FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Awesome People

   
Author Topic: Awesome People
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
I was telling my girlfriend this story from my youth today:

When I was 8 or 9, two of my neighbors and I decided it would be a killer idea to open a lemonade stand. After all, the money could go to candy or, if we were REALLY successful, Magic cards :roll:.

We had a lemon tree growing our backyard, and my mom sent me out to pick everything ripe off the sucker. She spent a good 5 hours cranking out lemonade; the end result was two enormous coolers full of the stuff, along with a pitcher and a stack of 50 paper cups. Our plan was 25 cents a cup.

Our plan hadn't factored in that we lived in a cul de sac. The street our street intersected ALSO ended in a cul de sac. We were also in a suburban area away from any major streets, in the tiny little hellhole I remember as Makakilo (anyone from Oahu will be able to tell you that Makakilo has NOTHING IN IT. No one drives through there, ever).

Long story short, we sat on the sidewalk for a good two hours doing nothing but drinking our own lemonade and throwing sticks and leaves at each other. We had a blast, but didn't make a dime and were starting to feel pretty salty about it. With no foot traffic, our prospects were pretty dim.

There was, however, a single construction worker building an addition to the house across the street. We were ignoring him until he said, loudly, "BOY is it hot out here! I SURE WISH I had SOMEthing to DRINK!"

He didn't even glance at us, just kept working in the hot sun. My neighbors and I sat there, until they decided to pick up the pitcher and a cup and walk over.

They got about halfway before hiding behind a car instead.

Now, Mr. Construction must have noticed this, because he spoke again: "Man, in all this hot weather, I SURE COULD USE SOME LEMONADE."

My neighbors didn't move. Construction workers - nay, adults, period - are scary! Finally the construction worker wanders past the car and turns, pretending to be surprised. "Holy cow, kids! With lemonade! Are you guys...SELLING IT by chance?"

My neighbors just stared at him. Finally I shouted from across the street, "Yeah, just take some, it's free."

"Oh, now, that's no way to do business." The construction worker unlocks the car my neighbors were hiding behind, rummages, and produces a five dollar bill. We give the poor guy his lemonade (and a "free" refill), and he goes back to work without comment.

My neighbors and I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking we were the coolest thing since Boyz II Men.


...


Anyone else have a noteworthy encounter with an awesome human being? It doesn't have to be something spectacular ("my UPS guy saved my marriage!"), just an instance where someone went out of their way to be kind to you for no reason at all.

Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ClaudiaTherese
Member
Member # 923

 - posted      Profile for ClaudiaTherese           Edit/Delete Post 
That's an awesome story, erosomniac.

The first that comes to mind (out of so many) is when I had car trouble on the Interstate when I was back in college. (I-65 coming up from Birmingham to Indiana) A trucker stopped immediately, a good distance behind me. He stayed back and asked what the trouble was, figured out it was safe to drive for a short bit, and then followed me along the Interstate to a gas station about 7 miles away. The he just left with a wave.

What a nice guy.

So many stories of wonderful strangers. How cool that you remember yours so many years later, so vividly!

Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
The first that comes to mind (out of so many) is when I had car trouble on the Interstate when I was back in college. (I-65 coming up from Birmingham to Indiana) A trucker stopped immediately, a good distance behind me. He stayed back and asked what the trouble was, figured out it was safe to drive for a short bit, and then followed me along the Interstate to a gas station about 7 miles away. The he just left with a wave.
That's pretty awesome. I like how he stayed distant from you, too, so you wouldn't feel threatened or insecure about his presence. THAT'S consideration.

quote:
How cool that you remember yours so many years later, so vividly!
I'm sure I'm paraphrasing a bit, but I try to remember stories of the awesome. They keep you warm on cold, gray Seattle days.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katdog42
Member
Member # 4773

 - posted      Profile for katdog42   Email katdog42         Edit/Delete Post 
When I was in college, I lived with my older sister during the summers and took a part time job. Usually, my sister made supper so that when I got home (about 8:00) I would have something to eat. On this night, my sister was out of town. I had an inservice at work that night and knew that there was no way that I could get home, cook supper (we didn't keep much snack food or stuff that could be made quickly), and get back to work in time. I rarely ate fast food, but that night I decided it was probably my only option. I stopped at the local Dairy Queen. I knew that in my home town you could buy a "snack pack" of chicken strips without having to buy a whole chicken strip basket. I went into this DQ and ordered it. They said they didn't sell the strips that way. Besides, the man said, why would I want to do that anyway. I held out the handful of change that I had managed to scrounge together from my car. "I don't have enough for the basket," I said.

