Login required to started new threads
Login required to post replies
Tom thanks for everything you did in helping the community around you. You are a great person and I hope to meet you some day. Your efforts were touching and really got me thinking about the everyday heroes around me. It is great when people distract you from the negatives presented to you in everyday life and refocus you on why we are really here.
It is amazing how narrow focused and closed our eyes can be at times, or for extended periods of time. How do we let ourselves get caught up in such ways? I started paying a little more attention to the world directly around me and found that I am surrounded by the everyday hero.
The lady in the cube next door; she’s been collecting energy bars and other high calorie and protein foods to send to our troops because many of them are having problems keeping weight on. In another department, a lady adopted her niece because the parents could no longer take care of her. Up the street from home, the lady takes care of her brother who has cerebral palsy. My parents; I never thought about it until your thread Tom. My parents not only raised there own three kids but they also raised three of my cousins.
I don’t know why I never realized how significant this was until your thread, but thank you. I’m sure a lot of you are heroes or have heroes close to you in your everyday life and I would love to hear some stories.
"your horse is too high" - tigerchik
I work in a large restraunt in a town that is a popular tourist attraction. While working last sunday a older couple was seated in my section, we get a lot of older folks out for "sunday dinner". I had taken their order, brought them their drinks, and was preparing to deliever the salad course when I was asked to speak to a woman waiting at the front desk. Upon inquiring what she needed, she stated that she would like to "pick up the tab" for the old couple. This is not all that uncommon, a person will sight a relative or long lost friend and arrange to pay their bill and then go visit the table. Sometimes they just pay the bill and send a message. This lady didn't seem interested in visiting the table so I asked "who shall I say picked up the check?" the lady said to tell the old gentleman, "thanks for your military service". Seems they had struck up a small conversation while waiting for a table, he had mentioned he was a vet, probably WWII by his age, and this lady decided to make his day. She would not leave a name and quickly left the dining room. This gesture brought tears to the eyes of the gentleman's wife, and the gentleman kept thanking me as if I was anything more than a messenger. Truth be told it brought tears to my eyes too, that a normal citizien would take time to honor one who had served his country, no matter how long ago. As a veteran myself I label that unknown person also a hero not for the size of the act but for the fact that she thought enough to do anything at all in the first place.
Jim
**Note above poster works for a retailer selling bikes and related gear*
Flippin awesome story Jim. Made my day. Thanks!!!!
M~
While not heroic, it amazes me how easy it is to make someone's day. The other morning I had walked my dog down to the bagel shop (like I do every morning) to buy him a doggie bagel. The line was kinda long, and this guy at the front of the line turns around and hands me a doggie bagel and says "I've got it. I'm a dog lover too."
It's been a couple weeks since that happened and I still think about it. Something so insignificant and inexpensive ($1) really made me feel good about this world. It's so easy to be nice, and to stop thinking about yourself for 30 seconds and make someone else's day.
Last edited by:
jhendric: Nov 17, 04 10:11
Both of these stories are great. This is the stuff that really breaths life into people. Thanks for posting that. Five stars *****.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Great post - definitely helps shore up my fading belief that people are inherently good. Here's another example...
A few years ago, I ran a local 5K/10K race held as a fund-raiser at a local high school. Also running that day was a friend of mine - she won the 10K. After the race, we were standing around the finish area when a little girl, maybe 10-12 years old, came running up looking harried and a little upset. Seems she was to be running her first 5K that day, but she missed it because soccer practice had run long that morning. Without missing a beat, my friend offered to run with her around the course and time her on her own watch. I tagged along just for the heck of it. I can't remember her time, but the look on that little girl's face when she finished her first 5K was priceless. She'd just run/walked her very first official 5K and she was glowing. We got back just in time for awards. Right after my friend received her medal for winning the 10K, she came down to where the little girl was standing, put the medal around her neck and said 'you deserve this because you did so great out there'. I just about started bawling on the spot.
Thanks for the post Hid. All these stories have made my day!
Jim
To my mind, being heroic is a way of life. You have to consciously work every day to treat people properly, do the right thing(as defined by your beliefs) and try to make the world a better place. There are many aspects to this, and it does require effort, given the state of our society and who is lionized in pop culture vs who is actually out there making the world a better place.
The people that I want to be like are not rich, or famous, or particularly good looking. They are the people who drag themselves out of bed, face what the world serves up to them, and continue on with the conviction that life is basically good and there is a proper way to live it. And they do it every day, with no expectation of accolades, simply because they belief that what they do is right.
------------------------------------------------------------