big story, and a lot of heart. And so, with a note of panic in his voice, Spider-Man explained the dilemma: "Dr. Dark" and "Blackout Boy" had imprisoned the Seattle Sounders in a locker room at Qwest Field. Only Electron Boy could free them.

Erik got into his red-and-blue superhero costume, and called on the powers of Moonshine Maid, who owns a DeLorean sports car. For good measure, more than 20 motorcycle officers from the Bellevue Police Department and King County and Snohomish sheriff's offices escorted Electron Boy to Seattle.

"They shut down 405 — they shut down I-90," marveled Moonshine Maid, aka Misty Peterson. "I thought it would just be me, in the car."

At Qwest Field, Electron Boy was directed by frantic fans to the Sounders locker room, where the entire team was shouting for help behind jammed doors. With a little help from Lightning Lad, the alter ego of local actor Rob Burgess, Erik opened the door with his lightning rod. The Sounders cheered.

"Thank you, Electron Boy," said defender Taylor Graham.

"You saved us!" exclaimed forward Nate Jaqua.

"Good job, big man," said defender Tyrone Marshall. And forward Steve Zakuani mutely bowed his thanks.

Electron Boy seemed a little dazed by his powers. Out on Qwest Field, the Sounders gave Erik a hero's congratulations, posed for pictures and gave him a jersey and autographed ball.

Everyone was startled when, overhead, the Jumbotron crackled to life.

"Electron Boy, I am Dr. Dark and this is Blackout Boy," sneered an evil voice, as the villain — Edgar Hansen, and his sidekick Jake Anderson, both of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" — taunted the young superhero. "We are here to take over Seattle and make it dark!"

On the Jumbotron, a video showed a Puget Sound Electric employee Jim Hutchinson trapped in the top of his bucket truck in front of PSE's Bellevue headquarters. Only Electron Boy could save him.

As Electron Boy's motorcade — the DeLorean, the 25 motorcycle officers and a white limo — rolled through downtown Bellevue, pedestrians stopped in their tracks and pulled out their cameras to take pictures. Clearly, somebody famous was in town. But who could it be?

"It's Electron Boy," Erik's older sister, Charlotte Foote, shouted out the window of the limousine.

More than 250 PSE employees gathered outside the company's headquarters and cheered as Electron Boy freed the trapped worker. "It was so loud, people in office buildings were looking out the window," said Make-A-Wish communications director Jeannette Tarcha.

But Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy were still at large. Electron Boy got a tip that the evil duo were at the Space Needle, where they had disabled the elevator and trapped people on the observation deck. Racing back to Seattle, Electron Boy stepped out of the DeLorean to a cheering crowd of dozens of admirers, and confronted his nemesis.

"How did you find us, Electron Boy?" Dr. Dark demanded.

Erik wordlessly leapt at Dr. Dark with his lightning rod, freezing the villain. Then he unlocked the elevator and freed the people trapped upstairs.

Bellevue police Officer Curtis McIvor snapped handcuffs on Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy, who couldn't resist some last words: "How can we thank you for saving our souls?" A tiny smile played around Electron Boy's mouth. Just for good measure, he held his lightning sword to Blackout Boy's throat again. The crowd went wild. "Hip-hip, hooray!"

Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw stepped forward with a key to the city and a proclamation that Thursday was Electron Boy Day. Afterward, Erik posed for the TV cameras, flexed his muscles and spent some time astride a Bellevue police motorcycle.

"He's over the moon," said Foote. "This is definitely beyond anything we thought it would be."

Watching her son run across the plaza in front of the Space Needle, mom Judy Martin said Erik goes to school when he's able, but is often too tired. "He hasn't had this much energy in a long time," she said. "They called it the power of the wish, and they're right."

Like any good superhero, Electron Boy kept his innermost thoughts to himself. But he did have one important thing to say: "This is the best day of my life." media type="youtube" key="yFhWZfVNYuE" height="553" width="812"

= **Boy Gives His Life Savings to Struggling Parents, CBS Viewers Repay Him** = A CBS News report featured a boy whose family had fallen on hard times. The fourth grader handed over $40 (his life savings) to his parents in hopes of helping ease their burden.

After the broadcast, viewers inspired by the boy sent hundreds of their own dollars. Once again, he gave it all to his family.

The father used part of the money for gas to get to job interviews, and has now found new employment. media type="custom" key="9453730" width="394" height="338"

= **Homeless Mexican Boy Defies Odds, Becomes Valedictorian** = At 14 years old, Victor Cardenas was kicked out by his mother, had no food and no place to live. Yet, what happened next was a synthesis of survivor's instinct and kindness from his high school friends, who offered this boy without a home, shelter and support in theirs.

He found his voice when he picked up a video camera and told his story. He found a family when the film teacher invited him to live with hers.