I said I would just take a hamburger and a drink and be on my way. The man looked at me with a little grin. A few moments later he returned with the chicken strip basket. "One hamburger," he said and took the money that I had for my order. I then watched as he pulled out a couple of extra dollars from his own pocket.

It wasn't much of a gesture, but for a poor college kid, it seemed like something huge. Random acts of kindness do exist. Sometimes, people are just like that.

Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
imogen
Member
Member # 5485

 - posted      Profile for imogen   Email imogen         Edit/Delete Post 
My mother-in-law tells the story of her great-aunt, who used to drive a little mini which was prone to breaking down.

It did so one day on a country road - the great aunt in question was at least in her seventies at this stage, and a tiny little woman.

The way the story is told, she was standing by her car on the side of the road when a bikie gang drove by, all on Harley Davidsons. One of the bikers stopped by her, and she was scared out of her mind - she was sure she was going to be murdered and left by the roadside.

The biker got her car started again, and then the whole gang gave her an escort to the nearest town. So she drove in, in her little car, surrounded by big blokes on motor bikes. [Smile]

Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
"One hamburger," he said and took the money that I had for my order.
[ROFL] It's like something out of a movie. The execution makes these stories so much more memorable.

I often think it would be great if we could track down the random-acters and repay them somehow. I used to have dreams about going back, to the nice lunch ladies who noticed and remembered that you don't like peas and carrots and gave you corn instead and the postal workers who knocked on your door and asked if you had any outgoing mail before driving away, and being able to pay the college tuitions of all their kids and grandkids.

Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Boon
unregistered


 - posted            Edit/Delete Post 
Once, when I was pregnant with Daniel, I took some of the children I babysat on an outing.

Now, to properly understand this story, you have to understand that I was about 7 months along, so definitely showing, and this was in early December. Also, the children I had with me were two 6 year old girls and a 4 year old boy with spina bifida (wheelchair bound). I had kicked my scum ex-husband out and was babysitting because I needed the money, badly...these particular children because I loved them. [Smile]

So, we went to the mall, among other stops that day, and the children asked for frozen yogurt. They all got small treats from one of the attendants, and I was counting my change to pay for our order when the other of the two attendants told me that our order had already been paid for, with change to spare. He handed me over $90.00!

Speechless, I asked how that could be. He said that a man who came to the counter right after me (I hadn't even noticed him) had paid for his order and mine with a $100 bill and told him to give me the change. Then he disappeared into the crowd.

I never even noticed him, but I'd like to think the universe repaid him for his kindness that day.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tatiana
Member
Member # 6776

 - posted      Profile for Tatiana   Email Tatiana         Edit/Delete Post 
I don't have a story like this to tell, but the guy who works in the cubicle across from mine is one of those awesome people. His own children are grown, but he and his wife adopted two crack babies, and are raising them. Their sons are now 10 and 12. On his vacations he works with his church building houses for people who badly need them in Mexico and Guatemala. He's one of those people you can just feel his kindness radiating to everyone around him. I'm really lucky to be working with such wonderful people like him.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Demonstrocity
Member
Member # 9579

 - posted      Profile for Demonstrocity   Email Demonstrocity         Edit/Delete Post 
Bump, in the hopes there are more awesome people in the world.
Posts: 246 | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ketchupqueen
Member
Member # 6877

 - posted      Profile for ketchupqueen   Email ketchupqueen         Edit/Delete Post 
I could say wonderful things about the people on Hatrack in particular-- but I won't, because I respect their privacy. However, if you care to wade through my posts of the last year, you'll discover wonderful things several of them have done for us.

