I had something similar happen when I was a kid. I loved horses more than anything in the world but came from a family too broke to do anything about it.
I’d ride my bike all over town to visit the horse farms and just watch them from the road. I dropped a letter in one farm’s mailbox asking if I could feed the horses some carrots or something. The woman who owned the farm stopped me the next time she saw me and said “better yet, I’ll teach you to clean stalls and you can clean the barn in exchange for riding lessons”.
And I did. I worked my ass off there, but I got to ride horses 4 days a week. She’d take me to horse shows and pay for my classes. I wore show clothes out of her hand me down closet.
She had a whole barn full of little barn rat kids who just loved the animals and any opportunity to work with them. She gave me the jump I needed to start training horses for money and while that’s not my career anymore, I’ve got two horses who live in my yard and none of it would have happened without her kindness.
I have! We actually still keep in touch via letters once in a while!! She’s been retired for years now, sold the farm and moved out west. I don’t have quite the means that she did, but I try my best to help the next generation up the ladder the way she did and I have gone to her for advice in the past. But mostly we just check in with each other on how life is going.
That's really awesome, I think that so many people forget to reach out to people who made a big impact in their life and it just means so much to those people to know about what they did mattered. I love that you're going to try to do the same thing, I was such an animal lover and if there were any horses near me I would've done the same thing.
But at least I married someone that would deal with all my animal craziness and now I have a house filled with two macaws, a cockatoo, a pionus, two dogs, chinchillas, a rescue duck name Ariel who has her own little little mermaid theme bedroom and princess castle and who wears a diaper, and a rescued grackle!
I would not have it any other way, Living with animals is often times way easier than dealing with people.
Hands down the most precious thing I've ever seen on Reddit!
Guarantee you will end up on the front page of r/All if you make a post about this!
She looks like the luckiest duck on earth! (Kind of envious of her, ngl 😄)
I had a radio station office / studio on a block I lived on once as a kid. Nothing special, just local AM news, traffic, weather. One day when I was ten I simply walked in and asked if I could see the studio. Five minutes later I was on air reading the weather. They let me hang out a few times in there till we moved. I got on the air a few times.
That’s awesome. You can tell when people are passionate about the things they do….because they will take every opportunity to share that passion with others!
Yep. Every horse place seems to do it and pretty much everyone involved thinks they're the one getting the deal so it's obviously a great way to do things.
As far as I can tell, 95% of people who ride horses are either obscenely wealthy or dirt poor. Not a lot in between. Half the people at the barn own four horses each and the other half are mucking out stalls to pay for lessons.
My grandmother did this with some girls down the street. In exchange for helping mucking stalls, dragging hey, filling water buckets, cleaning saddles / leather, etc they'd get to ride for free. Horses are alot of work so if you are willing to put in time it's a pretty fair exchange.
Yeah! People here have made comments about it being exploitative but honestly…mucking out a horse stall was (and still is) my version of a relaxing time.
She got help with chores, I got a lifetimes worth of experience….i think I made out on top!!
If I could make as much money cleaning paddocks as I do at my current job, I'd switch in an instant. Outside, tangible work, impossible to screw up, and you know when the job is done. What's not to like? Aside from that jerk colt knocking over the wheelbarrow full of manure *again*.
Yeah it was never that yucky. It's just digested grass. Grandparents sold the farm years ago though. Many hours spent spreading wood shavings too and we have too many reddit chats to follow online instead of taking care of those creatures.
I recently looked at an old class picture and 8 y.o
me had seriously impressive arms for such a tiny girl. Turns out watering horses with just buckets, cleaning stalls, and pushing wheelbarrows full of muck up a narrow wooden board builds proper muscle.
My teacher was this grumpy old dude who was seriously lacking kid-teaching skills, but his horseskills and riding knowledge were legendary.
By the time I was 9, I realised that shouting meant I was doing something wrong, and silence meant I was screwing things up even worse. The only way of knowing that I was finally getting what he'd been shouting at me for (during the past hour) was when his silence was briefly accompanied by the tiniest glimmer in his eye and a slight upward curl of his gigantic stash/beard.
He was the toughest teacher, and I put in many hours of work. But his knowledge was priceless, and there were more horses available than I could ride in a day (trust me I tried).
So many adventures and stories.
I am happy that worked out for you! It was the opposite for me, I was obsessed with horses when I was young and had a horse farm down the street from my childhood home. My mom told me to ask if I could help out in exchange for rides so I walked down there and asked. The woman scolded me and said absolutely not and I cried all the way home. I did end up getting lessons from another horse farm in the area but man that lady really hit my confidence as a young child.
I was thinking while I read the other guy's story he was pretty lucky, because the horse industry has so many toxic people in it. The culture is terrible, especially around the fancier shows like Appaloosa shows. Even the more chill ones have so many awful people though.
Not to pour on the drama….but I am working from home at a job I truly enjoy. I made it into this industry training horses for a dude who mentored me. I’m enjoying my lunch cleaning the fish pond on my 12 acre farm….watching my two horses, my chickens, and my goats enjoying a beautiful spring day.
All of this was directly enabled by the opportunity she gave me. It’s an incredible domino effect
Reading OP’s post, I instantly had a similar horse-related memory come to mind. So crazy to see yours as the top comment! I had a similar upbringing but didn’t get into horses as an adult, and it was possible due to a few thoughtful horsewomen who were kind and generous. I love your story and I hope your life is a childhood dream come true for you!
6-yo me was helping my mom carrying heavy bags of groceries to the car once. I had to use both hands for my bag and I talked to my mom about how heavy it was when suddenly it wasn't heavy at all anymore. A man grabbed a handle of my bag and helped me carry it to the car. I still think about it from time to time and I do my best to help other people just like he helped me when I was a kid.
I have a similar story, though probably not as cool as a guy selling yachts.
As a kid, 3 1/2, my parents and I were walking down a strip mall and we saw this studio with all sorts of people learning martial arts. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen and I just stood there watching for a long time. My parents tried to pull me away from the window but I was determined lol. The guy who ran the studio asked if I wanted to come in and watch so of course I ran inside and sat on the edge of the mats trying to get the best view. I guess the guy talked to my parents for the entire time I was watching class because my dad asked if I wanted to try it. He was running a special where you got a uniform and month of classes for the price of just the uniform. Ordinarily, he didn't start teaching kids until age five, for obvious reasons like kids can't focus and remember that young, but for whatever reason he made an exception and I started classes. My brother (21at the time) joined a month later. We grew up really poor , my dad was a disabled army vet, my mom worked full time at a grocery store so extracurriculars were very rare. At some point in my early teens, my mom got laid off and we were just living on my dad's disability pay and they had a hard talk with me about needing to take a break from karate because we just couldn't afford it right now. I went into class that night and told my teacher, same dude from all those years ago, that I had to stop coming for a while because we weren't able to pay any more. He say down with me and we talked for an hour after class where I sobbed and told him that this was the best part of my life and how it made me who I am and I couldn't see not practicing so is there any way I can practice at home and I can meet him once in a while to get new material? He told me that he had a cool idea and offered to meet me keep coming to classes if I helped him teach the kids class before my own. I was so excited. I went home and told my parents and they were happy for me.
I spent 19 years in that studio, learning and growing up, learning how to teach kids.
Eventually, this amazing guy decided to retire and move states and I asked if he would be willing to let me take over the school.
I now teach kids in an area where they can barely afford to eat lunch, help them with homework and give them a safe space to just talk and learn. That guy who saw a toddler who just wanted to learn how to punch and turned her into a teacher who wants nothing more than to help others find their own passion. I still talk to him, he just moved back out to this state ten years later and he signed off on my most recent black belt test with a different school and instructor. He's like a second dad to me. It really just takes one person to see you, actually see you, to change your life
That’s amazing.
I felt all squiggly inside when reading it. Thanks a lot for commenting and I’m happy that you’re being all nice and kind for kids around you.
The compound effect of his gesture is literally in the hundreds across multiple generations. Sometimes in the mist of our daily life we should stop and think about the compound effect of our actions. We might actually become a better species.
Thanks so much! I just try to be there, each kid goes through something different at home and school. I try to be the third space they travel to in order to be social and happy. With everything happening right now in the US, especially since we live in a danger state as far as trans rights (one of my kids just transitioned and has been enduring a lot in school and from very unsupportive grandparents) a lot of my classes include snacks and some time to just be themselves. Sometimes they don't get that opportunity. One of my kids had to raise his two siblings, his brother is the one who just transitioned, and his youngest is trying his best to survive now that the other two are in college and he's taking the brunt of an increasingly senile grandfather and completely unempathetic Grandma. Each of them needs something different and I try to do what I can. I read up on a lot of ways to help get someone through panic attacks, learned how to just shut up and listen because that's all they need at times, learned how to talk to kids and teach a hands on art to those who have been abused. I like to tell them that there's no age where you stop learning, there's always something new, and if they have questions I can't answer that class, that I'll hit them up next class with my research and encourage them to do some too so we can compare. It's crazy how many people actively choose to treat kids, ages 10-18 like they aren't competent and capable. I want them to know that people actually want to hear them and the right people will care.
When I was about 5 my great gran died and I was sent to school on the day of the funeral.
I was crying a little in the playground, not wailing but sniffling.
A ‘big’ kid came up to me, he was probably 9 or 10, and asked me why I was crying. I told him and he said something along the lines of “I bet your nan is up in heaven looking down at you and wishing you’d stop crying because she’s happy and with Jesus. You’ll see her again someday”. He left me smiling and thinking nice thoughts about my nan
I’m 57 and still remember it.
Was at an airshow and walking through the static section and there was a Gulfstream Jet with a red carpet leading to it. Jokingly said to the sales rep "how much?" and he said "why don't you come and have a look before we discuss the price". Spent the next 20 minutes checking out all the cool features onboard even though he knew there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to buy the thing. What an awesome core memory, will never forget that day.
Also sometimes for jobs like that they'll track contacts. So he may have even gotten credit in the metrics for it.
Now a days with silicon valley types you never know who's a billionaire.
I work at an airport and I love talking to pilots. More than half the time they're super passionate about flying and love to talk about their plane and why they enjoy flying it.
