Today I donated $20 to a complete stranger.
This guy, 44 years old, and his wife approached me in the Finleys parking lot in Bay Shore. They explained that their car broke down, they tried to take the train to Shirley, but the conductors wouldn't let them on because they didn't have enough money. The man explained that he had almost had the cops called on him, he seemed frightened looking at the cop car, and even promised me he'd go to the train station by saying I could drive him himself.
This seemed like a compelling story to me for some reason.
When I gave the man the money, he was very thankful and asked how he could pay me back. What I said was something I've never said before--something I've always thought of, but have never actually applied to my own life. I told him to pay it forward; not to pay me back, but to help somebody else out and pay it forward.
Now I do not know if the man and his wife actually went on a train to Shirley, or if they went around Bay Shore some more and got money for drugs or something, but I hope my insistence on paying it forward resonated with these two. I'm hoping this act of generosity, whether deserved or not, inspired these two to do some more, and to generate more generosity in a culture that is certainly lacking people helping people when they need it.
As I'm writing this, I'm feeling better about it. I don't know if I truly believe their story. I don't know what motivated me to help them. I will never know my motivation or the actual truth; I can only hope. If we can't rely on hope, what do we have? I half-jokingly said to a friend of mine tonight that I want to wait until people help me out with $20 - whether it's a dollar here, a drink there, a quarter next - just to see how long it takes to get my money back from others. Just a little experiment, even if it's a tad selfish.
I don't really know what to think about the whole situation, but how else would this world turn if people didn't try to pay it forward?
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I've been in a situation similar to this one before. I don't even remember what the situation was, exactly, but it involved a couple and a broken down car and my $20 bill. I remember saying, "Well, this is all that I have on me, so, here." They were entirely grateful, but I have no idea what they did with my money. lol. I like to think that I made their night, though. You did a really nice thing for someone--I'm sure they appreciated it. ;-)
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