The Generosity of Strangers

[funlvnman]

Gunnar's experience with Robin was a reminder of how great most people are when given the chance. All of us have been enriched by the experience.

Here's my own experience with someone's generosity.

On my move from Massachusetts to Arizona we passed through Lincoln, Nebrasksa. We had gotten a late start that day so it about 12:30 in the morning when we pulled into one of the pet friendly hotels in the city. As I approached the clerks desk I noticed a woman on the lobby phone. The clerk had the unfortunate task of telling me that the hotel was full and further, due to the regional Little League championship going on that week, all the hotels in Lincoln were full. So it's either 1 1/2 hours back the way we came, or 2 1/2 hours the way we were headed to the next hotel. All this time the woman on the phone was eavedropping which I found to be rather rude but I didn't say anything.

I thanked the clerk. He offered to let me fill me coffee thermos for free and wished me well. After getting the coffee I went to thank the clerk again for his kindness when the woman on the phone stopped me.

She apologized for eavesdropping and to my absolute astonishment, offered her room for us to stay in that nite. She had heard me talking to the clerk and told me that if she were in my position she hoped some one would help her. The only reason she even let me pay for the room was my company was reimbursing my expenses. Her and her daughter stayed on the sleeper couch while we got the bed. In the morning she told me one of dogs curled up with her on the couch and fell fast asleep. Something she used to do with her dogs.

Since then this sort of thing happens to me all the time. Not to this extent,but small stuff all the time.

What's your story?

Rich

[SFCRick]

What a nice kindness story

[CDNSushi]

When my wife and I decided to come to Japan, we quite literally sold all our belongings, sold our condo, car, etc. and bought plane tickets to the Land of the Rising Sun. No job, no accommodations -- nothing. We came here knowing only two things. 1. God would provide for us ("Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26) and 2. We had a monster of an adventure ahead of us: finding jobs, getting an apartment, etc, etc...

As we were on the flight over, my wife turned to me and asked,

"So, uh... When we arrive in Tokyo, do we have a place to stay for the night?"

"Nope." I replied. "God will provide a way!"

Fast forward 8 hours, we found ourselves in the middle of a strange airport, wondering what to do next. I knew there was a tourist info booth, so we went over and had them assist us in finding a ryokan (traditional, Japanese-style inn) where we could stay the night. It was already 4 pm and Narita Airport (in Chiba) is still a good hour away by train from Tokyo metro.

Well, armed with a crudely drawn map, we set off by train for the big city. We finally arrived at our destination at roughly 5:30 pm. I consulted our map and determined that we needed to descend a large flight of stairs to the street below. This was quite a task, as we had a lot of suitcases and each suitcase weighed a ton! My wife couldn't carry any, so I had to make 3 trips each and every time we had to go up or down a flight of stairs... Finally, rather exhausted, we got to the sidewalk below.

As soon as I set down the last of the luggage, it just struck me -- the immensity of the city around us, towering skyscrapers, all sorts of people milling about... And here we were, two Caucasians, standing in the middle of it all, 3 huge bags of luggage each, all weighing about as much as a baby elephant, the sun had already set, and it just started dawning on me that I had absolutely NO idea where the heck we were going and if in fact, we were on the right street. Maybe we should have exited on the other side of the train station....

Well, not wanting to delay too long as the inn was expecting us (and we were already delayed), I decided I'd ask someone for directions. Mustering up the courage, I tried to remember the few simple phrases in Japanese that I gleaned from the guidebook on the flight over. I spotted a salaryman in a suit with a briefcase headed toward me. I waved at him and as he approached, I blurted out,

"Sumimasen!" (Which means "excuse me... in Japanese). Well, he just slammed into me so hard he just about took my shoulder off! Didn't even break his stride as kept marching down the street, without even so much as looking around or apologizing, nothing! I was aghast that this society that we in the West see as being rather polite, was so exceedingly rude!

Obviously, I wasn't going to give up, so I spotted a roast chestnut vendor nearby (who was probably watching the entire spectacle) and as I walked up to him and tried my best "Sumimasen..." he started yelling and jabbering away in Japanese.

"Koban!" He yelled, pointing a finger into the distance. "Koban! Koban! Koban!" Over and over he yelled, as he tried to shoo me away from his vendor stall.

Then it clicked. "Aha! "Koban." I know that word. It means "police box." He must be telling me to ask the cops in the police box over there."

