What is the most "good" thing you have ever done
 

Have you ever done anything really good? If so what?

And I don't mean "did a good job of corner balancing the 911."

Along with my older brother, saved my younger brothers life after a piece of metal severed his carotid artery and jugular vein.
Older brother got a presidential commendation from President Nixon.
Younger brother continues to be a pain in my ass, and my favorite sibling.

driving down to college one winter...lady stuck on the side of the road with 2 kids in the back. her alternator crapped out on a POS grand prix. stopped, helped her out. took her to the next town (like 15 miles away)...bought her an alternator and new battery. installed them on the side of the road in the snow while she and her kids sat in my truck. she didn't have any money, so I just picked up the tab.

karma worked out....about 6 months later, I broke down right in front of an actual NASCAR team mechanic's house on the way to school. ...like broken suspension parts. they used a bobcat to drag my audi to their shop...car went on the lift, the sound of air tools was going crazy...and 30 minutes later my car was fixed. totally nuts. I drove back up the next weekend with 2 cases of beer for them.

When my best friend was dying of cancer, he wanted me to sit with him out his house & help with things he could no longer do alone. I took a lot of time off of work for that, but I can always make more money, I can't make more time with a friend in need.

Raising two wonderful children with my precious wife... That's the legacy I will leave behind that matters...

Raising my stepson.

I try and do good when I can. When I was in my early 20's, I lived near downtown Detroit. I was at a gas station one day in my truck, and a lady with 4 kids was walking along with them in tow, one in a stroller. It was like 90 degrees. Her shoes were tattered, and the kids looked miserable. She came up to me and asked me if I knew where a particular address was. It was a good 2 miles up the road we were on. She explained that she and her kids had already been walking quite a ways. I told her and the kids to hop in and put the stroller in the back. She thanked me profusely.

EDIT: I have no idea what is the 'most good' thing I have ever done.

What is the most "good" thing you have ever done
 

Many years ago when my funds were tight I was at a local fried chicken place. I was eating my meal and saw a girl that could not be much older than 16 with a boy that was 10 or 11. The boy was wanting more chicken because he was hungry. The girl said momma had not given her any money and that they just spent all her money. I just went over and asked the boy how many pieces of chicken he could eat. I paid for 8 pieces and the boy ate most of it. I asked if they could eat anymore and they were full. I never saw them again. I always assumed it was the older sister and her little brother.

I don't know if that is a "most good deed" but it is one.

Saved the life of the same kid twice about 2 years apart......first time he fell through his parents breezeway roof and cracked his skull. ...I found him laying unconcious, broke into his house to call 911....
2nd time found him laying in his breezeway again, this time unconcious from alcohol poisoning his friends dropped him there and left, parents were away for the weekend. ..... broke into his house and called 911..... again. .... he's a marine now.

Other time was when my friend Dale passed, some may remember the thread..... he asked me to watch out for his grandmother as he was all she had.....this was very difficult for me as I lived an hour away and was still dealing withdales death. ..... about a year of countless trips/stress on my end she didn't answer her phone, her body was giving up and she had a short4 days in the hospital before she passed..... her extended family "moved in" I was shunned by all but her daughter who never lifted a finger....
I got a "Thank you" from her for all I did...... seemed like enough. I was also given dales Toyota.

Risked my own life to save someone who would have likely died otherwise.

I would consider it even higher on the "good" scale if that was the end of the story, but there were a lot of witnesses so I ended up on the news, went to an awards dinner hosted by Barbara Bush, etc. which, despite everyone's best intentions, cheapened it a bit. I would of course do the same thing again and figure anyone else in the same position would too, just a coincidence of timing.

I would say raising and supporting my family.

But in the spirit of things I once sat on the side of a road with a young mother and her baby after they rolled their explorer. I found the child about ten meters away from the mother and reunited them.....the child didn't make it. :(

I once got a call from a family looking for car help, it was very cold out, drove out the 70 miles to replace the belt only to find out it was the water pump. they had no money and everything they owned was jammed into this old Taurus wagon. I took them home for the night, feed them up right and had a customer in the town closest to the car fix em up in the morning. I can remember their two kids talking about how I lived in a mansion and must be rich.....(very much not true) humbling to think about how much we take being comfortable for granted.

of course like the rest of you guys I always stop to make sure folks are OK when stranded on the highway.