Other people are awesome, too. Emma, Bridget and I rode the bus downtown to meet someone from Nauvoo last month (I think it was last month! I lose track.) A young man, probably about 16 years old, quietly and with a smile helped me get the huge double stroller comfortably into the back of the bus, patiently picked up Emma's sippy cup all five times she threw it, and without a word helped me get everything off and held the door for me at my stop. "Thank you" felt inadequate, but I was so hassled it was all I could think to say at the time. I wish I had had a chance to talk to him more.

Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
B34N
Member
Member # 9597

 - posted      Profile for B34N   Email B34N         Edit/Delete Post 
My boss is like that, he is forever helping people out and pawning me out to friends for cheap rates knowing he won't make a dime on the projects.

I also have a friend who told me about this guy in Seattle who takes underprivledged kids in and gives them work so they can get a good start while they are finishing up high school or going to college.

Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Kasie H
Member
Member # 2120

 - posted      Profile for Kasie H   Email Kasie H         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
pawning me out to friends for cheap rates
I'm not going to lie, this sentence confuses me.

...your boss isn't a pimp, is he?

Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lisa
Member
Member # 8384

 - posted      Profile for Lisa   Email Lisa         Edit/Delete Post 
I assume that B34N runs a consulting firm. So in a sense, the answer to your question would probably be "Yes, he is."

(I just never thought about it that way before.)

Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
OSTY
Member
Member # 1480

 - posted      Profile for OSTY   Email OSTY         Edit/Delete Post 
When I was in college, I ran out of gas and cash while on a road trip. Needless to say no one would take an out of state check and I kept driving and trying the next gas station until I finally ran out of gas on the side of the road about five miles from a town. I spent the night in my car since I did not want to hike to the gas station in the dark. So I feel asleep, not sure how with all the semis zooming past. I woke up in the morning with the sunrise and there on the hood of my car was a can of gas. In a way it kind of scares me that someone could put it on there with out me hearing them, but the sounds of all the trucks and stuff probably masked the sound but it was so amazing just to have someone do that out of the blue. I was enought gas to get me back into my own state where I could write a check for gas.
Posts: 224 | Registered: Jan 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Noemon
Member
Member # 1115

 - posted      Profile for Noemon   Email Noemon         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
I don't have a story like this to tell

Anne Kate, you've been a key part of stories like this. I remember the deal with the books (although not well enough to relate it, I'm afraid. Do you know what I'm talking about? I think that a flyer or something for a youth literacy program blew into you, and you just You're one of those people. funded the thing, or something amazing like that). I know the story of how Drive By came to be your cat. I've witnessed you defending people you perceived as needing defending, and even when I've disagreed with you about whether or not they did, I've respected your convictions and your adherence to them. The thread title applies.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
MyrddinFyre
Member
Member # 2576

 - posted      Profile for MyrddinFyre           Edit/Delete Post 
I missed this thread the first time around, with the whole end-of-semester thing. I love it!
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
B34N
Member
Member # 9597

 - posted      Profile for B34N   Email B34N         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Kasie H:
quote:
pawning me out to friends for cheap rates
I'm not going to lie, this sentence confuses me.

...your boss isn't a pimp, is he?

LOL, [ROFL] why you lookin'to purchase the goods?

No, design firm, it was a figure of speech. I knew it would get taken in a couple of different ways so I went with it. But no I do no pimpin and as far as I know neither does my boss, but what he does on his own time is his own business.

Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Squish
Member
Member # 9191

 - posted      Profile for Squish           Edit/Delete Post 
Last week I was running for a bus and missed it. Nearly got hit by a car making a right turn, too. And by just missed, I mean I was almost to the door and the man getting off tried to flag the driver but failed. This sweet couple from across the street pull up and ask me if I was trying to catch that bus. They drive me to where it had stopped next and the same thing happened. The woman getting off was unable to flag the driver for me. So here they come again, driving me until I was able to get on the bus. It was really nice of them, I think.
Posts: 168 | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
B34N
Member
Member # 9597

 - posted      Profile for B34N   Email B34N         Edit/Delete Post 
That's a really cool story! People can be really nice sometimes.
Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Dragon
Member
Member # 3670

