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Paying it forward

I have been a fan of Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein and read many of his books. I think the first time it clicked was in the Warner Bros. Movie. I have always believed that you reap what you sow. Treat others as you would have them treat you. See the good in all and overlook the flaws. All sorts of catch phrases.

I think a better world will come from those who think about what they can do to help , rather than what is in it for me.

Just some things I hope everyone will think about.

Excellent thoughts on the topic! I try to when I am able like with Qamar that was from UAE that dropped below the radar suddenly.

I liked that pay it forward movie. Great concept!

I have to admit for some reason I'm less likely to do it in the truck than I am on the boat. I've towed 3 people in this season with busted boats, and been offered money, but declined each time. I've seen countless people with flat tires or car problems, but haven't stopped at one yet. Wonder why that is? Sounds like an area to address for self improvement!

I definately agree with you, even though I haven't seen the movie yet...

You and the others who answer so many questions here are doing a pretty fair amount of paying forward by helping folks out on this forum. Seems like members have repeatedly been able to find answers here that they couldn't find elsewhere. THANKS BUNCHES

The boating world, is much like an offroad community in that we understand there are limited resources and there may be limited means for assistance. We go out of our way to look out for the welfare of others in those environments. You are right , why should anywhere else be any different?

We need to "take the time". Life is just too short. Stopping to help someone is easy when you are driving around in a big red fire truck. Why is it any harder in your personal vehicle?

We all need to think about it. I will admit that I have passed up opportunities to help. Most of the time I try to reconcile my feelings with the fact that they were already on their cell phone, or someone else had already stopped. Sometimes I feel bad anyway.

I have stopped to help many times. Towing vehicles off the roadway. Fixing a blown fuse, changing a tire, delivering a couple gallons of gas, and more. Maybe some of this is "payback"? In my younger years I ran my truck out of gas. A rancher gave me five gallons of gas. I went to pay him and realized I had lost my wallet at our camp. I had no money to pay him. He assured me that was OK. This was hundreds of miles from my home and I never got to pay him back.

There are good people and I am sure there are bad. I think the majority are good. Don't put yourself or family at risk, but do what you feel comfortable doing.

HenryJ wrote:..................... This was hundreds of miles from my home and I never got to pay him back...............

Might be time to try again. All towns have blogs or forums now. I don't want to get into a long story but, I posted up recently in a town blog that was where I broke down and was able to find the person responsible for helping me. I blew a tranny in a '69 Z-28 the day before I was discharged in' 71. I found him (retired, of course) recently. I had hocked a A Nikon f1 35 mm camera to fix my tranny to get home to Ohio. His shop folded in the next couple of weeks and I couldn't get back in contact. I recently found his grand son and discovered he was still living. I sent a check to cover my bill (x2) and told them to sell the camera (that they still had) and any 35MM fan would love to get one at any price!

"What comes around, goes around"!

I doubt I could find the place let alone the person who helped me. He had to have been in his sixties or seventies at the time. That was over 25 years ago and I doubt I could even find that lonely section of gravel road again.
If I get the chance I might make a trip up that way someday.
You are better than I. "What goes around will come around".

HenryJ wrote:............ "What goes around will come around".

Isn't the first or last time I screwed up a quote but, hopefully someone got the "jest" of what I was trying to say.

I think you had it right. I just changed it in my response.

This is like in the biker community....Most bikers will stop for a biker, or group of, stuck on the side of the road....You never know whether you might have an item/tool/suggestion that can help fix the problem. Heck, I saw a guy & woman on the side of an on ramp stopped on their scoot a while back...I was in the CC, but still asked if they needed help cause I could have towed their bike to the GF's house to work on it eventhough the GF wanted a nice evening alone. It turned out that they were just taking a "smoke/cell phone" break, but they were appreciative for me asking. I believe in the comment of "What comes around, goes around!!!" & heard it both ways....

Great post. . I will stop and help stranded motorist's but I always size the situation up and help only if I think they have no means of helping themselves, the elderly always get my attention since my mom has been in that situation before. I will help out the neighbors with anything they might need and recently got something in return even thou I didn’t even ask.

When doing the barn project I posted not long ago the neighbor to my left came over with his farm tractor and helped me spread the stone in my driveway. He stayed with me not for one day but two until the job was completed. Not to mention the many times my door bell has rang and he is at my door with fresh vegetables from his garden.