Sure enough, there was a police box about 25 meters away, so I told my wife I'd go ask the police if they knew where our inn was. As I entered the small "booth" (for lack of a better description), the 3 officers occupying its tiny confines, snatched the crudely drawn map out of my hand, started examining it, all in the mean time jabbering amongst each other, turning the map over this way and that, and finally pulling out a humongous book that happened to be a detailed map of the surrounding area, and flipped to a random page somewhere in the middle. More jabbering ensued and before long, all three cops were jabbering at ME, yelling out random directions (I understood at least that much) all as they pointed into the distance. They finally handed my map back to me and I exited the koban with a confused look.

I walked over to where my wife was standing with the monstrous pile of suitcases.

"So?" She asked. "Do you know where to go?"

"Not a friggin' clue!" I answered. Then, both of us, standing in the middle of the street, started flipping the crudely drawn map over, turning it this way and that, until we suddenly realized that we weren't alone.

Looking over our shoulders were these two enormous gentlemen with buzz cuts and wearing pastel colored track suits. And I do mean ENORMOUS gentlemen. They were as tall as me (and by Japanese standards, 6'0" is TALL), and their girth was... well, let's just say that TWO of them was like FOUR of me.

As we looked around to face them, they asked something in Japanese, which I could only surmise meant, "Are you lost?" So I answered in English,

"Yes. We can't find our inn." So, one of the men took the map from me, started turning it over this way and that and jabbering away with his friend. Finally, it seems like they reached a conclusion because they just motioned for us to follow them, and each man, grabbed a large suitcase with each beefy arm, picking them up like they only weighed an ounce, and marched off, climbing the stairs we had come down earlier. They moved so quickly we could barely even keep up, and they were the ones who were carrying our stuff!

When we reached the top of the stairs, they kept moving. Up, back around to the other side of the train station, and down a side street. We tried to indicate to them that the suitcases had wheels and they didn't have to carry them, but they'd have none of it. They were two very large men on a mission! Then, 10 minutes and 3 blocks later, we turned a corner, stopped in front of a large, old-style Japanese house with sliding doors. They finally put down our suitcases and one of the two men went to the door, slid it open, yelled inside, again what I could only surmise to mean, "Hey. Your guests have just arrived!" A moment later, an old Japanese grandmother, grinning ear to ear beckoned us inside. Then the two large men, smiling waved goodbye to us as we thanked them and they walked off in the direction we had just come from.

That was my first introduction to how kind Japanese people can be. We never forgot that incident, and when it comes to the kindness of strangers, I think this was a great example. I only hope that I can return the favor to someone, some day, in a similar way! If it hadn't been for them, I don't even know if we could have found this inn at all... And if we did, it would have easily taken us another hour -- especially with all the luggage we had. It was really something.

[greenman11]

Since we are on traveling adventures, I willl relate an experience that happened to me three years ago. I was on my way to visit my parents solo on my Triumph Trophy, St Joseph MO to Mesa AZ. I stopped for the night, the first leg, in Springer NM. The next morning I was taking some pictures before I started out and checking the bike. It was then that I noticed a color difference on the rear tire. Hoping it was mud I found it was cord. I had rolled too many miles off of the tire. Did I mention that it was Labor day and shops would be closed Saturday through Monday. Now Springer NM was nowhere between Triumph dealerships or any bike shop that might have a tire that fits. I decided to risk it and limp into Santa Fe if possible. Thirty minutes later I was feeling pretty good rolling into Wagon Mound for gas. As I down shifted on the ramp the back of the bike sagged. I eased it into the petrol station and checked the tire. The cord was showing all around the tire and in the widest spot was a nickle sized hole. So much for a patch.
There is a train and a bus that goes through Wagon Mound NM, but neither stops. No motel, just gas food and a rodeo going on. I put in a call to my parents and started to pull the rear wheel. While talking to the station attendant, he was also a paramedic for the area, I asked if I could leave my bike there for a couple of days. He told me that was fine but I better not leave it outside as there would not be much left when I came back. He told me I could put it in the second stall and it would be safe there. He then lent me a second wrench to remove the wheel. Before he left to stand by at the rodeo I asked him how much to rent the space. He would not take anything, just glad to help out.
Six days later I found the bike right where I left it, not a scratch. A year and a half later I went through Wagon Mound on my way west to thank him again. Missed his shift by a couple of hours. I asked the attendant to to tell him I rememberd his kindness and to thank him for me again.

You find character and kindness everywhere.

