Good Deed

[Lady Hobbs]

Yesterday I was driving thru town and saw a lady holding up a sign "Need work desperately or need donation for my family." Husband was across the street holding up same sign. We never see that here altho I saw it all the time in Florida. I stopped and gave the lady $10. I felt very badly for them. They were clean, well cared for and you could see they weren't dope addicts but just down on their luck. She thanked me profusely but seemed very embarrassed. Standing there like that must have come from desperation.

I called my son, who has a home construction business, and asked him if he could find something for this man to do for a few days. He said if the guy is there this morning, he will stop and see if he wants some construction clean-up work for a week.

I felt rather decent about myself afterwards.

Have you any good deeds you wish to share?

[Wild Turkey]

Thats very decent of you hobbsy :22:

Common courtesy goes a long way but I dont see much of it anymore, especially in the city. Hold the door for someone, say hello and offer a a quick hand to someone who needs it.


When all that snow came through a lot of people including myself were pushing stuck motorists out all day for a few days, that was nice to see; and there was even something on the local news to that effect. Seemed like everyone forgot their differences and pulled together as soon as a real challenge was infront of them. thumbs2:

[Aeonflame]

That is sad, and the truth is sometimes people get the short end of the stick in life. If we cant look out for them, then what kind of world are we living in? Good on ya LH.

A couple months ago I found a wallet with a few hundred dollars in it. no ID or anything which was weird, but there were photos of some kids and other people. I have to admit the little devil on my shoulder was thinking "new tank" but I dug some more and found a well used business card. When I called the number, I explained that I found an old wallet and asked if anyone there could help to identify the owner from the photos in it. Almost immediately the person I was speaking to said that her father had lost his wallet in the same area that I found it. Apparently, he doesnt drive anymore and doesnt keep any ID in it. The woman and her father came over to my workplace later that day and showed me themselves in one of the photos. They offered me a reward but I wouldnt have felt right taking it.

Oh, and the man liked my wallet chain. lol

All's well that ends well.

[HeatherH]

I've done two similar things.

Fiance and I went to Carbondale one day,there was a "homeless person" in the middle of the busy 4 way which I have never seen before in my life(I don't care who you are-your first initial sighting of a homeless person is shocking and very sad),holding up a sign that said "DOWN ON MY LUCK" I only had $8 in my pocket,couldn't stop initially so had to go down the hwy abit,turn around and go back through. Gave him what I had,told him I hope it gets better for him and he was so embarrassed. Poor guy.

I was working one night and rounded the corner,there was $150 in a wad in the floor. Man,I wanted to keep it but my guts ate at me,so I announced "everyone please check your pockets,if you are missing anything,please identify and claim". Sure enough,a gal I worked with who had 5 kids dropped it and offered me $10 just for being honest. I said no,go buy your kids something and say it was from me. If no one claimed it,I was going to keep it. :hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

You people are so awesome. You just never know sometimes how much it can mean to another to show your honesty and geneousity. Kudo's to all of you for being such great human beings!

[Zilla]

I didn't smack a high pressure car sales person over the head yesterday like I wanted to. Could this be considered a good deed? LOL

While having our car in the shop for a censor issue, it was discovered that the frame was rotting in various places so we had to find something else.

The first guy was decent.

Second guy was a tyrant

Third guy was a charm. He actually listened to what we wanted and how much we could spend and we left with a vehicle that is safe to drive.

I called the first guy back this morning and told him I'd send business his way.

The tyrant called this morning and I was quick inform him that we were all set and don't need anymore phonecalls thankyouverymuch. If he hadn't been such a jerk and we didn't find anything, we probably would have gone back, but since he refused to listen and insisted that we spend $6,000 more than we wanted, oh well. Because of how we were treated, I won't send people to them.

Other than the lack of smacking which IMO was more than deserved, I hold doors open for people, treat cashiers with respect and kindess, ect...

[j0hnh0lmes]

Yesterday I was driving thru town and saw a lady holding up a sign "Need work desperately or need donation for my family." Husband was across the street holding up same sign. We never see that here altho I saw it all the time in Florida. I stopped and gave the lady $10. I felt very badly for them. They were clean, well cared for and you could see they weren't dope addicts but just down on their luck. She thanked me profusely but seemed very embarrassed. Standing there like that must have come from desperation.



