Archive for September, 2009
Every day there are so many people around the world that stop to help someone in need. That help can be a word of encouragment or something as tangible as buying groceries for the elderly. I’d like to thank this reader for sharing his story and for showing kindness through his actions.
I was working from home one week. It was a Thursday, and I had just gotten back from lunch and going up the elevator to go back to my apartment and back to work. There was an old lady already in the elevator. As I entered the elevator and pressed my floor, she asked if I lived in the condo, I answered “Yes”.
She then asked if I could go to local grocery store that I also frequent and get her an orange juice. I told her I had to go back to work and maybe I can do that later for her and told her that I’d be off by 4 PM. She said OK and told me that she’d meet me in the lobby at 4 PM.
I was done a bit early that day and so I proceeded down to the lobby and she was already there. She gave me a list of all that she wanted to get and also some money. I went to the store and bought almost all of the items that she had listed – a couple of items I couldn’t find.
I walked back toward the apartment – about 8 blocks away. She met me in the lobby again. Not sure if she’d been there all these time or she had just came back down. I offered to bring the groceries up to her place and she accepted.
After bringing the groceries to her apartment and putting it on the counter, I excused myself so I can go back. She offered to give me some money. I told her if I accepted, she could’ve just hired someone to buy her groceries or even get it delivered. I just told her that I did it because I had spare time to help her.
She smiled and I left. This was just last week, and I haven’t seen her again since. It is a big apartment complex.
Sent in by Louis
September 7th, 2009
This is a great story of one person attempting to help another person and then things not going as planned. Then thanks to the honesty of a stranger it all worked out in the end.
Last month, (August 2009) my wife and I (who do not have very much money) agreed to pick up some items at Ikea for a missionary couple as I was going to be driving by Austin (the closest Ikea to Mexico) and they gave me $130 to get their much needed household items.
While shopping I was careless and handed the blank envelope containing my shopping list and the couples money to my son who was “helping” me. Of course no sooner than 5 minutes later the envelope had vanished (Lesson #1: little guys have a short attention span for holding envelops 
.
I knew I had to replace the money as I had accepted the responsibility. I was quite worried and started asking some of the employees who chuckled at my suggestion to ask security if someone had turned it in but said they would. I kept on my search scouring around in at places I had been, just when I had given up the employee found me and excitedly exclaimed that someone had turned it in. when I picked up the envelope everything was in-tacked. – “That is unheard of nowadays” the man exclaimed.
Sent in by Andrew
September 14th, 2009
It is always interesting when we think back to strange encounters like these and then we try to figure out why they happened. The one thing that is certain is that despite the awkward circumstances, Gisele reacted in kindness and compassion.
In the middle of the street were an old man, still, while cars passed in both directions. I told him to cross with me. He grabbed my arm and kept still, though his feet moved. In english, (in Venezuela we speak spanish) he asked me to get him to the church. Three blocks from there it took us half an hour. I could watch details of this very ancient body. I wondered if he had skin cancer, for the pink spots he had everywhere. He had a white cream if one of his big ears, so I stopped watching.
And finally we arrive to church. ‘It’s closed! -said the man trembling voice- Well, you just have to take me back’… Don’t remember what my plans were, but they existed no longer. In the middle of the travel back to the mans building, I stopped a taxi and asked him, please, take us two blocks form there. The price was 6.000 bolivares. I searched my pocket. But the old man asked how much and searched his pocket. I told him 3.000 so I payed the other half. And the old man handed me 3.000 bolivares out of a bulk of 20.000 bills.
Sent in by Gisele Diaz
September 25th, 2009