Later, Victor aced several advanced placement tests, mastered the Russian language and earned national accolades for his film work. Next fall, he'll attend Texas A&M University and study bio-chemistry on full scholarship. media type="youtube" key="rdn0VFzabgw" height="655" width="803"

= **Woman Stands by Pledge, Pays College Tuition for Entire Class** = Twenty-three years ago, a woman who was a real estate agent issued a challenge to a first grade class of underprivileged students in Oakland. Stay in school, do the homework and graduate, and she would pay for their college education.

For the next 12 years, Ora Lee Brown saved every penny she could, to pay the tuition as promised for the 19 students, out of the original 23, who graduated.

How deeply did her challenge influence the kids? Within the other first grade class that year, only four students graduated. media type="custom" key="9453780" width="352" height="304"

= **Teen Spreads Comfort and Joy** = media type="custom" key="9453830" width="352" height="304" = **Wolf Dog Sings to Baby to Stop his Cry** = This video of a wolf-like cry soothing a baby evokes something mystical from deep within our collective history. Quite magical in its effect, too.

Posted on YouTube more than a year ago, a Good News reader from Alaska named, wwwoolf (not making that up), finally sent the link to me yesterday. Enjoy.

(Does anyone know to what exact species this animal belongs?)

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= Hospice Cat Soothes Family’s Hearts and Minds = In her final weeks, the only thing that LaVerne Sargeant wanted — the thing she believed could bring her comfort in her final hours on this earth — was the warmth of a cat cuddled at her side.

She was surrounded by friends and relatives and siblings who had journeyed to her Fort Washington, Md., home to make sure she was comfortable and loved and could remain in familiar surroundings. And that helped so much. But there was no pet. Her beloved old dog had died years earlier, about the same time she'd been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and the former ER chief, realistic about her uncertain future, hadn't gotten another pet.

By early this year, after she had battled cancer for nearly five years, and knowing she had very little time left, her craving for a cat's soothing presence became palpable. Her sister, Yvonne Sargeant, responding in the only way a loving sister can, began exploring ways to provide what she wanted. Adoption was out of the question. LaVerne wouldn't live long enough for that to be fair. Yvonne's cat, Pluto, was at her home in Georgia, hundreds of miles away. Could he be hauled in for LaVerne? she wondered. No. For many reasons, including Pluto's energy level, that wasn't practical.

So Yvonne, an IBM executive, went online to investigate possibilities in the Washington, D.C., area. She stumbled across Tails High, a few-months-old Alexandria, Va., cat rescue that seemed, somehow, from its website, willing to consider things others might not.

Yvonne called and explained the situation. Couldn't adopt, but would Tails High be willing to entrust one of its cats to foster care in LaVerne's home? It would probably be for just a matter of weeks, then the cat would be returned to the organization. Not the ideal scenario, Yvonne acknowledged, for a group seeking permanent homes for the dozens of cats it cares for at any given time. But this was important.

Tails High adoption manager Kelley Cislo agreed it was important. She had never been presented with such a request but was moved by the sister-loving, pet-loving plea. Almost instantly, arrangements were made for the two women to link up at a Tails High adoption event to meet possible candidates.

Cislo had a cat in mind, a very sociable, highly attentive cat she felt would be perfect. Yvonne glanced at that cat when she arrived but was drawn to a black manx in a cage separate from the kitty corral in which the others frolicked. Oddly, that 10-month-old kitten, Sabrina, always the picture of adaptability in the weeks Cislo had been fostering her, had been, on that day, cranky, unwilling to be with the other cats, unhappy with just about everything. Very strange, Cislo thought. Unsure what was up, she crated Sabrina and put her off to the side.

When Yvonne approached Sabrina, the young cat met her gaze, posed prettily, and, when pulled from her crate, lay in Yvonne's lap, content.

And that was that. The two women were certain she was the right cat. Foster papers were signed, Tails High provided a carrier, and off Sabrina went, to take on the responsibility of easing from this world into the next a woman she had never met.

When Sabrina met the dying woman an hour or so later, "the moment was breathtaking. My sister was so happy," Yvonne says now.

And Sabrina? She seemed to sense what was necessary. "She was instantly and completely a lap cat," Yvonne says. "Some cats have to get used to the environment" before they'll share the love, Yvonne knows. Sabrina was not one of those cats. She snuggled up against LaVerne for hours on end and dealt calmly with everyone who arrived — hospice workers, family members, friends.

For two weeks, the sweet black cat brought enormous comfort to the woman who needed her. "My sister didn't talk much by then. But seeing her with Sabrina, watching her stroke her, you could tell it was good for her soul."

Actually, it was good for everyone's souls. "Making someone you love who's about to die happy is extremely important," says Yvonne. And the little cat's ability to transform a sad inevitability into something a little less painful made everything easier on everybody.

At the end of February, two weeks after Sabrina's arrival, LaVerne died.

Yvonne e-mailed Tails High to tell them of her sister's passing. The family was so grateful, she told them, for the group's willingness to provide some final-days comfort to a woman who needed it. And now, Yvonne said, the family needed to keep Sabrina a little longer, to help with the grieving process. Maybe just a few more days, the family thought, and Sabrina could be returned to the group, having done her job beyond anyone's hopes.