There is a guy that "stays" in my area and always holds a sign like that. When I catch him I'll have him clean up my yard for a few bucks, and if I don't have anything for him to do I'll still give him a few bucks. The first time I saw him & tried to give him a few bucks he refused & hold me he'll only take money if I have some work for him.

[BirdOfPray]

I pretty regularly pass a homeless guy or two on my way home from the store where I buy my produce. I buy our fruit pretty cheap, so if I can I try to get a little more than we "need" and if I get an opportunity I offer them an orange or whatever fruit I bought. It's not much, but I figure at least it's good healthy food and it's something they can eat where they are to help them get through the day.

Overall I'm not comfortable giving money to people I know nothing about, because some are legitimately in need and others aren't... and I only have so much money to give. We have a handful of non-profits that we support with monthly checks and extra gifts annually as we can afford, and those are organizations we trust to look into and meet real needs since we can't personally screen every person we run across.

One thing I've been doing since I was in college has been to sponsor a child through Compassion International. She lives in Ecuador with her mother and several siblings, and the Compassion project in her city provides for her education, clothing, supplemental food, etc. Part of the sponsorship program is sending money, and another big part is writing letters back and forth. I started sponsoring her when she was 5, and she'll be 12 in August. She'll be able to stay in the program through high school, and they ask some of their graduates to continue through a program that helps them through college. I don't know if she'll be invited to that, and if she does I don't know if I'll be able to afford it or if she'll have to have a different sponsor, but someday my dream is to be able to support a student through the college program. (And whatever the case, I can ask them to give her my address/contact information when she graduates and we can continue to keep in touch if she chooses).

Another of my favorites that we support is a boys' summer camp. They focus on keeping things simple and low-cost, and I think they run at less than half the cost of most summer camps around here. They also have a big scholarship program for those who still can't afford to go, and they work with some programs in inner-city Austin and Houston to find some of their scholarship campers. They keep camper-to-counselor ratios really low, and they have men and older teenaged boys working with the younger boys as a way to help show them what it means to be a man -- since many of their scholarship campers are coming from backgrounds where their fathers are absent or might as well be. My dad and brothers have been involved there for years, and my mom and I used to volunteer in the kitchen a lot (she still does; I'm kind of tied down lately with the kiddo). Having seen it in operation for years and known the current directors for most of my life, I really think it's a terrific place.

Those are my two pet charities; my husband has his two as well and we support all four as best we can. Other than those, I try to be generally polite and thoughtful. On Monday I gave away an extra coupon I had to a lady in the fabric store -- it might have saved me $.50 or so, but at least several dollars' worth for her. And I was raised to bake cookies for new neighbors and take meals to new mothers, so I try to do those when I get the chance.

[Little Embers]

:19: Well done Lady Hobbs and all of you! :22:

I believe good deeds are done by many people, just as often as the bad ones. We just don't hear about them, not as news worthy!

I also have done similar acts of kindness when I could, as those mentioned by the great people here (I'm sure most of us have at some point), but there are two that I will never forget which involve animals....summarising to keep it short; many years ago, while walking through a park near a stormwater drain, I noticed a tied bag that appeared to be moving in the drain, I went down and getting closer, I could here soft meowing sounds (you guessed it, someone had callously put a kitten in a bag and thrown it into the drain), so I quickly opened the bag and took the kitten to the Vets that was actually on the other side of the park. Luckily there wasn't much water in the drain at the time. I paid the Vet. bill. The kitten was later adopted by one the vet. nurses, which was great news.

2nd occasion, again while walking (this time at night), I came upon a dog in the gutter, he had obviously been hit by a car and left for dead. I carried him home and rang the RSPCA. Sadly he didn't make it. In this instance, the Veterinarian foregoes the bill....very kind of him I thought.

I know these days, we seem to prefer to isolate ourselves and our first reaction is to think....How it will affect me! natural reaction whatever the situation, we can also become very cynical when we see/hear all the horrible/callous things happening to people and animals in the world every day and may think...why bother! or...someone else will help them! But I try (emphasis on try, as it is hard to do sometimes) to live by one of the profound quotes by Anne Frank, which seems relevant to this thread.... "It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."

