One Good Deed Generates / Should Generate / Another

@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
June 9, 2020 4:03pm CST
Have you ever given the friendliness you received from a stranger back to another stranger? When I was at uni studying English, a friend of mine and I spent three months in GB to improve our English. We went to a language school in London for two months. Before it started, we hitchhiked to Scotland for three weeks. We were invited twice to stay overnight. Once in the north of England just south of the border to Scotland by a woman who was in her car with her two young daughters. She engaged us as kindergartners so-to-speak. We played with the girls, showed them Cat's Cradle (I've just found this in the dictionary. What an odd term!), sang with them and tried tongue twisters. When we arrived at her house, she told her husband matter-of-factly that they would have two guests for the night - as if it's just the thing to do to invite two strangers to your home. The second time happened in the Scottish Highlands. An elderly couple had picked us up on a desolate stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. A car driver had dropped us there because he had to go somewhere where we didn't want to go. They told us that it could become dangerous for us what with so little traffic. Where would we spend the night if no more cars came our way? They were trustworthy, so we decided to accept their invitation to stay with them in their cottage. I remember that we made a good impression when we cleaned our shoes with shoeshine! Obviously, we were well educated young women and not some unreliable tramps. :-) Many years passed until I could repay this kindness, but I did get an opportunity at last. Once I met a young Canadian woman on a train when I had been in Stuttgart (Mercedes! Porsche!) and was on my way home. I live about half an hour away from Stuttgart. She was on her way to the city of Ulm, three quarters of an hour away from my town. She wanted to take part in a language course there. It was already evening and I told here that she wouldn't meet anyone in the language school at that late hour. I asked her if she trusted me. She did. So I told her to get off the train with me and to stay at our house for one night. She did that. She even had a flat for herself which was free at that time. Later we went to a pizzeria nearby with my husband and spent a nice evening together. She left the following morning and later send us a Thank-You postcard. The second good deed was to invite two young women from the USA who my husband had met at the train station in our town where he had gone to buy an Italian newpaper. One of them had lived here for some time when her father was in the army. There were barracks in our town then. She wanted to see the house again where she had lived with her family. But it was Sunday! Only few local buses run on Sunday and certainly none to the part of the town where they wanted to go. We invited them to have lunch with us and then took them to the house they wanted to see and later also drove them around the countryside a bit. Then we were even with - what? Fate?
18 people like this
17 responses
@sabtraversa (12912)
• Italy
9 Jun 20
That was so nice! I try to treat others the way I want to be treated, the so called Golden Rule. I never really thought of it as a way to repay someone's kindness, perhaps I'd be happy to help knowing how good it felt to be helped in the past. Well, whatever helps spread positivity in the world is well accepted.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
9 Jun 20
Thank you for your friendly comment.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15487)
• United Kingdom
9 Jun 20
One of the easiest ways to "pay it forward" is as a car driver. Someone lets you out of a junction in heavy traffic...you let someone else out of a junction Someone opens a door for you...you open a door for the next person you come across. positivity spreads Why positivity is red lined by my spell check I don't know as I am sure it is right
1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12912)
• Italy
10 Jun 20
@Mike197602 That's right, it can also be about the little things. I probably had "positivity" red lined too once but I told the spell check to shut up.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
11 Jun 20
Sometimes the pleasure you get from helping others is far more rewarding than material or financial rewards!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
11 Jun 20
You're right!
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (40497)
• United States
9 Jun 20
I really enjoyed your post! I'm still smiling. At the moment I can't think of any examples to write about.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jun 20
They used to talk about 'warm fuzzies' once - the warm feeling you get when someone does you an unexpected kindness or when you do the same to someone else. We have had quite a few instances of warm fuzzies and it's always a lovely feeling whichever way it goes.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
You could tell us about one or more of your warm fuzzies! :-)
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jun 20
@MALUSE I think I've already written about some but I'll try to do a search through my files and see if I can come up with a new one. :)
@Mike197602 (15487)
• United Kingdom
9 Jun 20
Before the internet I was a CB fan. CB is a radio that most will be familiar with through films with US truckers I used to alternate between high ground in worcestershire and gloucestershire. Would hang around there for nights on end speaking to people in neighboring towns and people in cars and trucks. I got help when my car broke down and made a lifelong friend and I am godfather to his daughter. When I heard a car driver with a CB asking for help on the M5 motorway I picked them all up and drove them to their destination.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
9 Jun 20
Well done! You could write a post on this, too! Maybe this can become a series.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
9 Jun 20
@Mike197602 Well, do start writing again. Why don't you?
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15487)
• United Kingdom
9 Jun 20
@MALUSE If I did start writing discussions again they'd be related to my current job in a hotel and my absolute love of everything hotel related
@Ronrybs (17854)
• London, England
11 Jun 20
It is only nice when it works out like that. Whenever I help other people it always seems to be no good deed goes unpunished! Last time I helped a lady move a lot of suitcases off of the platform and I missed my own train!
