There are a few times in my life where I have gotten myself into jams where I was a long way away from help and strangers came in and saved my ass.
Once was in Utah, when I was first putting my dog sled business together. I was basically broke and trying to avoid buying a big truck by hauling a small 8' bed Army trailer (with a big heavy plywood dog hauler that could cary 16 dogs on top, with all my gear, spare wheel, a dog sled, and dogfood) with my little Jeep.
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/268710_10150700924365252_3538095_n.jpg)
(https://th3core.com/chat/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dog-sled.com%2Fimages%2Ffull_size%2Funtie_dog_sled.gif&hash=605bcff5ce8622ba2f9ae0cc8be8b355127b5bec)
...well, as you can imagine, that jeep had studded snow tires, and a straight 6 cylinder, and a specially built receiver hitch that could handle the weight, beefy leaf springs in the rear, etc. Unfortunately, the trailer had no brakes. Which means... well, I think you get the picture:) But this is how I picked up my first 7 dogs up in Idaho; but only after getting into an accident at an icy intersection on my maiden voyage loaded with dogs, where I overshot the stop sign by 3m, because I couldn't stop the train I was driving (after I added another 400lbs of dog to my kit) and almost got us all killed, but settled for clipping another car swerving out of my way at the last fraction of the last second.
But we got home, I dropped them at new plywood houses, and readied myself for my next pickup: Aspen, Colorado, then Winter Park... hundreds of miles away, over several extremely bad mountain passes in bad weather. In other words, I could barely make it to ID, driving on the flats, now I was heading into the heart of mountains in brunt of early winter storms. I needed a bigger boat. That was a bad ass little Jeep. It had gotten me all over the North American continent, from the Southwest, to Colorado, to Florida, to the Northeast, to California, to the very tip of Western Alaska - and back again, but with no brakes on the trailer, once I fully loaded with dogs it was breaking my rear-end free, and your options were 'harder on the brakes', which caused you to jackknife, or 'floor it', which allowed you to avoid jackknifing but left you barely in control with your foot deep in the throttle, going down icy mountains.
So I went down to a used car lot in a little nearby town that specialized in used big American pickups. I had a little over $100 in my pocket. I explained to the man (an older ex-pro soccer player from South Africa, named 'Mac') who I was, what I was doing, and that I wanted to rent a truck to drive to pull my Grapes of Wrath trailer to go pick up some dogs in Colorado, and that I would return it to him tomorrow, exactly 1 day from now, unscathed. He agreed. We walked through the lot and found a late model rig that had a beefy hitch, he handed me the keys, and just gave me the truck with a full tank of gas, and told me not to worry about it and shook my hand.
Six years later, on my way out of town, thinking back over what had just happened over the course of several years, I decided to swing by his house for some reason, to let him know I had to shut down the operation, and I was taking my dogs back to PA, and found his wife distraught in the front yard of their little house. This house BTW was a unique little place. A place full of shade in what otherwise is a desert, a little oasis - like a tacky western version of a Japanese garden, built for entertaining guests, and perfectly suited to getting a beer buzz on a Sunday afternoon, after cutting the grass, and falling asleep in a hammock.
Mac was in jail and the reason his wife met me at the door that day, with such a face, was because she thought I was there to repossess the house, which was in the last few hours of the foreclosure process. Apparently after 9/11, the dot com bust, and the 2002 Olympics the 'used truck business' dried up. They got behind on bills. Eventually, in order to make ends meet, Mac basically sold a car he didn't technically own, got caught, and went to jail for fraud, I think, not theft, and everything then ground to a halt. Not being American, as well as being big whiskey drinker and smoker, and living in a Mormon town, left them a little more isolated than most in a time of need.
Anyway, there I am, loaded with 30+ dogs, leaving town for good, the guy is in jail, the wife is almost out of food, they have no more address, or phone numbers, and I don't even know their last names. Supposedly she is going to live with a relative somewhere while they wait for Mac to get released in 3 months from then. So there we are, in the middle of the street, in front the house that they loved, already falling into disrepair, with no one there to keep everything meticulously maintained.
At this point, I'm at my worst too. I'm sick, lost 15 pounds, my dogs are still sick from Russia, and literally falling over dead, and I'm about $40k in debt and vet and hospital bills, after losing 90% of my income in one night when Google ejected a network of my sites in one of the first 302 circle jerk redirect schemes. Because the dogs were sick, we won no prize money racing, and were unable to even do tours, which was always a fail safe, at least during the winter. So everything failed, including me, health-wise, and the vets were talking about my kennel being contaminated and so I decided it was time to jump ship and get my dogs out of there before I physically couldn't, as I was starting fail bloodwork and having difficulty doing things alone, without sitting down every 50 steps or so.