While on a canoe trip in 1974 north of the boundary waters area in Mn. In Quetico park Canada. (I worked for a summer camp after dropping out of Univ.) I happened on a group of teens playing in a fast flowing stream. Two kids had lost their footing and were clinging to a rock at the top of a 30- 40 ft drop into a rocky gorge. All the teens and their chaperone/guide were panicked. I broke down a long tree branch, organized a rescue and waded out into the stream with the other kids arms linked up behind me, and my feet in a crevice in the rock. I fished the kids away from the falls one at a time and they worked their way to the shore.
Afterwards I sat a shook there for about an hour. If any of us lost our footing on the slippery bottom 15 people would have gone over the falls. We were at least 2 days from a town or hospital. No one was hurt but could have been a horrible accident.
I was about 23 at the time and have the occasional nighmare about this still.
I ended up going into teaching partly because of this experience. At the end of the summer I realized how much I liked working with kids and the owner wanted me to stay on thru the winter. He liked the way I handled myself during the above situation. I said OK but you are paying this other guy more. Boss said BUT he,s a teacher. I said I can do that too. Went to teachers college instead of staying in the bush. It is often amazing the wiggly path we follow before finding our niche.

What is the most "good" thing you have ever done
 

With nursing, I can tell you a lot of stories about saving lives and all that stuff but probably the most "good" thing I would say I did was the following because it affected their lives enough where they remembered and it was on my own time, not while I was on the job as a nurse.

I had a patient who was a lovely man. In his 30's, two kids. A little boy and a little girl. He was from New Zealand and I always teased him because I loved his accent. His wife was a lovely woman. She never left the hospital since he was admitted. He had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I was always his nurse when I was on because they try to keep consistency in nurses. Anyway, I watched him progressively get worse. His wife still never left his side. One night in particular, she came out to the nursing station around 2 am and said he could not get comfortable and could not sleep. I asked if he needed more pain medication since he already took his sleeping medication. She said no. She said it wasn't exactly pain. Because of his lymphoma, his lymph nodes were swollen. From his neck to his arms to his head, he had swollen lumps. She said the ones on his head was causing him discomfort when he laid his head on the pillow to sleep. We tried ordering him a foam pillow. Still too hard. We tried positioning his bed so maybe the pressure wouldn't be so hard. No.

It bothered me and I tried to figure something out. I asked if they ever tried a goose down pillow. It would be soft and mold with his head. She said no and said she didn't have anybody to stay with him if she left and didn't really want to leave him. I called the hospital linen and supply. No down pillows.

So when I got off in the morning, after 12 hours at the hospital and my day off, I went and bought him a goose down pillow and brought it in. I was off for two days. When I came back into work, his wife was so thankful. She said he slept for the first time throughout the night for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately, he passed away...

Fast forward two years. I was going to grad school and was working part-time in a retail store to make extra money for Christmas along with working weekends at the hospital. I hear a voice call my name. I turn around and there is his wife. I didn't even have time to say hello, she hugged me and started crying. Crying! I couldn't believe she recognized me. She told me that she will always remember what I did for him.

That is what I would say was my best "good" thing.

I know what the best "good" thing that was ever done for me by a stranger. A pelican named Red Beard organized a way for the pelicans to help me last year when I got laid off. And when Joe and Lee helped deliver presents and gift cards, it was the most amazing thing for me. it blew my mind away. :)

In 1978 at a folk music festival in West Virginia a Navy buddy and I pulled 3 people out of a burning tent (they had a charcoal fire in their tent) We saw the tent smoldering and checked to see if anyone was around, I reached in the tent and felt several feet in a sleeping bag. The tent was full of smoke and it was a pitch dark night. We pulled all 3 people out and there were no signs of life on any of them. We started CPR and yelling for help. People started to show up and finally a W.V. State Trooper was there with a radio and a EMS squad arrived. I personally got 2 of the 3 people breathing and the Trooper got the third one. I remember their first breathe and the people vomiting and spitting up for a long time as people holding flashlights and cheering as each one took a breath. A couple of nurses showed up and were clearing their airways as the people were loaded in a ambulance. The next morning we went to see if anybody had any news, Not a word only camping equipment and a burnt pup tent. I have always wondered.

