Kosher Ham Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I got into an awkward conversation with a few friends of mine that completely blindsided me. I do some charitable work here and there, and give when and where I can. The question wasn't directed towards me, but we did a roundtable discussion basically ( So what do you do? ). That is my one of my moments of happiness. I felt selfish because I should have told at least a few of these people the things that I do, but I never thought it would interest any of them. Never seen any of them at these things. So my thing is, that I help people out when I can and sometimes little things mean so much to those in need. Gave someone the coat off my back once, wife and I drove a lady to the gas station and paid for gas to get her home...took her back to her car and smiled. I have told some stories here and there over the years about going to cook thanksgiving dinner for battered women and their kids, repairing wheelchairs for people that can't afford them, soup kitchen type of stuff, food trucks for people in need in DC, etc. My one buddy was so shocked I thought he was going to cry...very strange because he brought up the topic by telling a story of not helping someone up when he had the chance. I'm rambling sorry. The question is basically, what do you do for your fellow man/woman/child that you don't know ? Makes me feel great to pay it forward and not be Scrooge McDuck...I can always make more money. Hell, everyone is not living with mega stacks ( Not saying that I am by any means) ...but that day where you have nothing to do...it's a really rewarding feeling to help someone else. I also apologize for seemingly trying to sell you guys on anything as I read it back. Giving advice to some of these knuckleheads around here (including myself ) is sometimes all you need to walk around with that smile all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I have a neighbor well into her 80s, and we make sure she's taken care of. She's remarkably independent in that she doesn't need any constant medical care, but she is up there and can't get around. so we shop for her, make sure her house is in repair, ferry her to dr. visits,keep her company. she's been living on this street for 65 years, and all of her friends are gone, the whole neighborhood has changed beneath her. She has family, so she's not totally alone. One of my happiest memories that makes me feel good inside is after we had a hurricane,, i want to say Isaac?.. I don't know,, maybe ten years ago, started with an I. Anyway, i made sure she had all of her things lashed down and bought her a new flashlight and kept checking on her.. she wouldn't come down to our house, didn't want to be a bother. Anyway, after the storm, there was a knock on my door and her big burly son was standing there, a guy i barely knew, and he grabbed me and gave me the biggest bear hug i can remember right there on my porch. Thanked me profusely for watching after his mom. No problem. Just being neighborly. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks for using "neighborly" there Bang, it's such a simple, commonsense concept that seems to have fallen out of fashion but to me, it's a obligation and a pleasure. The single biggest deciding factor (to me anyway) when we bought our house was the neighborhood, an actual honest-to-God neighborhood like I recall from my misspent youth, and I wanted my son to have that. It is a constant topic of conversation between him and me, that you give what you have and what you can to your neighbors, not as some gift bestowed upon them but as an expression of who you are. Talk is cheap, boyzilla sees me lending a hand quite often, offering even if it isn't accepted, taking a break from things I might enjoy doing to work on someone else's house, shovel snow, rake leaves or mow, fix their shingles, etc., etc. $$$ may be tight but that's no excuse, my neighbors know that when they need someone handy, they can always ask. You either get it or you don't, you see the value in it or you don't, you just reflexively offer what you have to others or mock those that do, but at the end of the day that warm satisfaction knowing you are trying to be part of the solution judges all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradboyd80 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 A few friends and I do a lot of indirect activities, like coordinating events and volunteering to raise money that we donate to various charities. Thouroughly enjoyed seeing the reaction to some of the low income military families we gave money to (from a charity event), right before Christmas a couple of years ago (gift cards to use for the commissary). Hoping to get back into Habitat for Humanity and other stuff I used to do when I was in the states (youth homes, YMCA, etc). Can't find much to do here in Germany, outside of visiting Wounded Warriors in Landstuhl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The way i see it, your neighborhood is just an extended home you share with other families. A smile goes a long way. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 The way i see it, your neighborhood is just an extended home you share with other families. A smile goes a long way. ~Bang Awesome stuff guys. It's such a great point about you saying neighborly. My neighbors are great. My woman next door to me was going through a divorce and had no one to help her take care of the lawn ( 2 small kids and working) anyway for a while the person that takes care of my lawn was simply cutting hers just because. Another neighbor is similar to yours, elderly gent can barely get around...4 of my other neighbors helped him get rid of a dying tree in his front yard and got rid of all the wood and such. A few more similar type of stories some as simple as one of my neighbors letting me borrow his smoker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm not even sure that being genuinely neighborly counts as charitable does it?, anything done to benefit the neighborhood benefits us too, in a "rising tide floats all boats" kinda way. My focus is trying to teach something valuable to my son, that this is just an accepted part of being a man, and IMO the only really effective to teach is by example. A lot of little opportunities over time has a cumulative effect. Yes, in the grand scheme of things we don't do much when we help load someones groceries in the parking lot, pick up some loose trash in our park or take someones garbage cans in or paper up to their door, I know that, but it's a question of setting a consistent pattern and hoping it sinks in. And in the process I am reminded to mind my manners (and mouth) so in the end, who's getting the profit from this? And tbh, it can be fun. I cruise Craigslist or FreeCycle and have brought home a lot of stuff that ended up in someone elses house, just a free range scavenger hunt with no clear finish line for my own entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 what I can. mainly emergency repairs and such and a sorta money tree for the hood, have a group of the elderly that I mainly focus on to allow them to stay out of the warehouses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Wife and I watched a show about prosthetics about a year ago and are looking to do some work to help out some of those kids. I had no idea the limitations that insurance companies put on getting them. Kids are growing and have to have them more frequently than insurance allows. They are crazy expensive too. Geez. LD, Sure that counts. It's simply doing something out of the kindness of your heart. I was telling a friend of ours the other day after she stated how much she loved my wife because my wife is so sweet... please, you don't know her like I do. We come across differently in public. Wife has the sweet niceness to her, I am more brash and frankly have no filter. We both agree that we can not stand repeated stupidity. It irks us typically exactly the same way, most times more with her though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s0crates Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 A lot of recent psychological research has been devoted to studying happiness (where it used to focus almost exclusively on disorders like depression). So what makes people happy? Interestingly, one of the main conclusions of such happiness studies is that helping others seems to make us happier. Maybe doctors should prescribe more volunteer work and less Prozac, and maybe we're not as selfish as many imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 This guy deserves all the attention he can get, hope the kid got the job http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/06/us/target-tie-teen-moment/index.html And why am I not surprised that this thread gets little attention or response here? I mean, there are far more important topics like the Left Shark and all............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 And why am I not surprised that this thread gets little attention or response here? I mean, there are far more important topics like the Left Shark and all............. SSSSHHHHH! Do you want to get sued? I've done things here and there. Nothing I've really made a habit of. I'm a pretty selfish by and large. I'm selfaware enough to realize that. I've left a $100 tip on a $20 bill at Dennys once. Paid tolls randomly for the person behind me at the toll booth. But even those instances are pretty rare. My next door neighbor at my old house was in her late 80s. We didn't always get along with her husband and her. He ended up dying a few years ago. We always made sure to shovel her driveway and sidewalk after snows. She'd be out there as early as she could to shovel. And was very proud. Didn't want help. But did make it known it was appreciated when "forced" upon her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 And why am I not surprised that this thread gets little attention or response here? I mean, there are far more important topics like the Left Shark and all............. For me personally, I find this thread to be in poor taste, not because of the message, but because of the tone. But, that's just me. On to the left shark. Would rather not participate in this one. But since you asked...https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A2-3&version=NIV 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Good verse, zoony. I've posted about mine in the past, no need to reiterate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 . And was very proud. Didn't want help. But did make it known it was appreciated when "forced" upon her. it's interesting finding a balance between a hand up and a hand out. using the theme in Zoony's verse usually helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Something rather small. The other week I was browsing the beer aisle at the store and noticed a lady well into her 60's eyeing a 12 pack on the bottom-ish cooler rack. At first I couldn't tell if she just hadn't made her mind up, but after watching a little closer, her indecision was really due to her not being sure if she should bend down to pick it up. I strolled over and offered to grab it for her and put it in her cart. She lit up and said "oh how thoughtful of you, thanks" and then strolled away smiling. Like I said, very small in the grand scheme of things, but still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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