HEY ALL!
JUST WANTED TO INFORM EVERYONE THAT MY BLOG URL HAS CHANGED. I WILL NO LONGER BE POSTING ON BLOGSPOT.COM.
CHICAGO NOW, AN AFFILIATE OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, HAS PICKED UP MY CHAIN LINKS BLOG! I AM VERY EXCITED. THEY ARE A VERY REPUTABLE GROUP WITH A LOT OF NETWORKING CONNECTIONS SO I AM HONORED TO BE A PART OF CHICAGO NOW.
PLEASE CONTINUE FOLLOWING ME AT:
WWW.CHICAGONOW.COM/CHAIN-LINKS
~I HAVE A NEW POST UP SO CHECK IT OUT! =)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Groceries? Or a Roof?
*Thank you to Tim from Charlotte, North Carolina for sharing this amazing story!*
Good evening Chainlinks,
This story is catharsis for me, so please forgive the length. I will start my story by declaring that I am a 'tried and true' Conservative and still believe in a Conservative, yet compassionate government. This story is not intended to be political, I am simply sharing what I have observed. Also, I am a 6' 220 lb male, so I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a peculiar situation (and have done so in my younger days).
I am a different person these days. Prior to the event that I am about to share, I was simply worried about securing my job at the headquarters of a 'Big 3' bank in Charlotte, NC. I was a good person, yet I was more concerned about maintaining the big house at the end of the cul de sac in the upscale neighborhood of the best school district in the Charlotte Mecklenburg region. My taxes provided the social welfare for those who needed it, I had to 'take care of my own' beyond that. I was a very suspicious person of those whom I didn't know or who didn't come from the direct recommendation of a personal friend. In essence, I wasn't open to what the world had to offer, whether good or bad.
Life and the Universe seem to challenge us to provide our best in the worst of circumstances however. I was in the midst of a divorce in 2009 from a marriage that I thought was the 'one to span a lifetime', had just sold my house, was living in an apartment and was questioning literally EVERY move and decision I had made in my life to that point. Mind you, I didn't feel that I was a bad person, just that perhaps I could have done more. More in my marriage, work and life in general towards others that I loved, cared for and for strangers. I was questioning whether I had brought the despair of divorce and a life rift upon myself.
While searching for furniture on craigslist in Charlotte, in the 'for sale' section, I ran across an entirely random ad in the 'furniture for sale' that read something like this, "Family of four with underemployed parents needs help with food now, please email to help us with groceries". Well, at first my 'suspicious' self thought, "here's another scammer looking for some easy cash". As I looked through the listings, I kept, for some reason, going back to the ad with the family needing help. I decided to respond to the email asking for the circumstances and type of help needed. Within minutes, I had my reply. This was an educated young mother with two children who was unemployed. The father, a Veteran of Iraq, who was a blue collar worker, was working two jobs to keep a decent house in a good school district for the child in school. Unfortunately, in Charlotte, this meant that the family, who technically lived above the federal poverty level, could afford to keep an apartment, yet food and clothing were essentially above their means, with TWO jobs!
With the exchange of a few emails over the course of 45 minutes or so, the Mom had shared her story of concern for having food for the kids, while preserving Dad's sense of honor that he was providing for the household without any assistance, government or private. She told me that he was very proud with regard to that aspect of being a husband and father. With my 'scam' feelers still out, I notified a close friend of what I was about to do, and he reprimanded me for being 'soft skinned' and susceptible to craigslist scammers because of my situation and mindset with the divorce at that time. I acknowledged his concerns with a simple "I'll be at the Harris Teeter in Elizabeth, If I haven't called you by 5pm, that means something didn't go right".
With that communication being shared, and being the cautious person that I am, I proceeded to a Harris Teeter (the pervasive grocery store in the Charlotte area) and bought roughly $250 worth of groceries. I figured that I would simply drop off the groceries and reduce the chance of being robbed or kidnapped (that's how paranoid I was of the general public). I ensured that I bought organic, healthy food items from veggies and fruits, to organic fresh meat, as well as both canned and jarred items. I, being a kid once, also bought a few 'fun' things as well, such as cookies and ice cream, but that wasn't the majority of items. I made sure that the food I purchased was 'real' food as opposed to the typical processed fair.
I bought the food in South Charlotte and proceeded to drive toward Elizabeth. When I arrived at the Elizabeth Harris Teeter, the Mom was waiting as she had described in the part of the lot she mentioned with the vehicle that her family drove. Imagine my surprise to see a mom with a late model Saab station wagon as I pulled alongside her vehicle, waved and stopped. She waved and smiled back with the infant in her arms and began to walk alongside my Jeep (Green Gertie) as I eased into my parking spot. I was wary as she approached. As soon as I stepped out of my Jeep, she immediately hugged me with incredible strength and started sobbing! I didn't know what to do! I hugged her back and didn't know how strongly to hug this stranger. Was another person waiting to assault me? Why did she have a baby strapped to her chest as she hugged me? Was this a setup?
