No good deed goes unpunished

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by VAPatriot

 

It sounds like you did your best at teaching a man to fish. Sadly, it is probably through people like you trying to help him that he has learned to take advantage of them.

Even worse, he has messed up anyone else's chance at ever getting help from you again. I mean after a couple of those experiences, wouldn't want to get fooled again, right?

I guess if you want to help the less fortunate, you should donate your time(or food) to a homeless shelter. I hate to donate money, as it is far too easy for it to end up in an administrators pocket.





[edit on 6-8-2010 by butcherguy]

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the situation right now. Thanks.

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by VAPatriot

 

I guess if you want to help the less fortunate, you should donate your time(or food) to a homeless shelter. I hate to donate money, as it is far too easy for it to end up in an administrators pocket.

[edit on 6-8-2010 by butcherguy]

NO WAY!! Last year we had some record cold nights here in Tallahassee. The homeless shelter was on the news complaining about not having enough beds indoors, and how they needed assistance from the community.

So, after some conversations with my wife, brother, mother, and father. We donated the majority of our emergency supplies. All of my "space blankets" and/or shock blankets that are supposed to hold in 97% of body heat. All of our spare comforters and blankets that we had been saving for emergencies. We donated athletic socks, sock hats, gloves, etc.

Guess what happened?

When I dropped my stuff off, only a cook was present to accept it, and he put it in a pile behind a counter. When my brother showed up with his stuff, they turned it down, and he saw my stuff lumped in a trash pile!!

The staff didn't even apologize! They said they can only accept monetary donations, and rarely they will accept brand new items in their original packaging. They didn't know what the space blankets were, or how to use them. And they considered the blankets and socks and gloves all trash?

It is all a scam! I basically threw away probably $300 worth of my own emergency supplies trying to help out, and it wound up in the trash, while the very people I gave it to were on the TV begging for more money to buy emergency supplies?

reply to post by getreadyalready


That's pathetic. Bet they preferred cash donations.

2nd

reply to post by getreadyalready
That is freaking ridiculous. I guess that shows what kind of people they have running those places.

Again, a person ends up feeling foolish for trying to help.

I know of one religious-affiliated group that I will donate to... The Mennonite Central Committee. They have a mobile cannery that they drive across the US and Canada each year. They collect beef and poultry from farmers and can it on site, usually at a local butcher shop. They actually travel with the canned meat to areas where food is needed (a lot goes to Africa) and distribute it to the end consumers. They do not can pork because they give a lot of food to Muslims.

reply to post by butcherguy


Anything with "Mennonite" in the name is probably a pretty good thing. I grew up around some of those communities, and they are very similar to Amish people. Sometimes they do use vans and telephones, but in general they live the same way they did 200 years ago. Nice, Humble, Hardworking folks.

“When we are grateful for the good we already have, we attract more good into our life. On the other hand, when we are ungrateful, we tend to shut ourselves off from the good we might otherwise experience.”

Margaret Stortz

I like this quote. I't is inspiring to me.

I really hate to hear what happened to you.

Something exactly like that happened to me two months ago. A friend got evicted from his house, he hasn't had a steady job in the past two years, and he and his 20 year old son didn't have anywhere to go, so I opened the doors of my house to them. They lived under my roof, they ate my food.

One weekend I left the city and when I came back, they had left with seven hundred dollars I had hidden at home for emergencies.

At the beginning i obviously felt used, robbed and made a fool out of. I was outraged! A couple of days after though, I came about with a different point of view.

You should never, EVER regret of doing the right thing. What goes around, comes around, you know? You helped your fellow human being when he was in need. In a cosmic way, you've made this world a better place by doing so.

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again". - Mahatma Gandhi

Finally, even if it sounds like a cliché, the final thing I can say to you is to never judge another person, before walking a mile in their shoes.

Take care and God bless!!

reply to post by RadioKnecht


Thanks for you comments. I think once I find my car and I get the damages repaired, I'll feel better. Right now I'm pissed and disheartened.

I like the Gandhi quote alot.

Update:

I just got the car back. Police pulled over the car today. Sereral people were in it, they ran. The Police caught everyone but the guy who took it. Hopefully they will find him. He needs help. Jail may be good for him.

reply to post by VAPatriot
Good to hear that you have your car back. I hope they didn't trash it too much. I hope that they do catch him, but I can't say I believe that he will ever learn from it.