@Mariann4
Mariann, possibly sounds a bit arrogant, but I could say 'the joy of people connecting' as you said, goes a long way towards defining our character, be it good or bad!
Relating to a stranger can take you to some lovely places.
Have you ever been in a hurry, on your way out somewhere and rushed into the supermarket to grab some forgotten item only to be thwarted at the fast-lane check-out by a customer ahead who is hell-bent on taking forever over their transaction?
This particular day involved a card payment problem.
These card declines generally seem to happen with someone who has only a few cents to throw around, their budget is spread very thinly …..sometimes you can tell by the body language, they happen out of desperation!
I was behind an elderly gentleman…..well (in retrospect) about the same age as me, about 74 at the time this happened, and his card was declined! His shoulders slumped as though he almost expected it…….so did mine, here we go again! But before he had the opportunity to haggle with the check-out operator over which items he should leave off his shopping list I motioned the checkout girl to add my single item to his transaction and I handed her my card.
He turned to me and said….”Oh no, you can’t do that”! and I said to him….”Mate, one day you can do the same for me”, not for a second thinking of the consequences of that statement! The transaction went through before he could protest any further, he squeezed my shoulder, left with his goods…..I sprinted to our car and, life went on!
Our paths did cross a couple of times over the next 2 months, Mt Barker being a relatively small town of 35,000 inhabitants and each time we would have a bit of a chat and I would ask how he was getting on. He said, life was tough, he was caring for a daughter with grandchild who had come out of a messy divorce, it was putting a strain on him, he was struggling but, managing.
About 4 months later he turned up at our door one afternoon with $32.47 in cash (the amount of his original supermarket bill which was declined) a dozen champagne for Ade and a dozen nice red wines for me…….information he had noted from our couple of previous meetings.
He invested $6.00 in a ‘scratchy’ lottery ticket and hit a $35,000 jackpot winner and wanted to make sure he repaid those who had helped him. He had a genuine tear of joy in his eye, and so did I Mariann.
That $32.47 good deed returned me over $300 in nice wine and (as we have got more acquainted) a friendship I will value for the rest of my life!
You never know where a good deed will take you!
And this is one of the things I love most about Airbnb, it's the financial freedom it has helped give to me in my retirement to, on a whim connect with people and play ‘Father Christmas’ whenever I want.....
Cheers.......Rob.