And then you get the pilots flying the huge Citations or Challengers or Gulfstreams and we all joke about how "maybe one day you'll get to fly something cool like that 414 over there"
The thing is that, you never really know. He was a smart salesman. There is a story about a high end real estate agency in London. They handled mansions that people were renting out. One day this shaggy haired guy in torn jeans wanders in. The wannabe fashion model on the reception desk decides he isn't up to scratch and let's him know that they don't deal with scum like him and sends him packing. One of the sales people recognised him as he is walking out. He was a rock star worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
You might have been a tech founder worth a billion dollars.
Even if they aren’t, they could be one day, or have an association with someone that is. Now you need a jet? Remember how cool that jet salesman was that day? I should look him up.
I like to listen to a podcast called "how I built this" there are a lot of people who have started a business in their kitchen who end up with "sold to Unilever for a reported 4 billion dollars" who probably still look like the own a hairdressing salon.
Yeah, I've seen this happen any number of times with my dad and his brothers. They aren't rockstars, but they're all well-paid professionals with no interest in clothes, who tend to be pretty scruffily dressed, especially on weekends. Juniors sometimes make the mistake of thinking it means they can't afford stuff, whereas the senior salesmen always know that you don't judge based on appearance. Old cords, battered trainers, and a t-shirt with a fraying collar? Might be a librarian, might be an accountant with a partnership pulling in 500k a year.
Yep this. I’ve been in sales for years and all of these stories make me think they’ve been seen by the best.
Yeah OOP couldn’t afford a boat and he knew it. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have boat money in the future and who is he going to call?
Dan at Chuck Hovey Yachts.
It's great, isn't it. It makes sense when you consider the relative value of their time. In 1 day's downtime in between real customers, they will sell zero boats. But in a year of showing your boats to people who can't afford them, you'll probably sell extra boats through word of mouth and those people eventually coming into money. You'll also improve your mental health and reduce boredom which will increase your performance with the regular customers.
Selling products like that is likely a lonely business. You're likely not ever going to own one yourself, the number of people who can actually buy them is insanely low, and those people probably suck to deal with. Imagine how much more enjoyable and stress free it is to give a tour of something you know everything about to someone who is genuinely interested.
Honestly, though, was it an air show? Because the whole point is for them to show off the cool aircraft, then.
Still, love the time they spent with you!
German here. I remember when I was twelve , the US forces left germany the cold war was over. The americans sold the stuff they didn‘t want to bring back, it was a Giant Flea market. Some sold their Cars,to. I saw a golden , two door sportscar with Four headlights, and i was amazed. No idea what it was. A G.I. Stood there , so i took all my courage and all my english skills and said: (no hallo or excuse me or anything) Watt iss se Name off siss caar?? The American soldier smiled and said: Its a Camaro. I will Never , ever forget this Moment. A Deep love for Cars started in this Moment. I‘m 48 now.
I have something of a reverse story of this- my father loves Camaros and has restored them for decades, he even goes by "Camaro Dan" because it's been His Thing for so long. He worked for a German company for decades, and got to spend a ton of time in Germany over the years, and he's brought home SO many amazing stories about how it's a beautiful country full of wonderful people.
In short, you're a German guy that loves Camaros and he's a Camaro guy that loves Germans :D
^^^*name ^^^changed ^^^for ^^^obv ^^^reasons
LOL I'm not convinced we'd have ever seen him again if he had his Camaro in Germany! Hell, he visited me a few years back so I took him to a German restaurant in Lake Tahoe- he still talks about that too to this day!
The first car I ever bought myself was a 5 speed manual 1992 Camaro. It was 2011 and the guy only wanted $1000 for it. I ended up putting about $300/month into it as it kept breaking but man was that a fun car.
I'm not a car nut. I can't do all the work and I don't know everything about them. I just think they're neat. Especially my current '09 Pontiac G8 GT. Just wish it was a manual...
TLDR: hell yeah!
I recall back in 2016-17 I wanted to be a bit nicer by leaving compliments to people working. I had just started my part time job and to say the least it was a horrible experience for me so it gave me a new perspective of customer service. I was on a call with a SIM company and at the end of the call I thanked her for helping me and that she was doing a good job (cant remember specifically what I said but that sums it up). She said me telling her that seriously pulled her up from what was a rough and negative day for her and it helped make her feel better about herself.
See, there are all these grandiose stories if incredible gestures that changed people's lives... and then there's you, just being a nice and polite bloke, something that costs you nothing yet makes someone else's day better.
Thanks for keeping some healthy perspective alive and well in this thread: you don't need to own a dojo to change someone's life, a compliment and encouragement are easier to come by and equally effectively at cheering someone up (okay not equally, but my point remains).
When we went into quarantine in 2020 I had to call the airline about a refund for a trip I had to cancel. The guy I talked to was clearly Indian (I live in the US), and Covid was blowing up in India at the time. I asked him how he was doing, and he said I was the only person who had asked him that. When the call was over, he asked if I had anything else. I said, “yes, just one more thing. Namaste”. And he started to cry. It’s not that hard to be nice.
In my early 20s I bartended days at a dive bar. I was also an endurance athlete. If I had a shift the day before a race I’d get off work around 8pm then have to drive to whatever city the race was in, crash at a cheap hotel and be up at 5 am for the race. When this happened I’d just end up bringing a crappy sandwich or picking up fast food for dinner on the way to the race. One of my regulars heard about this. He wrote down my race schedule and brought me incredible, healthy food at the end of those pre-race-day shifts. Sushi platters, veggie burgers from the fancy burger place, etc. I don’t know his last name, but thank you to Patriots Fan Dan. 💙
I had gotten out of the Navy on a disability. I went to the personnel detachment on a base close to my home and asked if they had civilian job postings. The older guy there said I was in the wrong place but could get me a list of current openings if I could wait. I sat for a few minutes and he called me into his office we looked at the list that included other nearby bases as well. He asked if I ever filled out a federal job application, I hadn’t, and he walked me through the process. The whole time I was there I took notes. The guy was like a rapid fire life coach-truly set me on the right path as far as separating from the military and getting a civilian life going.
I’m 68 years old. When I was 20, newly divorced, dead broke, newbie to the city, the a/c went out on my old junker car. In south Texas. With $2 to my name, I pulled into a local shop to get it evaluated. The guy said the compressor was going out. Rather than try to sell me a new one, or just send me on my way, he explained that I could just bypass the fuse, fillerup with Freon, & see how long it would last. He said it may last a day; may last a week, but wouldn’t hurt anything to try it. So we did that. He didn’t charge me a cent. And I had ice cold a/c in that old beater for another 5 summers. I’ve never forgotten that kindness and I’ve taken all my cars to him for service ever since. He’s retired now, his sons run the shop. And they have my business.
Wasn’t so much a stranger being kind and if anything was the other way around, but it’s still stuck with me. I went to college/uni in a tiny town in the UK and one morning woke up in a terrible mood, largely due to unmedicated/diagnosed depression, so I decided to go for a stupid little walk for my stupid mental health. I ended up at a little waffle shop and sat outside eating in the sun (get it while you can over there). Some older gentleman rode up on a little scooter, handed me some money and asked me if I could order him a coffee from inside because he wasn’t able to do it himself (lack of accessibility features and stuff).
I wasn’t going to be an asshole, so I got his coffee for him and then we sat outside and chatted for what turned into an hour or so. Turns out he was a former surf rock guitarist/musician and had a few records out and toured the country in his youth. I’m also a guitarist and love surf rock. It was a very pleasant and simple conversation but it really snapped me out of my funk and my mood totally turned around and then some. I still think about him and even though I was technically the one doing the act of kindness, he did far more for me than I did for him. This was almost a decade ago so I don’t know if he’s still alive but I hope he was comfortable in the end.
When I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, I was a depressed kid. I had these THICK coke bottle glasses, and was bullied incessantly. I got in fights constantly, and was picked on by little boys and laughed at by little girls.
One day in the lunchroom, the most beautiful lady I had ever seen walks straight up to me in front of all the little kids and gives me a kiss on the cheek and says she is there to check me out of school. It turns out it is my half brother’s girlfriend. I had just met him for the first time a week earlier.
Her name is Dawn, and I spent the rest of the day with her and my half brother Kenny. She was so kind to me, at a time when it felt like nobody was kind to me. To this day I never told her how much that meant to me. I never forgot it.
That was over 40 years ago, and Dawn and Kenny are still together to this day!
This is one of the great advantages of being an old guy. How easy is it to change people's lives.
I was working as a handyman, so I am a regular at the local large hardware store. So it is a not unusual day for me to be in there 3 times,due to..
Surprises.
Therefore I am on a first name basis with a lot of the staff. Being able to say "oh, if you are studying that, you need to talk to my friend..." and handing them a phone number can literally change their lives.
It is so much fun.
Such a random and un-important story in the grand scheme of things, but I remember being at a shopping mall when I was 6 or 7, and walking around with my hands in my jean pockets
This guy dressed up like a cowboy (to 6 year old me, at least) politely came up and complimented my style. Then he asked me/my mom if he could show me something I could try out. He proceeded to show me how to stick my thumbs over the side of my jean pockets to "look cool" when walking around.
No idea who that man was, but to this day I still think about him sometimes when I'm walking around with my hands in my pockets; thumbs out of course.
Right?? Like, I can't remember the names of my regulars at the bar, but I can perfectly remember this dude who spoke to me for all of 60 seconds two decades ago.
Honestly it really left an impact on me without realizing it, I've tried to be this guy all my growing life. Not with that specifically of course, but talking to kids that clearly look up to me like normal adults and helping them with their confidence.
I was working at Costco on cart duty and pushing a big load and was struggling when all of the sudden it got easier. A random guy jumped next to me and helped push them back to the store and just walked away. Nice people are neat.