As we unclasped, with the baby strapped to her chest; alive and uncrushed, she looked me directly in the eye and said, "You are my family's angel". I simply sat back in my seat and began to cry myself. After about five minutes or so of us both crying, laughing, sobbing, attending to the confused baby and child still strapped in a seat in her car, laughing again at ourselves; I said that we needed to start getting the groceries to her car since a lot of perishable items could go 'bad'. We had a great two minute conversation as we transferred the items. She mentioned that she wondered how she could explain to her husband that the cupboard was full, how happy she was to know that the family would be able to eat in a healthy manner with the organic goods (that was important to her) and that she would be able to buy clothes for their child entering elementary school in the Fall.
Once we had completed the transfer, this proud Mom of two children and wife of a Gulf War Veteran who was working two jobs to make ends almost meet shared that she NEVER would have thought that she would ask for help from strangers, especially via the anonymous medium of Craigslist, given so many horror stories shared in the news of terrible occurrences through craigslist connections. She took a chance, listed in the wrong place and with (I believe) Divine Guidance, found the right person, on the right day, at the right time, that delivered what was necessary for her family to make it through the difficult time they were experiencing.
I believe that the Divine also provided for me that day, by showing that suspicion, holding back and an off-standing approach are not the ways to engage with our fellow humans. Don't misunderstand, good and evil do exist....yet, if we open our hearts, just a bit, we can find that just a little help when we are able is the difference that can help otherwise self sufficient folks to make the journey through a rough patch and come out of the storm ok. After all, we are all living in a community, whether a 1,500 person community that I was raised in Western North Carolina or the 4 million plus community that I now share in Chicago. May God bless all of us with the sense of community!
My best!
The person in the Green Jeep Wrangler (Green Gertie) in Charlotte, NC---Summer 2009
Good evening Chainlinks,
This story is catharsis for me, so please forgive the length. I will start my story by declaring that I am a 'tried and true' Conservative and still believe in a Conservative, yet compassionate government. This story is not intended to be political, I am simply sharing what I have observed. Also, I am a 6' 220 lb male, so I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a peculiar situation (and have done so in my younger days).
I am a different person these days. Prior to the event that I am about to share, I was simply worried about securing my job at the headquarters of a 'Big 3' bank in Charlotte, NC. I was a good person, yet I was more concerned about maintaining the big house at the end of the cul de sac in the upscale neighborhood of the best school district in the Charlotte Mecklenburg region. My taxes provided the social welfare for those who needed it, I had to 'take care of my own' beyond that. I was a very suspicious person of those whom I didn't know or who didn't come from the direct recommendation of a personal friend. In essence, I wasn't open to what the world had to offer, whether good or bad.
Life and the Universe seem to challenge us to provide our best in the worst of circumstances however. I was in the midst of a divorce in 2009 from a marriage that I thought was the 'one to span a lifetime', had just sold my house, was living in an apartment and was questioning literally EVERY move and decision I had made in my life to that point. Mind you, I didn't feel that I was a bad person, just that perhaps I could have done more. More in my marriage, work and life in general towards others that I loved, cared for and for strangers. I was questioning whether I had brought the despair of divorce and a life rift upon myself.
While searching for furniture on craigslist in Charlotte, in the 'for sale' section, I ran across an entirely random ad in the 'furniture for sale' that read something like this, "Family of four with underemployed parents needs help with food now, please email to help us with groceries". Well, at first my 'suspicious' self thought, "here's another scammer looking for some easy cash". As I looked through the listings, I kept, for some reason, going back to the ad with the family needing help. I decided to respond to the email asking for the circumstances and type of help needed. Within minutes, I had my reply. This was an educated young mother with two children who was unemployed. The father, a Veteran of Iraq, who was a blue collar worker, was working two jobs to keep a decent house in a good school district for the child in school. Unfortunately, in Charlotte, this meant that the family, who technically lived above the federal poverty level, could afford to keep an apartment, yet food and clothing were essentially above their means, with TWO jobs!
With the exchange of a few emails over the course of 45 minutes or so, the Mom had shared her story of concern for having food for the kids, while preserving Dad's sense of honor that he was providing for the household without any assistance, government or private. She told me that he was very proud with regard to that aspect of being a husband and father. With my 'scam' feelers still out, I notified a close friend of what I was about to do, and he reprimanded me for being 'soft skinned' and susceptible to craigslist scammers because of my situation and mindset with the divorce at that time. I acknowledged his concerns with a simple "I'll be at the Harris Teeter in Elizabeth, If I haven't called you by 5pm, that means something didn't go right".
