"Pass it Forward" It happened to me !!! (100% True)

The best start to a New Year ever.

It started a week before Christmas. Typical story a guy at a gas station comes up to you. Well, my first response was to avoid eye contact. I was with my 10 year old daughter. The young, well dressed kid told me he left his wallet at home and he ran out of gas. I ask him how much gas it would take him to get home. He said about ten bucks, but if I could help at all...Well, I gave it to this kid who had a nicer car than myself. The young man said if I will give him my address...We have all heard that. I looked the kid right in the eye and said "Pass it Forward".

Forward to Saturday Night.

I was sitting in the truck in front of the grocery store waiting for my wife and daughter to finish shopping. This is a really classy shopping center. My dog was in my lap and I was just looking around. I saw a woman about fourty ask a man a question and get blown off. This woman wasn't alone. She had a beautiful little girl with her about my daughters age. She walked passed my truck. In my mirror I saw her turn around. This woman had a grimace on her face. Like she was forcing herself to ask me. Well, she came up to me and said. "I lost my job and my house. My daughter and I have been sleeping in a car. It's cold tonight and we would like to get a warm place to sleep." I ask her how much she needed to get a room. She told me she had seven dollars. I could not get past looking at that beautiful young lady being homeless. I had to help them out. I just happened to have some cash. I told the woman that we had all been through tough things in our lives and I was sure her luck was changing. Her and the daughter were very grateful and wanted to send it back when they got on there feet. They promised me as soon as they could they would send it to me. I smiled, looked them in the eye. No, just "Pay it Forward".

Sunday Evening...

I am about to embark on a very risky venture in my life. I don't want this to hurt my family. My girls take off to the store for some sales they see. I am literally on my knees praying when they return. My wife was in mild shock upon returning from the store. I said "What's wrong?" and here's her exact words. "I was checking out my groceries and a lady walked up to me. She told me she wanted to pay for my groceries. I begged her to pick someone that was more needy. I told her I have way too many things. The nice lady said "she had picked me and that she really wanted to do this for our family". Shocked...My wife and my daughter kept thanking the generous lady. When the transaction was nearing completion my wife handed the clerk coupons. The lady insisted my wife save them for next time. This beautiful person turned and looked my wife in the eye and said with a smile "Pass it Forward".

If we all did this, could you imagine?

Please "Pass it Forward"

reply to post by whyamIhere


Karma exists my friend.... believe that!

And pass it forward...

Very good read.

You are alot more generous than I am. Although i've never had anyone homeless come up and ask for money.

reply to post by whyamIhere

Excellent story and.... Pass it forward...gonna remember me that one for a while. Thanks for posting your heartwarming tale of synchronicity and the true nature of human beings....

reply to post by whyamIhere


What a great story, gives me chicken bumps.

One thing, though, in your post piqued my curiosity.

I am about to embark on a very risky venture in my life. I don't want this to hurt my family.

Can you share this risky venture, that may hurt your family, with us? Forgive me if I pry too much.

It's called the chain of love


This reminds me of this song

www.youtube.com...

hi op

good on you
i try to help wen i can but im in the same boat
a couple of yrs ago a scruffy looking 40 od yr old man aproached me
and i knew he was going to beg me, and he aproached me and said
excuse me m8 i dont suppose you could spare a quid (1pound)
and before i could say i have no money he said
im a quid short of a bottle of sherry and its gonna be cold tonight

i gave him the pound just for the sheer honesty of the man lol

any way op nice one

dave

Originally posted by windword
reply to post by whyamIhere

 

What a great story, gives me chicken bumps.

One thing, though, in your post piqued my curiosity.

I am about to embark on a very risky venture in my life. I don't want this to hurt my family.

Can you share this risky venture, that may hurt your family, with us? Forgive me if I pry too much.

I will U2U...

reply to post by whyamIhere


A very good read, and as you have done so have I.

I'm not a man of any wealth, but I do live within my means and help where I can.

Keep on, keepin' on, Man.

Bless ya and it does feel good to help where you can.

Keep spreading the message.

freaky story and i wish you all the best with your future venture.

Paying it forward can create the world we all wish for.
If we all share amongst ourselves we'll be cared for.
Churches do this among their congregations
Isn't mankind in general as deserving?
We can stop living in fear and mistrust of each other.
If we don't start coming together as humans this planet is screwed.
I'm hoping 2012 will be the year humanity arose as a whole, looked each other in the eye and said "let's do it!".
I volunteer to be helpful to anyone I see in need.
Anyone else?
A 2012 pay it forward pledge?
Or we could just all adopt each other as family

Thanks so much for the inspiration.
WhyamIhere, you know why you are.
Your acts have warmed many hearts and you are creating a better world.
Now the rest of us just need to catch up with your level of generosity.

Read this earlier and thanks for it! I love hearing of people helping people. My family has had a very hard 2011 and I am hoping to make this year much better. I am going to try and find a way I can help someone and ask the same. "Pass it forward" Heck I'll try and do it whenever I can! THanks OP!!

