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

Over here in Europe (been in Spain almost 6 years now) the laws are such that an immigrant who doesn't know the right people is going to have a tough time getting work, even if they want it. I knew a girl who was a pharmacist from where she came but was working as a babysitter here because she couldn't get through the beurocracy. At least here, some folk want to work but are simply held back by the system. You'll see a lot of htem trying to sell newspapers or other easy-to-come by items. I give when I see people trying to work.

Thanks for sharing that touching account as all deeds are Known and Accounted for Blessings to you for the new year.

reply to post by digitalbluco


I'm with you on this one, the confidence tricksters are mingled in with the real homeless. We have guys who wash car windows at busy intersections in my city who plead that they are poor and hungry, but the other day the man came into the wifes store and boasted about making $150 an hour! not realising that she recognised him from giving him money all the time for washing her windscreen.

I'm with you that i tend not to trust homeless as most aren't in my country.

Karma. I know him good.

Two years ago I think it was already past Christmas I drove to a friend at a sunday afternoon. It was already dark and on my way to him (120km) I stopped because there was a old 90s car with emergency lights on standing at the side of the road with a foreign plate. I stopped and a men came towards my car. He had no more fuel and no money for filling his car because they got robbed at the autobahn restplace. He was from turkey and did not speak very well german nor english. He asked if I could tow him back to the autobahn because there was a BK and McDonalds and probably some warm place to stay over night with his kid and his wife.

So I towed him through the snow and when we arrived at the rest place, I remembered I had 50€ in the car for "emergencies" because I looked into my wallet and it was nearly empty. I gave the 50€ to him and he was that thankfull. He asked for my adress, too and I said "Just forget it, its ok, really". He insisted that I should take his goldring, wich was probably his wedding ring (I dont know if Turks have that tradition). I said "no I dont want it, its way to much for the 50€, I can not do this, its to much"
So after a minute or two after I finally said "good luck, stay well, I have to drive along" he gave me a hug and so I drove on. Half an hour later, when I arrived at my friends flat and got rid of my coat something fell on the floor. It was the goldring.

Some weeks later I went to a goldsmith and he said it was worth over 600€. I was shocked. The goldsmith asked me if I would sell it to him or how we would go further. I sold it and kept the money for first. I took 50€ for emergencies back to my car and spent the rest to a aid organization.

I was baffled but I felt very good and lucky inside, after this.

im wary of the "homeless" people on medians with signs because so many of them aren't honest about their situations. i.e. flatscreen t.v. guy

however, i do enjoy giving out random goodies to strangers. i tipped the server boy at dennys the other night 100 bucks because he had to listen to me and my friends being loud and carrying on at 2 am.
oh, and there was a blind man who was walking around the gas station looking for a ride but everyone was ignoring him so i decided to give him a lift. he offered me a dollar but i couldn't take it and then i helped him out and walked him the rest of the way to where he was going.

its sad how some people get sketched out when you offer to pay for something of theres or help them out like there is always some sort of catch

The nice thing about the principle of 'paying it forward' is that it changes your outlook: you expect nice things to happen to you in return, and you start to look around you to see if you can identify these blessings. You wouldn't want to miss it when it happens, do you? And lo and behold, lots of little blessings right there under your very nose!

Regardless whether these blessings are the result of your own previous forward paying action, or whether they were there all along, you become happier and with a more positive outlook in life, simply because you have your eyes on positive things around you in addition to being on the lookout for people who might be in need.

It's called the way of give. The law of the universe.

reply to post by digitalbluco

Your story demonstrates it can work both ways

Unfortunately and I hate to say it but some of these homeless really aren`t at all and some are drug addicts. It`s my observation that you should not help them out a second time. I liken them to stray cats, they attract more strays, once you feed them, it`s like you adopted them and they keep coming back for more, except unlike cats they can eventually rob you with the reasoning you have more than them so you should give to them. They seem to think they are entitled.

I don`t advise giving them your home address!

I have always been generous but there comes a point where you must ask yourself am I being nice or am I being stupid. Having said that I have been in the position of being without and how I wished and would have completely appreciated a helping hand, but truthfully, nobody lent a hand and I had too much pride to ever ask. In recent years I have more than others and I have been very generous, because I understood the needs.

A few years ago I was downtown vancouver and a homeless man was begging. I gave him money, as other passerby`s called him names and me an idiot. Anyways, that night I had the best luck, an amazing thing happened.

I think paying it forward does work but it works the opposite way too, if you`re a cheapskate and go around cheating people doing the knickle and diming thing, this does not go un-noticed and you`re burning your bridges. So give, but don`t be such a taker, if it`s a balancing out thing going on, you aren`t moving forward at all, you knock yourself back every time you take when you really didn`t need to. Don`t give because you want something back in return, it doesn`t work that way.

reply to post by verschickter
The thing that baffles me more is whether the gentleman has enough wedding rings to hand out every time he is in a pickle...