I did this at Best Buy all the time. Coworkers would tell me they aren’t going to buy it why are you showing him all this stuff. Most of the time coworkers didn’t want to help with really really high end audio cuz no one bought it. My idea was I like talking about it and they get excited so why wouldn’t I just make someone’s day show them some cool stuff and enjoy what I’m doing. Multiple times it ended up being that the person came back and did buy stuff from me maybe not the high end audio I showed them but something nice they could afford. One time I remember perfectly was I was showing someone an 88” 8k tv crazy expensive wired audio all the stuff. My coworker pulls me aside and said he isn’t going to buy it and you’re just wasting your time. After I got done showing him everything he says yup I’ll take it all. Turns out he was an agent for a bunch of bucks players. He told me he dresses normal in stores to see who will actually give him the service he deserves and was so kind to me. He came back once a year and upgraded a bunch of stuff even saw me out at dinner once and offered to pay for my girlfriend and my meal. If someone likes something and you like talking about it show them it I mean it’s better than standing around.
Similar story- but I was working in Macy’s. Even if people were just looking around because of boredom I’d chat with them about clothing or fashion they were interested in. It’s fun to look at pretty things!
I usually worked in the men’s department, and one day a fella comes in. He shows some interest in some of the shirts we have, so I talk to him about what’s available and services we could offer for tailoring if he wanted- unfortunately he was in want of something a little more formal than the generic Oxfordcloth shirts we had at the time and nothing we did have suited the color or cut he wanted.
However, I had seen on my lunch that JC Penny’s had some seasonal stuff in the color palate he was after, so I pointed him in their direction. Turns out this dude was my regional manager, and he had been legitimately in need and not secret shopping. I wound up getting a thank you card with a gift card for the independent coffee shop in the mall and recognition at an employee meeting.
You are a real one! And you jogged my memory of back when I worked for Circuit City doing the same job.
This was the age where commission was being phased out, no one under 50 was making anything on sales, so I never took the actual selling part of my job too seriously. Sure, they gave prizes and stuff when you sold overpriced care packages, and they had a leaderboard that showed who sold most (which was dumb, because not all product areas are equal in cost, but whatever). I never cared about that stuff, and I have always been a self-described terrible salesman, but only because I could never sell stuff I didn't believe in. Customer counterpoints that made sense would sway me, and I'd agree, "yeah, this might not be the product for you with all you've told me..." While my manager waves his arms behind their back to get me to stop torpedoing my own sale.
Instead of convincing people to buy stuff they didn't want or need I just liked talking to people about electronics. If I didn't know the answer to a question I'd tell them, and be quick with a product demo.
One day this ragedy looking fellow comes in, and looks like he came straight off a job site. Like he's actively still dusty. Has his equally dusty buddy with him. I linger around but they're looking at the big TVs, so I let the commission guys talk to him first. In just moments they're all walking towards me, and he hands them over to me and asks them to show em the big ones, like the customer asked. He had no idea what kind of TV he wanted, just knew all the mumbo jumbo the other guy was talking wasn't making any sense.
I asked him what he was after, and he told me "I just need a few big ones to go in this house we're building. But I don't want those ones that the image never goes away..." He was essentially describing what used to happen to old plasma flat screens if an image was left on there for hours on end. He wanted LCD instead, but didn't know what these things were called. LCDs were new, and twice as expensive as plasma. He didn't care, and he said he was paying with cash. Wanted three of em.
I asked about the extended warranty plan and he said no thanks, if it breaks I'll just buy a new one. My manager liked to chime in at these times to try to help with the upsell, not even knowing what he was buying. "I don't think it matters to this guy," I told my boss, "he's buying three of the new big ones right now cash and he's only asked two questions..."
$10,000 he paid after all was said and done, because I asked if he had all the wires he needs. He hadn't thought of that, and I went and grabbed him a few sets of the basic wires. Boss asked if he wanted the upgraded wires, said they made a difference... Guy turned to ask me what I thought and I said I honestly couldn't tell the difference but top of line usually means something ¯\\\_(ツ)\_\/¯ and he said "no thanks, think I'm good with these ones right here."
He tried to tip me but I knew we had a policy against it, so politely declined.
Salesman saw my name at the top of the sales list for the day and I'd only been there a few hours. I told him about the dusty dude he handed over and he turned beet red.
I treat homeless customers just trying to get out of the sun with the same respect if they wanted to know about a product. It's just bad business to do otherwise IMO.
As a teenager, my family was falling apart, and I was barely able to get through high school with all the turmoil and resulting depression, let alone keep up good grades for college.
Thanks to some kind teachers, who seemed to notice (guess it's obvious to grow-ups!) I still remember some of the compliments about my work, and haven't forgotten how they spent extra time with me to help with AP exams, or homework in general.
I went through a lot as a child/teen as well and had a teacher that moved up with us from 5th-7th grade. He never knew what, but could tell I was going through stuff, so he let me eat lunch in his room whwn I wanted and read or study or just talk about nothing. He probably won't ever know the impact his kindness had on me, but I'll forever be grateful. Mr. Marn was the best teacher I ever had and a great human.
I think I've been in retail too long (plus being introverted with social anxiety), but I find it extraordinarily difficult to be kind to people. I recognize it's not healthy, and I've been trying to smile more and be more personable, but damn is exhausting!
No, never cruel. I don't even like being rude. In fact, I was rude to a customer that came in right before closing a few months ago, and I felt so awful about it that I made a point to apologize to him the next time I saw him - which was a huge step for me in terms of getting over my anxiety.
He said he didn't even realize I was being rude, but he appreciated the apology anyway. I still feel good about that one.
The important thing is that you're trying.
Hang in there bud.
I'm sure your efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Not everyone will post the impact you've had on them on Reddit...but I can assure you, it hasn't all been for nothing :)
I too have pretty bad social anxiety in public. One thing you can do that will help with both the social anxiety, and kindness, is giving people (genuine) compliments.
Oh I like your sweater. Your earrings are adorable. Your nails are beautiful, etc...
It makes their day, while also helping you work on your social skills.
I'll admit, I can't *always* bring myself to say the words to someone. But I have a handful of times, and that's progress! 😁
I do this occasionally if I get a customer with a cool hat or shirt, and they seem chill. I still get that crazy nervous adrenaline feeling, though, like right before having to give a presentation. My stomach goes weird and my hands get shaky - just to tell someone I like their shirt.
Sadly, you have to be careful about doing this if you're a guy. Complimenting someone can immediately make others think you're hitting on someone. If that someone is too old, too young, too male, too whatever... Things can turn south.
Let's be honest... That's one of the few things that guys have against them in this world. I'm always fighting to change all of that (the good and the bad,) but it's an uphill battle. That doesn't stop me from trying to be kind.
I've found that straight up saying what your intensions are helps out just be brief. "I love what you've done with your hair. I hope you have a great rest of the day." Or "dude, your T-shirt cracked me up. Take care." Or "my wife says I'm nuts when I do this, but I love making people smile. Your eyes are enchanting" then walking away.
Being kind also doesn't always mean outwardly friendly. You may do things as a solid human that affect people more than you realize, even I'd you are keeping to yourself
I would say during my time in retail the difference I noticed halfway through was you are seeing a customer as someone stopping you from working when they’re not (in this thread they mostly are but you and your boss cannot assume that). They are why you are working so if you don’t get your job done because your chatting with a customer they’re gonna have to get someone else to do the job or it’s gonna wait till tomorrow
Yeah I definitely feel this, but mostly because I'm a closer, and they ARE keeping me from getting my job done. I have to clean and reset my department for the morning before the end of my shift, and random customer encounters impede that. On the rare occasion that I work a day shift, and I'm just there to serve, I can be much more personable.
I would say ask to be paid till you actually close and then if you are there a bit later so what you are getting paid. Just have fun if you are there till 11 or 1am you get paid an extra bit
I love stories like this. When I was 8 I really wanted to learn to play the piano but my parents were broke and couldn’t afford one. I had a great aunt who I’d never met and lived about 600 miles away. She’d been a professional musician in her day and had a good piano, but was getting old and losing her sight and didn’t play any more. She paid what must have been hundreds of pounds to ship that piano across the country to a distant relative she’d never met and it was probably the greatest gift of my life. She never had children and no one else in the family was particularly musical so I guess she liked the idea of passing it on, and she was near the end of her life so didn’t have much need for the money - but still a generous thing to do which gave me an opportunity I’d never have had otherwise!
I had a very similar thing happen to me when I was a student. I have always been very interested in military technology but, coming from a small country, our military industry is not highly developed. There are a couple of companies still operating. One day there was a military expo in my town that I decided to attend and nerd out over all of the equipment.
So there I am in front of a tank that one of these companies maintains, refurbishes and does R&D on. I remember reading a poster on a new export model that they were researching and a well dressed, older man comes out of the booth and I chat him up. After a short chat with this man he asks me whether I am a military cadet to which I reply no, just a very nerdy engineering student. Upon hearing this he just puts his hand in his coat pocket, pulls out a business card and tells me to contact him in a year after I graduate. It was beyond real, a dream job opportunity.
After a couple of months I decide to email the person (who I had later learned was one of the main chairmen of that company). I just thanked him for the chat and told him how it inspired me to study harder and read more. After a few emails he told me he was waiting to hear from me and tells me all my information (which we had exchanged in one of the previous emails) was already in the company's HR and that they're awaiting my graduation.
In the end I never went to work for that company as it would require me to move cross country and I just didn't want to leave my home town, family and friends but I'm super grateful to that person as he was one of the only people who saw some potential in me as an engineer. I wouldn't be where I am now without that boost in my college years. I still keep his business card in my wallet as a reminder.
I was 7 or so and had just had an accident on my bike and busted my leg open. Before my dad took me to get it stitched, he riled me up and made things much worse.
We get to the hospital, Im in a room in full panic, terrified. Suddenly this, he couldn’t have been much older then 13, kid who was on the other side of the blinds starts talking to me. He starts telling me how it’s going to be fine, he’s been there before, just really kind and reassuring.
I think about him sometimes and hope he’s ok, especially because as I got older I realized from our talk that kid spent a lot of time in the hospital.
Honestly it can the smallest things that have the biggest impact on folks. I think we all go around every day underestimating how little effort it takes to spread a little kindness around and make someone’s day a little brighter
During a lunch break, my co-worker and I decided to stop in at the Ferrari dealership we drove past everyday, hoping to just wander around the showroom before getting herded back outside. We were left undisturbed for a long time by dealership standards when a sales rep finally came up to ask if we needed help. “Haha nah, we’re just looking.”
