Good People Doing Good Things — We Just Never Know

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Good people doing good things, Social commentary

For some reason, every time I Google “good people doing good”, I’m directed back to Filosofa’s Word.  I realize that’s a good thing … an honour, really, to be among Google’s first picks … but not terribly helpful.  Still, I’ve managed to find some good people.  Today I’m focusing, as I often do, on little things that make a big difference.

Dr-Don-RiceDr. Don Rice is a Urgent Care Medicine Specialist in Lincoln, Nebraska.  On Monday, Dr. Rice decided to do something special for National Random Acts of Kindness Day, so … he helped the 80 patients that came into the clinic that day by paying their co-pay for the visit!  The average co-pay being around $50, Dr. Rice estimates he spent around $4,000 that day.  Says the doc …

“I think that we have a culture that sometimes forgets that we can have a much better world if we start being kinder to each other.”

Rice says the random act was inspired by a kind family friend, who died from cancer.

“Even though she had two types of cancer, was always giving to other people, so we thought it would be fun to do this in her honor.”

A relatively small thing?  Sure … but maybe for some people that extra $50 meant they could have a bit extra with their supper or buy their child a much-needed new pair of shoes.  You just never know, do you?

Thumbs up to Dr. Don Rice!!!

If you lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho, you probably saw a good bit of snow last week.  You might also have looked out your window and seen …shoveling

Yep, those are some of the members of the Idaho Falls fire department out shoveling driveways and sidewalks for the town’s residents.  One resident, Eric Nelson, said …

“I actually thought my wife was the one that did it and she thought I did it. We didn’t realize until I thanked her for it later that night and she said she thought it was me. Totally surprised.”

Again, just a little thing, but … these guys didn’t have to do it … they could have stayed warm and cozy in the firehouse until a call came in, but instead they chose to help people.  And maybe … just maybe, they saved an elderly person from slipping and falling on the ice and breaking a hip.  We’ll never know, will we?

Raj Singh owns his own taxi service in Roseville, California, and one day last week he got a call to pick up an elderly woman – 92 years old, to be exact – for she needed a ride to her bank.  When he started chatting with her, she told him she was about to withdraw $25,000 to settle a debt with the IRS.  Well, as you can imagine, warning bells went off in Raj’s head!

As Singh talked to the woman, trying to find out more, she told him that someone had called her and asked for the money. When he asked if it was a family member, the woman grew silent.  Singh finally got her to agree to let him call the number to the person who was posing as an IRS employee.

“We called this number again and I asked the man, ‘Do you know this lady?’ He said no. I knew something was wrong.”

When Singh pressed the man, saying the woman was 92 years old and she was nervous, the man hung up on him. After repeated calls back, Singh said the number blocked them.  Despite that, Singh said the woman still didn’t believe him, so he came up with another idea.

Raj knew she was being scammed, but … how to convince her?  Finally, he talked her into letting him stop by the police station.  Singh spoke with an officer in the station, who then spoke with the woman, and the officer was finally able to convince her that she was being scammed.

Singh took his passenger home, her bank account saved. A week after the potential scam was thwarted, Singh said he got a call asking him to come back to the station where officers gave Singh a $50 gift card to thank him for what he did.Raj-SinghRoseville police posted on their Facebook page …

“We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing. He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response.  His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts.” 

Another one of those ‘little things’, but this one saved an elderly woman … perhaps her life savings.  We never know, do we?

And lastly, I came across this story on a friend’s blog, Nuggets of Gold and thought it made a great addition to this post.  Thank you, Miss Joy Roses!

Jayme Woolley is 16-years-old and attends Axtell High School, just outside Waco, Texas.  Now, guys buy flowers on Valentine’s Day for their girls, but Jayme … well, he went a step or two further.  Young Jayme bought a flower for every girl in his school between 6th and 12th grade!

Jayme’s mom, Amy Gordon, posted a photo on Facebook showing 170 roses lying across their living room floor.flowers-1On the 14th, Jayme waited by the entrance to Axtell, placed the flowers in silver tins and handed them out to each girl as they walked into school.JaymeNow why did he do that?  Because, he said, he wanted to make every girl at Axtell High School feel special.  Wow, huh?  And maybe, just maybe, one of those girls was very much in need of a bit of love, needed just for a moment to feel special.  We just never know, do we?

Remember, folks, if you see a chance to be a good people, be one!  You just never know what a difference a small act of kindness might make in someone’s life.

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29 thoughts on “Good People Doing Good Things — We Just Never Know”

    • Absolutely! He did a great thing. Like you, I’m pretty savvy about such things, but I did almost fall for an email I received that was supposedly from my bank … perfect logo and all … saying that my account had been accessed, and wanting to know if it was me. Just as I was about to click the link, though, I realized that the account number they listed was not mine (I have a number-oriented mind and have my account numbers memorized), so that threw up a red flag. And, as you say, our age can certainly affect our mental acuity. As evidence, on Monday, I washed two rolls of toilet paper in with the towels! 😦

      Liked by 1 person

    • I get emails like that all the time, and would probably get the phone calls, too, except I have call blockers (2 of ’em for good measure) on my phone that only put through calls from people on my contact list. But, the emails I get are allegedly from the IRS, or sometimes the FBI saying that they have a warrant out for me and I will be arrested if I don’t respond within 24 hours. And lately, they’ve been trying to sell me Viagra! Thanks for providing that link, Roger! I might do a post soon about scams ‘n such, and I will include that. Thanks … I do seem to be getting more views of late, and the piece about the “Make Women Great Again” convention got over 500 views! I guess I should thank Google, eh?

      Liked by 1 person

  5. There is no spot hotter in hell than the one reserved for those who prey on the elderly. There is no spot too gentle in heaven for the cab driver and others who really give a damn for their fellow humans. Super post, Jill

    Liked by 1 person

    • The chances that the scammers will be caught are probably slim-to-none. Sigh. If the FBI gets involved, they have the equipment to maybe figure it out, but local police departments really can’t do much. It galls me, though, that these scammers typically pick more on the elderly, realizing that they may be more easily intimidated and not fully understand the situation.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I especially liked the story about the cab driver saving the old woman the $25,000.00 He went way out of his way and the response of the police department was nice as well! Many thanks for these weekly reminders!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, I like that one too … he could have just done as she asked, taken her to the bank, and figured it wasn’t his problem, but he did the right thing. Just the sort of people we need in our society! Glad you enjoyed the good people!

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