Pay it forward; Good Samaritans revealed

Scott wrote:

"We gave the guy a 20 dollar bill that was working there and told him the next person to come through there that orders pizza, just put that towards their bill, and reaction was just... what?,"
That's exactly what my response was/is...I think it was nice of them to help people pay for their gas, medication, groceries etc. But c'mon, wasting that $20.00 to help pay for someones pizza order??? If they can afford to order Pizza out then I don't think they are hurting toooo much money wise, at least I know the only time I order Pizza is when all the other bills are paid and I have some extra "spending money" to enjoy.
BUT, it's their money, just glad they don't work for the welfare office and hand out taxpayer funds so people can order pizza.

friend wrote:

Sounds like Oprah's Big Give. Good lesson for the teens.

Scott wrote:

I wasn't critizing them and already mentioned it was their money to do with as they wished. It just struck me as odd that they would help pay for someones carry out pizza when it would be A LOT cheaper to either make your own pizza at home or buy one or two of the frozen variety. Just saying that people able to afford to order pizza out most likely aren't "hurting" as much as others.
For example: I would have hit some local grocery stores and target the ones in poorer neighborhoods and talk to the cashiers or other employees to see if they knew of any regular customers that were on a tight budget or appeared to be on a tight budget having to skimp on what groceries they purchased etc. Then quietly target those people, especially the ones with kids to feed so they could have a little more food for a change.
You can usually tell if someone is financially challenged even if it's short term. I was at one of our local gas stations 2-3 years ago and filled up my tank and was inside paying for it (and buying some lotto). There was a lady who pulled up to the pumps in a very old, rather beaten up station wagon with two young kids in the backseat. I felt so sorry for them, you could immeadietly tell they were very poor. The poor lady looked pretty worn out too.
Anyways, she came in to pay for her gas upfront and handed the cashier a whopping $2.00, I knew she was hurting and it also looked like she wasn't eating very well. The clerk felt bad for the woman too because she knew like me that $2.00 worth of gas in that huge, old station wagon wouldn't last her for but a few miles.
I asked the clerk to set her pump for $40.00, the lady looked at me stunned and thanked me over and over, I told her she was more than welcome and to have a good day as I headed back to work.
Geesh, I thought about her/them for days afterwards and wondered if they were ok, if they actually had some place to stay/eat or if they were living out of the station wagon etc.
You see, I (we) were in a similar situation when I was a kid. At that time there were 5 of us kids plus my struggling mother and we had to live out of the car for a couple of months sleeping at roadside parks or the city park when we first arrived in New Mexico. My Mother worked her butt off at Levi Strauss during the day while we kids were in school then we would all meet back at the city park at the end of the day for baloney sandwiches for dinner.
Anyways, a very nice Police Sargeant got wind of our situation and contacted a real estate place in town and they found an inexpensive home for us to move into, once the story hit the newspaper, food, household goods and some money donations came in. I'll NEVER forget that Sargeant and all of the generous strangers who helped us out at a very dire time in our lives.
It was so nice being able to sleep in beds once again instead of the car floorboards and trunk (opened of course). Anyways, I'm especially sensitive to people like that who are trying their best to keep things together but just need a helping hand to get them over the hump a little easier.

the youth director wrote:

<quoted text>
We thought about remaining anonymous. We really did. But in the end, we want to be known as a church that desperately tries to be the church. We want to be known as a church that doesn't just believe in going to church, but believes in being the church. And so we felt it was important to let people know who we are... not in an attempt to grab 15 seconds in the spotlight, but rather just to say to our neighbors and our community that hey, we love you. We plan on continuing to love you... for no reason other than that we share life here together. Hopefully others find that refreshing and may want to join us in that.

CCC wrote:

"We thought about remaining anonymous. We really did. But in the end, we want to be known as a church that desperately tries to be the church. We want to be known as a church that doesn't just believe in going to church, but believes in being the church. And so we felt it was important to let people know who we are." You would have been found by your behavior, not your bragging about your behavior. TRUE charity is anonymous...even the bible says that...

cristin wrote:

I doubt that gasoline and fast food make a difference in any positive way. These youths should have taken the idea of paying it forward and applied it to something positive in society.

Scott wrote:

<quoted text>
"Anyone who has heard the news on Britney Spears or Linsey Lohan could argue with you on that one."
Forgive me for saying this, but I have zero sympathy for people like them or the wealthy in general, unlike the unfortunate people those people have all the money/priviledge to be able to afford the best help/care available in the world to make their situations better.

Scott wrote:

"We gave the guy a 20 dollar bill that was working there and told him the next person to come through there that orders pizza, just put that towards their bill, and reaction was just... what?,"
That's exactly what my response was/is...I think it was nice of them to help people pay for their gas, medication, groceries etc. But c'mon, wasting that $20.00 to help pay for someones pizza order??? If they can afford to order Pizza out then I don't think they are hurting toooo much money wise, at least I know the only time I order Pizza is when all the other bills are paid and I have some extra "spending money" to enjoy.
BUT, it's their money, just glad they don't work for the welfare office and hand out taxpayer funds so people can order pizza.

jeepie wrote:

<quoted text> You are a nitpicker! You should be happy for what they did. Not critical. Nice to see a story of a good thing instead of the evil stuff for a change! GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!

cristin wrote:

I doubt that gasoline and fast food make a difference in any positive way. These youths should have taken the idea of paying it forward and applied it to something positive in society.