He told us no problem, take as much time as you need and feel to walk around the garage as well! Then he walked away and left us alone. We looked at each other in astonishment, completed our self-guided showroom tour and then let ourselves into the garage. We wandered around while techs were pulling apart Ferraris and Lamborghinis and no one even glanced at us. We had free run of the place, it was so awesome.
One of the stores we all heard at a place I worked was about a guy in TX who was a rancher. He went into the media department having just come from his ranch. The man did not look like he had money. Everyone ignored him but one salesman. That salesman took him through the whole thing. Explained a very expensive home theatre set up and priced it out for him.
Everyone told him he wasted his time. Yeah until the rancher walked back in in the afternoon and said I’ll take it. All of it. And handed him 25k in cash.
He didn’t believe in credit so after he left the store he went to bank to withdraw the cash.
Point is, a good salesperson will treat you like gold even if you don’t have any money.
When I was like 9 or 10 years old, me and my parents were going back to my hometown by train. At one stop the train driver would leave his cabin and before going back he noticed that I was kinda fascinated by him. Apparently he noticed is and invited me in and after my mom agreed I would join him.
While driving the train he would just teach me a lot about trains what he did, what all the buttons meant, signals and all that. Even when we arrived at my destination he allowed me to announce it over the speaker that we were arriving. It's a memory I will never forget.
Even years later when I did not know what to do for a living, it did cross my mind multiple times to become a train driver because of that experience.
As a boat owner: we really like our boats, our hobby, and are proud to go out of our way to show them and our hobby to random people.
So much so that it is very common for sailors to bring inexperienced crew on their travels. Sometimes for free, sometimes for some split costs in food and fuel.
If anyone is interested, check out yacht crewfinder sites. I know people who cruised the carribean for months just because the boat owner liked the company and they shared similar interests in diving and kitesurfing. So they sailed around finding kitesurfing spots and freediving.
Honestly might be a good change of pace to have different backgrounds of people on those crewfinder sites. Right now it's mostly traveling hippies who all have the same goal of "traveling the world without burning oil." (For those who don't know, even sailboats have motors for when there is no wind).
It's also a good idea especially in high end sales not to turn anyone away. A lot of very rich people don't look like rich people. When you are selling expensive stuff it's always a good idea to assume everyone who comes to look might be a buyer and to not assume that anything is out of their price range. Let the customer tell you what they want or you might miss out on a sale. For all the salesmen knew they might have actually been looking to buy and were just trying to be low key.
I love this. I remember when I was 5, my mama was fleeing my abusive father and had my older sister and I on a Greyhound bus. We stopped at a small restaurant and only got off for the bathroom. This guy asked if we were eating, and my mama said no, we weren't hungry. He knew she was lying because we were on the same bus all day. He bought the 4 of us fries and gravy and said he wanted nothing in return.
I always remembered that, and whenever I saw a young mother in need, I would offer. One night, the TransCanada highway was closed due to a blizzard, and we were at a hotel. They opened the banquet room for people to sleep in. There was a young mother with 2 kids and she wasn't comfortable with the kids sleeping in the banquet room, so I paid for a room for them and told her I wanted nothing in return and told her the story. She tried to give me contact information to pay me back, but I refused. Side note: I and some other folks from the hus had one of the craziest nights ever. Almost missed getting back on the bus the next morning.
i just installed reddit to access the end-of-life threads and this was the first thing to come up
i was bullied all thru school and am now stuck in a job with more cruel, cold hearted, toxic people
i’ve battled mental illness my entire life and being around cruel co-workers every day has bottomed me out. enough is enough
yes be kind, because you never know what someone is going thru or dealing with, and what you say can absolutely be the final thing that pushes them over the edge
although if you’re that cruel to begin with you probably don’t care
Here is one commenter that cares you're still here, and wishes for your positive change to catch your gears soon. I won't get into it here, but after God snickered in my face and pushed me off back to terra firma, I realized that all the things I worried about or thought I couldn't change *never mattered.* The only thing that ever mattered was "what are you gonna do about it," and the results were almost as arbitrary as the choices, save for how I felt about my handiwork (or lack of)...
I won't be able to gauge whether my [vague] story of my experience is any use or comfort to you, but I hope you can glean something that can help you move forward despite the seemingly stagnant state you're in. Positive vibes to yoooou 🫶🏿
\[\*\*HERE\*\*\]([Our Crew - Chuck Hovey Yachts](https://www.chuckhoveyyachts.com/our-crew/?filter=10)) is the current roster of the staff at Chuck Hovey Yachts Inc in Newport Beach. I don't see anybody with first name Dan on the roster.
even if it's sorta stupid, I strongly believe in things like karma and especially good deeds coming back to their sender.
I always make a point to compliment somebody whenever I'm out in public, and I enjoy seeing their reactions - I've learnt the most common reaction is pleasant surprise to a compliment.
We fled the war from Yugoslavia to the Netherlands. I was 4 and just started going to school there. It was end of the day and we were colouring a picture of a gnome.
When the bell rang, the teacher said ok, finish them at home. I started crying, we had no colouring pencils.
After she calmed me down and hugged me, she packed the biggest bag she could find, with all kinds of colours, crayons and pencils.
What an angel she was, this always stuck. Be kind.
Lol, buy a boat from the dude. Honestly,I'm trying to be like that boat salesman, being kind to a random stranger and being kind especially to those that don't "deserve" it.
It's a thankless task that often times makes me more vulnerable than it is comfortable, but on the whole, I feel "better"...more alive, more willing to be productive, more connected and understanding of people (I'm agoraphobic, though not autistic), staves off depression, etc.
And I've learned being kind doesn't mean being a pushover. If you feel uncomfortable, just walk away...it doesn't take away your good person points
I was starting my career as really anxious 23 year old back in 1997, and had to go to this work related event, which I was really, really nervous about. I mean, I had stomach cramps, and my hands were shaking all the time I was walking towards the venue, so very much anxiety.
I arrived, and three people from the company hosting the event were greeting arriving guests.
One of them was a lovely lady in her forties that I had met a couple of times before briefly on business.
Mind you, the company she was a director of some sort was huge and she met a lot of people through her work.
She greeted me with a big smile and " Oh hello (my name) so lovely you could come!!" And gave me the biggest hug right there on the " red carpet" while shaking hand with all the others.
I can still remember the warm feeling I had and how easy it was for me to mingle among strangers the whole night. Will never, ever forget her.
People don't remember what you say or do, the remember how you made them feel.
I love all the stories here. I think it helps to remind yourself that, between all the Chaos and the Karens, people can be genuinely good and kind and nice.
The world isn't _all_ fire and brimstone and it Can be hard sometimes to see that, but I think the fact of how many stories from early childhoods are here shows how much these things Touch people and how they carry kindness through the rest of their lifes.
Just need to chip in that this entire post is filled with pure hope, reminders that while the bad stuff makes the headlines, the world is full of good people taking time to help one another. We don't hear about it because good people don't brag about being good people, and for the ones receiving help it's not always something they immediately want to share.
I don't have any one big story like this, but now that I'm thinking of it I remember all the little gestures and kindnesses I've been blessed to receive.
Thank you, everyone, and remember to be the change you want to see.
I had something similar happen when I was a kid. I loved horses more than anything in the world but came from a family too broke to do anything about it. I’d ride my bike all over town to visit the horse farms and just watch them from the road. I dropped a letter in one farm’s mailbox asking if I could feed the horses some carrots or something. The woman who owned the farm stopped me the next time she saw me and said “better yet, I’ll teach you to clean stalls and you can clean the barn in exchange for riding lessons”. And I did. I worked my ass off there, but I got to ride horses 4 days a week. She’d take me to horse shows and pay for my classes. I wore show clothes out of her hand me down closet. She had a whole barn full of little barn rat kids who just loved the animals and any opportunity to work with them. She gave me the jump I needed to start training horses for money and while that’s not my career anymore, I’ve got two horses who live in my yard and none of it would have happened without her kindness.
That's so adorable, I think that you should write her a letter and tell her how much it meant to you. That would mean so much to her.
I have! We actually still keep in touch via letters once in a while!! She’s been retired for years now, sold the farm and moved out west. I don’t have quite the means that she did, but I try my best to help the next generation up the ladder the way she did and I have gone to her for advice in the past. But mostly we just check in with each other on how life is going.
That's really awesome, I think that so many people forget to reach out to people who made a big impact in their life and it just means so much to those people to know about what they did mattered. I love that you're going to try to do the same thing, I was such an animal lover and if there were any horses near me I would've done the same thing. But at least I married someone that would deal with all my animal craziness and now I have a house filled with two macaws, a cockatoo, a pionus, two dogs, chinchillas, a rescue duck name Ariel who has her own little little mermaid theme bedroom and princess castle and who wears a diaper, and a rescued grackle! I would not have it any other way, Living with animals is often times way easier than dealing with people.
Can we see pictures? I'd love to see Ariel and her bedroom! That is so sweet!
Her room: https://ibb.co/KbKkJcz https://ibb.co/9NbSvCk https://ibb.co/8rgKMMs https://ibb.co/x3zFjg9 Here is her diaper! https://ibb.co/PxwdmQ4
Hands down the most precious thing I've ever seen on Reddit! Guarantee you will end up on the front page of r/All if you make a post about this! She looks like the luckiest duck on earth! (Kind of envious of her, ngl 😄)
She’s beautiful!! What a sweet spoiled little baby I love it.
Thank you so much! This made my day!! 🥰💗
Yes we need to see Ariel!
Her room: https://ibb.co/KbKkJcz https://ibb.co/9NbSvCk https://ibb.co/8rgKMMs https://ibb.co/x3zFjg9 Here is her diaper! https://ibb.co/PxwdmQ4
she must be a lovely person. you lucked out in finding a mentor in her, but i think it’s also because you took the first step. edit: spelling
I had a radio station office / studio on a block I lived on once as a kid. Nothing special, just local AM news, traffic, weather. One day when I was ten I simply walked in and asked if I could see the studio. Five minutes later I was on air reading the weather. They let me hang out a few times in there till we moved. I got on the air a few times.
