Peter FitzSimons, Best-selling Author
The Backpacker Brotherhood
Jess Williams, Bartender
Heartlessness then Humanity
7. Acts of Kindness for No Particular Reason
Sheridan Voysey, Author
A Sweet-sounding Love Song
Peter Buckley, Keynote Speaker
The Glow from Poppies
Jules Faber, Australian Cartoonists’ Association
A Man of His Words
Nola Smart, Pharmacy Assistant
Mrs Shmegg
Sara Groen, Weather Presenter, Channel 7 Sydney
A Child’s Cosy Gift of Kindness
Stephanie Streatfeild, Student
My Genie with No Lamp
Your Story
Thank Your Kindly Stranger
Appendix
Endnotes
About Us
Background and Purpose
The idea for this book came about when my wife Ruth and I were backpacking as a young couple and were the recipients of several acts of kindness from strangers. It was Ruth who came up with the book concept, as we sat talking in a pine forest on Kangaroo Island, reflecting on the generosity of so many fellow Aussies who are readily prepared to help strangers as we had just experienced.
I spend much of my professional life researching people – whether by facilitating focus groups or conducting national surveys, and what I consistently find is that most people embody the Australian stereotype of lending a hand - whether it be to a mate or a stranger.
The perception of worsening violence and less kindness is largely based on crime coverage in daily media reports, and is refuted by solid research. The reality is that nationally, and for the majority of Australians personally, we experience far more acts of good than ill - indeed, as shown later in the book, by a factor of 38 to 1.
This book is a small testament to the power of good in our society. These seventy true stories of kindness from strangers are just a sample of the millions of such stories that could fill volumes like this.
Many of our contributors, though not all, are prominent Australians. Their stories are further recognition that individual achievement rarely occurs without a helping hand from others. After all, we call this the lucky country - we don’t take the credit for it all ourselves. We value independence in a community-minded way. We hope you find this book further evidence of the power and life of the community spirit that shines so strongly in the Australian psyche. In these times of great change and incredible diversity we all know that when adversity strikes, whether in the form of bushfires, floods or international conflict, there’ll be a fellow Aussie there to help out. It’s the tradition of the digger, the character of mateship, and the enduring power of good.
This book was written and compiled by Mark McCrindle with Emily Wolfinger of McCrindle Research.
Mark McCrindle is a social researcher with an international reputation for tracking the emerging trends and analysing the diverse generations. He is the Director of not-for-profit organisation, the Australian Leadership Foundation, as well as McCrindle Research whose clients include over 100 multinational organisations. His highly valued research and reports have developed his renown as a futurist, demographer and social commentator.
Emily Wolfinger is a published writer and has freelanced for a variety of publications. As a freelancer, Emily enjoyed writing about some of the big issues of our times. At McCrindle Research Emily translates social and generational research into publishable form both for internal and external clients.
Mark and Emily are the authors of the generational tome, The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations (UNSW Press – www.theABCofXYZ.com).
McCrindle Research
McCrindle Research exists to conduct world-class research and to communicate its insights in innovative ways.
You will find out more about our research agency at: www.mccrindle.com.au
Supporting Charity You have already done good just by holding this book in your hand! One dollar from every book published goes to the work of the Australian charity, Hope Street (www.hopestreet.org.au), who look after some of our cities’ most marginalised people. Daily the team at Hope Street dedicate themselves to supporting and empowering those in need, and in doing so they show the power of good.
Acknowledgments
Our heartfelt thanks to all of our generous contributors: without your stories, there would be no book! A special “thank you” to Tim Fischer, who contributed not only a story but also wrote the foreword to this book.
Thank you also to Josephine Brouard, Sue Carney, Louise Waterson and the team from Reader’s Digest for helping to make this book happen. Your support and input have made the difference to this important work.
Thanks to Louis de Vries and Anna Rosner Blay at Hybrid Publishers for believing in the book and working so hard to make it happen in such a short timeframe.
Thanks to that young “tradie” from Adelaide, whose act of kindness inspired this book. Finally, thanks to our 6,715,082 fellow Australians who, according to our research, engage in acts of kindness to strangers regularly.
On behalf of all of these strangers, thank you!
Foreword
Trappist Trend or Good Constructive Engagement: Which Way Forward?
There is a certain joy in life in helping out, in helping good causes, as George Bernard Shaw once famously remarked. Further, there is a longer life for those who do so, as medical research has revealed time and time again. This book provides many examples of the power of doing good works, the betterment conferred in so many different ways and, on occasions, leading to the saving of lives.
I salute my fellow contributors and I urge this troubled world to recall the example of the good Samaritan, to recall kinder and more generous times and look out for others. Otherwise, the individual self-centric society will dominate all, dominate to a greater extent than even now and so make for a more brittle and acidic society.
Mighty author Mark Twain, of Mississippi fame and Mary MacKillop,
