Spending with a conscience...

Todays Quote:

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

US Today March 26th, 2013

On a recent trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, I picked up a USA Today Newspaper (free at our hotel) and on the cover was a story "Mellenials are demanding Capitalism with a Conscience...". 

What a great article, at a time when my husband was constantly reminding me that our country was in such bad shape.

This article tells us about U.S. consumers, born between 1982 and 2004, the trendsetting, if not free-spending group of 95 million Americans, who live and breathe social media and are broadly convinced that doing the right thing isn't just vogue, but mandatory. With nearly a third of the population driving this trend, kindness is becoming the nations newest currency.

In an ultra-transparent world, where information zips from Facebook to twitter to Instagram, just about everything a company does is out in the open according to John Mackey, co-founder of Whole foods. Millennials that got burned by the recession feel a resentment to consumerism, but had few alternatives. So they created one.

Alan Olsen eats two or three times a week - and volunteers once a week - at the Panera Cares in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. At the five Panera Cares Restaurants, some customers don't pay at all  or pay what they can- but thats okay, because others are willing to pay extra. The profits are then used to train job-at-risk kids. And other companies are following suit.

Then in the line to pay for our lunch, the man behind me tried to "pay it forward". He wanted and tried to pay for our lunch.  I politely declined and told him that there had been times in the past when I would have humbly and gratefully accepted his kindness. But at the present time we are blessed and able, and thanked him from the bottom of my heart.  Needless to say the conversation over lunch was a lot more positive.

Even though you may not see it all of the time, kindness, gratitude and compassion is out there. You just have to pay attention, share it and you will see it. I plan to pay it forward the next time I am in line at the lunch counter. 

Perhaps I may lift someone up... and feel grateful for doing so.