 - posted      Profile for Dragon   Email Dragon         Edit/Delete Post 
I ran into an Awesome Person this summer, several actually. I was driving to Boston for a concert with a friend (in my mom's car) when a guy in the next lane rolled down his window and pointed at us, mouthing the word "tire". Needless to say, we pulled over into the breakdown lane, and I had my friend get out and check the tires. I had noticed an odd sound for a few minutes beforehand, and was almost ready to ask if he heard it too when the guy pointed, so I wasn't surprised when my friend came back to report that my rear passenger-side tire was going flat. Luckily the next exit wasn't far, because by the time we got there the tire was very flat, and also luckily, there was a gas station within sight of the ramp. So I pulled in, and drove over to the air pumping station, put in my quarters and started pumping up my tire. My mistake however, was in using the pressure gauge on the air pump instead of looking around in my mom's car for a gauge because the one I used was horribly inaccurate. Anyway, the tire popped and I was left staring at it and wondering how hard it could be to change a tire. [Razz]

Neither I nor my friend (who lives in Montreal, so he doesn't even drive) had ever changed a tire, but I knew it involved a tire jack, and rummaged around in the back of my mom's car to find one. That was the easy part. I called another friend to try to get him to walk me through it, but it wasn't working so well, and I knew when I tried to get the spare tire off the back of the car by just pulling on it (and failed miserably obviously) that I was basically screwed. This is when Awesome Person number two comes in. There was a cop getting gas over at the pumps, and my friend tried to flag him down and get him to come over and help us out, but he drove away without noticing and we were pretty depressed. Then a car pulled up next to us and a man got out to ask us if we needed any help.
Yes. Yes we do. Thank you!

This man walked us through every step of changing the tire, was friendly the whole time, giving us all the little tricks and pointers we needed to make us pros. He must have been there at least 20 minutes just helping us change the tire, making sure we were all set to get back on the highway, and then going back to whatever he was doing before. I don't even know why he was there, but thanks to him we even made the concert on time!

Posts: 3420 | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
quidscribis
Member
Member # 5124

 - posted      Profile for quidscribis   Email quidscribis         Edit/Delete Post 
I love awesome people. [Smile]
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Ryuko
Member
Member # 5125

 - posted      Profile for Ryuko   Email Ryuko         Edit/Delete Post 
When I was desperately trying to save money and gas prices were going up (or so I thought) last summer, I was on my way back from a very late work shift (this was about midnight-ish) I suddenly realized that I was running out of gas. I knew there was a gas station that had pay-at-the-pump a couple of miles down the road at the next exit, so I took it and tried my best to limp down the road to get it. But unfortunately, I didn't manage to make it.

My car just plain died, in the middle of a lane. So I did the only thing I could have done in the situation... Holding my car door open so I could run forward and steer it after I got some momentum from the pushing. I'm sure I looked both ridiculous and pathetic.

I had managed to move probably twenty yards before someone stopped and offered to help me. He was driving an SUV with a Dora the Explorer backpack in the back. A jogger across the street came and helped us push/steer the car into a parking lot, and then the man drove me to a gas station, where they gave me a gas can to use, and then he drove me back to my car.

I was refreshed by the fact that these people were going so out of their way to help me, even though I had been wrecked due to my own stupidity. I was protected by something then, because it was not a very good neighborhood that I ended up in. (Not a BAD one by any means, but still...) My mom had a flip-out when she heard.

Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Shigosei
Member
Member # 3831

 - posted      Profile for Shigosei   Email Shigosei         Edit/Delete Post 
I met an Awesome Irish Person when I was on my trip. A group of my friends and I were in downtown Dublin. We'd stayed out past the last regular bus and were looking around for the night busses so we could get back to the college campus where we were staying. A guy came up to us and told us that it would be cheaper for us to take a cab and split the fare rather than all pay the night bus fare. He then proceeded to flag down the cabs for us until we'd all found one. Nice guy, helping a bunch of confused American college students [Smile]
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
vonk
Member
Member # 9027