After the new barn was delivered the neighbor to my right actually called into work sick and wandered over to spend the day helping me build the shelving. He didn’t show up empty handed either, He came with carrying a brand new framing nailer that saved me many smashed finger nails and a lot of time. I appreciated his unsolicited help so I bought him a case of Buds and gave him a new deer stand that I had in my shed that I knew he had eyed before. The help was greatly appreciated since I had taken the week off of work to tackle the job alone.

great stories!! knock on wood i havnt broke down in my boat yet (well, i did have to pull start my 50 to get home LoL)...

but i remember walking in the rain down the side of the highway hoping for a ride, no body stopped. so now if im by myself in my vehicle i pick up people walking all the time. great part about being in teh military, if its cold and your walking.. (in uniform in the morning on your way to work).. i will stop. its a good feeling when the person gets outta the truck and says thank you like 5 times!!!

I stop for disabled vehicles whenever I can. Since I carry a fairly complete mechanics tool kit with me everywhere I can do a lot from fixing a flat with a trie patch kit to a blown heater hose with a universal adapter to checking under the hood when it just won't start. It is getting harder to distinguish who really needs help. My commute cover 30 miles of interstate each way now and every day I see at least one vehicle at the side of the road with there hazards on I have to decide while moving at 70mph if they are in need of help or have just pulled over to talk to someone on the phone. I hope I never miss a chance to help out but I am sure at least a few of those were in need and would have just had to raise their hood or put a white rag out the window to get me to stop. The last feel good one for me was last fall. Coming home I spotted an elderly man staring under his hood at the side of the road. I stopped and tried to get the car running again to no avail He was 70 and his wife was 67 and had been sitting there watching cars go by for 10 minutes or so on a busy road before I stopped. When fixing was a no go and there was no cell reception I had the man hop in the truck and drove him down to the nearest store where he could call someone. His gratitude for my stopping was payment enough for me.

I once ran into a similar situation where an elderly couple it their 70s had hit something on the road a punctured a sizable hole in their gas tank. She was sitting in the car with their very large Labrador retriever and he was standing there looking at the car sitting over a large pool of gas that was growing larger every second. After getting her and the dog out of the car I called the fire department and a tow truck for them. I then let them use my cell to call their son to who could pick him the gentleman up at the towing facility. . I drove her and the dog to their home that was about 10 miles away while he waited safely away from the car for the tow truck. I refused the cash they offered but l left with something worth much more.

I agree whole heartedly! Excellent topic!

Recently, I was on my way to an appointment in the middle of a very hot day, and spotted an elderly couple broken down on the side of the road. They were already about two hours from home, and had about another hour to go to their destination.....a funeral. They fit riiiight about in that "grey zone" where they probably, IMHO, shouldn't have even been driving themselves. They had blown a coolant line of some sort, and I could not determine where the leak was coming from on the intake of their Grand Marquis. The elderly man & his wife were reluctant to accept my help, but finally did.

Long story short, they decided to have me call a wrecker (no cell phone of their own...didn't like those hi-tech things...), and have their car towed to a local shop that I knew, rather then me fixing it in my own garage. I respected their comfort level with me & the situation, and just waited with them until the wrecker showed up. It was incredibly hot outside, and I let them sit with me in the air conditioned confines of my Regal. They were fine with that, and gladly accepted the water I had too. Since the elderly man was hard of hearing, and his wife was almost a borderline paranoid skitzo....the scenario was quite honestly....just a little weird while we waited for a half hour for the wrecker! Great conversation though. Really neat old couple.

After the wrecker arrived, we followed it back to the shop. As I wished them well, and went to leave the shop, they attempted to pay me. I declined profusely. The little old woman smiled at me and then asked me if my boys liked to go to Wal-Mart......where she retired from. I replied that they most certainly did, and she just smiled at me and gave me a big hug for my help.

A few weeks later, a letter arrived for me at my office, but had no return address on it. Apparently they got one of my business cards from the back seat of my car. Just seeing the shaky hand written letter brought tears to my eyes. That letter of thanks was one of the most heart-felt I've ever seen. At the bottom of the letter was a P.S. that read, "Please give this Wal-Mart gift card to your boys, so that they can pick out something nice for themselves!" That brought a flood of tears, as you can only imagine! I really wish I knew how to contact them again, but cannot remember their last name.

Two in two days for me. On Tuesday a visitor to my workplace had a flat in the parking lot. I removed a 2" stainless screw from her tire and with a can of fix-a-flat and my portable compressor she was on her way. Only later did I find out this was the companies personal banker. Last night I stopped for a disabled vehicle on the interstate on my trip home. Couple had their hood up and were looking puzzled at the engine. Turns out their KIA blew something in the transaxle and dumped all the fluid on the ground, no quick fix there but I was able to make sure they had called for help before getting back under way. They were grateful that someone at least stopped.