13
MISSION: Laundry Money
It wasn’t until recently that I had to start going to the laudromat to do my laundry. I know how fortunate I was to have free laundry right in my building. My best friend lived in a unit nearby and had a washer and dryer that I could use whenever I wanted. Then she moved. And now?
I have to dig around for quarters and lug my laundry somewhere else.
I know that other people, especially those living in the city, have to do the same thing. How fun I thought it would be to supply a laundry-doer with quarters for their weekly task!
Date: Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Location: Econ-O-Wash, S. Highland Avenue, Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA
Time: 5:18 p.m.
A few weeks ago, I went to Giant Eagle’s Customer Service desk and asked for two rolls of quarters: one for me and one for a mission.
Turns out, I needed a roll and a half for my own laundry, which left me with $5 for today’s mission. Better that than nothing at all, right?
I put the quarters in a little bag and put the bag in a little box. I also included a little note to let the recipient know that I wanted to help with their laundry.
I wrapped it all up in my signature pink and green, and included a little card explaining why the recipient was receiving this gift.
Tonight on my way home from a meeting regarding #helloSAL, I decided to swing by my neighborhood laundromat. As I drove by, I took a peek in the front window.
The laundromat is divided into two halves. The right half had a lot of people in it. The left half, however–the half with the change machine–was empty with the exception of one woman way in the back.
I walked in, pulled out my gift, placed it in the bucket in the change machine, snapped a few photos, and left.
Easy peasy. A nice, clean mission.
No pun intended.
7
MISSION: Smoothies for Construction Workers
My Affiliated Agents are awesome! They’ve been completing missions non-stop, which means you all get to see their kindness in action here just about every day! Keep it up, Affiliated Agents! Don’t stop now!
Affiliated Agent H of Sterling, Virginia, gets a double commendation for getting up at the crack of dawn to complete her mission. Plus, she actually went out the night before to get some preliminary photos! And her sense of humor? Loving it. Way to go, Affiliated Agent H!
Date: Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Time: 7:00 a.m.
Location: site of the new Gold’s Gym, Sterling, Virginia
Gifts: gift cards to local smoothie shop
Let’s see what she says about her mission:
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opening of my new gym, which is set to happen in less than 2 weeks now.
With the blistering heat we’ve had here this week, it occurred to me that the guys working on it could probably use a little refreshment.
I went last night and got some gift cards to a smoothie shop that is nearby the work site.
I took pictures of the site while I was out, just to minimize the amount of time I’d be doing anything suspicious this morning when people might see me. I put the gift cards inside some notecards.
Then I wrapped them up just to make them fancy, because if there’s anything that construction workers like, I’m sure it’s something fancy. Especially if there’s a pink ribbon involved. At least I used some brown wrapping paper to make it a little more masculine.
I arrived in the parking lot around 7:00 this morning and did my best to be stealthy as I scurried around, leaving the packages on a few of the cars and getting a few pictures. I was very, very nervous that I would get caught…..and then very, very relieved that I made it out of there before anyone came outside. I suspect that someone might have noticed me, though.
After running another errand, I drove by again (at a distance this time) and the owner of one of the chosen vehicles was sitting there with the door open, presumably opening the package I left on his windshield. Here’s hoping he likes smoothies! I’m already looking forward to my next mission, where hopefully I’ll be a little less conspicuous!
We can’t wait for your next mission, Affiliated Agent H!! Well done!!
5
MISSION: Diaper Changing is No Fun!
I love when I get emails from first-time Affiliated Agents. The excitement in their words is so tangible! Affiliated Agent K sent me an email yesterday with the details of her very first mission.
Date: Saturday, 3 July 2010
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: McDonald’s Women’s Restroom, Aliquippa, PA
Here’s what Affiliated Agent K had to say:
We performed our first “act”!
At the McDonald’s in Aliquippa, PA, we left a children’s book (Mama, Will You Hold My Hand? by Anna Pignataro) and a card (and the Secret Agent L business card) resting on top of the diaper-changing thing in the women’s restroom.
We’d intended to leave the book and cards inside the changer, but the bunch kept slipping down (and I’d forgotten tape), so we put it on top.
This is fun – thanks for all the work you’ve put into it!
No need to thank me, Affiliated Agent K. Thank YOU! Job well done!
2
mini MISSION: Nurses Rock. Period.
[image from here]
And do you want to know what her email said? Well, let me just share it with you. Prepare to be inspired.
Can you get over this? Affiliated Agent Z is IN THE HOSPITAL, and she’s CARING FOR OTHERS!! Others who typically care for her! I was so touched when I received this email, and I hope your heart is moved when you read it. A simple gesture can change everything.
Affiliated Agent Z? We’re thinking of YOU, hoping you’re okay, and thanking you for your truly kind gesture.
2
MISSION: Snail Mail Kit
I love when I get emails from Affiliated Agents in other cities and states stating that they’ve completed a mission. It never fails–ever–to bring a huge smile to my face to see what other people are doing in the world to forward acts of kindness. Affiliated Agent M from Maryland is no exception!
Date: Friday, 18 June 2010
Time: approximately 11:30 a.m.
Location: Post Office, Linthicum Heights, Maryland
Gift: Snail Mail Kit
Affiliated Agent M tells us about her mission:
So I wanted to do something for a mission that was related to something that I love so I decided to do something with (snail) mail. I created a small starter package (which technically cost me nothing but the cost of the stamps because I used things from my own stash) for writing snail mail.
I included a letter which explained this and the contents included postcards, a pen, envelopes, a note card, some stationery, and some seals.
The way that this was kept anonymous is that I went to my PO Box, and selected the neighbor to my right, wrote their address on an envelope (without a return address) and plopped it in the mail box outside the post office.