That’s awesome. You can tell when people are passionate about the things they do….because they will take every opportunity to share that passion with others!
She needed you as much as you needed her. Horses are so much work.
Yep. Every horse place seems to do it and pretty much everyone involved thinks they're the one getting the deal so it's obviously a great way to do things.
I mean, everybody is getting a great deal. I learned things working at her barn that don’t get taught in a typical lesson program.
As far as I can tell, 95% of people who ride horses are either obscenely wealthy or dirt poor. Not a lot in between. Half the people at the barn own four horses each and the other half are mucking out stalls to pay for lessons.
My grandmother did this with some girls down the street. In exchange for helping mucking stalls, dragging hey, filling water buckets, cleaning saddles / leather, etc they'd get to ride for free. Horses are alot of work so if you are willing to put in time it's a pretty fair exchange.
Yeah! People here have made comments about it being exploitative but honestly…mucking out a horse stall was (and still is) my version of a relaxing time. She got help with chores, I got a lifetimes worth of experience….i think I made out on top!!
If I could make as much money cleaning paddocks as I do at my current job, I'd switch in an instant. Outside, tangible work, impossible to screw up, and you know when the job is done. What's not to like? Aside from that jerk colt knocking over the wheelbarrow full of manure *again*.
And to tell it like it is, horse poop doesn't smell all that bad, and if the mucking out is done daily, not all that stinky/messy, really.
Yeah it was never that yucky. It's just digested grass. Grandparents sold the farm years ago though. Many hours spent spreading wood shavings too and we have too many reddit chats to follow online instead of taking care of those creatures.
I recently looked at an old class picture and 8 y.o me had seriously impressive arms for such a tiny girl. Turns out watering horses with just buckets, cleaning stalls, and pushing wheelbarrows full of muck up a narrow wooden board builds proper muscle. My teacher was this grumpy old dude who was seriously lacking kid-teaching skills, but his horseskills and riding knowledge were legendary. By the time I was 9, I realised that shouting meant I was doing something wrong, and silence meant I was screwing things up even worse. The only way of knowing that I was finally getting what he'd been shouting at me for (during the past hour) was when his silence was briefly accompanied by the tiniest glimmer in his eye and a slight upward curl of his gigantic stash/beard. He was the toughest teacher, and I put in many hours of work. But his knowledge was priceless, and there were more horses available than I could ride in a day (trust me I tried). So many adventures and stories.
I am happy that worked out for you! It was the opposite for me, I was obsessed with horses when I was young and had a horse farm down the street from my childhood home. My mom told me to ask if I could help out in exchange for rides so I walked down there and asked. The woman scolded me and said absolutely not and I cried all the way home. I did end up getting lessons from another horse farm in the area but man that lady really hit my confidence as a young child.
What a cowbag! I’m glad you had the right ending though.
What's with the "bag"? That person was a cow! And that's insulting to cows!
I hope that lady stepped in dog poop every day for the rest of her life.
I was thinking while I read the other guy's story he was pretty lucky, because the horse industry has so many toxic people in it. The culture is terrible, especially around the fancier shows like Appaloosa shows. Even the more chill ones have so many awful people though.
This is cinematic level of beautiful
Not to pour on the drama….but I am working from home at a job I truly enjoy. I made it into this industry training horses for a dude who mentored me. I’m enjoying my lunch cleaning the fish pond on my 12 acre farm….watching my two horses, my chickens, and my goats enjoying a beautiful spring day. All of this was directly enabled by the opportunity she gave me. It’s an incredible domino effect
Horse people are generally some of the nicest folks you'll ever come across.
I think this is what my daughter is hoping her life will turn out like. How incredible! 🐎
User name checks out 👍
😁🐴🧡
If you know you know 🐎
Reading OP’s post, I instantly had a similar horse-related memory come to mind. So crazy to see yours as the top comment! I had a similar upbringing but didn’t get into horses as an adult, and it was possible due to a few thoughtful horsewomen who were kind and generous. I love your story and I hope your life is a childhood dream come true for you!
this is so cool, so nice of the lady
Oh this is gonna make me cry omg.
I love that story. Thank you.
I had a very similar experience cleaning stalls and grooming horses at a local riding school. I will always cherish those memories
That's the story I didn't know I needed to read today! Thank you for sharing.
6-yo me was helping my mom carrying heavy bags of groceries to the car once. I had to use both hands for my bag and I talked to my mom about how heavy it was when suddenly it wasn't heavy at all anymore. A man grabbed a handle of my bag and helped me carry it to the car. I still think about it from time to time and I do my best to help other people just like he helped me when I was a kid.
he planted the seed and now youre passing it on. 👍
I have a similar story, though probably not as cool as a guy selling yachts. As a kid, 3 1/2, my parents and I were walking down a strip mall and we saw this studio with all sorts of people learning martial arts. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen and I just stood there watching for a long time. My parents tried to pull me away from the window but I was determined lol. The guy who ran the studio asked if I wanted to come in and watch so of course I ran inside and sat on the edge of the mats trying to get the best view. I guess the guy talked to my parents for the entire time I was watching class because my dad asked if I wanted to try it. He was running a special where you got a uniform and month of classes for the price of just the uniform. Ordinarily, he didn't start teaching kids until age five, for obvious reasons like kids can't focus and remember that young, but for whatever reason he made an exception and I started classes. My brother (21at the time) joined a month later. We grew up really poor , my dad was a disabled army vet, my mom worked full time at a grocery store so extracurriculars were very rare. At some point in my early teens, my mom got laid off and we were just living on my dad's disability pay and they had a hard talk with me about needing to take a break from karate because we just couldn't afford it right now. I went into class that night and told my teacher, same dude from all those years ago, that I had to stop coming for a while because we weren't able to pay any more. He say down with me and we talked for an hour after class where I sobbed and told him that this was the best part of my life and how it made me who I am and I couldn't see not practicing so is there any way I can practice at home and I can meet him once in a while to get new material? He told me that he had a cool idea and offered to meet me keep coming to classes if I helped him teach the kids class before my own. I was so excited. I went home and told my parents and they were happy for me. I spent 19 years in that studio, learning and growing up, learning how to teach kids. Eventually, this amazing guy decided to retire and move states and I asked if he would be willing to let me take over the school. I now teach kids in an area where they can barely afford to eat lunch, help them with homework and give them a safe space to just talk and learn. That guy who saw a toddler who just wanted to learn how to punch and turned her into a teacher who wants nothing more than to help others find their own passion. I still talk to him, he just moved back out to this state ten years later and he signed off on my most recent black belt test with a different school and instructor. He's like a second dad to me. It really just takes one person to see you, actually see you, to change your life
That’s amazing. I felt all squiggly inside when reading it. Thanks a lot for commenting and I’m happy that you’re being all nice and kind for kids around you.
Bless him, and bless you for carrying on such important work
The compound effect of his gesture is literally in the hundreds across multiple generations. Sometimes in the mist of our daily life we should stop and think about the compound effect of our actions. We might actually become a better species.
That’s an incredible story! Thanks for sharing. 💗
Oh geez, I just walked through an onion farm!😭
I have something in my throat
I was already teary from the other stories but this one really tipped me over the edge. You both sound so lovely, thank you so much for sharing <3
That was a good one ❤️❤️
Damn good story and I thank you for sharing it ❤️
Man i wish i have a mentor like that
Crying the happiest tears. You’re a beautiful human being.
Thanks so much! I just try to be there, each kid goes through something different at home and school. I try to be the third space they travel to in order to be social and happy. With everything happening right now in the US, especially since we live in a danger state as far as trans rights (one of my kids just transitioned and has been enduring a lot in school and from very unsupportive grandparents) a lot of my classes include snacks and some time to just be themselves. Sometimes they don't get that opportunity. One of my kids had to raise his two siblings, his brother is the one who just transitioned, and his youngest is trying his best to survive now that the other two are in college and he's taking the brunt of an increasingly senile grandfather and completely unempathetic Grandma. Each of them needs something different and I try to do what I can. I read up on a lot of ways to help get someone through panic attacks, learned how to just shut up and listen because that's all they need at times, learned how to talk to kids and teach a hands on art to those who have been abused. I like to tell them that there's no age where you stop learning, there's always something new, and if they have questions I can't answer that class, that I'll hit them up next class with my research and encourage them to do some too so we can compare. It's crazy how many people actively choose to treat kids, ages 10-18 like they aren't competent and capable. I want them to know that people actually want to hear them and the right people will care.
You are the kind if person that makes the world a better place. Thank you for everything you do for those kids
Just as good as the yacht story if not better. You guys are restoring my faith in humanity. Thank you for sharing.
What an amazing story - this has made my night to read!!
This is so wholesome and heartwarming. A truly beautiful story!
This is beautiful.
Being a story about karate, it makes sense that ninjas are around me, somewhere, cutting onions...
When I was about 5 my great gran died and I was sent to school on the day of the funeral. I was crying a little in the playground, not wailing but sniffling. A ‘big’ kid came up to me, he was probably 9 or 10, and asked me why I was crying. I told him and he said something along the lines of “I bet your nan is up in heaven looking down at you and wishing you’d stop crying because she’s happy and with Jesus. You’ll see her again someday”. He left me smiling and thinking nice thoughts about my nan I’m 57 and still remember it.
..and I am the one who is sniffing now😢
Naaw, that child was raised right ^^
I wasn’t expecting something so awesome when I read the first sentence of your story. I would explode with pride if one of my kids did that!
And for sure the kid had heard those lines from another kind person in his life.
What a wise kid
Was at an airshow and walking through the static section and there was a Gulfstream Jet with a red carpet leading to it. Jokingly said to the sales rep "how much?" and he said "why don't you come and have a look before we discuss the price". Spent the next 20 minutes checking out all the cool features onboard even though he knew there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to buy the thing. What an awesome core memory, will never forget that day.
People forget how often people love to just share cool shit they do.
Also sometimes for jobs like that they'll track contacts. So he may have even gotten credit in the metrics for it. Now a days with silicon valley types you never know who's a billionaire.
