'Tis the Season for Tag

Dudley Adcox’s wipers were working hard to keep the heavy rain off his windshield when he saw her. The woman was stranded at the side of the road, alone and scared. She’s probably out of gas, Dudley suspected. He pulled over and helped push her car a few blocks to safety. But before disappearing into the night, Dudley slipped something into her hand. The card said, “Tag, you’re it.”

The unknown woman became part of what may be the largest game of tag. And now you have joined the ranks, too! But this is not an ordinary tag game. This game involves a secret mission: Tag someone else by doing something extraordinarily kind. The stressed-out, holiday shopper standing behind you in line or your mail carrier who’s overwhelmed with package deliveries — it doesn’t matter who or where they are, ’tis the season for tag!

The game

“Tag, you’re it,” got its start at Mirabeau Chapel in Spokane, Wash., when the church’s young adult pastor, Ryan Coffey, came up with the idea while browsing the Internet. He thought about a variation of the movement many people know as Random Acts of Kindness and adapted it to what is now a global game of tag.

“[We started the game] to get people thinking of creative ways to bless others, to put Jesus in a positive light by doing something thoughtful and unexpected for someone else,” senior pastor Craig Langhans explains.

Traditionally, people are more generous and show Christ-like love this time of year. And this Christmas kindness is what “Tag, you’re it” is all about. However, the people at Mirabeau Chapel don’t stop giving after Dec. 25. They’ve become year-round players. The fun usually revolves around a homemade card the tagger passes on after doing something nice for another person.

Tag ’em

People at Mirabeau Chapel have been known to leave their server a 100 percent tip, purchase a $20 gift certificate and leave it for the person behind them to use or give a sick co-worker a ride home. A man who thought he and his wife were going to go hungry one night wrote Mirabeau about his tag experience:

“When my wife and I were at the Valley Mall, a couple overheard our remark about not having enough money to eat. About 20 minutes later, their two children ran back to us with a tag card and $20.”

Several other youngsters have caught on to the idea. One 5-year-old tagged a lady with three of his McDonald’s bucks.

Sometimes the game is as exciting for the giver as it is for the receiver. One woman reported to Mirabeau that when she was in line at a deli, she asked the cashier if she could pay for the order behind her. The woman also asked the cashier to pass on a tag card to the customer. The cashier looked at her a little strange, but when she read the card, she thought the idea was great. Blessing the customer behind her was what the woman was trying to do, but the cashier’s comments and reaction were a bonus.

“I like [tag] because it can be behind the scenes, and it’s easy for a shy person to bless others,” says R.G. Schultz, a member of Mirabeau Chapel who took the game on the road when he drove from Spokane to New Orleans. R.G. says he always keeps a handful of tag cards in his truck and stays on the lookout for ways to tag people.

Since the game launched in September 2003, Mirabeau Chapel has distributed about 3,000 tag cards. But you don’t need a card to play. When you are out holiday shopping this season (or anytime through the new year) and see an opportunity to do something kind — you’re it!