Regards,

[Kiltman]

What a wonderful story. i guess there are still good people in this world.

[BroosterB1]

Since we are on traveling adventures, I willl relate an experience that happened to me three years ago. I was on my way to visit my parents solo on my Triumph Trophy, St Joseph MO to Mesa AZ. I stopped for the night, the first leg, in Springer NM. The next morning I was taking some pictures before I started out and checking the bike. It was then that I noticed a color difference on the rear tire. Hoping it was mud I found it was cord. I had rolled too many miles off of the tire. Did I mention that it was Labor day and shops would be closed Saturday through Monday. Now Springer NM was nowhere between Triumph dealerships or any bike shop that might have a tire that fits. I decided to risk it and limp into Santa Fe if possible. Thirty minutes later I was feeling pretty good rolling into Wagon Mound for gas. As I down shifted on the ramp the back of the bike sagged. I eased it into the petrol station and checked the tire. The cord was showing all around the tire and in the widest spot was a nickle sized hole. So much for a patch.
There is a train and a bus that goes through Wagon Mound NM, but neither stops. No motel, just gas food and a rodeo going on. I put in a call to my parents and started to pull the rear wheel. While talking to the station attendant, he was also a paramedic for the area, I asked if I could leave my bike there for a couple of days. He told me that was fine but I better not leave it outside as there would not be much left when I came back. He told me I could put it in the second stall and it would be safe there. He then lent me a second wrench to remove the wheel. Before he left to stand by at the rodeo I asked him how much to rent the space. He would not take anything, just glad to help out.
Six days later I found the bike right where I left it, not a scratch. A year and a half later I went through Wagon Mound on my way west to thank him again. Missed his shift by a couple of hours. I asked the attendant to to tell him I rememberd his kindness and to thank him for me again.

You find character and kindness everywhere.

Regards,

People everywhere can be amazing. I need to go to bed, but I promise I'll tell you all about a Gas station and a Restaurant in Wilcox Arizona, and how I really got to college, very very soon.

Till then Peace be with you all.

[Howard Clark]

I was on my way to Atlanta to the Blade Show (biggest knife show in the world) several years ago. I was driving a 1968 Chevy pickup that was a "parts truck". In the northwest corner of the St. Louis metro (Wentzville) it decided to die. After a very short diagnostic procedure I figured out that I had no spark, and that it was the ignition module in the distributor (HEI distrbutor from a later model).

So there I was, several thousand dollars worth of inventory, a broken down pickup truck, 95 degrees and 100% humidity. Hood up, scratching my head, trying to figure out what I was going to do. Just at that moment a man and his wife pulled over, and asked if I needed help. Well yes, as a matter of fact I could use a lift to a parts store, if there is one near by. There was no parts store near, however, they were locals, and knew that there was a salvage yard very near (less than 1/2 mile). So they took me over to the salvage yard, and I bought a complete distributor for $35, and was able to check it to make sure everything worked before leaving the yard.

In the end I was out of commission for less than an hour, and back on the road. My Samaritans would accept no payment, and saved my day.

Good people exist everywhere. The things is to be one of them, and do such things yourself, when the opportunities arise. And they do, pretty regularly.

Great thread, especially in this time of difficulty that we all find ourselves in. Caring about each other is the best thing we can do as humans.

[funlvnman]

Good people exist everywhere. The things is to be one of them, and do such things yourself, when the opportunities arise. And they do, pretty regularly.

Great thread, especially in this time of difficulty that we all find ourselves in. Caring about each other is the best thing we can do as humans.

Sage advice! It's easy to forget we're all in this together.
Thanks for the reminder.

Rich

[davedove]

... My Samaritans would accept no payment, and saved my day.

Good people exist everywhere. The things is to be one of them, and do such things yourself, when the opportunities arise. And they do, pretty regularly.

As they say, instead of paying it back, pay it forward. Help the people you encounter who need assistance.

[Pleater]

My neighbour told me how she and her daughter, when a toddler, on their way back from visiting relatives in Canada, ended up stranded in a Canadian airport, her baggage got on the flight but she didn't, no local currency, no one all that interested in assisting until an elderly lady appeared, a total stranger just passing by, who took them home, fed them gave them a bed for the night and returned them to the airport next day after phoning to be certain that they had seats on a flight, checked the times and giving them breakfast before they set out.

Twenty years later she was still impressed by that lady and remembered her name.

Anne the Pleater