Paying it forward

[Tommy-G]

What have you done or had done to/for you?

I had an opportunity to take care of a customer this week and the expression on their face was worth ever bit of it.

A previous customer of ours house burned down (2 yrs ago), their 3 dogs perished and we repaired their vehicles damaged by the heat.
Her husband had a stroke, can not work and can not use his hands to do many things.
Her mother had a stroke, upon returning home from visiting her...her son was murdered.

An insurance company sent her to another shop who did a repair on her vehicle and messed up her whole light system. No headlights or brake lights b/c they grounded out and crossed wires.

The husband asked me if we could undo what the other shop did and look at a coolant leak.
We found a leaky radiator hose and a cracked water pump. We repaired all the lights and replaced the hose and water pump.
When they came to pick up the vehicle I went over the work that was done and why it took so long. She asked how much to make the check out for and I handed her a torn up receipt telling her they deserved some good in life and I need them to now do something nice for someone else.

I don't say this as a pat on the back but after the pain so many people have experienced the past 2 years it felt great to give someone a gift. I wish I could do it more....

[clutchdj]

Tsi or fsi? ‘07-‘09?

[wdb]

It was kept in the family, but anyway. Some years ago I was without work for an extended period. Not wanting to dip into retirement savings I was eating pretty light. Then one day my dad knocked on the door and handed me a check large enough to take my worries away for quite a while. I never asked for anything -- he just did it.

Not something one forgets.

Fast frame to a few years ago, and this time it is my son out of work for an extended period. I knew they were frugal and counting every penny, and of course they never asked for anything. But when his wife started taking on small jobs for neighbors I knew it was time to pay it forward. So I did.

[Bonk!]

Went to a high end restaurant - sat next to a couple, he was celebrating his 80th and she was celebrating 5 years cancer free. They had taken the subway to the restaurant and we're clearly stretching their budget. When we left we gave the hostess our credit card number and paid for their meal.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by Bonk!

Went to a high end restaurant - sat next to a couple, he was celebrating his 80th and she was celebrating 5 years cancer free. They had taken the subway to the restaurant and we're clearly stretching their budget. When we left we gave the hostess our credit card number and paid for their meal.

WOW.
You didn't even know them?
So cool.

[Dang3r]

Originally Posted by Bonk!

Went to a high end restaurant - sat next to a couple, he was celebrating his 80th and she was celebrating 5 years cancer free. They had taken the subway to the restaurant and we're clearly stretching their budget. When we left we gave the hostess our credit card number and paid for their meal.

You sir, are my winner for the internet today!

[Nachbar]

After 13 years in a good leading position, I stepped down to a Senior IT Pro. I hated to manage and control people. I love to help others in need.
25 years ago, I was an electrician and I'm still pretty good at it and also with all kind of machines, repairjobs and so on. So I fix things in family and friends houses for free. I just love doing this stuff and love to help.
Last week, my neighbours managed to scratch their brand new car badly on one side. On sunday I was bored, so I walked over and polished all scratches out, in about two hours. After that I fixed the robbo landmower as well. It was more satisfying to me, than relaxing at my favorite place in our house (pic below).

[F30lolz]

Many years ago I found out one of my professors at SUNY New Paltz lived in my town. Went out to eat with my gf (wife now) at a Italian restaurant a few blocks from where we lived. We walked in and sat near him and his family. Exchanged greetings and they left maybe 20 minutes later. After our meal I asked for the check and was told that it was already paid for.

I made sure I busted my ass for an A.

[Littlebear]

Like many of the more 'secure' people, during this last year I have upgraded my kitchen pots, knives, utensils, & whatever. I had all the old stuff in my storage bin waiting for covid to end so I could sell it with a stoop sale.
But this week we gave it all (including the Betty Crocker pots & pans!) to a youngster who is moving out of her parents place & getting her first share of an apartment.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

Tsi or fsi? ‘07-‘09?

2012 VW CC

[E92inNC]

Originally Posted by Bonk!

Went to a high end restaurant - sat next to a couple, he was celebrating his 80th and she was celebrating 5 years cancer free. They had taken the subway to the restaurant and we're clearly stretching their budget. When we left we gave the hostess our credit card number and paid for their meal.

Similar story, years ago when attending Arizona State University and I went to Joe’s Crab Shack once a month or two after school. The staff was always very cool and friendly, i.e. one time I called in an order and they made two, when I said I ordered one just for me they didn’t even hesitate to give me the second for free, which I dropped off for my sis on the way home.

Anyways, I happened to be there on Veteran’s Day for lunch and eating at the bar. My waitress and one guy sitting three seats away were talking about their service duty days, Navy and Marines I think. I quietly asked her for both checks and tipped her 50 on each check with thank you’s to both, left before she got back. Next time I came in she thanked me and I can still remember some extra crab claws in my pot

[King Rudi]

Mother's Day of this year. We took the girlfriends mother out for breakfast. When the meal was over, the girlfriend insists on paying as it's her family. We make our way to the register to pay and the man in front of us takes the check out of the girlfriends hands, then quickly gives it to the cashier to pay for our meal. No words, no explanation.....nothing. Very kind of the guy.

Now on to the reality of it. Pretty sure the guy had no idea that I was "with" the GF and this was his way of trying to get an "in." Had to sting a bit though, because we were a party of 7 that wasn't in line with us. Our check was over $150. I'm guessing he will most likely never do this again.

