when i'm daydreaming about being extremely wealthy, one of the things i always think would be cool to do is to just randomly give people money. i would over tip, i would say "keep the change", and i would pay for other people's checks at restaurants.
i think about when i was in college and how if i found $5.00 in a pair of jeans then i got all excited. i just read stinkypaw's post on what she is doing for the homeless in her city and it got me to thinking...
how much do i need to have before i can do this? really? i am NOT extremely wealthy but we do okay. i own designer bags and drive a nice vehicle (when it gets repaired from the deer hit). i have spent money on stupid things. i have "wasted" money. how much do i have to have before i can feel charitable?
i donate Body Shop and tie dyes to local benefits and i buy girl scout cookies. i purchase raffle tickets to help out the latest cancer victim's medical bills and i give my clothes (the ones that don't sell on my garage sale) to the Salvation Army.
all of those things offer me something in return...so is it really charity?
i'm going to start truly GIVING. last night i gave my pizza delivery guy a $16.00 tip. he is a young guy who is always friendly. it felt good to say "keep the change" and to see the smile on his face. i realize that $16 isn't going to pay off any of his bills but hopefully it made him feel appreciated.
i'm also going to take a page from stinkypaws book and stop by our local food pantry to find out what items they need and i'm going to GIVE it to them.
finally, last night i was at my in-laws house with my six year old. monkey's parents are in St. Lucia visiting his sister and brother in law (the one who just finished the sailing race). they had purchased all new bedding and curtains, painted the walls, and cleaned the drapes and carpets while they were gone. so she asked me and gab's other two sisters to stop by and kind of put things back together for them as a Christmas present. i got there early with Mazzy and she was helping me make the bed and she said to me:
"mom, you know what i love about this time of year?" and I said "presents?" and she said "nope, it's people helping each other."
observations and anecdotes
4 comments:
That's nice.
My son impressed me this week when we delivered some goodies to friends. He spotted some hershey kisses in their bag before we left and said he wanted to "try one to make sure they're OK." I gave him one that we had leftover. When we got to the people's house, their daughter opened the bag and immediately took out a chocolate. Her mom offered one to my son. I said those were theirs, and that he had already had one at home. I expected my son to take the offered candy anyway. Instead he said "No thank you. We have some at home." Not like him at all to refuse chocolate, even when it is suggested that he should.
That's nice, and I'm touched that I inspire you in a way. Sometime it's the smallest thing that do make a difference, that I do believe.
I have this "rule" (learned that from my dad) where I never give money (not to "help" whichever vice one might have), but I will give food, clothes, time, etc. Going by the Food Pantry is a great idea, you'll be helping those people immensely. To me, that's what Christmas is all about...
Nice...it always feel good to give to share to others what we have...
Merry christmas!
Thanks for buying the girl scout cookies. As a 10-year leader having had to sit in all kinds of weather for hours on end, we really do appreciate the generosity!
I'm in my last year tho, my daughter is about to graduate high school. I will probably continue buying the cookies anyway to support the up & coming generations. I also like to let the girls "keep the change." It doesn't happen a lot, and it sure helps offset the cost of the boxes that go missing (I won't say stolen...). Or they just get to keep something more than their small share of the profit.
Funny, I have the same "If I won the Lotto" thoughts. I often use them to fall asleep to at night.
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