 - posted      Profile for vonk   Email vonk         Edit/Delete Post 
I remember one day when I was in high school picking up a friend from his house. We were leaving his neighborhood and I wasn't paying much attention to the road, so I didn't see the car stop in front of me. When I did see it I had to slam on the brakes and went flying into the ditch on the side of the road. Immediately two guys with killer mullets jumped out of truck behing me and ran up. Without saying a word they walk to the front of the car and procede to lift it up. This, in and of itself, was pretty amazing to me. So they pick up the front of the car and point backwards and I put it into reverse and step on it, spraying the two kind men from head to toe with mud. But the car shot right out of the mud, narrowly missing another driver, and I was free. Before I can roll the window down or get out of the car the two guys jump back in their truck and drive away. I didn't even get to say "thanks" to them. But I've tried to pay it forward, so hopefully it came back to them.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
El JT de Spang
Member
Member # 7742

 - posted      Profile for El JT de Spang   Email El JT de Spang         Edit/Delete Post 
I've been on both ends of the A.P. spectrum, but since tooting one's own hour isn't A.P. behavior, I'll share a few of the stories that have happened to me.

Story 1:
Senior year of college, one of my friends' parents' bought a huge late-70s diesel station wagon for 400 bucks at an auction and donated it to him (and, by extension, us). We fixed it up (being all manner of engineers) and used it as a roadtripping vehicle, since it sat 9 football players comfortably.

When it came time to go to Spring Break, we decided to fly out of Salt Lake (since flying out of Montana added about $300 bucks to the price, and gas split 9 ways was neglegible). At 5am on a Friday. Because we were seniors, several of the guys had labs late Thursday that they couldn't skip. So we departed at midnight, and drove south through Idaho.

Around 3 am, we started to have some overheating problems. We'd pull off, poke around under the hood until it cooled down, and set off again. Soon, about 30 miles from the nearest town we pulled over for good, or until we diagnosed and fixed the problem.

Now, you'd think with 8 engineers in the car this would be fairly simple, but 5 of us were drunk, I had some sort of stomach virus, and only two of us had any practical engine knowledge.

After 20 minutes of stomping around (in shorts, at 3 am in Idaho), an old-timer in an ancient Dodge car pulled over. He got out, wearing a jumpsuit, and came over to help us. He diagnosed, correctly, that the thermostat was stuck (even though it'd been replaced two weeks prior). He pulled out some tools and worked some frontier magic to jam it open, said that we didn't have to worry about it overheating at this time of year, and sent us on our way. Where we barely caught our plane to spring break. By 'barely', I mean sprinting through the airport.

We thanked him, but never did get his name. And we didn't have any further problems with the thermostat (though we did have a ton of problems with the car, including an analgous situation on the return trip which yours truly fixed).

Story 2:
When I lived in Colorado, we used to occasionally hitchhike to work. Work was 18 miles away down a long mountain highway. My roommate worked only about 3 miles away, and he either hitched or walked about half of the time. I only hitched once every few weeks, when someone else needed my car.

So, one morning I start walking down the highway at about 7am. Backwards. I get nearly 3 miles down the road (at which point I've been passed by at least a hundred cars going my direction) about 45 minutes later when a car passes me, goes over the next ridge, and turns around to come back and pick me up.

It's a middle-aged couple, and they'd come back for me because they said I reminded me of their son, or nephew, or some such. I got the feeling that the wife wanted to pick me up, but had to convince the husband to. Anyway, they dropped me at the doorstep of the ski shop I worked in, and drove off. We had a nice chat, but the cool thing is that I was just at the point where I was thinking I might have to walk the entire 18 miles.

I was, and remain, impressed by people who commit random acts of kindness. Especially the kind that no one ever finds out about, the kind that help out total strangers when it's not at all beneficial for them to do so. And I actually have about a half dozen other Colorado stories that are similar to this one. Mountain people are very big on watching each other's back. Which makes sense.

Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
B34N
Member
Member # 9597

 - posted      Profile for B34N   Email B34N         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Shigosei:
I met an Awesome Irish Person when I was on my trip. A group of my friends and I were in downtown Dublin. We'd stayed out past the last regular bus and were looking around for the night busses so we could get back to the college campus where we were staying. A guy came up to us and told us that it would be cheaper for us to take a cab and split the fare rather than all pay the night bus fare. He then proceeded to flag down the cabs for us until we'd all found one. Nice guy, helping a bunch of confused American college students [Smile]

hail to the irish
Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Seatarsprayan
Member
Member # 7634

 - posted      Profile for Seatarsprayan   Email Seatarsprayan         Edit/Delete Post 
When I was 12, my family was on vacation in our old beat-up Ford van, when it broke down in Red Bluff, CA. 113 degrees. We managed to make it to a park, and my father spent all day working on the engine, sending me and my brother to bike to Kmart for supplies.

A transient man, on his bike, collecting aluminum cans, stopped and spent several hours helping my dad work on the car. He never once asked for anything from us. 113 degrees. No shade.

Posts: 454 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Samprimary
Member
Member # 8561

 - posted      Profile for Samprimary   Email Samprimary         Edit/Delete Post 
My father, I suppose. He pretty much drilled good samaritanism (especially roadway samaritanism) into me since year one. He stops for all roadway crisis he sees. He's pulled perfectly clean vehicles into the neighborhood kids' semi-annual car wash. He would give me money and tell me to go buy loads of vegetables from our elderly neighbors' garden sales. He once chanced upon a ferret in the middle of a street -- just kind of sitting there -- and he picked it up and carried it home and distributed flyers everywhere trying to find its owner. After a month of having a totally hilarious pet in our house, the grieving pet owner (a 12 year old girl) was reuinited with "Shmikkey." And blah blah blah there's countless untold other events.

I see a billion billion super awesome things all of the time and I believe in the inherent awesomeness of many people. [Smile]

ersomniac: My house is on a cul-de-sac attached to a cul-de-sac. How bizarre.

Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lissande
Member
Member # 350

 - posted      Profile for Lissande   Email Lissande         Edit/Delete Post 
Seatarsprayan - Maybe he was waiting for you to offer?
Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
Today someone showed me Gives Me Hope, a social sharing site for inspiring anecdotes, a sharp contrast to the fmylife craze. Everyone should check it out, for a quick shot of happiness this Friday.

Some example stories:

"One of my classmates in high school had leukemia, and he was really depressed after his first round of chemo when he came to school with no hair. When they found out about it, all 70+ members of the varsity football team shaved their heads too. Their yearbook picture is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. GMH"

"A little girl was dying of cancer and her younger brother had a match for the bone marrow she needed. The doctors told him it was a matter of life and death. After he had the surgery, he asked the doctors how long he had to live. He thought if he gave his bone marrow to let his sister live he would die but he did it anyway. GMH "

"Every once in awhile I take an alternate path at school to 7th period. Every time I do, I always see the same freshman boy holding the door to the building open for the entire student body. I thank him every time. He GMH. "

"There is a homeless guy in our town that a coworker of mine at times buys food for. She lost her wallet one day with $400 cash. She went back to the Jack in the Box a few days later & the homeless guy ran up to her with her wallet, it had fallen out of her purse - all $400 remained. He GMH."

When I hear stories like this, I try to remember to be an Awesome Person in turn. I never remember for very long. I'm hoping today will mark the start of my remembering once a month, then once a week, then maybe eventually every day.

Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tatiana
Member
Member # 6776

 - posted      Profile for Tatiana   Email Tatiana         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
I don't have a story like this to tell

Anne Kate, you've been a key part of stories like this. I remember the deal with the books (although not well enough to relate it, I'm afraid. Do you know what I'm talking about? I think that a flyer or something for a youth literacy program blew into you, and you just You're one of those people. funded the thing, or something amazing like that). I know the story of how Drive By came to be your cat. I've witnessed you defending people you perceived as needing defending, and even when I've disagreed with you about whether or not they did, I've respected your convictions and your adherence to them. The thread title applies.
I don't think I saw this at the time, Jake. I appreciate your kindness.

