Stories of Kindness from Around the World

I work in a restaraunt that has a program working with ex con's and the homeless. There is a guy who started working with us as a dishtanker and he told me his story one day.

He lived in Florida, (we're in Ohio now) and he received information that he owed child support on a 6 year old boy. Well this was news to his ears because he didn't even know he had a kid! He came to Ohio to to clear this matter up and took a DNA test that determined that the kid was his. He was PROMPTLY put in jail for owing over $19,000 in back child support. He stayed in jail for 9 months and when he was released he was homeless, jobless.

Instead of giving up on his kid and going back to Florida where he had plenty of family and help, he stayed in Ohio and used assistance from the Government to get into a program at the YMCA. He got a job at my restaraunt and 3 weeks after getting his job, he mets his son for the first time. So I asked him, "What's it like living at the YMCA and knowing you have a boy out there?"

He said he stayed in Ohio because he couldn't bare to leave a piece of himself here undiscovered. He liked living at the Y because they were helping him have a relationship with the boy. The only thing he didn't like was that he didn't have a T.V. or a microwave.   So, I got on Freecycle and I found him a T.V. and a microwave. My friend, Chuck, gave me a ride to pick up the microwave, and a nice Chinese lady dropped the T.V. off at my house. I took them to work and made this guy's day. (Eric, is his name BTW and he was grateful)

A month later I got called into the office at work the other day. My general manager and an assistant were sitting there wanting to have a "talk" with me. Of course I was nervous, as you have to have two people present to get fired, and I was thinking, "What could I have done wrong?"

The general manager, Steve, went into his speech. "Melanie, there was an incident that occured here around December that involved you. Can you think of what I'm talking about?" I was thinking, and shaking my head, No? And Steve said, "Well it involved you getting a microwave and a T.V. for Eric, do you recall that?" I said, "Yes?"

Steve said, "Once a month we pick an employee who has gone above and beyond to help out a fellow employee or customer. We put their names in a pool and write up reason's why we think this person is deserving. I picked you, because I just thought it was so awesome that you thought of helping someone out just for the sake of being helpful! The General Managers vote on the person they think is most deserving, and you won!"

At this point I was about to faint because I thought I was getting fired and Steve presented me with a name tag, with MY name especially made just for me!! You may ask, "Why is she so exicted that she got a name tag for giving someone a T.V. and a microwave?" My answer? Because it felt good to help someone in need and in the end no matter WHAT the recognition, the point is I was recognized! My good deed produced another one! Good Deeds are contagious!