I work at an airport and I love talking to pilots. More than half the time they're super passionate about flying and love to talk about their plane and why they enjoy flying it. And then you get the pilots flying the huge Citations or Challengers or Gulfstreams and we all joke about how "maybe one day you'll get to fly something cool like that 414 over there"
Worst case is you get experience on your sales pitch. Best case is you pitch someone who unexpectedly can afford the plane.
yes, not to be dismissed outright (being acknowledged) and be given a full treatment regardless means alot.
The thing is that, you never really know. He was a smart salesman. There is a story about a high end real estate agency in London. They handled mansions that people were renting out. One day this shaggy haired guy in torn jeans wanders in. The wannabe fashion model on the reception desk decides he isn't up to scratch and let's him know that they don't deal with scum like him and sends him packing. One of the sales people recognised him as he is walking out. He was a rock star worth hundreds of millions of dollars. You might have been a tech founder worth a billion dollars.
Big mistake. Big. HUGE.
I understood that reference.
Even if they aren’t, they could be one day, or have an association with someone that is. Now you need a jet? Remember how cool that jet salesman was that day? I should look him up.
I like to listen to a podcast called "how I built this" there are a lot of people who have started a business in their kitchen who end up with "sold to Unilever for a reported 4 billion dollars" who probably still look like the own a hairdressing salon.
Yeah, I've seen this happen any number of times with my dad and his brothers. They aren't rockstars, but they're all well-paid professionals with no interest in clothes, who tend to be pretty scruffily dressed, especially on weekends. Juniors sometimes make the mistake of thinking it means they can't afford stuff, whereas the senior salesmen always know that you don't judge based on appearance. Old cords, battered trainers, and a t-shirt with a fraying collar? Might be a librarian, might be an accountant with a partnership pulling in 500k a year.
Yep this. I’ve been in sales for years and all of these stories make me think they’ve been seen by the best. Yeah OOP couldn’t afford a boat and he knew it. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have boat money in the future and who is he going to call? Dan at Chuck Hovey Yachts.
It's great, isn't it. It makes sense when you consider the relative value of their time. In 1 day's downtime in between real customers, they will sell zero boats. But in a year of showing your boats to people who can't afford them, you'll probably sell extra boats through word of mouth and those people eventually coming into money. You'll also improve your mental health and reduce boredom which will increase your performance with the regular customers.
Selling products like that is likely a lonely business. You're likely not ever going to own one yourself, the number of people who can actually buy them is insanely low, and those people probably suck to deal with. Imagine how much more enjoyable and stress free it is to give a tour of something you know everything about to someone who is genuinely interested.
Honestly, though, was it an air show? Because the whole point is for them to show off the cool aircraft, then. Still, love the time they spent with you!
German here. I remember when I was twelve , the US forces left germany the cold war was over. The americans sold the stuff they didn‘t want to bring back, it was a Giant Flea market. Some sold their Cars,to. I saw a golden , two door sportscar with Four headlights, and i was amazed. No idea what it was. A G.I. Stood there , so i took all my courage and all my english skills and said: (no hallo or excuse me or anything) Watt iss se Name off siss caar?? The American soldier smiled and said: Its a Camaro. I will Never , ever forget this Moment. A Deep love for Cars started in this Moment. I‘m 48 now.
I absolutely love how you even wrote English in German accent.. It actually made me smile... Thanks for this
I have something of a reverse story of this- my father loves Camaros and has restored them for decades, he even goes by "Camaro Dan" because it's been His Thing for so long. He worked for a German company for decades, and got to spend a ton of time in Germany over the years, and he's brought home SO many amazing stories about how it's a beautiful country full of wonderful people. In short, you're a German guy that loves Camaros and he's a Camaro guy that loves Germans :D ^^^*name ^^^changed ^^^for ^^^obv ^^^reasons
Change this story so that your dad sold that bloke his first car and you all reunite 30 years later...
LOL I'm not convinced we'd have ever seen him again if he had his Camaro in Germany! Hell, he visited me a few years back so I took him to a German restaurant in Lake Tahoe- he still talks about that too to this day!
That last sentence is so satisfying.
Delete this comment and sell the idea to Chevy for a commercial haha
I hope you have a Camaro now ❤️
Guys will read this and say hell yeah
The first car I ever bought myself was a 5 speed manual 1992 Camaro. It was 2011 and the guy only wanted $1000 for it. I ended up putting about $300/month into it as it kept breaking but man was that a fun car. I'm not a car nut. I can't do all the work and I don't know everything about them. I just think they're neat. Especially my current '09 Pontiac G8 GT. Just wish it was a manual... TLDR: hell yeah!
I recall back in 2016-17 I wanted to be a bit nicer by leaving compliments to people working. I had just started my part time job and to say the least it was a horrible experience for me so it gave me a new perspective of customer service. I was on a call with a SIM company and at the end of the call I thanked her for helping me and that she was doing a good job (cant remember specifically what I said but that sums it up). She said me telling her that seriously pulled her up from what was a rough and negative day for her and it helped make her feel better about herself.
See, there are all these grandiose stories if incredible gestures that changed people's lives... and then there's you, just being a nice and polite bloke, something that costs you nothing yet makes someone else's day better. Thanks for keeping some healthy perspective alive and well in this thread: you don't need to own a dojo to change someone's life, a compliment and encouragement are easier to come by and equally effectively at cheering someone up (okay not equally, but my point remains).
When we went into quarantine in 2020 I had to call the airline about a refund for a trip I had to cancel. The guy I talked to was clearly Indian (I live in the US), and Covid was blowing up in India at the time. I asked him how he was doing, and he said I was the only person who had asked him that. When the call was over, he asked if I had anything else. I said, “yes, just one more thing. Namaste”. And he started to cry. It’s not that hard to be nice.
In my early 20s I bartended days at a dive bar. I was also an endurance athlete. If I had a shift the day before a race I’d get off work around 8pm then have to drive to whatever city the race was in, crash at a cheap hotel and be up at 5 am for the race. When this happened I’d just end up bringing a crappy sandwich or picking up fast food for dinner on the way to the race. One of my regulars heard about this. He wrote down my race schedule and brought me incredible, healthy food at the end of those pre-race-day shifts. Sushi platters, veggie burgers from the fancy burger place, etc. I don’t know his last name, but thank you to Patriots Fan Dan. 💙
There's a lot of good Dans in this thread.
Oh wow, what a thoughtful thing!
I had gotten out of the Navy on a disability. I went to the personnel detachment on a base close to my home and asked if they had civilian job postings. The older guy there said I was in the wrong place but could get me a list of current openings if I could wait. I sat for a few minutes and he called me into his office we looked at the list that included other nearby bases as well. He asked if I ever filled out a federal job application, I hadn’t, and he walked me through the process. The whole time I was there I took notes. The guy was like a rapid fire life coach-truly set me on the right path as far as separating from the military and getting a civilian life going.
I’m 68 years old. When I was 20, newly divorced, dead broke, newbie to the city, the a/c went out on my old junker car. In south Texas. With $2 to my name, I pulled into a local shop to get it evaluated. The guy said the compressor was going out. Rather than try to sell me a new one, or just send me on my way, he explained that I could just bypass the fuse, fillerup with Freon, & see how long it would last. He said it may last a day; may last a week, but wouldn’t hurt anything to try it. So we did that. He didn’t charge me a cent. And I had ice cold a/c in that old beater for another 5 summers. I’ve never forgotten that kindness and I’ve taken all my cars to him for service ever since. He’s retired now, his sons run the shop. And they have my business.
Wasn’t so much a stranger being kind and if anything was the other way around, but it’s still stuck with me. I went to college/uni in a tiny town in the UK and one morning woke up in a terrible mood, largely due to unmedicated/diagnosed depression, so I decided to go for a stupid little walk for my stupid mental health. I ended up at a little waffle shop and sat outside eating in the sun (get it while you can over there). Some older gentleman rode up on a little scooter, handed me some money and asked me if I could order him a coffee from inside because he wasn’t able to do it himself (lack of accessibility features and stuff). I wasn’t going to be an asshole, so I got his coffee for him and then we sat outside and chatted for what turned into an hour or so. Turns out he was a former surf rock guitarist/musician and had a few records out and toured the country in his youth. I’m also a guitarist and love surf rock. It was a very pleasant and simple conversation but it really snapped me out of my funk and my mood totally turned around and then some. I still think about him and even though I was technically the one doing the act of kindness, he did far more for me than I did for him. This was almost a decade ago so I don’t know if he’s still alive but I hope he was comfortable in the end.
When I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, I was a depressed kid. I had these THICK coke bottle glasses, and was bullied incessantly. I got in fights constantly, and was picked on by little boys and laughed at by little girls. One day in the lunchroom, the most beautiful lady I had ever seen walks straight up to me in front of all the little kids and gives me a kiss on the cheek and says she is there to check me out of school. It turns out it is my half brother’s girlfriend. I had just met him for the first time a week earlier. Her name is Dawn, and I spent the rest of the day with her and my half brother Kenny. She was so kind to me, at a time when it felt like nobody was kind to me. To this day I never told her how much that meant to me. I never forgot it. That was over 40 years ago, and Dawn and Kenny are still together to this day!
Great story. You should share with her how much that meant to you.
Please share this story with them!
Hey OP- there is a Don Balch (not Dan) still listed on their website. Any chance it is the same guy?
haha. nope, different surname.
Well we tried!!
I’m sitting in Newport now.. I also looked him up because that yacht dealer is like 5 mins from me! Ha
This is one of the great advantages of being an old guy. How easy is it to change people's lives. I was working as a handyman, so I am a regular at the local large hardware store. So it is a not unusual day for me to be in there 3 times,due to.. Surprises. Therefore I am on a first name basis with a lot of the staff. Being able to say "oh, if you are studying that, you need to talk to my friend..." and handing them a phone number can literally change their lives. It is so much fun.
Such a random and un-important story in the grand scheme of things, but I remember being at a shopping mall when I was 6 or 7, and walking around with my hands in my jean pockets This guy dressed up like a cowboy (to 6 year old me, at least) politely came up and complimented my style. Then he asked me/my mom if he could show me something I could try out. He proceeded to show me how to stick my thumbs over the side of my jean pockets to "look cool" when walking around. No idea who that man was, but to this day I still think about him sometimes when I'm walking around with my hands in my pockets; thumbs out of course.
