Kindness of strangers

[boxermom]

Those that like giving to mission organizations can give animals too. World Vision just sent out their Christmas gift catalog and it is goats, chickens, pigs etc. What a unique and useful way to give. Livestock!

Love it.

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Sounds like World Vision is following the lead of Heifer Int'l, which has been doing this for years.
Oxfam is also a really great organization.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
this is brilliant.
you raised a good man.

please do tell him I said that about him. he won't know who I am, but tell him anyway.

 

[zzGypsy]

here's my stories...

I just moved to missouri about 4 months ago, and my hubby is still in CA finishing up our business. about a month after I get here the company I'm working for is bought out and the new company has a 75 day net on invoices (the original business had a 15 day net). so I'm going to be 60 days without a paycheck ... OUCH. about 2 weeks after that I come home to a gas leak. so I shut off the propane at the tank, but now I'm without hot water or cooking fuel. the nearest repair guy I can find (it's rural out here) is $300 house call... plus parts and maybe labor if something needs replacing. since I've got NO money and none coming for a month and a half, that option is out, so I resolve myself to cold showers and using the grill. one of my neighbors stops by to chat about a week later and I ask who he recomends to fix the gas leak locally - he suggests my neighbor on the other side - who's just a guy who knows how to fix stuff - and then sends him over the next day. this good man fixes the leak, relights all my pilot lights, and refuses to take any money for it.

and then a week later he brushhogs my fenceline because he knows it needs doing and I don't have any money to spend on it.

all I can say is he's got a lifetime supply of eggs - as long as he needs them!

here's my pay it forward...

I was in a drugstore near Camp Pendelton, there was an unusually long line at the checkout. about 4 or 5 people in front of me was a young marine, middle or late 20s, buying milk, chips, hotdogs, soda and diapers. he went to write a check and they wouldn't take it - it's an out of state bank account. he said, "I've just been deployed here, I don't have a local account yet. don't you take out of area checks for the marines at the base here?" the clerk said no. and that the manager was on break and she wasn't budging. everyone in line was just staring at their shoes and at the ceiling. I said "write me a check, I've got cash" because I knew he wouldn't let me just pay for it outright. so he wrote me a check and I paid his grocery bill. that was a year and a half ago and somehow that check of his is still in my wallet. I just can't seem to remember to take it to the bank.

these guys (and gals) give enough, they don't need to be inconvenienced like that too.

whenever we're somewhere for dinner and there are military folks there, we try to pick up their bill before they get to it.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Gypsy, what a nice thing to do! How touching.

And yes, yes they do give ever so much.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
That is my yearly donation. Isn't it great! I love World Vision.

 

[serendipity22]

Love this thread!

We help others every chance we get. It might be as small as holding a door for someone pushing a wheel chair or as big as buying a Washing Machine and Dryer for a family down on their luck. It depends on what we can do...

What others have done for us: Well, lots of things. But one that stands to mind is when a truck driver saw my black horse that had rolled under the fence and was loose on the road in the middle of the night. My horse was just 18 months old and black, so it was crazy that the guy actually saw him. But he came to the house and woke us up. My horse wouldn't let anyone catch him but me... ((He was my baby, after all!))

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I feel like you never know somebody's story -- your neighbor, the person behind you in line, etc. Time and time again, I am amazed at someone's story.

On Saturday, I ran to the local corner store. I noticed a mom, her daughter, and her hubby/boyfriend. I just noticed what a kind, gentle soul this mom seemed to be towards her daughter. They were picking out some Kid Cuisine meals. I was up in line waiting to pay. The mom and her daughter came up in line behind me.

As I am waiting, her daughter asks for an ice cream treat (there was a small freezer display near the checkout). I am not trying to eavesdrop, but I hear her telling her daughter that we are paying with foodstamps and we need good food to fill our bellies. Again, I am just struck by what a gentle mother she is in explaining this to her daughter. So many times we hear parents short and yelling at their kids in public. As I checked out, I told her to set her things up and I'd pick up the tab. The mother thought I meant I'd buy her little girl an ice cream treat and she didn't want her eating junk food. I told her that's fine, but I want to buy your groceries -- it wasn't much, some Kid Cuisine meals, juice, and hot dogs. She looked at me in disbelieve. She said I do have my Bridge Card (foodstamps). I told her that I didn't care, I wanted to pay if she would let me. I figure she can buy that much more milk, meat, or veggies if I am able to pay for her groceries. The mom did let me pay for her groceries.

I did not want a thank-you from her at all. It would have made me uncomfy. I feel that if I have been blessed then I should share when I can -- absolutely no thank-yous needed/wanted. So I check out and tell her to have a good day. She said, "I do have to thank you. Our home just burned down last night." That catches me off guard! I wish her well. And we are on our way. I am just flabergasted at the whole thing because you never, ever do know what someone else is going through. I am thankful that I was able to help her, albeit in a very small way.

 

[zzGypsy]

ray's two cents :

Gypsy, what a nice thing to do! How touching.

And yes, yes they do give ever so much.

they do. and get not near enough money or appreciation.

we help by hiring them also when we've got work and need extra hands: HirePatriots.com
it's a place where you can post a job, and the wage you're paying, and it's open to active and recently mustered out military. we've never had to wait more than an hour before we've got a crew lined up. these guys know how to work, how to take direction, are always polite, and I don't worry that they're casing my place to see what they can come back for later. they're happy to have a little extra income, lots of them have young families and need the money, and they're grateful to have a chance to make that happen.

on top of that, some of these young men still need a dad, or never had one, and my hubby's a good one. we've collected quite an assortment of extra sons this way.

 

[chicmom]

Here's something nice that happened to me yesterday: I got to work early, and I work in a busy downtown area, so I parked in my parking lot. Our building opens up at 7:30, and I was about 15 minutes early, so I turned off the car and set and listed to the radio. Suddenly my radio just stopped. My battery, for some reason, was dead.

A co-worker overheard me telling someone about the car, and that my husband works in another city, and I don't have AAA, so I was going to need to arrange some type of help before the day was over.

I didn't even ask anyone in the office for help yet. (It was early in the day), but she arranged for her husband to stop in the parking lot on his way to work and jump start my car! He wasn't sure it would start again at quitting time, so he left his portable charger with us, just in case it didn't start again. (Lucky for me, it did start.)

I was just touched at the thoughtfulness, as we are sort of just aquaintence/friends.......What a nice surprise!

Sharon