Probably the goodest thing I did was just being good. The two brothers closest to me in age put my parents through hell. Both had problems with drugs and alcohol. Both got young girls pregnant at the fast food joints they managed. Both ended up moving home with their fast food babies. Both did some jail time. The stress really affected my parents.

I made a conscious decision somewhere around the age of 14 to not follow in their footsteps. My parents truly appreciated it. Gratitude wasn't my dad's thing, but the last time I visited with him before he died, he made a point of thanking me for never causing them any trouble.

I can't say I have done too many good things but I always remember this one. WE were about 16 my bud, Juan and I were walking home one summer night from screwing around and notice fire coming out from under this house. We banged on the door to try to get the owner's attention. He brought his kids and wife out after a few then called 911. We thought it would be cool to stick around and see the firemen use the big water to put out the fire. By now the flame were started to really burn into the house from underneath. The cops came and started to ask us questions. One cop pulled me away and started asking if I, or we set the fire. I said no, but he kept insisting that we did and tell the truth. Bastard kept repeating the same questions asking different ways for maybe 5 minutes. It sure seem like much longer than that at 16. I was actually scared.

In the eyes of the lord, does not shooting some SOB who was OH SO deserving a hot lead justice count as a good deed?

I resuscitated a child. Nothing will come close. I hope.

I try to do at least one good thing a day.

Amazing stories! Inspirational, I must say.
I'm racking my brain trying to find something...TBC

Educating the ignorant over at PARF. :)

I just read "Police Interrogation and American Justice" about police interrogation (duh). Asking over and over is a technique they use. The only way to counter it is to give the same answer over and over.

Here's perhaps the most humbling moment of my life:

I spent one summer in South Africa with an organization called "Teen Missions International." This organization sends nearly 50 teams of teens on short-term work projects. In South Africa, my team built up a building next to an orphanage that was way beyond full capacity. It is culturally acceptable to abandon a child by the side of the road if he or she is not healthy.

At the end of one long day of mixing cement, I was cleaning off my shovel in a barrel of water, and splashing water onto my boots. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice two tiny hands cleaning off the mortar that had caked onto my boots.

So here I am - helping build a building for this little boy, yet he who had nothing - no parents, no home, no future - was willing to serve me by washing my boots. Someone who had nothing - not even shoes - did not hesitate to help me - someone who had things he will never have in all his life. I still well up in tears thinking about what that boy did for me. Seems like a small insignificant act, but it has had a lifelong impact on me.

-Z

I learn more about ignorance on PARF than anything else.

I took in a homeless kid when I was in college. He had no money or job. He ended up being the best room dog I ever had. Always dead honest with me. Took care of my dog, babysat my daughter when I had studying stuff to do, mowed the yard, did the dishes, etc.etc.
Haven't seen or heard from him since 1993. I hope that he is still OK.

I gave a guy on the Corvette forum a set of 186 double hump heads. He was trying to do a budget motor build.

I provided covering fire and secured a pair of defectors on the former inter-German border in the mid 80s.

After reading the above, none of this seems like ****. Some of these stories read like stuff I used to see in Boy's Life.

I'm a real punk...

Some very inspiring stories........

I had some interesting experiences in my life, that involved preserving a life or two however I can't say this constituted me doing "good". In truth I just reacted out of concern for the situation.

For me the measure of doing something "good" would have to involve a personal conscious choice and some measure of risk or sacrifice on my part.

My financial circumstances have allowed a measure of charity over the years. Even now, I view this as giving some back. or "paying it forward" as it is sometimes termed.

Anyway, some very interesting stories......... I did NOT expect this thread to go that way.

