Stories of Kindness from Around the World

When I lived in Portland, I lived pretty much hand to mouth.  I had injured my knee and couldn't work and my tiny early retirement check paid rent only.  I was on food stamps so I could eat, and getting around on crutches made bus travel challenging.  But it was my only recourse as my car had so many repairs needed, I couldn't afford to have it fixed.

Curiously, I would find money all the time, so I started a FOUND MONEY jar.  It was the biggest jar I could find (a Mason quart jar), because I was always finding coins on the street or in theaters or in seats.  When I would come home with coins I had found, in they would go.  One time I found a $5 bill in my garden by my apartment.  It was the biggest bill I ever found, and it lived in the jar as the reigning queen of the money I'd found.

One day as I was waiting for the bus to take me from Lloyd Center to home, a young high school age girl was fishing through her backpack, obviously looking for enough change to ride the bus.  It was a VERY brisk Fall afternoon, too cool to really walk very far.  "How much are you short?" I asked her, and startled, she looked up at me, counted her coins, and said, "17 cents."  I got 17 cents from my wallet and gave it to her, saying, "I find money on the streets all the time; consider this "found money" not money from me."  She smiled, and thanked me, and I thought nothing more about it.

After returning to my apartment, I realized I had a doctor's appointment at 4pm across town!  I quickly changed clothes, hobbled to the transit center, where I caught the bus to go from the Laurelhurst district to Hillsboro.  I bought a 2 zone pass, thinking that would be all I would need.  I rode the bus, enjoying the beautiful scenery as we went across the bridge to the west side of Portland.  At a stop, the bus driver said, "this is the end of zone 2; if you wish to continue, you need to buy another ticket."  Not a problem, I thought.  I fished into my wallet and realized I only had a $10 bill... and the buses do not give change.  I couldn't afford to spend $10 for a 50 cent upgrade, so I asked the 3 remaining people on the bus if anyone had any 1s I could swap a $10 for.  No one did.  But a young college student on her way home asked me how much I was short.  "50 cents," I told her.  She fished around in her bag and came up with 2 quarters.  I thanked her profusely and offered to send it to her if she would give me her address.  "No problem," she said. 

It was an incident of almost instant karma... and one I have never forgotten.

Incidentally, when I left Portland 4 years later to go to Phoenix to care for my elderly parents, I had only an inch to go in the quart jar to reach the top.  I filled endless rolls of coins, and cashed it in at the bank.  I gave it to a young friend who was having a difficult time, and told her it wasn't my money; it was a gift from the Universe.  It had gifted me $50.17.