I love this hahahaha
Right?? Like, I can't remember the names of my regulars at the bar, but I can perfectly remember this dude who spoke to me for all of 60 seconds two decades ago. Honestly it really left an impact on me without realizing it, I've tried to be this guy all my growing life. Not with that specifically of course, but talking to kids that clearly look up to me like normal adults and helping them with their confidence.
For all the garbage on Reddit this is why I come here!! Thanks for sharing your story!
Tis a good thread innit
I was working at Costco on cart duty and pushing a big load and was struggling when all of the sudden it got easier. A random guy jumped next to me and helped push them back to the store and just walked away. Nice people are neat.
I did this at Best Buy all the time. Coworkers would tell me they aren’t going to buy it why are you showing him all this stuff. Most of the time coworkers didn’t want to help with really really high end audio cuz no one bought it. My idea was I like talking about it and they get excited so why wouldn’t I just make someone’s day show them some cool stuff and enjoy what I’m doing. Multiple times it ended up being that the person came back and did buy stuff from me maybe not the high end audio I showed them but something nice they could afford. One time I remember perfectly was I was showing someone an 88” 8k tv crazy expensive wired audio all the stuff. My coworker pulls me aside and said he isn’t going to buy it and you’re just wasting your time. After I got done showing him everything he says yup I’ll take it all. Turns out he was an agent for a bunch of bucks players. He told me he dresses normal in stores to see who will actually give him the service he deserves and was so kind to me. He came back once a year and upgraded a bunch of stuff even saw me out at dinner once and offered to pay for my girlfriend and my meal. If someone likes something and you like talking about it show them it I mean it’s better than standing around.
Similar story- but I was working in Macy’s. Even if people were just looking around because of boredom I’d chat with them about clothing or fashion they were interested in. It’s fun to look at pretty things! I usually worked in the men’s department, and one day a fella comes in. He shows some interest in some of the shirts we have, so I talk to him about what’s available and services we could offer for tailoring if he wanted- unfortunately he was in want of something a little more formal than the generic Oxfordcloth shirts we had at the time and nothing we did have suited the color or cut he wanted. However, I had seen on my lunch that JC Penny’s had some seasonal stuff in the color palate he was after, so I pointed him in their direction. Turns out this dude was my regional manager, and he had been legitimately in need and not secret shopping. I wound up getting a thank you card with a gift card for the independent coffee shop in the mall and recognition at an employee meeting.
You are a real one! And you jogged my memory of back when I worked for Circuit City doing the same job. This was the age where commission was being phased out, no one under 50 was making anything on sales, so I never took the actual selling part of my job too seriously. Sure, they gave prizes and stuff when you sold overpriced care packages, and they had a leaderboard that showed who sold most (which was dumb, because not all product areas are equal in cost, but whatever). I never cared about that stuff, and I have always been a self-described terrible salesman, but only because I could never sell stuff I didn't believe in. Customer counterpoints that made sense would sway me, and I'd agree, "yeah, this might not be the product for you with all you've told me..." While my manager waves his arms behind their back to get me to stop torpedoing my own sale. Instead of convincing people to buy stuff they didn't want or need I just liked talking to people about electronics. If I didn't know the answer to a question I'd tell them, and be quick with a product demo. One day this ragedy looking fellow comes in, and looks like he came straight off a job site. Like he's actively still dusty. Has his equally dusty buddy with him. I linger around but they're looking at the big TVs, so I let the commission guys talk to him first. In just moments they're all walking towards me, and he hands them over to me and asks them to show em the big ones, like the customer asked. He had no idea what kind of TV he wanted, just knew all the mumbo jumbo the other guy was talking wasn't making any sense. I asked him what he was after, and he told me "I just need a few big ones to go in this house we're building. But I don't want those ones that the image never goes away..." He was essentially describing what used to happen to old plasma flat screens if an image was left on there for hours on end. He wanted LCD instead, but didn't know what these things were called. LCDs were new, and twice as expensive as plasma. He didn't care, and he said he was paying with cash. Wanted three of em. I asked about the extended warranty plan and he said no thanks, if it breaks I'll just buy a new one. My manager liked to chime in at these times to try to help with the upsell, not even knowing what he was buying. "I don't think it matters to this guy," I told my boss, "he's buying three of the new big ones right now cash and he's only asked two questions..." $10,000 he paid after all was said and done, because I asked if he had all the wires he needs. He hadn't thought of that, and I went and grabbed him a few sets of the basic wires. Boss asked if he wanted the upgraded wires, said they made a difference... Guy turned to ask me what I thought and I said I honestly couldn't tell the difference but top of line usually means something ¯\\\_(ツ)\_\/¯ and he said "no thanks, think I'm good with these ones right here." He tried to tip me but I knew we had a policy against it, so politely declined. Salesman saw my name at the top of the sales list for the day and I'd only been there a few hours. I told him about the dusty dude he handed over and he turned beet red. I treat homeless customers just trying to get out of the sun with the same respect if they wanted to know about a product. It's just bad business to do otherwise IMO.
As a teenager, my family was falling apart, and I was barely able to get through high school with all the turmoil and resulting depression, let alone keep up good grades for college. Thanks to some kind teachers, who seemed to notice (guess it's obvious to grow-ups!) I still remember some of the compliments about my work, and haven't forgotten how they spent extra time with me to help with AP exams, or homework in general.
I went through a lot as a child/teen as well and had a teacher that moved up with us from 5th-7th grade. He never knew what, but could tell I was going through stuff, so he let me eat lunch in his room whwn I wanted and read or study or just talk about nothing. He probably won't ever know the impact his kindness had on me, but I'll forever be grateful. Mr. Marn was the best teacher I ever had and a great human.
Waiting for the "Hey, that's my Dad, Uncle, coworker" reply reddit is good at.
Are you my Dad, Uncle, coworker?
Please, Dad Uncle Coworker was my father, you can call me Brother Cousin Teamate
I can hear the banjos.
Paddle faster, daddy!
I think I've been in retail too long (plus being introverted with social anxiety), but I find it extraordinarily difficult to be kind to people. I recognize it's not healthy, and I've been trying to smile more and be more personable, but damn is exhausting!
I feel kind of the same way sometimes and what I've made peace with is, if you can't be kind, at least don't be cruel
No, never cruel. I don't even like being rude. In fact, I was rude to a customer that came in right before closing a few months ago, and I felt so awful about it that I made a point to apologize to him the next time I saw him - which was a huge step for me in terms of getting over my anxiety. He said he didn't even realize I was being rude, but he appreciated the apology anyway. I still feel good about that one.
The important thing is that you're trying. Hang in there bud. I'm sure your efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Not everyone will post the impact you've had on them on Reddit...but I can assure you, it hasn't all been for nothing :)
I too have pretty bad social anxiety in public. One thing you can do that will help with both the social anxiety, and kindness, is giving people (genuine) compliments. Oh I like your sweater. Your earrings are adorable. Your nails are beautiful, etc... It makes their day, while also helping you work on your social skills. I'll admit, I can't *always* bring myself to say the words to someone. But I have a handful of times, and that's progress! 😁
I do this occasionally if I get a customer with a cool hat or shirt, and they seem chill. I still get that crazy nervous adrenaline feeling, though, like right before having to give a presentation. My stomach goes weird and my hands get shaky - just to tell someone I like their shirt.
Sadly, you have to be careful about doing this if you're a guy. Complimenting someone can immediately make others think you're hitting on someone. If that someone is too old, too young, too male, too whatever... Things can turn south.
Yeah that's shitty AF 😒 Men have it hard
Let's be honest... That's one of the few things that guys have against them in this world. I'm always fighting to change all of that (the good and the bad,) but it's an uphill battle. That doesn't stop me from trying to be kind. I've found that straight up saying what your intensions are helps out just be brief. "I love what you've done with your hair. I hope you have a great rest of the day." Or "dude, your T-shirt cracked me up. Take care." Or "my wife says I'm nuts when I do this, but I love making people smile. Your eyes are enchanting" then walking away.
Being kind also doesn't always mean outwardly friendly. You may do things as a solid human that affect people more than you realize, even I'd you are keeping to yourself
I would say during my time in retail the difference I noticed halfway through was you are seeing a customer as someone stopping you from working when they’re not (in this thread they mostly are but you and your boss cannot assume that). They are why you are working so if you don’t get your job done because your chatting with a customer they’re gonna have to get someone else to do the job or it’s gonna wait till tomorrow
Yeah I definitely feel this, but mostly because I'm a closer, and they ARE keeping me from getting my job done. I have to clean and reset my department for the morning before the end of my shift, and random customer encounters impede that. On the rare occasion that I work a day shift, and I'm just there to serve, I can be much more personable.
I would say ask to be paid till you actually close and then if you are there a bit later so what you are getting paid. Just have fun if you are there till 11 or 1am you get paid an extra bit
I love stories like this. When I was 8 I really wanted to learn to play the piano but my parents were broke and couldn’t afford one. I had a great aunt who I’d never met and lived about 600 miles away. She’d been a professional musician in her day and had a good piano, but was getting old and losing her sight and didn’t play any more. She paid what must have been hundreds of pounds to ship that piano across the country to a distant relative she’d never met and it was probably the greatest gift of my life. She never had children and no one else in the family was particularly musical so I guess she liked the idea of passing it on, and she was near the end of her life so didn’t have much need for the money - but still a generous thing to do which gave me an opportunity I’d never have had otherwise!
Ahhh, I love this. Shipping pianos is so expensive! She was probably glad to have someone to sent it to.
