A Post for the Sake of a Post

Edit: Honestly, I just started typing, and this is what came out. Hence the random first paragraph and then some chunks of writing.

So, right now, I'm sitting (resting, actually). Just hanging out on my couch, not really doing much. Listening to some Hawkboy (excellent), chatting to a couple people (Ryan, here's your shout out, because you're not getting it later).



Again, this is not original. I'm stealing from a movie this time, but here it is. A thought: What would it look like if we all just paid it forward. The movie this thought is from is called (you guessed it) Pay it Forward. I've only seen this movie once. I don't even remember when, but that's not the point. In the movie, the main character, a kid in middle school, gets an assignment from his social studies teacher. He has to come up with something to change the world and put it into action. His idea is this: instead of repaying a favor or kindness back to the person that performed the favor or kindness to you, what if you paid it forward to three other people? So he starts doing that. Every time someone does something for him, he pays it forward to three other people. Through this, he revolutionizes his entire life and begins to affect those around him, too. Now, the movie isn't all peaches and gravy because this kid has a great idea. Definitely not. I won't spoil it for you, but you should watch it sometime. It's a good one. I think. Don't quote me on that but look into it anyways.

Anyways, movies aside. What would happen if people really tried to do this? What would happen if even half the people I/you/we know decided to pay it forward? I mean, it wouldn't even have to be big things, y'know? Like, someone gives you 12 cents so you don't have to break another dollar at Taco Bell. You can give them a big ol' smile, say thanks, and move on with your life, or you can think of that next time someone ahead of you is digging for change in a purse, pocket, or wallet. On a larger scale, you don't notice that your lane of traffic on the highway is closed ahead until it's already fairly backed up. Someone lets you in. Big deal, give them a thankful wave and continue driving. Or, remember that a quarter mile down the highway when someone is trying to merge into your lane because they obviously didn't see the signs saying their lane was closing and let them into the lane. Now think about these two people you helped and what would happen if they paid it forward to someone else who paid it forward to someone else and so on. What would be the final ramifications of your actions? Take that, and (ready for math?) multiply by 3 to the power of whatever "generation" of kindness it is. The first person helped one person, you, in generation 0. You paid it forward to three people, generation 1. 1 person in gen0, 3 people in gen1. Generation 2 consists of all the people helped out by the people you helped out times the 3 people they helped out (so 9). This goes on until you get something like this:
gen0 = 1
gen1 = 3
gen2 = 9
gen3 = 27
gen4 = 81
gen5=243
gen6 = 729
You get the point. But, the total number of people helped is actually the sum of all the generations. For the first 6 generations, 1093 people are affected. That's quite a few. What if it people paid it forward for 10 generations? 20? 100? It's exponential (literally).

I realize my examples weren't stellar, but they do still seem to (at least mostly) work. I think you get what I'm trying to say with them.

But seriously, what would happen if we even tried to do this? So, I guess this is it: a challenge. Try to pay it forward. You don't even have to limit it to three people (it's not like the kindness police are gonna arrest you (sorry, super lame joke)).
What are your thoughts? What do you think this would look like? What are some ways that we can pay it forward?