Another quote of hers, which I prefer to live by, is... "I want friends, not admirers. People who respect me for my character and my deeds, not my flattering smile. The circle around me would be much smaller, but what does that matter, as long as they're sincere?"

[jackson17]

2 This week actually, same day.

On my way home, old man was struggling changing a tire while a cop was down the road trying to catch speeders, so I helped the man.

Then, some of you may have heard about the storm that has hit the north east, well it DESTROYED our beach. Walk-ways gone, neighbors house is 10 feet from going into the Long island Sound. (I'll get picture's tmrw hopefully). Anyway, some little kids dog was stuck on the beach so I had to carry up this 60 pound 10 year old black lab.

Little boy was very happy

[rothenb1]

Good deeds are really nice to hear about, on the news its nothing but bad things :(

Today when I got home from classes I saw my elderly downstairs neighbor struggling to take her little cart-thing up the stairs, so I carried it up for her. A couple weeks ago I was downtown paying my incredibly late electric bill and passed a homeless man, but rather than giving him money (because sometimes they spend it on booze) I went and got him a sandwich :)

Then there's also little things like holding doors, saying good morning/evening to cashiers, picking up something that someone dropped, that I do on a daily basis. I worked in a restaurant for years and now that I'm in retail I am always SUPER nice to cashiers and always give big tips to waitresses/waiters, because I know exactly how it feels to deal with mean people and poor tippers.

[Mith]

I'm done doing good deeds. The last one cost me upwards of $10,000. Screw them.

[MCHRKiller]

Good deeds of recent, well lets see....today I bought my SO a new laptop because the old one RIP was a flaming POS that literally fell apart from just normal use(never buy a refurbished dell). Other than that one of my students was at the gas station a few days ago while I was there, her card kept saying declined on the pump. It was a debit card so I know it wasnt just a screwy card like she tried to play it off as, she just didnt have the money to pay for her gas. So I paid for it for her, she has been doing a few odds and ends for me at work for payback. Girl comes from a rough family, is 17 and works 2 part time jobs trying to help out and is trying to finish high school. Knowing her history it wasnt worth loosing the 25bucks to have a strike against her drivers license because she couldnt pay for her gasoline, and its not like her family would have been any help.

But really Im not one to give out money to people I dont know, because I do know the stats of how that usually goes. Instead I will get a person in need some food, atleast I know that will do them some good. I also declutter my life quite frequently and donate the clothes and various items I havent used in awhile to our local domestic violence shelter. To me these things are just basic consideration of another human, not necessarily a good dead. I guess to me its a simple act of keeping good karma :22:

[Aeonflame]

That was a nice thing you did there Jenn

[BirdOfPray]

worked in a restaurant for years and now that I'm in retail I am always SUPER nice to cashiers and always give big tips to waitresses/waiters, because I know exactly how it feels to deal with mean people and poor tippers.

I've never worked in retail or food service, but I do think those folks often get treated poorly. I make a point of going to the grocery store at the same time every week so that I see mostly the same employees, which means I can ask them how they're doing and about their families and all that and actually remember what they tell me. I try to make a point of being friendly, patient with any delays, and genuinely interested in how they're doing. Hopefully it's a bit of a bright spot in the day.

As for restaurant servers, we don't go out to eat often at all but when we do we like to tip really well. If the service is terrible we'll stick with a 15-20% tip, but if they do at least a decent job we tip more. I figure if we can afford to eat out, we can afford to tip generously, and chances are the money will matter more to them than it does to us.

[Lady Hobbs]

Mith, in your line of work, you are doing good deeds constantly. Letting someone off with a warning and not a ticket, is a good deed and I know you do much more. Being a total smuck is not the same thing! LOL

I think one of the above posters hit it on the head. We do good deeds all the time in our daily lives and most people do. But we see so many idiots around that have no respect for anyone and are so useless that we tend to not think of the other 85% that are real people!

I'd like to see that 15% put in the Job Corp so they have to do something for others.

[Rue]

Nice to see all the good deeds!thumbs2:

I haven't done any lately...:help:

I do let cars go ahead of me in traffic...but I think that most of them don't notice or just chalk it up to what they perceive to be their own superior driving skills...:hmm3grin2orange:

But I get a kick when they do acknowledge it and wave back to me...