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
11 Jun 20
Ah, but you did a good deed and will go to heaven! What is a missed train in comparison to this?!
• United States
10 Jun 20
I try to always be kind and help others if I can, but it seems that people help me more than I help them. Here is one I will never forget. I was just starting out working at the school, but sharing a car with my husband and because he worked a different shift, it kept me from going anywhere after my day is done. I was at my neighbor's house when their friend called and ask them if they knew anyone who needed a car. But here is the kicker, they were not selling it, they were giving it away. So I got a free car (well, I still had to pay for the tags and plates) but it was so nice of this couple to just give away their car.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
That was indeed a very good thing to do!
1 person likes this
• Austin, Texas
10 Jun 20
So many posts at MyLot provoke memories for me. Hope you have time. It's a long story. I remember one time I lived and worked in 2 different parts of town. I got around using public transportation. I was waiting for the bus and got very hungry. There was a convenience store near the bus stop. I knew what time the bus was supposed to arrive and thought I had enough time. I ran in and bought a small bag of peanuts. As I was coming out of the store the bus was pulling off. It was a couple of minutes early. I screamed but it was too late! And that was the last bus for the day which meant I was stuck on the wrong side of town. I overheard this girl talking on her cell phone and she mentioned she was driving towards a shopping mall which is where I would have gotten off IF I had got on the last bus. I ran up to the girl and begged “Oh Miss! Miss! Please help me. I need to get the shopping mall and I just missed the last bus. I'm stuck here and have no way to contact my husband. He is already waiting to pick me up. I really need to get to that mall. Please please give me a ride. I'm not a dangerous person. I just want to get home!” She looked at me kind of strange but she agreed. I got in the car and kept thanking her. I told her I wasn't the type of person who would get in a car with a perfect stranger. She says “Yeah … uuuhhh … I don't usually give rides to strangers. But I figured somebody munching on peanuts, as frantic as you are, is telling the truth and probably isn't dangerous.” We both laughed at that. She dropped me off. I asked if I could pay her some money. She refused. Years later, I'm in a different city and I'm driving my car. I stop at a Stop sign and this lady walks up to my car and asks me if I can help her. She's frantic and she's crying. She said she was trying to get to the other side of town. She was walking the streets and didn't know which way to go. She said if I could just drop her off at a bus stop she had the money to pay for a bus ride. I knew she was walking in the wrong direction to get to the bus stop. So I told this perfect stranger to get in my car and I would take her to a bus stop. Fortunately the buses ran regularly all day long and she could easily get to other side of town. Yep yep.. What goes around comes around.
@LadyDuck (457918)
• Switzerland
10 Jun 20
A very kind way to repay for the good deeds you received. Nothing specific comes to my mind right now, but I know that we helped some young people during our long years together.
@Tampa_girl7 (48908)
• United States
10 Jun 20
It feels wonderful to pass a kindness forward.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
Yes, it does!
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
10 Jun 20
I don't know about being even but it's nice to be able to help out others and possibly had the ones not helped you, you may not have given it another thought. We've had young people stay in an extra room before maybe we'll real the benefit of that one day. I feel better now about my typos as you have a few although not where it changes the context like mine likes to do. I grew up with cats in the cradle. So you taught the string game but you call it something different? And the name makes no sense I agree with that. Good deeds are another way to pay it forward and that could be in a variety of ways.
@DianneN (246613)
• United States
10 Jun 20
This is a beautiful story. We call it "paying it forward" here, and both my husband and I do it often. We try our best to be kind to others. It makes us feel good deep inside.
@thelme55 (76476)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
That is a beautiful story. I have experienced this kind of hospitality in England and Ireland. We were invited to stay in their homes and the friendship is still going on.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
That's nice to hear. Our friendship didn't go on but I'll always have nice memories.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (155957)
• United States
10 Jun 20
What a wonderful story in such a time of strife!
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
10 Jun 20
Thank you for your friendly words!
1 person likes this
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
9 Jun 20
Very interesting to read. Before my husband was my husband, he went on at trip to Europe. On a train he met some Greek people getting ready to eat lunch and they shared it with him. He was quite happy about it as he was starving at that point.
@RasmaSandra (73335)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
10 Jun 20
Very heartwarming and got me smiling. The one and only time I had to extend help to someone was back in Latvia. In our house, we had an empty room which we kept for all kinds of stuff to get it out of the way. So a friend had lost her apartment and wound up staying with friends who it turned out loved to drink the nights away. She was a cashier who worked in the local supermarket and was not getting any sleep and had nowhere to go. So my husband and I offered her the room and the very next day when she accepted we all marched over to her friends house and moved her out and into our house. She stayed with us for about two years and then left for a job in the UK she is still living there and we communicate on FB.
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
9 Jun 20
I'm glad you met some nice people when you were younger, and that you in turn got to help people out.