Pay it forward. A bit ago I was headed out to work and an out of state car had slid off the road and was stuck in the snow. I stopped, got my tow strap, and pulled them back onto the highway. The guy started digging in his wallet and I told him that wasn’t necessary. He seemed surprised. I told him to simply pay it forward.
A little bit ago my wife was in a store getting some diapers, wipes, etc. for the grandkids, about $30 worth. Her debit card keeps getting rejected (turns out my direct deposit paycheck hadn’t been direct deposited, was nowhere to be found-—oops) and she is getting very flustrated. A woman back in line steps up and paid for her stuff. My wife asked her for contact info to pay it back. The woman just smiled and told her “Pay it forward”.
Years ago my husband and I moved to central Maine. Pretty cold and snowy area. We drove in our little Pinto and one afternoon slid off the road. A big truck with four big men pulled up in front of us, All got out with a nod but no words, pointed us out of the way and one steered and pushed and the other three pushed and the car was back on the road. they did not say one word to us. We tried to offer monies but just saw them drive off.
This was, we discovered, the rule of the road, in the area, something like leaving the camp door unlocked and provisioned in alaska for whomever might need to stay.
Over the years we became part of the folks who stopped, nodded and pushed. There was great comfort in knowing that the next car would help when stranded miles from nowhere.
Years ago I stopped one night to help an old man/woman broken down on a bad stretch of interstate that was under construction.
After getting them taken care of the old man pulled out his wallet and tried to pay me.
I declined and told him my parents were approaching his age and I hoped that if they ever found themselves in the same situation someone would do the same for them.
“Pay it forward”
I do that (both sides) when I can. One time a young lady ran out of gas in front of my house and I gave her what I had in the gas can, $10 for the station up the street, and a “pay it forward”.
She refused in the nicest way. I got a card a month later with $11 and a note explaining that “In my religion, debts are paid back with plus one.” Ya’ learn something new every day...
(If you were gonna ask; hindu.)