[sunfishman]

"do a good turn daily".... lord Baden-Powell really was on to something there. if everyone was as good as most of the people on here, the streets would be a lot safer and the economy and security wouldnt be @#$%&^%$&#$ at all.

[octoxpuss]

My good dead was that helping a blind man out. He was there with his wife and she just sent him into the bathroom without any seeing man. So i had to guide him to the stall and then when he finished i guided him to the sink. I wouldnt let him touch me tho after he went in the stall. Then he washed his hads (pumped the soap on them) then i led him out of the bathroom and back to his wife. they were very very nice. I was glad i got to meat them.

[Sarkazmo]

I'm done doing good deeds. The last one cost me upwards of $10,000. Screw them.

Gotta hear this one, Mith!

Sark

[Mith]

Mith, in your line of work, you are doing good deeds constantly. Letting someone off with a warning and not a ticket, is a good deed and I know you do much more. Being a total smuck is not the same thing! LOL




At work, I seldom write tickets anymore... UNLESS they argue with me. Then I slam them. If I give you a ticket, you DESERVE it...LOL... trust me.

[Mith]

Gotta hear this one, Mith!

Sark


Long story short. I helped a lady with her mortgage... food... money for necessities. I quit helping her for a while.

Later (about a year) I found she was homeless... lost her home etc... I took her AND her property in (that was in storage at the time).

Kept her for 6 months then decided she was LAZY and SELF-CENTERED! I couldn't get her to take out the freek'n trash and I was feeding her and never charged her a DIME!

She complained about her hair touching her shoulders. I gave her money for a hair cut... SHE ALSO HAD IT DYED!

I gave her money to have an infected hangnail cut out... SHE HAD HER TOES PAINTED!

See.... I finally threw her out... and by throw her out, I mean packed all her stuff in a 25' moving van and delivered her and her stuff to Monteray Bay!


When her brother (hell's angel.... as was her father)... saw the truck... HE CHIT!!! LOL

She never thanked me...


I did it for two reasons. One, possible girlfriend (never kissed her other than how you'd kiss your mother)

The second reason is that I'm Christian and never tithe. So I figured it was a good thing to do for someone.

[Lady Hobbs]

We have those out there that need a bit of a helping hand but gez, Mith, ya don't take them home with ya. LOL You did a nice thing for this lady (????) but she was a user BIG TIME.

[lowlight]

I do whats right the best I can, I am 43 and still say yes sir/mam and hold doors open for others. I even remove my hat when indoors. I can look at myself in the mirror and like what I see, I sleep good at night with a clear conscience and that is why I open the door remove my hat and say "have a nice day".

[Mith]

We have those out there that need a bit of a helping hand but gez, Mith, ya don't take them home with ya. LOL You did a nice thing for this lady (????) but she was a user BIG TIME.

Ya....wish I'd have known that prior to me helping her. Oh well....regardless of her, I figure I tried to help someone. Hopefully never again.

[BirdOfPray]

The second reason is that I'm Christian and never tithe. So I figured it was a good thing to do for someone.

You know, Mith, it could be a lot cheaper and less stressful just to tithe than to take in lazy, self-centered deadbeats. ;)

[HomaridNoob6]

See.... I finally threw her out... and by throw her out, I mean packed all her stuff in a 25' moving van and delivered her and her stuff to Monteray Bay!


When her brother (hell's angel.... as was her father)... saw the truck... HE CHIT!!! LOL

She never thanked me...


I did it for two reasons. One, possible girlfriend (never kissed her other than how you'd kiss your mother)

The second reason is that I'm Christian and never tithe. So I figured it was a good thing to do for someone.

So were you trying to pawn her off onto me or my old roommate in the bay area? Cause more than one person like that came through my old roommates, and I am pretty sure they came straight outta the bay, as did their belongings. You aren't the first to do that Mith!

My good deed, well, lets just say I try. I'll help someone if they are truly in need. I'm leaving it at that before I type another five paragraphs.

[Mith]

You know, Mith, it could be a lot cheaper and less stressful just to tithe than to take in lazy, self-centered deadbeats. ;)


I don't really trust churches....I prefer to KNOW where my charity goes.

[Sarkazmo]

No good deed goes unpunished :P

Sark