With that communication being shared, and being the cautious person that I am, I proceeded to a Harris Teeter (the pervasive grocery store in the Charlotte area) and bought roughly $250 worth of groceries. I figured that I would simply drop off the groceries and reduce the chance of being robbed or kidnapped (that's how paranoid I was of the general public). I ensured that I bought organic, healthy food items from veggies and fruits, to organic fresh meat, as well as both canned and jarred items. I, being a kid once, also bought a few 'fun' things as well, such as cookies and ice cream, but that wasn't the majority of items. I made sure that the food I purchased was 'real' food as opposed to the typical processed fair.
I bought the food in South Charlotte and proceeded to drive toward Elizabeth. When I arrived at the Elizabeth Harris Teeter, the Mom was waiting as she had described in the part of the lot she mentioned with the vehicle that her family drove. Imagine my surprise to see a mom with a late model Saab station wagon as I pulled alongside her vehicle, waved and stopped. She waved and smiled back with the infant in her arms and began to walk alongside my Jeep (Green Gertie) as I eased into my parking spot. I was wary as she approached. As soon as I stepped out of my Jeep, she immediately hugged me with incredible strength and started sobbing! I didn't know what to do! I hugged her back and didn't know how strongly to hug this stranger. Was another person waiting to assault me? Why did she have a baby strapped to her chest as she hugged me? Was this a setup?
As we unclasped, with the baby strapped to her chest; alive and uncrushed, she looked me directly in the eye and said, "You are my family's angel". I simply sat back in my seat and began to cry myself. After about five minutes or so of us both crying, laughing, sobbing, attending to the confused baby and child still strapped in a seat in her car, laughing again at ourselves; I said that we needed to start getting the groceries to her car since a lot of perishable items could go 'bad'. We had a great two minute conversation as we transferred the items. She mentioned that she wondered how she could explain to her husband that the cupboard was full, how happy she was to know that the family would be able to eat in a healthy manner with the organic goods (that was important to her) and that she would be able to buy clothes for their child entering elementary school in the Fall.
Once we had completed the transfer, this proud Mom of two children and wife of a Gulf War Veteran who was working two jobs to make ends almost meet shared that she NEVER would have thought that she would ask for help from strangers, especially via the anonymous medium of Craigslist, given so many horror stories shared in the news of terrible occurrences through craigslist connections. She took a chance, listed in the wrong place and with (I believe) Divine Guidance, found the right person, on the right day, at the right time, that delivered what was necessary for her family to make it through the difficult time they were experiencing.
I believe that the Divine also provided for me that day, by showing that suspicion, holding back and an off-standing approach are not the ways to engage with our fellow humans. Don't misunderstand, good and evil do exist....yet, if we open our hearts, just a bit, we can find that just a little help when we are able is the difference that can help otherwise self sufficient folks to make the journey through a rough patch and come out of the storm ok. After all, we are all living in a community, whether a 1,500 person community that I was raised in Western North Carolina or the 4 million plus community that I now share in Chicago. May God bless all of us with the sense of community!
My best!
The person in the Green Jeep Wrangler (Green Gertie) in Charlotte, NC---Summer 2009
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
When Road Rage Melts Away...
***Special thanks to Katie from Aurora, IL for taking the time to share your random act of kindness. I hope others are as inspired as I am... ***
"I live in Aurora and I work in Schaumburg, for anyone who isn't familiar with the area, that's 40 miles one way, 80 miles a day and 400 miles a week. I complain, I yell at people on the road, I swerve in and out of lanes and you can call me you typical Chicago driver. Every day I get off the highway at the same exit, yell at a few more people to hurry through the light so I'm not late and I rarely pay attention to my surroundings.
I don't know why this day was different but I pulled off the highway and felt like a sign slapped me across the face, "please help, my family needs support and I need your help, God Bless". My road rage went from 10 to -10. Every worry in my world disappeared and I really felt like I needed to do something. I didn't want to just give him a few bucks, to be honest, I didn't want him to turn around and by a bottle to drink away his problems. I knew I had a few extra minutes before work so I picked up a cinnamon crunch bagel, a breakfast sandwich and a large coffee from Panera and headed back to the same corner he was standing on. He saw me when I pulled off the side of the road and I waved for him to come over. I explained to him that I didn't have any cash on me and it may not help him in the long run but I thought a filling breakfast with a hot coffee might do the trick. He was literally speechless. The look on his face did enough. Bright eyed, he took the food and drink from my hand and smelled the coffee. It was humbling. Here I am sitting in a warm car, dressed in business attire with a hat, gloves and a scarf, yelling at everyone around me, and I'm looking at this guy enjoy the smell of coffee. He couldn't say thank you enough, his smile was amazing. I don't know if he still remembers the day, I don't know if he told his family, I don't know anything about him but I know I won't forget it.