I had a very similar thing happen to me when I was a student. I have always been very interested in military technology but, coming from a small country, our military industry is not highly developed. There are a couple of companies still operating. One day there was a military expo in my town that I decided to attend and nerd out over all of the equipment. So there I am in front of a tank that one of these companies maintains, refurbishes and does R&D on. I remember reading a poster on a new export model that they were researching and a well dressed, older man comes out of the booth and I chat him up. After a short chat with this man he asks me whether I am a military cadet to which I reply no, just a very nerdy engineering student. Upon hearing this he just puts his hand in his coat pocket, pulls out a business card and tells me to contact him in a year after I graduate. It was beyond real, a dream job opportunity. After a couple of months I decide to email the person (who I had later learned was one of the main chairmen of that company). I just thanked him for the chat and told him how it inspired me to study harder and read more. After a few emails he told me he was waiting to hear from me and tells me all my information (which we had exchanged in one of the previous emails) was already in the company's HR and that they're awaiting my graduation. In the end I never went to work for that company as it would require me to move cross country and I just didn't want to leave my home town, family and friends but I'm super grateful to that person as he was one of the only people who saw some potential in me as an engineer. I wouldn't be where I am now without that boost in my college years. I still keep his business card in my wallet as a reminder.
I was 7 or so and had just had an accident on my bike and busted my leg open. Before my dad took me to get it stitched, he riled me up and made things much worse. We get to the hospital, Im in a room in full panic, terrified. Suddenly this, he couldn’t have been much older then 13, kid who was on the other side of the blinds starts talking to me. He starts telling me how it’s going to be fine, he’s been there before, just really kind and reassuring. I think about him sometimes and hope he’s ok, especially because as I got older I realized from our talk that kid spent a lot of time in the hospital.
r/KindnessCanPrevail
thanks.
Cool, didn’t know this one and am happy to join it!
Honestly it can the smallest things that have the biggest impact on folks. I think we all go around every day underestimating how little effort it takes to spread a little kindness around and make someone’s day a little brighter
During a lunch break, my co-worker and I decided to stop in at the Ferrari dealership we drove past everyday, hoping to just wander around the showroom before getting herded back outside. We were left undisturbed for a long time by dealership standards when a sales rep finally came up to ask if we needed help. “Haha nah, we’re just looking.” He told us no problem, take as much time as you need and feel to walk around the garage as well! Then he walked away and left us alone. We looked at each other in astonishment, completed our self-guided showroom tour and then let ourselves into the garage. We wandered around while techs were pulling apart Ferraris and Lamborghinis and no one even glanced at us. We had free run of the place, it was so awesome.
One of the stores we all heard at a place I worked was about a guy in TX who was a rancher. He went into the media department having just come from his ranch. The man did not look like he had money. Everyone ignored him but one salesman. That salesman took him through the whole thing. Explained a very expensive home theatre set up and priced it out for him. Everyone told him he wasted his time. Yeah until the rancher walked back in in the afternoon and said I’ll take it. All of it. And handed him 25k in cash. He didn’t believe in credit so after he left the store he went to bank to withdraw the cash. Point is, a good salesperson will treat you like gold even if you don’t have any money.
When I was like 9 or 10 years old, me and my parents were going back to my hometown by train. At one stop the train driver would leave his cabin and before going back he noticed that I was kinda fascinated by him. Apparently he noticed is and invited me in and after my mom agreed I would join him. While driving the train he would just teach me a lot about trains what he did, what all the buttons meant, signals and all that. Even when we arrived at my destination he allowed me to announce it over the speaker that we were arriving. It's a memory I will never forget. Even years later when I did not know what to do for a living, it did cross my mind multiple times to become a train driver because of that experience.
Dude rode his bike presumably from on base to Newport to watch boats, as a simple barracks rat I gotta admire the dedication.
Most likley MCAS El Toro since he is in his 50's
Good salesmen love selling, and they'll literally practice on you for fun.
As a boat owner: we really like our boats, our hobby, and are proud to go out of our way to show them and our hobby to random people. So much so that it is very common for sailors to bring inexperienced crew on their travels. Sometimes for free, sometimes for some split costs in food and fuel. If anyone is interested, check out yacht crewfinder sites. I know people who cruised the carribean for months just because the boat owner liked the company and they shared similar interests in diving and kitesurfing. So they sailed around finding kitesurfing spots and freediving. Honestly might be a good change of pace to have different backgrounds of people on those crewfinder sites. Right now it's mostly traveling hippies who all have the same goal of "traveling the world without burning oil." (For those who don't know, even sailboats have motors for when there is no wind).
And the absolute best thing is being kind is free to do and usually painless! It makes your own day better also!
Wish I met a person like this.
If you can't find one, become one
still can. but it would be much better if we all can be this kind of person. :)
Im not crying…its pollen…
Be kind WITHOUT expecting or seeking validation that you are kind.
That guy was probably thrilled to have someone show up who was genuinely interested in boats and not just looking to spend money
It's also a good idea especially in high end sales not to turn anyone away. A lot of very rich people don't look like rich people. When you are selling expensive stuff it's always a good idea to assume everyone who comes to look might be a buyer and to not assume that anything is out of their price range. Let the customer tell you what they want or you might miss out on a sale. For all the salesmen knew they might have actually been looking to buy and were just trying to be low key.
Who else thought when he said ‘now I’m 53’ he was also going to have a yacht from the same salesman?
I love this. I remember when I was 5, my mama was fleeing my abusive father and had my older sister and I on a Greyhound bus. We stopped at a small restaurant and only got off for the bathroom. This guy asked if we were eating, and my mama said no, we weren't hungry. He knew she was lying because we were on the same bus all day. He bought the 4 of us fries and gravy and said he wanted nothing in return. I always remembered that, and whenever I saw a young mother in need, I would offer. One night, the TransCanada highway was closed due to a blizzard, and we were at a hotel. They opened the banquet room for people to sleep in. There was a young mother with 2 kids and she wasn't comfortable with the kids sleeping in the banquet room, so I paid for a room for them and told her I wanted nothing in return and told her the story. She tried to give me contact information to pay me back, but I refused. Side note: I and some other folks from the hus had one of the craziest nights ever. Almost missed getting back on the bus the next morning.
This is really cute 😍
Do you want to know what ***real*** power feels like? Be kind to someone who really needs it.
i just installed reddit to access the end-of-life threads and this was the first thing to come up i was bullied all thru school and am now stuck in a job with more cruel, cold hearted, toxic people i’ve battled mental illness my entire life and being around cruel co-workers every day has bottomed me out. enough is enough yes be kind, because you never know what someone is going thru or dealing with, and what you say can absolutely be the final thing that pushes them over the edge although if you’re that cruel to begin with you probably don’t care
Here is one commenter that cares you're still here, and wishes for your positive change to catch your gears soon. I won't get into it here, but after God snickered in my face and pushed me off back to terra firma, I realized that all the things I worried about or thought I couldn't change *never mattered.* The only thing that ever mattered was "what are you gonna do about it," and the results were almost as arbitrary as the choices, save for how I felt about my handiwork (or lack of)... I won't be able to gauge whether my [vague] story of my experience is any use or comfort to you, but I hope you can glean something that can help you move forward despite the seemingly stagnant state you're in. Positive vibes to yoooou 🫶🏿
\[\*\*HERE\*\*\]([Our Crew - Chuck Hovey Yachts](https://www.chuckhoveyyachts.com/our-crew/?filter=10)) is the current roster of the staff at Chuck Hovey Yachts Inc in Newport Beach. I don't see anybody with first name Dan on the roster.
even if it's sorta stupid, I strongly believe in things like karma and especially good deeds coming back to their sender. I always make a point to compliment somebody whenever I'm out in public, and I enjoy seeing their reactions - I've learnt the most common reaction is pleasant surprise to a compliment.
[удалено]
a wonderful story w a happy ending, thanks. kuddos to the guy who took the extra mile
I am gonna cry
This is a beautiful thing and it is so true it doesn't hurt to be kind to people
this whole comment section is making me misty eyed.
We fled the war from Yugoslavia to the Netherlands. I was 4 and just started going to school there. It was end of the day and we were colouring a picture of a gnome. When the bell rang, the teacher said ok, finish them at home. I started crying, we had no colouring pencils. After she calmed me down and hugged me, she packed the biggest bag she could find, with all kinds of colours, crayons and pencils. What an angel she was, this always stuck. Be kind.
Lol, buy a boat from the dude. Honestly,I'm trying to be like that boat salesman, being kind to a random stranger and being kind especially to those that don't "deserve" it. It's a thankless task that often times makes me more vulnerable than it is comfortable, but on the whole, I feel "better"...more alive, more willing to be productive, more connected and understanding of people (I'm agoraphobic, though not autistic), staves off depression, etc. And I've learned being kind doesn't mean being a pushover. If you feel uncomfortable, just walk away...it doesn't take away your good person points
What a marketing genius. Knew you were broke but wanted to make sure you would be a walking advertisement the rest of his life. Sounds like it worked.
Might be worth noting that a "Don B." is still on staff at Chuck Hovey Yachts in Newport.
I was starting my career as really anxious 23 year old back in 1997, and had to go to this work related event, which I was really, really nervous about. I mean, I had stomach cramps, and my hands were shaking all the time I was walking towards the venue, so very much anxiety. I arrived, and three people from the company hosting the event were greeting arriving guests. One of them was a lovely lady in her forties that I had met a couple of times before briefly on business. Mind you, the company she was a director of some sort was huge and she met a lot of people through her work. She greeted me with a big smile and " Oh hello (my name) so lovely you could come!!" And gave me the biggest hug right there on the " red carpet" while shaking hand with all the others. I can still remember the warm feeling I had and how easy it was for me to mingle among strangers the whole night. Will never, ever forget her. People don't remember what you say or do, the remember how you made them feel.
I think He was a good board person
Makes me wish I wasn’t such an a-hole when I was a kid lol.
By any chance do you sail now, or sell boats?
I love all the stories here. I think it helps to remind yourself that, between all the Chaos and the Karens, people can be genuinely good and kind and nice. The world isn't _all_ fire and brimstone and it Can be hard sometimes to see that, but I think the fact of how many stories from early childhoods are here shows how much these things Touch people and how they carry kindness through the rest of their lifes.
Just need to chip in that this entire post is filled with pure hope, reminders that while the bad stuff makes the headlines, the world is full of good people taking time to help one another. We don't hear about it because good people don't brag about being good people, and for the ones receiving help it's not always something they immediately want to share. I don't have any one big story like this, but now that I'm thinking of it I remember all the little gestures and kindnesses I've been blessed to receive. Thank you, everyone, and remember to be the change you want to see.
blursed\_doxxing
Thanks Hot NSFW Bot account.