bigfish1965 Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I'm kinda bushed after clearing all that damn snow. I started with my driveway then thought, well you know I should to the sidewalk down to the corner cause the seniors from the seniors center like to go to Sobeys Mondays. So I plug along (yes even with a big blower it is work...push, get stuck, push again). I see a guy a few houses down trying to dig out from 3 foot drifts so i set up the drift cutters and make quick work of his driveway. He stops me half way through and asks if he knows me. I said no. He stares at me till I am done then asks my name. I said.."It doesn't matter, Have a Merry Christmas." He offers to pay me..I asked him to pay it forward. I though everyone had seen the movie (Pay it Forward..awesome flick), but I guess not. I told him he owes two strangers favours next time he sees them struggling with something..maybe a door or a stranded motorist. When you help them you tell them the same thing. They owe two strangers a favour. Eventually we all help one another and its like Christmas all year. I felt so good about that i did the old widow lady next doors driveway (who hates me and calls the cops about my dogs a few times a year even though they have twice scared off intruders).She kept peering out the window at me...i was chuckling the whole time..she must have really been wondering what was going on. Of course I got to my driveway and ran out of gas. The guy from down the street musta heard my blower sputtering and brought over a can of gasoline from his garage. He filled up my tank and said...'No worries, this one doesn't count'. Sometimes it takes a storm to bring people together, sometimes its just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douG Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Very nice, Rick. That's the real reason why we are here, after all. You said it very well. God Bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuro Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Nice report-thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 You're a good guy Rick!!! ... I don't care what Roy says about you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I'm kinda bushed after clearing all that damn snow. I started with my driveway then thought, well you know I should to the sidewalk down to the corner cause the seniors from the seniors center like to go to Sobeys Mondays. So I plug along (yes even with a big blower it is work...push, get stuck, push again).I see a guy a few houses down trying to dig out from 3 foot drifts so i set up the drift cutters and make quick work of his driveway. He stops me half way through and asks if he knows me. I said no. He stares at me till I am done then asks my name. I said.."It doesn't matter, Have a Merry Christmas." He offers to pay me..I asked him to pay it forward. I though everyone had seen the movie (Pay it Forward..awesome flick), but I guess not. I told him he owes two strangers favours next time he sees them struggling with something..maybe a door or a stranded motorist. When you help them you tell them the same thing. They owe two strangers a favour. Eventually we all help one another and its like Christmas all year. I felt so good about that i did the old widow lady next doors driveway (who hates me and calls the cops about my dogs a few times a year even though they have twice scared off intruders).She kept peering out the window at me...i was chuckling the whole time..she must have really been wondering what was going on. Of course I got to my driveway and ran out of gas. The guy from down the street musta heard my blower sputtering and brought over a can of gasoline from his garage. He filled up my tank and said...'No worries, this one doesn't count'. Sometimes it takes a storm to bring people together, sometimes its just an idea. Rick, Awesome account... I have a grouchy neighbour as well that swears by doing everything by hand.. he has called the cops about my lawn mower and snow blower.Did you know noise bylaws start before 11pm?? in fact anyone can call any time of the day... as long as your disturbing their peace..that was until today... in spite of the me putting up with his 6 yes 6 years of his Bull... I still did his driveway.. and I did it with a smile.. not to be mean spirited but because his wife told me about his prostate cancer.... he is a proud fella and everything he does is manual... Unfortunately I know he is not well.. but he is too proud to say so.. I hear it from his wife... Even though he did not thank me.. the thumbs up I got from his wife who was sitting living room window was enough.. and I agree... Pay it forward... PS... I owe a couple of favours.. after a neighbour fixed my carb tonight... G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFinder Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Your a better person than I am Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Good on you Rick!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 What goes around comes around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Rick way to go. I truly beleive in Pay It Forward and the world would be a better place by far. If we did it in our community imagine how good it could be. Congrats on doing the right thing you are a good person and it will be paid forward. Blake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silveradosheriff Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Sometimes it takes a storm to bring people together, sometimes its just an idea. Yup - met a new neighbour a few houses down by blowing out the end of his driveway yesterday. Happens to be an angler as well. His family moved up from Burlington and Bob Izumi was his neighbour. Must be karma... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Thorpe Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Looks like you made yourself a good day yesterday Good on ya Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huey graphite Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Rick, Awesome account... I have a grouchy neighbour as well that swears by doing everything by hand.. he has called the cops about my lawn mower and snow blower.Did you know noise bylaws start before 11pm?? in fact anyone can call any time of the day... as long as your disturbing their peace..that was until today... in spite of the me putting up with his 6 yes 6 years of his Bull... I still did his driveway.. and I did it with a smile.. not to be mean spirited but because his wife told me about his prostate cancer.... he is a proud fella and everything he does is manual... Unfortunately I know he is not well.. but he is too proud to say so.. I hear it from his wife... Even though he did not thank me.. the thumbs up I got from his wife who was sitting living room window was enough.. and I agree... Pay it forward... PS... I owe a couple of favours.. after a neighbour fixed my carb tonight... G Nice stories to read first thing Monday morning. Very kind gestures from both of you. Let's hope your neighbours take the advice and pay it forward as you said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 WTG folks.....very nice gestures. I shovelled the driveway this morning so that J wouldn't have to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallyboss Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 (edited) Sometimes it takes a storm to bring people together, sometimes its just an idea. We all saw that in Eastern Ontario the year of the Ice Storm. It is the 10th year anniversary of that storm this coming January. I also helped out neighbours with my snowblower yesterday, felt good to say "No thanks , Have a Merry Xmas" when they offered money. I just hope that somebody returns my mailbox if they find it, seems to have disapeared after the snowplow went by. Hope my Visa bill wasn't in there Good For you Rick. Edited December 17, 2007 by wallyboss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJQ Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Nice job rick... im on my way out to get the shovels out for Monique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Good on ya Rick Joey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beans Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I shovelled the driveway this morning so that J wouldn't have to do it. You're all heart Roy... I showed Maribeth how to operate the new snow thrower yesterday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 (edited) Sometimes it takes a storm to bring people together, sometimes its just an idea. So true...the driveway that my neighbour and I share is pretty wide, probably 3 cars wide, but I just can't imagine only shovelling down the 'property line' which would just be a single car width on my side, leaving the other double width worth of snow there. It's just so akward to not shovel the whole thing, expecially since I am fairly young and she is elderly, and I could use the exercise... While I was just finishing up another neighbour came over to thank me for helping the elderly lady, he had a snowblower and finished off the walkway up to her front door which was great because I was pretty exhausted. When I woke up this morning, my wife said that the street plow mess at the bottom of the driveway was already cleared out! must have been the neighbour with the snowblower I only wish that people could be more like this ALL the time, but I guess to get there we all need to start with ourselves Tony Edited December 17, 2007 by tonyb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Good on you Rick! I have a neighbour who bought a new snowblower a few years back and he LOVES it when big snow comes. He was out at 8am yesterday and cleared snow until about 5pm. I talked to him afterwords and he did 11 driveways....some more than once and even part of the road so that when the plows came through we didn't have anything to shovel. He didn't ask for a cent....we invited him in for coffee and Christmas cookies afterwards...that's all he really wants is food.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Similar experience yesterday... haven't really seen my new neighbours much since the weather turned cold... got out early to tackle the mess, by hand and shovel... neighbours started coming out, shovels in hand and we, about 10 of us, cleared up all of our other neighbours walkways and driveways. We have a number of older folks around us and it did feel good to give them a hand... the first timeLOL... did have to tackle them again a couple of times, but everyone was clear by the time the snow stopped. It's a great feeling of community that draws folks together at times like these. Pay it forward! HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Chong Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Absolutely awesome! It's unfortunate that it's the exception rather than the rule but you have to start somewhere! Good on you, Rick! Cheers & Happy Holiday, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT10Sam Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Good on you Rick.........on another note I spent quite some time with the snowblower this morning in our driveway and all I could think of was the snow that i will be removing once I get to the store. When I arrived the front walk was already cleared by one of our customers that comes in to chat in the mornings. I was relieved to see it done and could not thank him enough. Kind of funny I must be getting older when the snow removal starts to bother me and having fallen 3 times in the past week and a half has not helped any. Regards, Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinker Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 I only wish that people could be more like this ALL the time, but I guess to get there we all need to start with ourselves This whole post was a great read, but this one sentence says it all!! So true!! Sinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennesseeGuy Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 What Rick did is pretty much the norm in my city of 28,000. I'm sure it goes on in many other locations. Seeing it in action is great. Nice touch Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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