Extreme Kindness

Erik's Journal - September 15, 2002

Geography: Red Deer.

Point form day: Up at 8:30, eat breakfast, meet up with RDTV, go to a woman’s house that was recently moved down and helped move a the big things out and into a dumpster, took the lady and her friend out to lunch, cleaned the RV, went for a skate at the park, had a great dinner.

Highlight of the day: Jumping up and down on the mattresses in the dumpster with the woman who’s house had just burned down.

Most inspiring moment: Seeing a smile on the face of this woman who was starting from nothing and beginning the next chapter of her life with a great attitude.

Shout outs: The kids at the SK8 park. Keep going big. Thanks for inspiring me.

Classic Quote: “You shouldn’t call it Extremekindness you should call it Extreme Hoax, why can’t you just help me out?” An irate, possibly inebriated man asking for a ride to Calgary.

My Crux: I really had a tough time dealing with this guy. I tried to help him out as much as possible. I gave him and his kid some food, I gave them a couple of hats and I arranged him a ride out of town with another guy we met on the street. It is really difficult to determine to what extent can you help someone. It’s not like I have any money, heck I’m in debt. I can’t just give money away to anyone especially if I don’t trust them. This guy changed his story every 10 seconds but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I walked with him towards the bus stop and was going to pay for his bus fare out of town but we ran into someone who he vaguely knew and said if I gave him 5 bucks he would give him a ride to the outskirts of town.

Physically Speaking: My knees are a little sore.

Mental Stimulation: I started reading a new book of essays.

Big Laughs: Looking through the left over movies stored in the burnt out house: Courage under fire, Volcano, The fire down below to name a few. Everybody had a good laugh.

When I finished writing this I was: Smelly and needing a shower.