By Gabriella Payne
Wherever you turn lately, it feels like the world is just filled with bad news.
But despite all the doom and gloom, there are countless acts of kindness slipping under the radar, quietly brightening peoples’ days and highlighting the camaraderie that lies at the heart of our community.
This week, Gazette journalist GABRIELLA PAYNE decided to share some of the ’good news’ stories that are going on in our area, whether they be small, big or anything in between.
We hope they help bring a smile to your faces like they did ours.
The world has been a bit much to handle the past 18 months, but plenty of locals are helping keep the spirits lifted in Pakenham as they ‘pay it forward’ with simple and random acts of kindness.
It may have been a small gesture, but when Cassandra Hill pulled up to pay for her hot drink at the Pakenham McDonald’s drive through last week and realised the car in front, a total stranger, had already settled her bill, it filled her with joy.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and it warmed my heart to no end,” Ms Hill said.
Feeling a bit down and out on Sunday 8 August, Ms Hill decided that she would motivate herself to get up and go out for a walk with her two dogs that day to cheer herself up, and decided to swing past the Pakenham McDonald’s for a hot drink on the way to the park.
“So we went through the drive through and I went to pay, and they said the car in front has already paid for your order and I was really stunned, I was just flawed that someone would do that,” Ms Hill said, adding that “it just completely made my day”.
“I rarely buy a coffee out and I thought it would give me a pick me up and it ended up being the loveliest drink I’ve ever had,” she said.
“I try and practice kindness always, and it was just so nice to see it acknowledged and it was such a sweet thing for someone to do – especially as I was having a bit of a flat day.”
“Random acts of kindness are the sweetest of all,” she said.
It seems Ms Hill isn’t the only one who’s order was unexpectedly paid for by a stranger recently.
Rob and Cat Bell were also the recipients of a random act of kindness at the very same McDonald’s store – when the car in front paid for their meals.
“My husband had just grabbed my daughter from daycare and went through Maccas and was surprised to find his order had already been paid for,” Mrs Bell said.
“In the past, I once paid for the person behind me but she only ordered coffee – and now we are the recipients and they paid for our full meals,” she said, adding that the kind gesture had really brightened up their week.
“The blessing came around double for us, and now we want to bless others as well.”
Both the Bell family and Ms Hill have been inspired to keep the kindness rolling on and will pay it forward to another unsuspecting stranger in the near future.
“It’s not just happening at Maccas, but it’s also other stuff,” Mrs Bell said.
“It’s just great to see the community going around and helping one another.”
