Several people brought to my attention the “be hospitable Show“campaign The Hilton Family of Hotels have been promoting recently on TV. The Hilton Family of Hotel’s press release describes their Web site, behospitable.com, as a place where visitors “are invited to share the good deeds and acts of kindness they witness…” The Web site has a map of the US on which those stories are being plotted, they also offer an international version with a map of the world.
I was really encouraged and inspired to see the videos and stories peppered across the map of Hilton’s site. Hopefully more corporation and new agencies will begin to cover these positive and inspiring stories that happen daily, yet so easily are forgotten. I encourage everyone not to forget about those acts of kindness and share them with others. We need more than ever, positive and inspiring stories that give us all hope and encouragement.
A friend of mine forwarded me a great news story about an honesty test conducted by Reader’s Digest. This test or you could also call it a “social experiment” was conducted in 32 cities around the world. Guess which city came out on top?
Staffers left behind 30 cell phones in various locations throughout the city and waited to see how the finder reacted. These are the simple steps taken to conduct this test:
1) The staffer called the “lost” cell phone and if the finder answered it, they asked them if they would return it to them.
2) If the person didn’t hear the call, the staffer waited to see if the finder called one of the preprogrammed numbers in the phone in an attempt to locate the owner.
3) The staffers watched to see if a person would simply pocket the phone and leave with it.
As you might expect, the overall honesty average was very good, in fact the average was 68 percent. There were some cities that stood out for their honesty.
The honesty gold medal went to city of Ljubljana, Slovenia (29 out of 30). The honesty silver medal went to Toronto, Canada (28 out of 30). The honesty bronze medal went to Seoul, South Korea (27 out of 30). The fourth position went to Stockholm, Sweden (26 out of 30). In a three-way tie for fifth place were the cities of New York, United States, Manila, Philippines and Mumbai, India (24 out of 30).
You can see on the Reader’s Digest the complete chart with the finding of this honesty test. It truly is encouraging to know that no matter where you are in the world there are honest people that will do the right thing.
The lost diamond ring story and the Good Samaritans that found it is another inspiring story about people doing the right thing and being honest. This diamond is also no ordinary diamond – it is a 3 carat ring valued at $40,000 dollars.
This news story is different from ones I had posted in the past, because the owner of the diamond ring has not yet been found. Mervis contacted us directly so that we could also help in finding the ring’s owner. The following is from their blog and also shown below is the video about this story from the Associated Press (AP).
A few days ago a couple walked in to our VA store with a diamond ring they found in the parking garage at Tysons Corner. It was a plain solitaire ring with the name Mervis imprinted in it. The couple came to us, looking to return the ring to its rightful owner. My uncle Zed weighed the center round diamond as 3.02 carats and graded it excellent ideal cut. He estimates the ring and the diamond together are worth around $40,000. We are trying to track the customer down through our customer list, but given the characteristics of the ring, we determined we sold it over 3 years ago.
If you know someone who recently lost a 3 carat ring, please let us know! I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to know that a kind stranger happened upon it and actually returned it. This is truly unbelievable!
If you have information about the owner of this diamond ring. You can contact Mervis by clicking here. Also, you can see the video about the story posted by AP.
A couple of months ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to one of the most compelling stories I’ve seen. It is one of those good deed stories that will reverberate for many years to come. The story is inspiring and it is hard not to watch it without tearing up…in a good way!
I will briefly set the stage for this story and then leave you to watch the video for yourself. It was the second game of a doubleheader between Central Washington and Western Oregon, and Sara Tucholsky was up to bat. She stepped up to the plate and slammed a homerun over the centerfield fence – her first ever in high school or college. This is the kind of moment all players dream about – making the great play that leads to victory. The problem was that Sara tore her ACL at first base and collapsed to the ground unable to continue to second base.
First baseman Mallory Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace from the opposing team asked if there was a rule that would prevent them from helping injured Sara around the bases in order to complete the homerun. They were assured there was no rule that would prevent them from helping the opposing team’s batter. So they carried her around the bases making sure she touched each base and finally touched down at home plate.
Some labeled this story true sportsmanship, but I think this definition stops short of defining the selfless actions of Mallory and Liz. Even though their team the Wildcats was eliminated, they won something far greater that day. Enjoy watching this inspirational and compelling story.
A friend of mine forwarded me a story about a lost violin that later was found and returned by an honest taxi cab driver. You may be wondering why someone would be traveling with a violin, but you might be even more puzzled to learn the violin is valued at over $4 million dollars. Yes, you read that correct – it’s a Stradivarius . I’ll be honest, I had no idea such a violin existed before reading this story by Rich G. Jones from the New York Times.
The Grammy-nominated Philippe Quint was on his way back from a concert in Dallas and simply forgot the violin in the cab. On top of the fact that it was a $4 million dollar violin, it had been loaned to him by two benefactors. The part of this story that I find the most remarkable is what Philippe thanked the honest taxi cab driver.
In addition to a generous tip, he decided to thank the driver Mohammed Khalil by treating him and his colleagues to a private concert. It may have not been Carnegie Hall, but the makeshift parking lot where Philippe performed for them was soon filled with beautiful music accompanied by spontaneous applause, clapping, whistling and dancing.
One of the drivers commented, “If one cabby does something good, we feel like we all do something good”. Especially in this occasion, Mr. Khalil and his colleagues all had the chance to enjoy Phillip’s thank-you concert. It was a memorable occasion that for year to come they will be talking about all thanks to the honesty of one driver and the very generous gratitude shown by Philippe Quint.
I am certain many drivers never will get this kind attention or even a Medallion by the City of Newark. Like Mr. Khalil said, “Everything we find is valuable to someone”. I would add that every act of honesty no matter how small it might seem can make a great difference in a person’s life.
