Random Acts of Kindness

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Thought I'd share a r.a.o.k. my son received from his boss yesterday.
My eldest boy has minor communication disability and on top of that two years ago had an accident, cutting the fingers off his left hand with a chop saw. In the end, all but one were reattached- (theres a story!) anyway he finished college, and with a social welfare program for people with disabilities got a job 9 months ago as a piano restorer. Its a lovely small place, only ten minute drive away. He's on minimum wage, but no weekends. Last month his boss offered to help with driving lessons, which we declined as my son has always saved his wages.
Yesterday he came by at the end of the day, handed him an envelope and said it was a bonus because he's done great work, and hasn't taken holidays or anything yet. Considering the short time he's been there, I think it was a substantial bonus. I'm proud obviously, but really impressed the owner bothered, bless him.
 
My BIL worked at Costco.
One day he saw a piece of paper laying on the floor so he stopped an picked it up..
That afternoon there was an all hands meeting and the president of Costco called him up to the front of the room and gave him a $50 bill. The president said he had watched several other employs walk but the paper but my BIL was the only one that stopped to pick it up.
He was a part timer and the president offered him a full time position but he said he was retired and just wanted to have something to do so he stayed part time.
Good employs should be recognized.
 
The Princess and I purchased a water heater this week end. We were about to load it into the truck when a young fellow asked if he could help.

I said sure you would be more helpful than HER. :rolleyes:

It was nice of him offering to help two old people. :thumbs:

Ben
 
Lenny said:
I saw a tool to pick things up off the floor at a swap meet last Sunday. My neighbor's son and daughter are both in wheel chairs and will be all their lives. They were cheap so I bought one for each of them. The Dad was very appreciative.
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A simple little thing like that can make a huge difference in someone's life!!
 
Lenny said:
I saw a tool to pick things up off the floor at a swap meet last Sunday. My neighbor's son and daughter are both in wheel chairs and will be all their lives. They were cheap so I bought one for each of them. The Dad was very appreciative.
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Better hope the 'tools' work for them.
 
A lady won nearly 12k on the radio here- she was in the car at the time with a bunch of children. When asked what she would do with the cash; she replied, I'm donating half to the local disability services for a bus. Fair play to her.
 
I wanted to bring this thread up again. It is a difficult time of year for some people, the holidays. I have tried to find people who might need help with a meal, Christmas gifts or groceries. Sometimes people find us! When it comes to Christmas, I am not about what I want. It is better to give than to receive.
 
Weedygarden said:
I wanted to bring this thread up again. It is a difficult time of year for some people, the holidays. I have tried to find people who might need help with a meal, Christmas gifts or groceries. Sometimes people find us! When it comes to Christmas, I am not about what I want. It is better to give than to receive.
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My area in SE Vermont has multiple organizations that, among them, offer all of this. Including privacy for the purpose of preserving pride; both family and personal pride. They get enough response to avoid discouragement . . . enough so that I think the towns no longer have a post called "Overseer of the Poor". His/her job was to dole out - among other necessities for survival - "commodities" like flour and cheese and potatoes that the state got both from the feds and purchased from in-state farmers, cheese 'factories' and such-like. My family was hard up enough in the years 1937-1942 to qualify, but Par wanted no part of either "Poor", nor "Overseer".

The local govmints tend to avoid those designations nowadays; dunno if it matters.
 
I was in a buffet and saw a family. The son was probably in his late 20's and was definitely autistic. The parents looked so drained and tired but were still doing their best to be there for their son that it was inspiring. I told my waitress to let them know their meal was free today and that I'd pay it and if they ask who paid for it just say "God took care of it today". They looked around trying to figure it out but never did and finally got up to leave and went outside. Seconds later they came running in shouting "God did it! He really did pay our bill!" I was curious as to why they did that until I paid and walked out a few minutes later and saw the biggest and brightest double rainbow ever. That family was just standing out there looking up and crying and the son was so excited about the rainbow. As I was walking by them I just said "yep, God did it alright!"
 
I popped into Lidls to do a top up shop when collecting daughter from work. While there, decided to treated myself to a lotto ticket,and I bought two. When my shopping was done and paid for, I handed one back to the girl- proably a student- wished her good luck & a happy christmas.
 