Once i won 100 bucks at a casino playing slotgames, when i walked out there was a homeless person begging right down the alley. He had a couple of coins in his cup, for some reason I felt very generous in that moment and put a 20 Euro bill in it. He didnt seemed to suprised just a mere quiet "thanks". It didnt bother me, infact it filled me with happyness, and all of a sudden I had the luckiest things happen on that day like:
- Catching a bus in the last moment
- Coming home right at the time it starts raining outside
- Coming across a lost forgotten "Sandwich" which I enjoyed to the fullest
- A job proposal

At the end of the day I layed in my bed, closed my eyes and started thinking about karma

reply to post by Anim8tr


So True! I could use some good Karma so I need to start creating some. Don't we all love it when this happens? 2012 the year of spreading and creating good karma! Spreading some to all who read this.

When I worked up in Columbus, OH. I probably had given away over $3000 in just 1 year to the homeless. The main reason was because back then, I was making over $40 an hour and just always had extra money.

Plus the homeless were unavoidable in that area where my old job was. I always looked at it as I would just spend it on something stupid anyways, so why not give it to the beggars.

Well, 1 year was all I could do. The very same people I gave hundred of dollars to, decided to mug me. I was stabbed 4 times. This could of been avoided, but at the time, all of my coworkers were ex-cons and after working side by side with them for years, I grew quite an "I'm indestructible" attitude.

But that's just the beginning of what happened! This is how I got stabbed. That day, I had a sugar craving, so I went down to McDonalds to grab a sweet tea during one of our breaks. I still had plenty of time left on my break, so I decided to just pull over into the parking lot, and go over some paperwork while enjoying my sweet tea.

I saw two familiar homeless people walking up to my car. Since I thought I knew them, I instantly rolled my window down with a big smile on my face. I figured they were just coming up to bum a cigarette or a bit of cash again.

Well, as soon as the first one got close, he whipped out a knife and stabbed me in the shoulder. Being full of myself, I busted the door open and attacked him. After getting stabbed 3 more times, I couldn't get off the ground.

They let me live for some reason, however the McDonald's manager, who witnessed it all and ran outside, wasn't so lucky. The other homeless man, who was just watching it all go down, pulled out a gun and shot him. He died right there.
I crawled out into the main road after that and after about what seemed like hours (was actually about 25 minutes), someone finally stopped to help me.

Ever since that day, I haven't helped a homeless person since. I have since then lost my job there (they were an international company who had to pull out of my state due to all of their projects/contracts pulling out, well, saying they had no money to pay our company anymore). They did manage to get a no-profit job just to keep everyone employed, but it only took 1 month in for that one to pull out as well.

So now I live 3 hours from Columbus, back into my hometown.

The picture below is of our local homeless man, caught just last week in wal-mart buying a flat screen tv.


Here is a picture of his reaction when asked about how he was enjoying his new flat screen.


My point being. Use extreme caution when dealing with the homeless and take whatever they say their story is with a grain of salt. I for one, learned my lesson the hard way.

reply to post by whyamIhere

I have been "Paying it Forward" for a couple years now. To be honest I have seen a change in my life, for the better. When able, I generally give to anyone truly in need. What I am able to give always comes back around. When I give anything, all I do is simply tell them.......

Pay it Forward.

Nice to see that others do as well. Seems we humans can learn a new trick no matter how old we get.

reply to post by digitalbluco


Holy hell! Glad you are OK but what a slap in the face. I agree about acting with caution. I feel for these people holding their need help signs but have only helped a few and passed by way too many. I just feel they have really given up and are not even trying. If your not trying to help yourself then I really don't want to either. I am talking about those that CAN help themselves which a majority of homeless people seem to be but then again I cannot judge either. I have been homeless for a short time but I worked two jobs and made sure I did not stay in my car too long. I had help from friends too but it was not easy. But still there are several millions of good people who could use and would welcome a helping hand now and then.

Bless you for being a giving soul!

Whoa...This must be happening all over because Christmas day a lady randomly paid $10 in gas for my family. Never meet her before she just smiled and said merry Christmas. Maybe all this crap going on in the world has people turning to help their fellow man a little more.

reply to post by ElOmen

More than ever, my husband and I are paying it forward. You cannot take it with you and if they need it, they need it more than me. Reach out, touch someone, and watch the love resonate around you. If I could stand on a mountain, I would echo a few things to the world.

1. Thank you for loving me even though I have made many mistakes.
2. I appreciate the lessons that have made me all the wiser.
3. Binaca breathe spray and tongue scrappers are sure things.
4. My husband loves me undeniably and I water his garden.
5. I feel free for the first time in my life.
6. Thank you for rewarding my family for our efforts.
7. Reiki is given through love, hope and prayer. The results speak for themselves.
8. Everyone has the ability to heal with their hands. God provides that gift if we choose to accept it.
9. Love is all that's left.
10. Why do I see things other people don't see?
11. God is great and people are crazy.

~Blessed beyond words~

reply to post by whyamIhere

What goes around comes around?
Or, all that will matter in the end is what you have done for (or too) others.

It works though. I have little money and a very limited food budget. I live on barter for room and board. Recently I scrapped some lawn chairs and made fifty bucks that I drove around town in a borrowed car to spend on stuff. At each store I walked up to, a person happened to walk up at the same time and begin to dig in the garbage can for cans and plastic bottles. They didn't ask me for anything and I knew they could use the money, so I just gave them a couple bucks. Normally I would not see them anywhere near my path, but on this day I was reminded to share, just a little. I have little in the way of means. But my belly is full and I sleep indoors at night, which is more than they do, so I was reminded to give, just a little. Not for reward or "Karma" or whatever, just cause it was the right thing to do at the time. Just a little.