sometimes we are rewarded

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
Last week I drove a long-time friend to Little Rock for a procedure at a hospital there. We were gone three days. During the trip and waiting in the hospital we had a lot of conversation time together. He used to do some woodworking but gave it up because of age and health problems. Along the line I mentioned that my old El Cheapo no-name circular saw had gone belly-up. The other day he called and said he needed a little help in the house. I went over and helped with some lifting he can't do. Then he handed me a random orbit sander and keys for his basement. He said there was a circular saw down there I could have. He also said I could take anything else I saw that I wanted. Well, I just took the saw but later will ask for a book I spotted. The saw is a Skil brand and the sander Craftsman. I didn't need to get paid for taking him, but I know there is some kind of law requiring acceptance of free tools and wood. Isn't there? :rolleyes:
 

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Hi Frank, I think that it is an un written rule that you have to accept the gift. It would be a total insult to your long time friend not to have. It is nice to hear stories like this at this time of year. Good things should happen to good people for doing good deeds. Isn't that the way the world should be? :thumb:

Merry Christmas Drew
 
Yep tis the season, but there is one thing missing. You must "pass it up". Yep someday you will get the chance to do something for someone else and you will think about your free saw and get the chance to "pay it up." I know you have done for others many times, but when the chance arrives, think of your saw and pass it up.

Just yesterday the wind was howling at my place. The snow was blowing and it was down to the single digits. I looked up at my weathervane and the thing was spinning into the wind.

So what is so big about that?

Last Fall I needed a 3/4 inch marble or steel ball to act as a bearing for my weathervane. In a days time Tod Evans sent me one. When I asked him how much, he said "pass it up". Yesterday, despite the wind, the cold, the weather and the snow, the wethervane still worked and I could not help but think of Tod's generosity and a simple gift that made something work so well. When the time comes, I'll pass it up too.
 
A few years ago I was getting groceries at the local grocery store. I slid into line and noticed an older woman was behind me with less groceries than mine. I said "Why don't you get in front of me as I have more groceries then you do."

She said "Honey I have all kinds of time, but its the money that I don't have."

Well I was working for the railroad at the time, I was between wives, had no kids and was making darn good money. Money I had, it was time that I did not have. I slipped the cashier a 50 dollar bill (figuring the ladies groceries were about 30 bucks worth) and said

"This is for the woman behind me." I never looked back, just kept going knowing she had an extra 50 bucks that Christmas. And you know what. No matter what situation I have been in, I have never once said "Man I wish I had 50 bucks right now."

Yep pass it up, you will never regret it. Funny how that works.
 
I just heard on the radio that at some Starbucks place this one woman paid for the coffee for the car behind her. When hearing of that, that person paid for the person behind her...and on and on it went.

For two hours that happened. Then some jerk got stingy and would not pay for the person behind him. But then after him it started up again and went on for most of the afternoon.

Unfortunately there are not enough stories likethis in the world. Too much attention to gloomand doom. People are nice generally, its just that the nice stories don't generate mucg publicity. I doubt your saw story will ever make it to the papers, but most of the people on here will remember it.

Merry Christmas fellow FWWer's, from 945 East Thorndike with love for all mankind.
 
It's amazing the stories you can hear....


In August of 1977 we were moving from Chicago to Lewiston, Idaho. We turned north from on interstate onto another north of Omaha. My wife was driving my company car with 2 of the kids and the dog; I was driving our un-a/c'd '74 Scout II. About 30 miles north of Omaha I started hearing a strange noise under the hood. I pulled over and the alternator mounting bracket had broken. I continued about 9 miles north to a little farming community; found a motel with a restaurant and a Chevrolet dealer across the road. It was early evening we ate supper and the next morning I removed the bracket and took it across the street to the Chevy dealer to see if he had anything like it. He took the bracket; disappeared and came back and began making a series of calls. About 30 minutes later he said "Sorry" there's none locally and the nearest one is in California. He said "I'll be right back". He came back with the welded bracket and when I asked him what I owed him he replied "Nothing". Over the years my family and I have spent several nights in that motel and eaten at that restaurant as we traversed back and forth to the midwest to vacation with our family members there. It was the only way I could "pay it up".
 
Hey Ken that reminded me of a story here in Maine.

A guy was on vacation and his car broke down in Camden, Maine. the local garage guy could not get the part for his car over the weekend, so rather than have the guy lose out on his vacation, he loaned him his own car. That was in the early 1980's.

Tha vacationer ultimately became the president of MBNA, the largest credit card company in North America. When he was looking for a place to build a new call center, he came to Camden. Later he built a bigger facility in Belfast, Maine, just up the road from Camden. Bank of America owns the call center now, but 2,00 workers owe their well paying jobs to a nice mechanic down in Camden.

Hard to believe, but entirely true.
 
Christmas Eve 1995 6pm I was driving from Des Moines, IA to my hometown in KS. I stopped at a gas station with a mechanic shop attached to fill up. Went back out and the accelerator cable on my '83 rabbit was busted. I went back inside to see if anyone in town was open. The mechanic had a few friends in the shop having a few beers. We pushed the car into the shop, tried to rig something up to reattach the cable from the carb to the pedal. Nothing they had on hand would work. He asked if I could drive with one hand and steer with the other...attached the cable to a 4" piece of steel rod. I drove the last 2 hrs of my trip passing people by pulling up on the rod. My wrist was tired by the end of the day...they didn't want anything to pay for the hour of work he and his friends put in trying to fix my problem. "didn't fix nothin" is what he said. I went inside the gas station and bought another 12 pack for them and said Merry Christmas.
 
Regarding Starbucks, this is an email I got from my brother and he isn't in to the hype thing, but Starbucks was his coffee house until this.

