Forum Moderators: open
First just let me thanks to all the members here who take time out of their lives to share information obtained through much burning of midnight oil, weaping, wailing and gnashing of teeth over code that goes wrong , google updates and software nightmares. As all of us know this
sharing of information helps us all, but I was wondering if the people here are of the " pay it forward/pass it on" type off line as well?
The reason I'm asking is something happened to me today that was totally unexpected, my doctor who brought both my children into the world and has looked after my family for the last 20 years refused to take a payment for a legitimate service I was willing to pay for. Now the payment was only $20.00 ( filling out a travel form for my diabetic daughter), but the fact he had fitted us in his very busy schedule and also examined my son ( who he noticed was stuffed up and didn't look well) touched me deeply. So my question is, in such a case where would you pass on the $20.00 for its greatest benifit?
I go with LIA on this one.
Rgds
Damon
Most of our charities have some sort of ego gratification at the root. This doesn't really degrade the effort, any charity is good charity, in spite of the motive - but to truly pay it forward, the dedication has to be something which poses no interest to you in any way. Even if it's just a little ego boost, it doesn't count.
So the answer, although vague, lies in your path through life. Somewhere today you will see someone you will never see again that needs this $20. This will not be one of the homeless people on the streetcorners and intersections, most of whom have chosen their paths, it will be someone else and it will not be obvious unless you look for it.
Lovejoy put your radar up and begin looking, someone you meet today needs this twenty bucks. :-)
Where would you pass on the $20 for its greatest benefit?
Within an hour, I'd be rolling in hookers and donuts.
A key, I think, to the pay it forward outlook is that where the money goes should be somewhere it can inspire the next person to do the same.
from one person.. to the next person. It's a personal thing.
Find a person.. an individual.. who needs help... just right at that moment. It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow even.
It might be five people for whom $5, right when they need it and right when they least expect it.. makes a difference in their day that means they will make a difference in someone else's day in the future.
Hang on to that 20. Next time you're in the grocery line and someone is short a two bucks, give them the two dollars. Next time someone needs parking meter change, just give it to them and don't take change back.
And yes, I'm a pay it forward person. Everything I've learnt about the web has come from the kindness of strangers.. and on that basis my current career is thanks to them. And I continue to pass on what I can, where I can.
(yea yea I know I can do that quote stuff with these new fangled HTML tags.. but you know what deejay said it better!)
I hate carrying around those little loyalty cards worth about 10c for coffees etc. I usually ask the cashier to give my stamp to the next person in line that wants it!
Rgds
Damon
Next time you're in the grocery line and someone is short a two bucks, give them the two dollars. Next time someone needs parking meter change, just give it to them and don't take change back.
where would you pass on the $20.00 for its greatest benifit
Write 20 pages of quality content on your favorite subject. [A few evenings]
Domain regn: $7
Web hosting: $3/ mo
Free Google AdWords account with $50 credit
Use $10 to buy one good permanent inward link from an ontopic PR5 blog.
Slap some AdSense code on.
Donate half (or the entire) AdSense income to charity. Even if it's $1 a day, that will be $350 a year.
Many illnesses arise from unsanitary drinking water. Many deaths associated with hunger and malnutrition arise from diseases associated with unsafe drinking water.
Start with clean drinking water.
The last time I check Oxfam was doing a pretty good job setting up drinking water wells in parts of the world where clean water is a matter of life and death.
Hard to believe that life - staying alive - is so profoundly connected to something those of us reading this page take for granted . . . until the power grid goes down.
I guess, if you give something to the charity of 'your choice', it would serve correctly...
Not through an organization, but directly.
In my country there is always plenty of hungry people on the street. When I walk home from work, many times I have beggers asking for something. When I feel generous, I fisically go with a begger to the nearest dinner, and feed him/her generously.
The way I look at it is this:
- Organized charity: Too ineficient for my taste. 3/4 of your money goes to paying for first world transportantion and lodging to volunteers. Not saying it doesn't work, just it is too ineficient for my taste.
- Giving money directly to people: People are too stupid, and most people that don't have money, don't know how to handle it. If I give money to a homeless person I feel I am giving them crack.
I feel by giving food directly, not only is 100% of my money going to the charity cause and not the perks for volunteers, but I am also satisfying a persons needs when they need it the most.
I feel by giving food directly, not only is 100% of my money going to the charity cause and not the perks for volunteers, but I am also satisfying a persons needs when they need it the most.
In addition to that, your generousity is also helping to support the restaurant owner.
It would be more efficient to use the money you would have spent on a good meal for one person to purchase bread, fruit and cheese or meat. Then make up sandwiches and distribute packed meals to several people.
If I had the time, I would work more, and make more money then what I would save by going throught the hassle you describe old honky.
The reason I *never* give to organised charity is that I was told by the ex-executive director of a respected charity how great the perks were when he was employed there. At the time he had moved on to being the executive director of a labour sponsored organisation.
BTW, the most generous act I have ever seen happened this way:
On a very cold morning I gave a panhandler two dollars for coffee outside on the sidewalk in front of a food court. A few minutes later, I met him in front of the coffee bar where he was buying a coffee for himself *and* his partner who had been working the door down the street. Coffee at the time was a dollar a cup. How many other better off people would give up half of everything they had, or all of what they had left?
[edited by: plumsauce at 3:57 pm (utc) on Sep. 19, 2006]
Rgds
Damon
