Did you ever do something good? (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

With all the negative type of threads (and posting that I usually do ), I thought I'd write about something more positive...

First the set up:

I was driving home late (about 6:45pm) from work. If anyone is familiar with CT, I was going North on I-95 in the Fairfield area. This is a very heavily traveled Interstate and there's always TONS of major accidents.

Since it was just after rush hour (i.e. Rush Hour traffic usually breaks up bewteen 6 and 6:30), the cars were able to speed. The average speed was about 75mph, yet since rush hour just broke up, the highway was still pretty jammed.

Now I-95 is a 3 lane highway and I was in the left hand lane. I was keeping up with traffic at about 70-75mph when this guy comes flying up on my tail. In front of me there was a whole mess of cars and behind me (about 40-50 feet) was another bunch of cars. There weren't a lot of cars near me, so I was going to move over and let him go by. When I moved into the middle lane, I saw a deer hop the guard rail (just about 30 feet up the road from where I was) and was standing in the breakdown lane. At first I was like "Cool! A deer!", but as I got into the middle lane, the deer looked scared and he made this move like he was about to dart across the road. Since there were a ton of cars fast approaching my tail, it would have meant a massive pile up, but in blink of an eye, I quickly blared the horn and swerved slightly in his direction (there was no one in the right hand lane). This scared him and he jumped, turned around and high tailed it over the guard rail and back into the woods.

Mind you, this whole incident happened in less than 3 seconds, so I didn't have time to think, only time to react with my instincts (especially since I didn't see the deer until the last minute).

After he fled into the woods (and I calmed down), I thought to myself "Did I just do what I think I just did???" - I not only may have saved the deers life, but I may have possibly prevented a major catastrophe on the highway.

Talk about feeling good about my instincts.

 

[JonZ]

The last thing I felt really good about....

I was driving on my G/Fs road awhile back and saw something go under my car. I knew what it was.

I pulled over and got out. She said "what r u doing" I got some gloves from the trunk and walked about 20 feet back - there was a baby snapper turtle inthe road just sitting there. I picked him up and put him on the other side of the road
She said "Hes probably cursing you out because he wanted to get to the other side"
Ive done this a few times, so they dont get squashed.


As for recently, this weekend Im installing hard wood floors in a friends house :frowning:

 

[Scott L]

If I see a starving homeless beggar wanting change I give him a religious tract.

 

[John Alvarez]

My wife makes me do that all the time...
I have on several occasions pulled over to help elderly people who have broken down or had flats.

 

[VinhT]

Back in college, if I saw someone walking back to campus from the university mall, I would give them a ride.

Obviously, it's not prudent to do such a thing in real life. Instead, if I see a person standing at an uncovered bus stop in the rain, I give them one of my car umbrellas.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Is it a Jack Chick tract? Those are hilarious! ("Now I've got the REAL power!")

 

[Holadem]

Valentine Day 2005.

Picked up a guy who was standing next to his car (fairly beat up POS) waiving a gas container. At the gas station he proceeds to ask me for money to buy the gallon of gas - can you believe that shit?

--
H

 

[Joe Szott]

I do nice stuff for people all the time, sometimes they know and sometimes they don't. Things I can think of offhand:

* Bought my buddy an SVS when he moved into a house but couldn't afford to complete his system. It was a used entry level PCi, but hey it moves some air!

* I'll give hitchers or folks stuck out in the rain a ride. Usually not groups (if there aren't kids or harmless looking), but a single rider would be stupid to attack a 6' 200 lb blackbelt in his own car.

* I sometimes keep a box of food (like granola bars) in the car to hand to folks with "... for Food" signs on the side of the road. If they don't want the food, then obviously they aren't starving IMO.

* Like to leave a stack of pennies or nickels by the horse/car rides in the supermarket. No kid should have to pass that up for lack of a coin.

Generosity is it's own reward, no doubt.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

That's very nice of you Joe, but last time I checked those machines only accept quarters.

I myself vow to replace any stacks of pennies or nickels that are next to a horse/car ride with quarters.

 

[Paul Padilla]

THAT'S GREAT Joe!!! I can just imagine how stoked I would have been as a kid coming out of the store to see a free ride just waiting for me. (Jeff, you're right though...more likely quarters)

If I see a car in a parking lot with a particularly low tire, I'll leave a note on their windshield to hopefully keep them from ruining the whole tire.

It's always a nice thing when you have a basket full at the supermarket to let someone with only a couple of items go first...regardless of the express lane.