But it's a nice story, with a lesson in it: give a little, and you could receive a lot. (or: make sure you marry a wife who doesn't mind sacrificing your wedding ring when you get stuck on the motorway)

tired of all the old hustles from the homeless, this year I instead tried to tip more and leave money in the salvation army bucket. don't know if it was karma, but after bills I left the grocery store with my last dollar the other day and stopped by the poker machines. hit the $400 royal flush on the second hand ($.50) per hand with dimes. $400 doesn't really help with anything, but it's been soo long since I got one of those, it made me wonder.

reply to post by digitalbluco

Originally posted by digitalbluco

Ever since that day, I haven't helped a homeless person since.

Just because someone is begging, does not mean that they do not have a home. Sometimes, gullibility and kindness, are one and the same.

It seems that you no longer see any differences, and now view everyone on the street, as being a criminal. I am not saying that you should give anything to anyone at all, but you really should try to not automatically view everyone that you see on the street, as a conman whom is not honestly in need of a little help.



[color=AEEBD1]There is a common misconception that is shared by many. Often, it is quite obvious simply because of the terms used, such as 'Homeless People' or 'The Homeless'. There is no single type of person that can become homeless. Every single one of us is capable of losing everything.

I have no difficulty believing that at all. Synchronicity is quite real. The woman who came up to your wife, was probably a sensitive who was being directed by one of her attendant spirits. That is how it works; or one of the ways.

www.worldtrans.org... - Read this, especially the part about the Equal Value System. Also watch everything from Bashar about synchronicity on YouTube.

You might also want to mentally prepare yourselves in any other way you need to. One way or another, the Abundance Paradigm is coming.

You know i have many stories on this also. As some know i work for a police department. My personal thing i will do is if i eat McDonalds or somewhere like that that gives those game pieces you win free food on, i save them. when i see the local transients here i give them to them when they ask for money for food and such. they are the same as cash in the store and can only be used for food. and besides i never use them lol. also i go to the Biloxi Mississippi a few times a year. i was once stopped by a guy outside a fast food chain that i just knew was going to ask for money. since i have seen most of the tricksters at work i will not give them cash. however he walked up and asked for me to please buy him a meal as he was just starting work there from the oil spill and hadnt recieved a check yet. that i was only more than happy to provide! all of my luck came the night before i met him so i guess it was a test for me lol.

Originally posted by BooBetty
reply to post by verschickter

 

The thing that baffles me more is whether the gentleman has enough wedding rings to hand out every time he is in a pickle...

But it's a nice story, with a lesson in it: give a little, and you could receive a lot. (or: make sure you marry a wife who doesn't mind sacrificing your wedding ring when you get stuck on the motorway)

I dont think he would do this every time. Imagine you are stuck in a foreign land without your wallet, lying at the streetside with your car, your wife and your kid, freezing as hell. No money to give. What would you do if you have some gold with you? I dont know for sure that it was a wedding ring, he was a Turk so he could be moslem and I dont know if they have this tradition.

I know it sounds strange. I thought the same but he really was in need and he had no money. I dont know about papers as they are needed to travel to Turkey because they are not in the EU. So first, the whole storie from him seemed to be odd but the fact that he put his ring into my coat without saying something adds a lot of honesty to him.

reply to post by BrokenCircles

Pay it forward to those around you. Homeless..is subjective and the ones that love us deserve our glitter.

~Go Fish~

reply to post by verschickter

So after a minute or two after I finally said "good luck, stay well, I have to drive along" he gave me a hug and so I drove on. Half an hour later, when I arrived at my friends flat and got rid of my coat something fell on the floor. It was the goldring.

Another lesson besides accepting "gratuity" for services rendered, is thankfulness. That man was at the end of his rope and probably prayed his heart out for deliverance. For all anyone knew he would have died that night if a savior had not been provided. You were it. Allow him to show his gratitude for being rescued by God or whatever. And realize that things (like a gold ring) aren't as important as behaving like a good samaritan.

I agree with you, but the car was old and they did not looked to be very wealthy and the goldring was out of proportion. I said to him its enough for me to know they wont be hungry this night and that they have a little money until they can get some of their own at a bank or so.

Next thing is I was unsure if it is his wedding ring, as Turks dont have to be muslims allways.
Its not a "lesson" that I´d learned, its common sense the let the gifted one express his happyness and feelings.

Hello again. I just wanted to follow up on the flat screen homeless guy part of my story. Our local homeless shelter spoke out about him today.

portsmouth-dailytimes.com...'

Looks like they went pretty deep investigating this guy. Read the article for all the stuff he's pulled in the past.

About halfway down into the article, it says this:

“The shelter itself was in need of funds recently. Those people just go out randomly, but we (the shelter) had to have a permit to go out there and stand. People just drove past us like we were nothing because we didn’t look like they look. If I went out there in ragged clothes and looked they way they look maybe they would give to us, too, but that is so misleading to the community.”

I couldn't agree more. I think I might start giving back again, just not through the beggars.

UPDATE:

I have continued my mission to "Pass it Forward" and it seems to be catching on.

My local Coffee House reports the trend is growing.

The fun I am having just buying a stranger a cup of coffee is refreshing.

I just buy their cup then quickly walk away while saying nothing.

The stories, the smiles, the shock on their face.....I highly recommend it.

I'm asking for everyone today for one "Random Act of Kindness".

It has really helped to restore my faith in the Human Race.