Yesterday I was reading a memoir "Bend Not Break" about a 25 year old Chinese woman who was expelled from China in 1984 by the Communist because she was a writer and considered a threat to the government. She arrived in San Francisco with $75 for a plane ticket to New Mexico to attend school. The ticket price went up to $80 and she was $5 short. An American standing in line behind her hearing her predicament stepped forward and gave her $5. She described it this way: "The gesture may not have meant much to him but it meant the world to me. My first impressions of Americans - and one that endures to this day - was that they are warm giving people.The experience offered me this life lesson: "When in doubt, always err on the side of generosity."
Flash Forward to today: I was rushing and late to my daughter's Cheer Competition. When I got there I realized the entry was $7 and I had only $4. I asked the man taking tickets if there was a ATM around the HS and they said not near by. I stepped away and started to think how I could get some stranger to lend me the money so I could get in and film my daughter's performance. Just then the man taking the tickets approached me and offered me $5 to get a ticket. I told him I only needed $3 but he insisted I take the $5 and didn't want me to pay him back later. He didn't know me, He didn't know what my religion or politics were but just that I was another man, another father another human being and he acted generously. It's that ripple effect that makes a difference in life
After I purchased the ticket I approached the entrance and I heard the other ticket taker ask him if he gave me $ and he said yea and his friend said "That's cool" I approached and said, " It was indeed very cool and special and appreciated and he had made my day."
I got in just in time to film my daughter. His "small" act of generosity made my day and his act of paying it forward reminds me to do the same whenever the opportunity arises. I thanked Solomon on the way out and shares this story to pass it along...
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