> >Subject: Fw: Starbucks
> >
> > >>
> > >> Think about this when you purchase your next Starbucks.

> > >> Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee.
> > >> So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should not support them by buying any of their products! I f eel we should get this out in the open. I know this war might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support the boys on the ground fighting street-to-street and house-to-house.
> > >> If you feel the same as I do then pass this along, or you can discard it and no one will never know. Thanks very much for your support. I know you'll all be there again when I deploy once more.
> > >>
> > >> Semper Fidelis.
> > >> Sgt. Howard C. Wright
> > >> 1st Force Recon Co
> > >> 1st Plt PLT
> > >>

> > >> Also, don't forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit the fire fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by for water for the survivors and workers and Starbucks charged them! ! !
> > >>
> > >>
 
I had a professor when I was in college in the early 70's. He was always willing to help me with whatever came along. Wrote letters on my behalf, helping me get ahead...
"I don't know how I can repay you" I asked him once.
"When you're in a position to help some other student along, do so."
And I have ever since.

He's gone now, but I think of him fondly.

Frank, thanks for starting us all in this very positive direction.

Ken
 
Regarding Starbucks, this is an email I got from my brother and he isn't in to the hype thing, but Starbucks was his coffee house until this.

> >Subject: Fw: Starbucks
> >
> > >>
> > >> Think about this when you purchase your next Starbucks.

> > >> Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee.
> > >> So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should not support them by buying any of their products! I f eel we should get this out in the open. I know this war might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support the boys on the ground fighting street-to-street and house-to-house.
> > >> If you feel the same as I do then pass this along, or you can discard it and no one will never know. Thanks very much for your support. I know you'll all be there again when I deploy once more.
> > >>
> > >> Semper Fidelis.
> > >> Sgt. Howard C. Wright
> > >> 1st Force Recon Co
> > >> 1st Plt PLT
> > >>

> > >> Also, don't forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit the fire fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by for water for the survivors and workers and Starbucks charged them! ! !
> > >>
> > >>

Jonathan, I am afraid that you've been sent a hoax:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp

Ken
 
It was this same time of year when I was getting ready to pour the pad for my new wood working shop and folks were fighting for parking space. I had to have the pest control guy come out and spray for Termites before the pad could go down the next morning.
When the guy came, he had to park his truck where his equipment would reach the back yard. My friend (of 26 years) came by and was not happy with where the man parked his little truck and told him to move it. (I am sure he just growled at the man that's his nature.) The guy did move his truck but still had to do his job. I didn't know this was going on.
My friend and I were standing out in front of the garage when the guy finished up and was preparing to leave. He was here maybe thirty minutes? (Spray a 24X24 foot pad and lay a sheet of plastic????) My friend barked at him again because he hadn't moved his truck far enough to suite him. I held up my hand for my friend to be quiet and ask the man what I owed him. He looked at my friend and then at me. "Nothing at all sir, Merry Christmas", he said. That was normally a $45 to $60 job.
Since that day, every time I think about it I yell at my friend. I have to renew my pest control soon, guess who will get the contract?

I guess the moral of this story is: If you really want to embarrass a Jerk, be nice to him.

DT
 
Hey Ken, that is interesting about starbucks. It is a sad state when companies don't support the troops that ensure their freedoms and way of life. I am just glad that Tim Hortons set up a shop in Afganistan for the canadian troops. Tim Bits and a good cup of coffee helps the troops remember that we do support them and send them our thanks. God bless them all.

Drew
 
Similar story: June, 1971, ex-hubby and I are traveling across Iowa in a 1960 Chevy wagon full of dogs, and pulling the VW squareback wagon with all the luggage. It's hot, HOT, HOT!!, no A/C in the car, and I'm 6 months pregnant!! All of a sudden the car just quits--no warning, no choking, no miss--just quits. Hubby get out of the car and lifts the hood and is standing there scratching his head and trying to make the passing traffic believe that he knows what he's looking at. Suddenly like a voice from the sky comes "do you have a problem?" An Iowa state trooper going the opposite direction had pulled into the median and called over his loudspeaker, then pulled across the lanes and stopped the car. It took him about 3 minutes to determine that the points in the distributor were broken, so he put hubby in the car with him, drove him into the nearest town, waited while he bought the parts, brought him back to the car, and waited until the new points were installed (he had to do most of the work) and the car was running before he left. Total time elapsed: about 1 hour. He even brought me a large soft drink with lots of ice because it was so hot. One letter to the Iowa HP which I hope resulted in a commendation for the trooper. But none of the "Knights of the Road" even slowed down!!!

I've always been the one to say "let's stop and see if we can help" when I see someone by the side of the road, and now I call it in on the cell phone, particularly when I'm alone.

Nancy
 
An Iowa state trooper going the opposite direction had pulled into the median and called over his loudspeaker, then pulled across the lanes and stopped the car. It took him about 3 minutes to determine that the points in the distributor were broken, so he put hubby in the car with him, drove him into the nearest town, waited while he bought the parts, brought him back to the car, and waited until the new points were installed (he had to do most of the work) and the car was running before he left. Nancy

The Highway Patrol does not get enough credit in a lot of states. In Southwest Florida they are teriffic! Ninety percent of the time they are stoped helping someone and the other ten percent they are stoping someone that really needs to be stoped. Happy Holidays to any state highway partol persons that happen to be on the forum.
 
Enjoying this thread.
......................Pay It Forward


The old saying "what goes around comes around"
 
As far as contributing and 'paying forward', I try to do my part. Won't go into details here. I just do what I can. When my time comes to divest of 'stuff', I'm sure most will go to charities.
 
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