Remember When?

I wouldn´t have expected anything less from you Brad, you´re a good man my friend!

Awesome thing you did, sir. I've been on the downside like that in younger years and try to keep an eye open for that sorta thing. Thank you.

Cool post oldcajun and good on you and your wife. Yep, I think many of us can relate to those struggles just starting out.

Good on you, it's sometimes the kindness of strangers that get us through trying times.

Also the title made me think of this song.

Brad,

Thanks for sharing such a heart warming story.

It's easy for us to forget what it was like when we were young and trying to make our way in the world.

I for one have been blessed beyond anything I deserve and have had the good fortune of having many folks, not unlike yourself, give me a hand up back when I was a young man.


One time in particular sticks out in my mind. It was back in 1981. I was a young Seaman (E3) in the Navy. A couple of buddies and I found ourselves short on cash on the weekend before payday and were in the dilemma of wanting to catch a movie that evening. One of my buds said that he had gone to the Red Cross in the past and given blood/plasma and had received $25 or $50 for doing so.

So, we all pooled our money together and caught a cab from RTC to down town San Diego to the Red Cross on a Saturday. We walked in and expressed our desire to donate our blood in exchange for whatever they were paying.

Turns out that they didn't accept New Doners on the weekend and were unable to accommodate us.

Not having enough money for another cab, or even bus fare, we started our several mile hike back to base.

As we were walkin a fella pulls up beside us in his old Datsun B210, rolled down his window and asked us if we needed a ride. We were all fuzzy headed E nuthins, fresh off the farm, so to speak, and were a little wary of acceptin a ride from a complete stranger, so we politely declined.

He got out of his car and showed us his military ID. He was a 2nd Class Petty Officer and said he could tell that we were pretty fresh out of bootcamp by the way we were all walking in step with one another.

After this we graciously accepted his generous offer. As we were driving back to base we shared our predicament with him and how embarrassed we all were that we had gone all the way down town only to be hoofin it back to base.

Jerry, his name, then asked us if we'd ever been on a Navy Ship? Being as we were all in Basic Electronics training right out of bootcamp, we had not yet stepped foot on a real honest to goodness ship.

As luck would have it Jerry was stationed on a Frigate that was docked near the down town area. He took us aboard ship and gave us the nickel tour. Then he took us to the ships mess and leaned over and talked with one of the chiefs there and next thing we knew we were sittin down and enjoyin lunch with him and some of his shipmates.

After lunch Jerry drove us to base. Before he let us out of the car he handed us each a twenty and handed me a piece of paper with his Navy FPO (Fleet Post Office address) and simply asked us to pay him back when we could.


I gotta tell ya. That was around 36 years ago and as I sit here sharing this story with you my eyes are watering up thinking about the generosity and thoughtfulness of that man.

It's not like we were gonna miss any meals. Heck If we'd stayed on base we could have gone to the gym, library or any number of other venues and found something to keep us busy and when it was all over could have found our way to the chow hall and had plenty to eat.

It's the fact that Jerry recognized three young sailors walkin along the street and took the time to see if he could give us a lift.

That experience has been with me ever since. I can't tell you how many times I've pulled over to give someone a hand changing a tire, jump start their car or give a stranded person a lift or lent them the use of my cell phone.


The world could definitely use a few more Jerry's and... Brads !



Thank you sir again for sharing your story and for being there for that young man.



Take care
&
God Bless

You guys made me tear up this morning. It may sound sappy for me to say this, but I am proud to associate with you fine citizens. There is always hope for this great country and for mankind when the generosity, empathy and love of your neighbors described in this thread is in the hearts of at least some among us. My day has started off right, reading this thread. Thanks guys.

Brad, when I was still trucking I was Atlanta and had to park behind a strip mall so I could make a delivery at a grocery store the next morning. While I was in my truck I saw this disheveled gent with a few empty grocery bags searching dumpsters and filling the bags he had with food that was discarded. I climbed out of my truck and approached the gent and once he realized I meant no harm we started to talk. He had a USN tattoo on his arm and when I asked about it he told me he was a Navy vet and after coming home from the first Gulf War he was unable to hold a job and was evicted from his apartment leaving homeless for the last 6 years. I offered him some money which he refused because where he was sleeping at night some of the homeless formed a gang and would rob the other homeless. Since he didn't want to take money and really had nothing at the place he was sleeping at night I offered to take him shopping. By the time we were finished we made it to almost every shop in the strip mall and he had no reason to go back to where he was sleeping.. He bought toiletries, a new sleeping bag and a foam pad to go underneath it, a small tent,a camp stove with 10 can of propane, a few pots and pans, a bunch of groceries, books to read,a pillow some extra blankets and a wagon to haul everything in. He thanked me and said now he did not need to go back to where he was staying and was now able to move to a "better" area where he did not have to worry about being robbed.
I still think about that man and hope his condition improved and he is doing well.

Been on both sides of this story. Thanks Mrs. Cajun and Brad for reminding me!