These random acts of kindness are addicting. There's nothing I've experienced in my life that affects me emotionally as much as these acts do. I thank God each day for what I have, I should be thanking Him for what He has given me and how He has impacted my life. I am in the position I am for a reason and I don't feel guilty for being successful. I know that I can be the change I want to see in the world and hopefully the people I help can pass it along.
Get out there and do something! You don't have to buy breakfast for the next homeless person you see but just realize there are people in this world less fortunate than we are and its definitely a great experience to know you are the reason why people smile."
~Katie
Aurora, IL
"I live in Aurora and I work in Schaumburg, for anyone who isn't familiar with the area, that's 40 miles one way, 80 miles a day and 400 miles a week. I complain, I yell at people on the road, I swerve in and out of lanes and you can call me you typical Chicago driver. Every day I get off the highway at the same exit, yell at a few more people to hurry through the light so I'm not late and I rarely pay attention to my surroundings.
I don't know why this day was different but I pulled off the highway and felt like a sign slapped me across the face, "please help, my family needs support and I need your help, God Bless". My road rage went from 10 to -10. Every worry in my world disappeared and I really felt like I needed to do something. I didn't want to just give him a few bucks, to be honest, I didn't want him to turn around and by a bottle to drink away his problems. I knew I had a few extra minutes before work so I picked up a cinnamon crunch bagel, a breakfast sandwich and a large coffee from Panera and headed back to the same corner he was standing on. He saw me when I pulled off the side of the road and I waved for him to come over. I explained to him that I didn't have any cash on me and it may not help him in the long run but I thought a filling breakfast with a hot coffee might do the trick. He was literally speechless. The look on his face did enough. Bright eyed, he took the food and drink from my hand and smelled the coffee. It was humbling. Here I am sitting in a warm car, dressed in business attire with a hat, gloves and a scarf, yelling at everyone around me, and I'm looking at this guy enjoy the smell of coffee. He couldn't say thank you enough, his smile was amazing. I don't know if he still remembers the day, I don't know if he told his family, I don't know anything about him but I know I won't forget it.
These random acts of kindness are addicting. There's nothing I've experienced in my life that affects me emotionally as much as these acts do. I thank God each day for what I have, I should be thanking Him for what He has given me and how He has impacted my life. I am in the position I am for a reason and I don't feel guilty for being successful. I know that I can be the change I want to see in the world and hopefully the people I help can pass it along.
Get out there and do something! You don't have to buy breakfast for the next homeless person you see but just realize there are people in this world less fortunate than we are and its definitely a great experience to know you are the reason why people smile."
~Katie
Aurora, IL
Friday, November 4, 2011
Be the change you want to see in the world. Literally.
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."
-Oscar Wilde-
What if one person really could change the world?
I think most of us wish we could help make the world a better place, but don't know where to start. Believe me, I have used every excuse in the book. "But I'm just one person...what difference could I possible make?" "I will help others some day when I have the money to." "Who's to say that if I pay it forward, that person will even care enough to keep the chain going?"
Sound familiar?
The truth is there is no simple answer to these questions. We won't know if the person we helped was even a good person. There's no way to tell if they even needed the help. And there's certainly no way to know how much one small action will directly affect the person. But if a simple smile, a note left on a car, a $5 Starbucks gift card handed out to a random person in the drive thru, helping an elderly lady to her car with her groceries, or picking up the tab for a couple at a restaurant has the potential to brighten someone's day, why NOT do it?
I am finally done with the excuses. So today, I officially began doing simple, random acts of kindness. Each of the affected individuals was given a small card with a brief description of the project, along with my email: chainlinks08@gmail.com. My request was simple: If you choose to pay it forward--no matter how big or small the action may be--please email me your experience and I will post it to this blog.
In truth, I am hoping each of you will take the time to pay it forward and spread the word. If you choose to do so, feel free to email me regarding your experience. I would love to share ideas with others that are interested in the chain links process, but do not know where to start.
I realize some individuals may feel uncomfortable publicly announcing their random act of kindness. If that is the case, feel free to email me about your experience receiving the favor--(How it made you feel, did it brighten your day, etc.) Those remarkable stories will inspire others to start their own chain of kindness.
I would like this project to be as anonymous as possible. We are not doing favors for others to receive any kind of "credit" whatsoever. Rather, we are on a mission to spread happiness. Our sole purpose is to trace these random acts of generosity as far back as possible so that the skeptics can finally know the truth: that one person truly can make a difference in the world. I believe that our vision is not only attainable, but that it is imperative if we want this world to be a better, safer place.
So let's start a movement.....and start making the world a better place one small act of generosity at a time. =)
Here is an eye-opening quote I saw on a billboard:
"You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
Well said.
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