I tried to stop him in the parking lot to give him his money back and he wouldn't accept it. Still nice of him.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

Mother's Day of this year. We took the girlfriends mother out for breakfast. When the meal was over, the girlfriend insists on paying as it's her family. We make our way to the register to pay and the man in front of us takes the check out of the girlfriends hands, then quickly gives it to the cashier to pay for our meal. No words, no explanation.....nothing. Very kind of the guy.

Now on to the reality of it. Pretty sure the guy had no idea that I was "with" the GF and this was his way of trying to get an "in." Had to sting a bit though, because we were a party of 7 that wasn't in line with us. Our check was over $150. I'm guessing he will most likely never do this again.

I tried to stop him in the parking lot to give him his money back and he wouldn't accept it. Still nice of him.

Did he see you next to your fancy BMW?

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by Littlebear

Did he see you next to your fancy BMW?

No longer have the E93. I sold it 2 years ago. He did see us getting into the girlfriends new Infiniti as he got into his mini van. We felt like complete dicks.

[unluky]

At my last job we had a great employee that fell on some hard luck and had a mini stroke. I always liked him and when I walked the floor I always chatted with him. He was getting better, but had used all his vac and sick time up and was right at the end of his FMLA time (different rules back then). I was on the HR committee and heard them talking about options for him, but it was getting down to where he was going to run out of vac and we have to terminate him and then rehire him when he could return to work. He was OK with that, but I hate him not to have a check coming in.

When I asked more, it turned out the reason he was running out of vac was he was going to have to cash in the last 4 weeks he had to pay his insurance premiums. We paid employees 100%, but he had his family on it as well and we only paid 60% of that.

After the meeting I went and spoke to the controller and paid his insurance for 3 months for him which allowed him to keep his vac which kept him getting paid for 4 more weeks and that got it enough that he made it back to work and we never had to terminate him.

We never told him as I know it would have embarrassed him, so we told him we "figured out a way around it" and he was happy.

I was doing very well at the time and life had been good to me, so I felt like it was my time to help someone in a tight spot. I have left, but he is still there and still a great employee. Super good guy and doing well now.

[BMWGUYinCO]

Oh man, this is a terrible story.

On Monday of this week, my wife's coworker got a call from his wife - her sister, who lives just two houses down from them and are extremely close, lost her husband. This is how it happened though:

He was 50 years old and in good health, but had lost his job 2 months ago... They have a daughter who is a junior in college, and are about to send their younger twins off to college this summer.

So he has a Zoom job interview, and right in the middle of it, he collapses. The interviewer, who has his resume, calls 911 and reads them his address and says it looks like a medical emergency.

The emergency response crews arrive at the house and urgently ring the bell...the wife answers, and after hearing they are there for a medical emergency, tells them they have the wrong address "Everyone is fine here" she says. They are persistent, saying they were given this address by a remote caller....so the wife still doesn't think anything is wrong, and sends one of the twins up to check on the father. The child screams - the father is unresponsive. He had died of a massive heart attack.

She woke up Monday morning, never possibly imagining she would be a widow within hours. Unfortunately, due to the job loss, their finances weren't great and he had no life insurance. A Go Fund Me was set up and we donated generously.

But this is a great topic, thanks to TommyG for starting it. My wife and I consider ourselves very fortunate and donate both financially to good causes, as well as our time to the Community Food Share of Boulder.

[RMachuca3d]

Late night trip to the gas station in my neighborhood for some midnight munchies (working freelance at the time, crazy hours), walk in, grab a bag of chips and a drink and head to the cash. There was a late teens\early 20-something kid, you can tell he had just finished his shift as his clothes where dirty, he had put 20$ of gas in his car and was trying to pay, but all of his cards where declined, he kept trying them over and over, the cashier was like "figure out, cant let you leave without paying".... So I paid it for him, and told him to pay it forward.... the sigh of relief and gratitude emanating from him was a feeling i'll never forget, i've been in shit situations before where no one stepped up to help, and i could see myself in his shoes, made me happy knowing that i was able to bring at least a moment of relief to this kids life.

[tranquility]

What an amazing thread, such a nice read. You guys are good ppl.��

[Housekeeping]

I’ve found in life that not discussing what good you’ve done for others is the best thing to do, biblical too. It take great restraint but it’s really the most rewarding personally. Way too many people only doing good for self-promotion. Flame on....but you know I’m right ��

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Sy1616

I’ve found in life that not discussing what good you’ve done for others is the best thing to do, biblical too. It take great restraint but it’s really the most rewarding personally. Way too many people only doing good for self-promotion. Flame on....but you know I’m right ��

Yeh but maybe it’s okay sometimes to share among friends.

[Dino GT]

I think everyone does good deeds once an awhile. My wife does all the time to homeless people. Many times a homeless person outside of a store will ask her for money and she tells them that she will not give them any money but if they are hungry she will treat them to a meal, and she's taken a few homeless people to lunch within walking distance of the store. She treated a homeless man to lunch one time that she said, that he was so drunk or on drugs that he could hardly walk, she had to hold on to him while they were walking. One of the ones that I witness was in the grocery store, I was in line behind my wife at the checkout counter and an older lady was paying for her groceries and she didn't have enough money, so she started eliminating some items so she could have enough to pay for the rest, you could tell that she was probably on a fixed income and she looked so embarrassed and almost crying, my wife told the cashier to put everything thru and to just give my wife the bill. I do it too but not as often as my wife. Once an awhile I'll pay for the person's order behind me at a drive thru coffee shop or fast food restaurant.

[M5Rick]

Over here we have an organisation called the Salvation Army that runs on donations and looks after the worst affected by poverty. Ourselves we donate through our local church and take long life food when they set up a food bank.