But in the end, the cat that launched what is now an official Tails High program — the hospice cat loaner program — never got returned to the group. She moved to Georgia with Yvonne, where she was renamed Sheena by Yvonne's husband, and the phenomenal feline set about winning over Pluto. Easy work for her, really. All's fine on that front.

Maybe that cat was imbued with some special awareness none of us will ever understand. Maybe not. Doesn't matter. What happened happened and that's what's important.

"She's part of my sister," says Yvonne, "and a very big part of our family."

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 * Related video, different cat:**

= Soldiers Surprising Loved Ones = Fair warning - this is a tearjerker. Shows what a positive impact these soldiers have had on their loved ones’ lives.

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= Try Not to Laugh (Fun Challenge) = media type="youtube" key="9xH0xorgUoI" height="655" width="803"

= What Would You Do? - ABC News - Will Kindness of Strangers Stop Theft? = media type="youtube" key="eIG6EMVy6zs" height="655" width="803"

= What Would You Do? - ABC News - Dog Left Inside a Hot Car = media type="youtube" key="8TGVs1E1Yvw" height="655" width="803"

= Bystander Effect - people watch girl being abducted = //Powerful topic for discussion.// media type="youtube" key="KIvGIwLcIuw" height="655" width="803"

= High Five Etiquette = //I’m envisioning a conversation about the physical ways in which seventh graders show kindness before or after this video...// media type="youtube" key="-mMRY2N6s2I" height="553" width="812"

= Apologists = //Sometimes an “I’m sorry” or “Just joking” doesn’t quite cut it...//

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= Cancer Victim Grateful for Stranger’s Kindness = [|Link to Video]

= Orangutan and Dog - Odd Animal Pairs = media type="youtube" key="P3SbjjMChqw" height="655" width="803"

= People help baby squirrel climb a wall =

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= Are You Somebody's Favorite Person? = media type="youtube" key="QCGcS3Dqe9w" height="655" width="803"

= Customers Pay It Forward At Starbucks = media type="youtube" key="xfgDTqEwAJQ" height="553" width="812"

= 7-year-old’s random act of kindness = Little boy puts $1 on random person’s windshield, begins acts of kindness media type="custom" key="9454114" width="310" height="270"

= Positive Pranks = media type="youtube" key="H8CxRsrp7N4" height="553" width="812"

= Found Film Canister = media type="youtube" key="Dmop7EAY1Zg" height="553" width="812"

media type="youtube" key="PtzN-Ltob2w" height="553" width="812" =Bystander Effect in Fairport High School= =media type="youtube" key="YcD_9eTa7AY" height="553" width="812"=

=Facebook Manners and You= media type="youtube" key="iROYzrm5SBM" height="553" width="812"

=Play of the day! Selfless young fan returns ball to upset boy= There's hope for America's future yet!

In one of the most heartwarming scenes you'll ever see, a young [|Arizona Diamondbacks] fan named Ian made Wednesday's play of the day at Chase Field after an even younger fan named Nicholas missed a ball thrown his way by [|Milwaukee Brewers] second baseman [|Rickie Weeks][|(notes)].

Though the dropped ball was instead handed to Ian by another person, he immediately recognized what he had to do after seeing Nicholas in a distraught state after botching an attempt at a souvenir. With an amazed audience looking on, Ian marched back down the stairs and graciously handed the baseball over to Nicholas, a Brewers fan, without any prodding from anyone else.

As Deadspin [|notes], "if this doesn't warm your heart, you're awful."

Here's play-by-play of the moment from announcers Daron Sutton and Mark Grace: > **Sutton**: "Are you kidding me, this kid is going to do this?" > **Grace**: "That is big time, right there!" > **Sutton**: "Oh my goodness!" > **Grace**: "What a nice young man!" As with [|Wednesday's post about the pouty Giants fan], I suspect there will be a lot of misguided people taking aim at the younger fan and his immediate sulking after missing out on the ball. That sort of criticism is ridiculous, of course, because you can hardly expect a child of that age to have control of his emotions or any perspective beyond that exciting — and ultimately, disappointing —moment.

But it's those conditions that make what Ian did so impressive. Despite the rush of corralling a baseball at a big league ballgame, he saw that the ball might matter more to someone else and gave it up without a second thought. It was "the right thing to do" Ian later told the D'Backs field reporter.

For his generosity, Ian was rewarded with a trip to the announcers booth to meet Sutton and Grace, tickets to a future game and an autographed bat from [|Justin Upton][|(notes)], his favorite Diamondbacks player. Of course, he couldn't have expected any haul like that when he made the decision to give the ball to Nicholas, which is what makes this story great. Bravo to young Ian for setting a great example for people of all ages.

Watch the exchange take place: media type="custom" key="10044653" width="310" height="270"