Lately I have had a pretty negative opinion of the world at large. The latest incident in a long line involves FB and those sick baby pictures. One of my friends, whom I do not know that well, posted one of those photos. I pointed out that the picture was a fraud. This particular friend replied basically "so what, it raises awareness." One of my longtime friends replied this way.
"I really wish people would check out the real stories behind the pictures being posted of the burned baby and the little girl needing a heart transplant. First of all, Facebook will never ever ever donate money to anything no matter how many times it gets passed around. Secondly, the burned baby picture is very outdated. Thirdly, the little girl needing the heart transplant died in 2008. Please check snopes.com before clicking the Share button!!"
Then yesterday my world view shifted a bit. I put out a call on FB to see if I could find some teenager wanting to earn a small amount of money to mow my small yard. A woman I worked with at the paper said her husband would do it.
Despite temperatures in the low 40s and rain the day before, her husband showed up to mow with his grandson in tow. The whole yard took him a long while. He had to stop and rest frequently. After he finished, he sat on the edge of his car's trunk and we chatted for a bit.
This man lives his faith. He was born without a sternum. He had polio twice. He told me the doctors did not expect him to live. A surgery when he was 5 gave him a sternum fashioned from a rib. Yet he is alive today with a wife of many years and several grandchildren.
I offered him a small amount of money for mowing. He refused to take it. He told me helping others is a way to repay what he received. I told him I would pay it forward. I was blessed. I also got a wonderful hug from his grandson.
Good people live in this world, too. I need to work harder to find them; I need to work harder to live that way.
Later, Dude.
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