January 7 - in which we debate RAKs, dog poo, and trees falling in forests

The Random Act of Kindness I perform today is different from the ones that have gone before, in that there's no direct recipient for it. In fact, there may not be a recipient at all. No-one specifically benefits from it, although it's quite possible that someone might have been seriously inconvenienced had I not performed it.

I'm out on the local green walking Charlie, our eager little half-Yorkshire Terrier, half-Jack Russell. She's been a good girl, done her business and like all responsible dog owners, I've scooped it up with a plastic bag and disposed of it properly in the dog waste bin. A little later, however, I come across a quite disgusting poo that another owner has left behind (I don't mean the owner has done a... I mean the dog... you know what I mean). It's huge and messy and you should be quite glad I didn't take a picture of it for the blog. At first, I leave it. I've got a spare plastic bag, but we're now some distance from the dog waste bin and I don't fancy carrying this turd around for very long. But as our walk continues, my conscience wrestles with me, gets me in a complicated and surprisingly painful armlock, and pins me to the mat. I head back, trying to retrace our steps, until finally we find the offending turd again, and I dispose of it.

The question is - and I ask L this when we discuss it - is this really an RAK? It's quite possible that no-one else would have come anywhere near the dog poo, let alone trodden in it. It's like the old philosophical question about the tree falling in the forest with no-one around to see or hear it fall. Can we really say it's actually fallen?  Can I say I've done anyone a kindness if no-one actually gets the benefit? L's view is that I'm worrying too much about it. I think she may be right.
L's RAK does directly benefit someone else, and could be financially ruinous for us. Our lovely lodger Eimar is looking for a job now her college course has come to an end, and L has found a post that might suit her. Trouble is, it's based quite a way from us, and if she gets it, she might have to move to somewhere closer to the job. We'd hate to lose her, and can ill afford losing her rent money. But she needs to work. Oh well.