I don't see myself as doing anything special, though. In general, I've gotten much more back in joy than ever I've given. You know what I mean? Drive By, for instance, was an absolutely spectacular cat, the most awesome cat I've ever known. I would have been much the poorer had I passed her by.

But it's very kind of you to say such a nice thing to me as you did, and I appreciate it. [Smile]

Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by erosomniac:
Today someone showed me Gives Me Hope, a social sharing site for inspiring anecdotes, a sharp contrast to the fmylife craze. Everyone should check it out, for a quick shot of happiness this Friday.

[Cool]
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Uprooted
Member
Member # 8353

 - posted      Profile for Uprooted   Email Uprooted         Edit/Delete Post 
I don't remember this thread at all. Glad you bumped it, I've enjoyed it. So now I feel compelled to add a story too:

Mine is from when I was a greenie, a brand new American Mormon sister missionary in Portugal. I was put on a train in Lisbon and traveled up to the north of Portugal to my first area. I managed to get off at the right train station. So there I was, alone with my heavy luggage (another new elder had gotten off the train with me at the same city as well, but he was too clueless and terrified to help me, just took off for the taxis to his own destination). Somehow I got myself to the taxicabs, clutching my destination address on a little slip of paper.

There I think I got the kindest man in the whole world as my cab driver. He tried to hold a conversation with me, told me how good my Portuguese was (believe me, it wasn't), and got me safely to my destination, an apartment where my companion was waiting for me. When we arrived, I didn't really get how to get inside or find the apartment, and I was deathly afraid of the intercom--surely some Portuguese speaker would be on the other end! That good man came out of the car with me, rang the doorbell for me and brought my bags in and didn't leave until he saw that I was safely introduced to my companion and that she would take care of me. I haven't thought of that in years, but he sure meant a lot to me on one of the scarier days in my life! I don't really remember, but I don't think his meter was running during the time while he was helping me, I think I'd already paid and tipped him and he was just being kind on his own time.

As long as I'm doing mission memories, there was also the time about a year after that, when I got off a bus in the middle of morning rush hour and collapsed in a heap on the road. I just landed wrong on my foot and sprained my ankle badly, and there was no way I could stand up to get out of the way of the crowd who were trying to get to work themselves. I'll never forget the man in the business suit, not much bigger than I was, who scooped me up in his arms and carried me over to someplace where I could sit out of the way of everyone else until a better solution was arrived at. I'm sure he must have missed his bus and been late to work as a result.

Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sarcasticmuppet
Member
Member # 5035

 - posted      Profile for sarcasticmuppet   Email sarcasticmuppet         Edit/Delete Post 
A few years ago I broke my leg right before finals week at BYU. I found myself with crutches I could barely use, a very painful leg that could get no weight whatsoever, and finals all over an expansive college campus. Plus, it was raining. I was slipping over the ramp out of the parking lot (fortunately, some roommates were able to get me that far) toward a building that seemed forever away, and a random guy helped me by carrying my backpack and walked me (at a crawl) to the classroom where my final was. Did I mention it was raining? I was 45 minutes late to the final, soaking wet and near tears. Both that guy and my professor who let me stay late and finish my final were Awesome People that day.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Miro
Member
Member # 1178

 - posted      Profile for Miro   Email Miro         Edit/Delete Post 
When I hiked part of the Appalachian Trail, up in Maine and New Hampshire, I often hitchhiked into and out of towns to resupply my food. I met many kind people that way, some of whom insisted on taking me to my exact destination, even though it was out of their way and I only asked to be taken as far as they were going. Once, a man parked by the side of a road that crossed the Trail and set up shop, offering cold drinks, fruit, and sandwiches to any hikers that came by.

In six grade, I started taking the city bus to school. There were two elderly women I would often see on the bus in the morning and got to exchanging hellos with, though we never really had a conversation. Several times over the course of that year, I almost missed my stop because I was so engrossed in whatever book I was reading or, on one occasion, because I had fallen asleep. Each time, one of the ladies tapped me on the shoulder and said something along the lines of, "Isn't this your stop?"

When I was stationed in the Persian Gulf, my captain's mother organized a huge care package including hand-made (by her) stockings for everyone on our boat for Christmas.

Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Belle
Member
Member # 2314

 - posted      Profile for Belle   Email Belle         Edit/Delete Post 
This didn't happen directly to me, but to my mom, yet I've heard the story so many times from her I can easily recall every detail.

She was a single mom with two small children (my brother and I) under the age of five. She had put all our Christmas presents on layaway and waited until her check on the 23rd of December to pay for them. She cashed that check and headed home from work, and her wallet fell out of her purse.

When she realized it at home, she just sat there and cried. Her phone rang about an hour later. It was a man who found her wallet. Her phone number was on her checks so he called and asked her where he could meet her. At 8:00 that night he met my mom at a local restaurant and handed over her wallet - every bit of the cash inside. He said when he found it on the floor of the bus and looked through it, he knew someone needed to pick up presents with that money, and that he needed to get it back to her as soon as possible. He refused to take a reward or even to give her his name.

Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
AchillesHeel
Member
Member # 11736

 - posted      Profile for AchillesHeel   Email AchillesHeel         Edit/Delete Post 
I was only about six years old, and my older brother who was in and out of the hospital all his life was back in. The entire family was staying at the hospital instead of just the normal cast, Im talking cousins not just visiting but camping out in the waiting for days on end like we did all the time. My youngest cousin is one year older than me, everyone was allowed to see my brother but me, it couldnt have been my age seeing as my cousin was allowed in, he must be dead I thought. I hated everyone for thinking that they could, or should hide the truth about my brother from me, hated them to the point of not telling them my feelings and mourned silently.
They took my silence as reason to ship me off to my grand-aunts house, her husband was fond of the foul mouthed midget that I was and they had a spare room. A couple days into my largely comatose stay on the floor of the dark room (purposfully mind you, I still like sleeping on the floor) my grand-aunts son who I had never met came over and asked if I wanted to get out of the house. Asked, told or suggested just plain offered. He took me to Castle's N Coaster's, the regrettably biggest theme park in my whole state. I dont remember what we talked about, what we did, what he looked like or even his name... but he treated me like an equal not a little kid who glared straight into peoples eyes like they were enemies.

I thought my brother was dead (he wasnt thank God) everyone refused to tell me anything and I still dont know why, I hated my own family at that time. He didnt know me, didnt owe me anything but he gave me respect, and that was the only thing I ever wanted from adults. I'll never forget him because of the single day he hung out with a pissed off kid.


Another is from before I was even born. My mother was pregnant, single, and had two boys in tow already, and when she went to the AHCCCS office it got worse. The man who was in place to decide wether or not she got the insurance or not propisitioned her pregnant self... with ideas of pictures... movies, and after she called him all sort of disgusting things she was contacted Mr. Rueben. Rueben was basically internal affairs for the state agency, and told my mother that this man had done this plenty before but had not been proven, he asked for her help. She went as far as stomaching phone calls, dutifully recorded by Mr. Reuben and put the bastard where he belongs. I was born with a club foot, and had it not been for Mr. Reuben working very hard to get my mother (and by extension me) insurance I wouldnt even have the mobility of OSC's Achilles. Mr. Reubens first name is my first name and Im proud of it, more than two decades later I still need to meet him and thank him... you know... this whole walking thing has been a blast.

Posts: 2302 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
BlackBlade
Member
Member # 8376

 - posted      Profile for BlackBlade   Email BlackBlade         Edit/Delete Post 
Visit more often erosomniac, it's less fun without you around. Thanks for the link to that website.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks, BB. [Smile] My life is pretty awesomely full and I got a bit tired of experiencing (and contributing to) the stress around here, so I took an extended break. Glad to see you're still around.

It feels weird to be walking around in this screenname again. This is the only place I still use it.

Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
adenam
Member
Member # 11902

 - posted      Profile for adenam           Edit/Delete Post 
When my grandmother died my brother was in college 3.5 hours away with no car and not a chance of getting home. One of his friend's heard about his situation and drove him home after classes that night and back after the funeral the next morning. It meant so much to my family and to my brother for him to be there to say goodbye.
Posts: 399 | Registered: Dec 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2