"Don't Perform Random Acts of Kindness"

My comment on Gretchen's post:

There once was a time when there were lots of op eds and headlines about the elements in our society committing "random acts of violence" and "senseless cruelty." Naturally, this morphed into a bumper-sticker: "Commit random acts of kindness and senseless beauty." It set of little alarms for me, because we were still in the "random acts" business. It sounds accidental which would make it prone to misdirection, misinterpretation, mistakes. Maybe if we substitute "spontaneous" we'd be moving in a better direction. I think this is what Gretchen was getting at. Plotting "I'm going to do X to the next person I see" has a nefarious feel to that next person. Being genuinely, mindfully open to seizing the many opportunities to be kind and compassionate to each other that present themselves throughout each day, that makes the world a better place. Forgiving the guy who took your turn at the four-way stop-sign is a start....