Big Chuck Declares April 1, 2014 “Pay It Forward Day!”

I am now officially declaring Tuesday, April 1, 2014 as "Big Chuck Pay It Forward Day."  This will be a great day in our listening area for all of us to join together anonymously and in our own special way "pay it forward" with a random act of kindness. We can all do this, on this single day, in Otsego, Delaware and Chenango counties and let the ripples flow!

Here is a Q&A with my favorite listener (actually, it's me!) with some details:

Q:  "I really enjoy your show every morning, Big Chuck.  It really gets me up and moving!  So tell me, how did you come up with the idea of a "Big Chuck Pay It Forward Day?"

A:  "Well, thank you for the compliment (blushes).  Actually, the idea came from an real phone call with a listener.  A sweet little old lady called me Monday and told me a story she wanted to share with our audience.  She would not let me use her name. She told me that on Saturday, March 8 she was in the Oneonta Wal-Mart.  A couple ahead of her in line had 2 carts of groceries and this little old lady waited patiently for them to finish. She saw them pay with a credit card.  She then moved up to the cashier and put her stuff on the counter.  The cashier told her "That will be $41.00."  The little old lady was going through her wallet when the cashier said.  "You won't be needing that, Ma'am." The clerk then held the receipt out to the couple that had just gone through and they then disappeared out the door.  The little old lady said "What just happened?"  The clerk said "That lovely couple just paid for your groceries!."  The little old lady was flabbergasted and almost brought to tears.  The clerk said, "See, Ma'am, there still are nice people around."  It's a great little story."

Q:  "Are you Big Chucking me, or did this story really  happen?"

A:  "Would I Big Chuck a nice person like you?  No.  It truly did happen.  I retold the story on the air on Wednesday morning (without using the lady's name as requested). The minute the words came out of my mouth the idea of a "Pay It Forward Day" came to my mind.

Q:  "So what would you like your audience to do on this day?"

A:  "It is simple.  I am asking every member of my listening audience to do something good on Tuesday April 1, 2014.  Pay for the next person in line at the store, do a favor for a neighbor, slip a couple of bucks into the hand of someone who could use it, pick up some litter, hold a door, leave a note for the letter carrier in your mailbox with a coupon for a free cup of coffee, anything really."

Q:  "What do you hope to achieve, oh Master of the Microphone?"

A:  "Well, it is my hope that a large number of people will join me on this day, potentially hundreds.  Can you imagine if we all did something nice, anonymously, on April 1?  In Norwich, Greene, Cooperstown, Walton, Franklin, Unadilla, Oneonta, Delhi, Schenevus, Milford, Gilbertsville, Otego, Oxford....everywhere in my listening audience.  I think somebody, somewhere will notice and wonder "What is up?  What is going on?"  It does not have to involve money.  Just a single day of politeness, giving, charity and kindness.  I think it will be a big day.  And you know what, nobody will really know. Except the dozens and dozens of people who do the deed and those who receive it."

Q:  "So why April 1, Big Guy?"

A:  "Well, you know there really is an 'official' "Pay It Forward Day" in the U.S.  It is April 24 this year, I think.  But I wanted ours to be, well, ours!  The official day requires notification, and registration and forms and stuff.  This will be just between me and my listeners and just in our area.  So I picked April 1 on purpose.  We all know that it is April Fools Day so I wanted to have a little bit of fun with 'our' day.  Imagine if you tell a clerk at, say, a McDonalds that you wanted to pay for an elderly couple's breakfast? They would think it was an April Fool's Day joke.  Which it isn't.  I wanted to put a whole new kinder and gentler twist on April Fool's Day."

Q: "So Meatball Man, can you give us any ideas on other ways to 'Pay It Forward"

A:  "I am hoping that all of my listeners will send me ideas to my email at wdosbigchuck@aol.com.  And then I will share them with everybody.  Again, it does not have to be about money.  It is about the random act of kindness.  If you would like some ideas though click here for a very helpful website with more than 60 ideas for paying it forward.

Q:  "So tell me, Mr. One-Size-Fits-All, are you going to check up on everybody to make sure that they participated?"

A:  "Absolutely not.  Of course if someone wants to share a story or idea with me I am all ears!  But no....this is a private and anonymous effort in every way.  I will be yakking it up on the radio and the social media but that is just to make sure everybody knows about it and is aware of what we want to do.  It will be just a little secret between me and all of my audience as to what we are all doing.  I think it will be a great day in our listening area!"

Q:  "Well good luck with 'Big Chuck's 1st Annual Pay It Forward Day' on April 1, 2014!"

A:  "Thank you.  It is always nice to talk to my favorite listener.  And say, you look good.  Have you taken off a few pounds?"