To me this is kind of a philosophical question. I suppose doing a "good" thing must be a genuinely altruistic deed. Problem is how to define that. In most altruistic behavior an egoistic motive can be sensed - although perhaps not deliberately.
Personally I would not mention my line of work, although some Think I do good things. Its just Another job and I get paid.
No, what comes to mind is a dark period in one of my Brothers Life. He was deeply depressed and clearly suicidal. I spent most nights at his Place for several weeks, keeping him Company and guarding his thoughts and actions. It was awful but Little by Little he came back to Life.

not gonna let you of that easy Markus..
told you long ago...
not every time or always..
but many a parent is laughing & hugging their little one's..
because you did 'good'..

Rika

That reminds me, back in college this kind of ragged, nerdy kid was helping me with physics work. After working with him a while it came out that he was barely scraping up enough money for tuition and couldn't afford clothes and books. He was getting better grades in physics than I was and didn't even have the book! I "loaned" him mine and went out and bought myself another one.

And you Rika, just can´t hide your own goodness. It shines through your posts. :)

Well, many folks did some real good for me back in May, '11.
Quad by-pass!
I felt absolutely taken care of by those I remember - excluding OR nurses (unconscious at the time).
I send a 'thank you' Christmas card each year to the surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Ashton, who told me, "I'm just a high-paid seamstress."
Thank God! for medical people everywhere...genuine 'do-gooders' in this life.

SmileWavy

Well done guys. You have done some great things and made big differences to other peoples lives.



I've been house painting recently and my mind wanders thinking about interesting things from the past.

I remembered when I was about 15 one evening my mom had a rip roaring party at the beach house so young GF and I sat in the sand dunes looking out to sea. A boy about 10 was walking along a sand bar 50 meters out to sea and tried to wade through the channel where there was a very fast rip. He started heading out to sea fast so I ran down the beach and jumped in the same rip and got him at about 200 meters out. By that stage his head or hand was only occasionally popping out of the water and in a few moments he wasn't going to come back up again. I grabbed him thinking I hope the little guy doesn't drown me and told him to lie on his back. He had done life saving in the school pool so he knew what to do and lay there "star jump" style why I swam him back in.

I feel good about this. If I feel I haven't done something right in life, I bet that this guy probably has. And wouldn't be around to have done those things if it wasn't for me.

The funny thing is he didn't think to say thanks he was just happy to be back on shore with is buddy. And my mom and friends just laughed at me saying I owed the little boy $20 for faking it so i could impress the young GF.

After the first few minutes, I was scared sihtless. I was 16 or maybe 15 at the time. The cop threatened me with throwing me in the slammer because I would not cooperate with the police, and that I (we)set the fire. The punishment would be the same, long jail time with inmate that will kill little kids like me in jail. He even had his handcuffs out in his hand telling me that my hands belong in there. I asked him to speak to the owner but the cop wouldn't let me near him. This guy was a real piece of work and I know what he was trying to do. Hey I did learn something by watching TV.

I pay attention, try to help when I can in person and volunteer a lot of hours in the first world. Lot's of little helping where I think appropriate.

In the Navy, I volunteered to rebuild, paint, contribute in person to orphanages and other places in the Philippines, Bahrain, India and Thailand to name a few. I was there so I thought I would help.

But honestly, I can say that my heart wasn't big enough, or I wasn't. The sheer scale of need terrified me, still does.

It was like a trip to the dog pound every day: who to pick, who to rescue.

I never stopped going when I served, but I won't again. Can't. I still dream about big, young eyes, searching me for an answer I couldn't give.

I write checks and admire the genuine hero's like Speeders brother who can look disaster and helplessness in the eye and move forward in the maelstrom, be there and make a difference.

Give to those who know how to help beyond the first world. Sorry for the diversion.

Life can humble a person. A very good friend has fought severe depression for a number of years. We talk regularly. She is still alive.

I saved a life or two. Can't really remember. It is not always that big of a deal in the grand scheme.

Some folks will call this the goodest thing I have done. It isn't It is however the most humanizing thing I have ever done. I adopted my daughter at birth. The birthmom handed my daughter to my wife at age 10 minutes. My wife gave my daughter her first bottle. I changed my first diaper that night.

This humbles me. My daughter is a gift of infinite magnatude. I didn't "do" anything but I have been a part of this. It is good. Today, she delivered the closing argument for her mock trial. They won.

Happy day.

Larry