I'm not religious about checking receipts, but if I notice that I wasn't charged for something or received too much change I'll definitely head back to the store. Just plain Kharma...If I don't, it'll definitely bite me in the butt eventually.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Since I worked in a supermarket all through high school and college, I too do this every time it happens. I've also been known to come to a cashier's defense when a particularly rude supervisor starts dressing them down in front of me. I really lost it one time when a supervisor was giving a young girl a "what's this" produce quiz because she rang in the wrong tomato. This was in the express line and the poor girl was so flustered she could not wait on anybody. I think I started with "Why are you insulting this poor girl in front of everyone?" and ended with "Why are you still here? Do you want to embarrass yourself some more?", with many choice comments in between. The girl thanked me afterwards (she had been almost in tears). Since I knew many big wigs after working 10 years in the chain, I called one the next day and the woman was given a demotion.

 

[Paul Padilla]

Good for you Jeff!!

Too many people are so jaded that they forget what it was like to be a newbie, or they suffer from the delusion that they've never struggled. Of course, it could also have been a good old fashioned power trip.

Underdogs always get my vote.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Oh it was a power trip, no ifs ands or buts. I had done this supervisor's job many times and the first rule of thumb was "never dress down an employee in view of the customers". It give the impression that the company hires morons for both employees and supervisors. I ran into many uhhm -older- (bitter, cranky) women in this position that held much disdain for the uhhhm -younger- (prettier, more popular) ladies on the job. It was a very catty atmosphere and this incident was just more of what I had observed for years. Besides, she was breaking one of the cardinal rules.

 

[ThomasC]

Not in my hometown. Still a penny for a horse ride.

 

[Greg*go]

I guess your hometown is till stuck in 1957. The horse ride machines in my hometown only accept credit cards now! You can ride as long as you want, but it'll cost you.

I've given people on the corner asking for food, a sandwich I've bought for myself quite a few times if I know I can stop somewhere else to get another meal for me.

And I also help someone with a jump for their car whenever the need arises. I've never said no, even if I'm running late myself. I just look at it as their day is probably going worst then mine, so I give them a hand. And it only takes 1-2 minutes, what's that... a red light? I was in a parking lot once when a tow truck came and wanted to charge the guy $25 for a jump! I'm sure glad I was there! I only charged him $20 (j/k)

I also leave a penny a bunch too!

 

[Jamie Doucette]

25$ a jump!? Heck, if I even charged 1$ to all the people I've givin jumps to I'd... well... at least have enough to buy a discount DVD or two.

 

[Joe Szott]

Denver is pretty kid friendly, most of the supermarket chains have penny a ride horses or cars. It attracts the kids and thus the families' business, which in Denver it seems is about 80% breeders with little kids (like me hehe.)

The malls have the quarter a ride machine. I don't leaves stacks of quarters for those. Heck, if I saw a stack of quarters I might snag it myself. So much for goodwill and karma

 

[Ted Lee]

back in college, i used to work at a grocery store. i found a basket with a purse in it. i opened it up to look for id and found (no kidding) about a thousand dollars cash.

i stood there in the parking lot for a few moments...pondering the meaning of life, kharma, and what i could do with a thousand bucks.

finally, i decided to turn it in. turns out the lady was some immigrant who didn't believe in banks (or something like that) ... and that was pretty much her life savings. so, i guess i felt pretty good about that.

-----

as far as helping people on the side of the road, i won't do it. i know it sounds selfish, but with so many scams and potential for danger, i'm just not willing to risk my family or myself (anyone see that one episode of six feet under). i'll call 911 on the phone or whatever...but that's about it.

if it's a public place, with other people around, then that's a different story. i'm more then happy to help then...

 

[Joey Skinner]

I am a rural mail carrier and I have performed two cat rescues while running my route. Once I saw a cat hung up in a fence and thought it was dead. When I got closer I soon realized it was alive and was very frightened and agitated. Somehow it had gotten one of it's toes caught in the double stranded fence wire. Not wanting to get too close I used a tire iron to jam in between the twisted wire strands and managed to free the cat. I was a little concerned that it might attack me but he just ran away. I'm sure it would have been coyote food by morning. Another time I saw a cat hung up in a small fenceline tree. I also thought this one was dead at first because it was so limp but when I got closer I saw that it's eyes were open. There was no way to climb this tree so I grabbed and limb and started shaking the whole tree back and forth until eventually the cat got loose and came down.

Also whenever I see some kids with a lemonade stand I always stop and buy some whether I want it or not.

 

[MarkHastings]

I always do this. I figure the cashier is going to have to put out the money, so it's not like I'm stealing a $1 from a giant corporation. The cashier probably has enough to deal with, rather than me giving him/her another reason to be upset about being stuck behind a register all day. The dollar just isn't worth my role in that.

I once gave someone a $10 and they gave me back a $20. I too notified them of this mistake.