BBLife said:
I was in a buffet and saw a family. The son was probably in his late 20's and was definitely autistic. The parents looked so drained and tired but were still doing their best to be there for their son that it was inspiring. I told my waitress to let them know their meal was free today and that I'd pay it and if they ask who paid for it just say "God took care of it today". They looked around trying to figure it out but never did and finally got up to leave and went outside. Seconds later they came running in shouting "God did it! He really did pay our bill!" I was curious as to why they did that until I paid and walked out a few minutes later and saw the biggest and brightest double rainbow ever. That family was just standing out there looking up and crying and the son was so excited about the rainbow. As I was walking by them I just said "yep, God did it alright!"
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God's ways ain't always easy to figure out. My guess is that he didn't have to do any of the stuff that happened there that day. But He doesn't keep me informed anyway, so . . . all I have is my impression of a 'hands-off' preference. Like the 'hands-on' stuff comes later.
 
Weedygarden said:
I wanted to bring this thread up again. It is a difficult time of year for some people, the holidays. I have tried to find people who might need help with a meal, Christmas gifts or groceries. Sometimes people find us! When it comes to Christmas, I am not about what I want. It is better to give than to receive.
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This time every year the wife takes a number of gift cards to JBER an Army/Air Force base. Our military often qualifies for assistance due to poor pay. We help where we can. Our contact person transferred so it took some work this year to find a new contact to dispense the gift cards.
 
Thanks for the inspiration/nudge to embrace the spirit of the season. This morning shoveled my elderly neighbors sidewalks as well as mine. He's got a snowblower (and I shovel by hand), but it will be less for him to do and let the schoolkids have clear walkways on their way to school this morning :) This weekend the Kiwanis do a food drive and I always try and donate 3-4 Christmas meals (sans turkey which they supply) - stuffing, canned yams, cranberry sauce, green beans, gravy, boxed mashed potatoes, jello, pudding and cookie mix. :)
 
There is a food bank in the larger area that serves a bunch of towns around here. Some wealthy person has a trust set up to match dollar for dollar for donation on Dec 8th. I know they control the funds very tightly to where they should go and makes quite a difference to many families. I always wait for that day to send them some.
 
Bacpacker said:
There is a food bank in the larger area that serves a bunch of towns around here. Some wealthy person has a trust set up to match dollar for dollar for donation on Dec 8th. I know they control the funds very tightly to where they should go and makes quite a difference to many families. I always wait for that day to send them some.
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I salute that wealthy person.
There is a Vermont Food Bank that asks for private donations this time of year, in conjunction with other charitable sources, to provide food for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for needy families. $10 donated turns into $41 in food. I can swing $10 from my SocSec checks for November and December with hardly a twinge.

We "common" folk are trying, and a lot of not-so-common folk are helping. I'm sure it's called 'charity', but I look at it as an expression of what commonwealth probably meant, long, long ago. "We are all in this together", the lower-case humanists say. I think God told me once that he is a humanist too.
 
VThillman said:
We "common" folk are trying, and a lot of not-so-common folk are helping. I'm sure it's called 'charity', but I look at it as an expression of what commonwealth probably meant, long, long ago. "We are all in this together", the lower-case humanists say. I think God told me once that he is a humanist too.
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Sometimes all thru the year, I am your huckleberry. :)
When I am in the grocery store and there is an obvious "single-mom" in front of me, digging in her purse for minutes to pay a $35 bill, I hand the cashier my card and say: "Put it on this".
Since all the cashiers know me, they slide it faster than the girl can speak:oops:.
She looks with huge eyes and behind her sees some guy with a worn t-shirt, faded jeans and ballcap.
When I get checked out, she and her kid are waiting outside thinking I bought my way into her pants :rolleyes:.
I just smile and say: "You're welcome, you don't owe me anything" and head to my truck. A long time ago they called it: "paying it forward".
Charity doesn't have to be just during the holiday period:). It's real easy to see when someone is struggling.
And do NOT let this ruin my perfectly-good, bad reputation.
 
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A couple years ago I was at a banquet for an organization that I belong too. Every year they chose a young person to give a scholarship too. I talked to the president of the organization and offered to donate $2500 to the scholarship fund so that they could chose a second young person. The president not only declined my donation offer but he was rude about it. This organization I've anonymously donated thousands to every year. Because of this incident I've stopped supporting this organization as much as I once did. Plus it kind of soured me on donating altogether.
 
