Last week we fulfilled our pledge of donating 10,000 minutes of our time to chat with some of our wonderful customers in celebration of Random Acts of Kindness Week. An annual tradition created by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, Random Acts of Kindness Week seeks to promote the ability to connect with others through the simple act of being kind.
We over-delivered on our pledge, spending 11,250 minutes of our time, making 867 calls throughout a 7 day period. We shared in some truly heart-warming conversations and the laughter was certainly abundant within the Parsley Box call centre.
Numerous highlights were reported, including from our agent, Marina who spent just shy of 4 hours chatting, in her words ‘about everything and nothing’ with a lovely gentleman from Cheshire. He revealed that he had only spoken to his family for most of the last year and really appreciated having someone new to have a good old natter with!
“Vibrant and cheerful, Mrs Mayne truly exemplifies the positive, fighting spirit of our customers. Age is just a number and she won’t let it, much less this pandemic, bring her down”
What It Means To Be Human
Storytelling is at the heart of what it means to be human. Sharing in common human experiences, memories, and laughter can bring us all together. Our 27 year old agent Alba, shared in the frustrations of the irksome combination of glasses and facemasks with 93 year old Mrs Katie Mayne in Windsor. Mrs Mayne, chatting to us over her morning cup of tea, also revealed her powerful, personal philosophy of “while I can, I will”. In her words, she believes “while I can do the job, I will do it, and I won’t let anyone else do it for me”. Vibrant and cheerful, Mrs Mayne truly exemplifies the positive, fighting spirit of our customers. Age is just a number and she won’t let it, much less this pandemic, bring her down.
Other wonderful people we spoke to over the last week, include a European Taekwondo champion, a commissioner for the Guides, Brownies and Rangers, a church organist, and a thrill-seeker who regaled us with the tale of climbing a frozen waterfall whilst cross-country skiing through Austria! It was such a privilege to be let into our diverse and unique customers’ lives and a genuine pleasure to share in their wonderful stories.
Pass It On
The true spirit of kindness, that which is at the heart of Random Acts of Kindness Week and the reason we made our pledge of 10,000 minutes, was summed up perfectly during our chat with Mr Edward Rimmel in Solihull. He recited to us, from memory, a poignant extract from a poem by Henry Burton that had hung in his doctor’s office over 60 years before and had stayed with him throughout his life.
Many of our customers that we were lucky enough to talk to, were keen to let us know that our call, out of the blue and just for a chat, had made their day. The reality was, the feeling was entirely mutual. Chatting away with our customers, sharing in their memories, stories, and philosophies was a perfect reminder of the true purpose at the heart of Parsley Box. We want to create a community and truly connect with all of the wonderful people who take our meals into their homes, and sit down to dinner with us every day. And if we can spread a little kindness whilst we are doing so, then so much more the better.