There are scores upon scores of individuals in my life – closer friends, casual friends, family members, outer circle, etc. who are all too familiar with my predilection for distributing two-dollar bills. It’s been going on for perhaps fifteen years – I can’t recall its specific genesis, but it is something I do on the reg.

In a way this quirky-but-ingrained habit mirrors writing Letters of Gratitude, albeit on a smaller scale. To wit: The gesture is unexpected, it gives me pleasure to do so, the recipient is pleased and surprised, and it’s a small way of adding just a touch of kindness to the world. It’s also much easier than writing a letter – I have more than 300 letters out the door but the two-dollar bills distributed over time to servers, valets, grocery store clerks, hostesses, little kids, barkeeps, etc., dwarf that number tenfold.

I’ve enjoyed a wide range of delighted and memorable responses to these modest bequeathments over the years, but something happened in Mexico recently which was by far the most unusual response:

I was getting a big kick out of our waiter, and when I handed him a $2.00 while he was distributing drinks, he put down his tray and in 90 seconds time made this perfect little shirt out of the bill he was just handed. I was so impressed with his effort I immediately handed Jorge the Origami Master another, and in no time flat he produced the ring you see in the other photo.

The lesson, if there is one: Try and be grateful for those who surround you, even if your interaction is only in passing. Try and be generous, even on a small scale. You never know what sort of delightful surprise may ensue.