That's a shame Mountain trapper- I've always thought it would be nice to mail money to random folks who obviously need it- on my to do list when college is paid for! Money on education is never wasted- maybe you could find a teacher who knows who needs it most? Our local secondary school only gives scholarships to those who are going to a high-end uni, and whose parents are working. It's never given to the poorer ones or those who could do with the support. Sometimes it's not about the money exactly- it's about someone saying I believe in you, I believe you will work hard.
 
I try to help out when and where I can.
This year there will be new toys under the Christmas tree for a young single dad.
My grand daughters are donating their new toys they don't play with to these children.
This young dad might be all of 20 years old.
His children are 2 and 3 years old.
There will be few new store bought clothes,
Few home made pj's flannel and fleece robes.
Few home made shirts, sweat pants, blankets(quilts).
I try to keep a bin in my closet with simple gifts all year.
Most are home made, but they cost nothing but my time.
Because I already had the fabric. patterns.
 
I've been working on getting lady Military Veterans together so they can help each other. I was psychologically abused in the Military but I can't imagine being psychologically and physically abused. They could open up to themselves and hopefully get the disability compensation they deserve.

Recently there was an article in the monthly DAV magazine, written by a woman about Military mothers. I called and told her about the ideas and things I've been doing for Lady Veterans. She asked if I could give her some names and phone numbers. I told about 6 of them and so far about 3 of them have sent the writer their information. I hope this helps them.

How many women did not stay in the military because they were abused/raped? How many were doctors, nurses?
 
I once happened across this old guy (90ish I would say) with a flat tire, he had driven his front wheel up onto an old sign mounting base with the anchor bolts sticking up. It poked a silver dollar size hole in his tire.

He came into the building to use the phone (this was before cell phones everywhere) to call a service truck. I asked him what was wrong and he said I have a flat tire. I said OK, no problem, let's go look. I had him open the trunk so I could get the spare and jack out. I proceeded to change his tire, put everything back in the trunk and he was good to go.

I think the most puzzling part for him was when I refused to take the ten bucks he was offering me, he had it out of his wallet and was trying to give it to me. I said no thanks, just have a good day, and suggested he pay it forward if he had the chance.
 
Curmudgeon said:
I once happened across this old guy (90ish I would say) with a flat tire, he had driven his front wheel up onto an old sign mounting base with the anchor bolts sticking up. It poked a silver dollar size hole in his tire.

He came into the building to use the phone (this was before cell phones everywhere) to call a service truck. I asked him what was wrong and he said I have a flat tire. I said OK, no problem, let's go look. I had him open the trunk so I could get the spare and jack out. I proceeded to change his tire, put everything back in the trunk and he was good to go.

I think the most puzzling part for him was when I refused to take the ten bucks he was offering me, he had it out of his wallet and was trying to give it to me. I said no thanks, just have a good day, and suggested he pay it forward if he had the chance.
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I'm old enough myself to remember folks (Par was one) for whom accepting anything that suggested charity - in any way - from any other-than-friend, put his self-pride in question. A very bad thing, that at any time, and especially in the 1930s. And double bad if there was no way clear for paying it back.
 
Returning a gift is rude and reduces its value. Passing the gift to another enriches the gift and benefits both givers and the receivers.
If you don't need the gift then accept it with humility and pass it on with dignity. All involved gain.
 
Curmudgeon said:
I once happened across this old guy (90ish I would say) with a flat tire, he had driven his front wheel up onto an old sign mounting base with the anchor bolts sticking up. It poked a silver dollar size hole in his tire.

He came into the building to use the phone (this was before cell phones everywhere) to call a service truck. I asked him what was wrong and he said I have a flat tire. I said OK, no problem, let's go look. I had him open the trunk so I could get the spare and jack out. I proceeded to change his tire, put everything back in the trunk and he was good to go.

I think the most puzzling part for him was when I refused to take the ten bucks he was offering me, he had it out of his wallet and was trying to give it to me. I said no thanks, just have a good day, and suggested he pay it forward if he had the chance.
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So many people are so busy. I always wonder about people who are driving way past the time in their life when they should be driving, because they are a danger to themselves and others. For many people, there is no one else who is paying attention to give them the assistance they need such as taking them to appointments and shopping. Sometimes, there is no one left that can help.

Paying it forward is something I like to do. I've been helped a few times in my life, and paying it forward is one of the better things we can do. It also feels good! Sooner or later, everyone needs help and sometimes we come upon these situations where someone needs help and we can step up if we choose to.
 
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