It felt really good to know that someone is going to open their PO Box and find something from a stranger.
RAOK YOU MAKE MY DAY!
And Affiliated Agent M of Maryland, you make ours!
2
MISSION: Mount Veron (a.k.a. We Heart George Washington)
I love when things come full circle. I have Affiliated Agent K to thank for allowing that to happen. When she emailed me and told me she’d completed a mission in Washington, D.C. at Mount Vernon (George Washington’s estate and gardens), I almost fell out of my chair.
My mom was there visiting only TWO DAYS after Affiliated Agent K’s mission! What a small world!
Date: Saturday, 26 June 2010
Location: Mount Vernon, Washington, D.C.
Time: not specified
Gifts: Two Starbucks Gift Cards
Let’s see what Affiliated Agent K experienced!
Well, Secret Agent L, I did it! I completed my first mission.
Last Saturday (6/26) I went to Washington DC for the day to play tourist and I thought, where better to leave my little packages of kindness than Mount Vernon. It was a very hot day and many people there had traveled a great distance.
So I set out with my two little gifts consisting of a 5 dollar Starbucks card in an envelope wrapped in tissue paper (because, really, who doesn’t love unwrapping!)
Once I arrived I realized that this was going to be much trickier than I thought as it was a very crowded attraction and whenever I found what I thought was a good spot, it seemed as though there were too many people around.
I finally settled on a little nook underneath a bust in the education center for my first drop as it was readily visible but not too busy at the time.
I left my second card in the interactive museum area, under one of the question flaps about George Washington. The next person who wondered how many schools are named after George Washington hopefully found a little more than the answer.
After going through the museum, I made sure to walk past the bust where I left the first card, and sure enough… someone found it!!!
What great fun this mission was, I can’t wait to do another!
Thanks so much, Affiliated Agent K! We can’t wait to get your next mission’s stats!
2
MISSION: Fuel for the Body, Fuel for the Brain
Affiliated Agent M is at it again, folks. Three missions in one day! *high five*
Date: Sunday, 27 June 2010
Time: Afternoon.
Locations: Aldo Coffee in Mt. Lebanon, Tazza D’oro in Highland Park, and Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside.
Gifts: Quotable cards and a Barnes and Noble gift card
Affiliated Agent M tells us of his adventures:
If I had something of a food weakness, it’d be coffee. Good coffee, not the stuff that drips and stands in a pot for hours and hours on end, but a ‘grind the beans, press the grounds, and serve it to you all made to order’ espresso drink.
Then it’s not really a surprise that the majority of my previous missions involve coffee in some way, shape or form. The mission on Sunday continued this fine tradition, but with an added bonus.
It may be a stereotype, but give me a good book to go along with a fine drink, and hours could go by before I look up from the page. There is something about saying, “I have so much to do, watch, and see, that I am going to deliberately set a few hours aside to just sit down, sip a drink, and read. Nothing more, nothing less.”
And it was this slice of mental clarity I was hoping to spread with this mission. Maybe you’re out to meet friends at a coffee house. Maybe you’re out to get away from the busyness of your surroundings at home. Maybe you just kipped in to escape the frequent roaming thunderstorms of the greater Pittsburgh area. What ever the reason, you’re out, sitting down, and boom, there’s a card from an affiliated agent, commanding you to open it up, that the goodies within are for no other being in the universe but you. There’s a puzzled look on your face, like, can this be happening to me? Is this a joke? Should I open this strange card; obey this written directive?
Let’s open this card together, to share the experience, shall we?
Inside you pull out one of the Quotable cards that Secret Agent L and her agents often use. It’s heavier than most cards, higher quality. The quote fires off a small spark of inspiration deep within side you; the fire burns to embers quickly, but inspiration and hope work better as slow coals, not a violent Bruckheimian explosion.
You open the card, and a tag falls out. You grab for it, while reading the silly note this stranger left in the card. A chuckle may escape your lips, it may not.
You look around trying to believe this is true, this is happening and not the set up for some vicious prank. Your friends pull the card from your hands, eager to read the cryptic message, when your attention turns back to the envelope.
It is heavy. Too heavy…
Inside there is something else, forgotten in the initial excitement until now. You reach in, a golden ticket moment if any. Your reward, if you so choose, may grant you access to a chocolate factory, but that is only one of an infinite set of options: a gift card to Barnes and Noble. The only question that remains is if you can choose just one wondrous thing to read.
Simulation over.
It was my intent that this scene, or something similar to it, would play out at three different locations across Pittsburgh. These places happened to match up to some of my favorite coffee shops in the city.
The first was Aldo’s Coffee in Mt. Lebanon. Inside I took the table closest to Aldo’s own library, as seemed fitting for the mission. The crowd there was steady, and it took some time to find the right moment to leave my card behind and make my exit.
Not that I minded, it simply meant I could get through a few more pages.
The next was Tazza D’oro in Highland Park. If Aldo had a steady flux of people, Tazza D’oro had what amounted to a full house. One of the few tables left was hidden by a small Christmas Tree and Virgin Mary statue.
It really seemed fitting to have some higher power watching over this little gift of mine, so I took it for the sign it was.
The last was the Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. I personally love how they’ll open an entire wall during good weather so the boundary between inside and outside is lessened, and given the length of the shop it can generate a nice, constant breeze.
Sadly, the photos of this last gift in the wild did not take, but one of the small tables near the back had a surprise waiting for the next person to sit there.
A good day for coffee, a great day for reading, and it’s my hope that three Pittsburghers choose a book they’ve been thinking about for a while and now have no excuse left; that the instant smile generated on a hot Sunday afternoon is constantly fed every time they flip through the pages and continue the story.
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