So I looked in my wallet and handed her my last $127, and we hugged with tears in our eyes, with me wishing I had more to give, and her being thankful for another few days worth of burn, given to her out of the blue, from a guy she met once at a BBQ they had, 6 years before. I never saw them again.
Today, I am in the process of repaying a much bigger debt to two brothers that I'll tell you about some other time, but for the record, payback isn't always a bitch:)
A very religious little old lady that I used to know would say that "If God tells you to give something to help one of his children in need, he'll always give it back to you somehow."
I very very much believe there is a circle of kindness. Sometimes you have to take from the circle. But it's not a problem if you give back to it when you are able.
Great story. I'll buy the book when your memoirs are published! :)
> that I'll tell you about some other time
Looking forward to the story about the two brothers.
I guess many of you could write a nice book at this point :)
Well, not sure about a book but I'll admit I have a private blog that only I have ever seen. It has a bunch of stories like this in it. One of my favorites was actually a letter to my little nephews about how they need to get along and help each other out, called 'The Strong Man', which I thought was a nice piece and maybe I'll post sometime, for those interested something 'off topic'. But yeah, I've 'paid things forward' and I've even 'paid in advance'; but getting to 'pay some one back' is something that feels deeply satisfying, and an opportunity to be seized with both hands.
The reality is, in an effort to figure out where 'the edge' is, I sometimes go it over in a big way. In the case of the Jeep, it had no problem with that trailer in the summer time. I beefed it up, it worked. But in the winter, on bad roads, with an additional 4 bales of straw, and several hundred pounds of 'dog', we went over that line. Let me tell you, I am one crazy SOB, and if I can figure out a way to do it, you can be sure one way or another I'm going to do it, even if it kills me in the process. And that is a fact, proven out time and time again. This time, I miscalculated - not by much, but enough - and Mac offered me a quick 'out', when I had none.
Today, I'm able to repay a much bigger debt to two guys that literally took me in and gave me a towel, showed me their food, and gave me a key to their apt... when I lost my job and my room, all in one day... and let me and my dog, Geronimo, (the dog you see in that picture, who was dying of cancer) stay with them, 4 months after moving to Florida, until I could get on my feet.
But that is another story. Let me enjoy the moment and digest it, and see how it all plays out, before I pass it on to you... but Mac and the story of the overloaded jeep is the only thing I have in my mind to compare it with, where I had f###ed up in a big way and a random person with little to give gave everything there was to give, freely, and I was given the chance to repay the debt in like kind, but nothing more. And there are like 5 million things that calibrate together so this thing resonates of fairness and balance, at least at one level. It's not a happy story; it's not a sad story. It is a celebration of neutrality, maybe, in a sea of darkness. It is the very spark of hope.
>if I can figure out a way to do it, you can be sure one way or another I'm going to do it,
Actually. That is the trait I admire the most in you. Sometimes, when I need to get something done and I have no idea how to make it happen, I think "What would Dogboy do?"
Seriously.
Awesome story Dogboy.
Those acts of kindness do have a ripple effect. I still remember being in Alaska and seeing this guy with a pin from the "People's Republic of Alaska" (Alaska flag with a red background). I said "Cool pin" and he said "Thanks" and then took it off and handed it to me. I asked if he wanted money and he just looked at my like "You're that stupid aren't you?" (remember, this was the People's Republic of Alaska pin we're talking about). But what he said was something like "I think you like it more than I do. You should have it."
It was such a small act, but it stuck with me and I've practiced it from time to time (not enough) and it always felt good. I remember one time after skiing being in the parking lot playing something on the stereo and some guy said "Wow, I love that music, what is it?" and I just pulled the disk or tape out and handed it to him. He wanted to pay me as well and I just said "Don't give me money. Just do something nice for a stranger this week."
Quote from: buckworks on October 03, 2012, 02:30:36 PM
A very religious little old lady that I used to know would say that "If God tells you to give something to help one of his children in need, he'll always give it back to you somehow."
Bucky... I was thinking of saving this for Pubcon, because it just isn't the same without a harsh smoker's rasp... But my Aunt Jackie was visiting. Now this is a woman who was a chain-smoking, ex-alcoholic, diabetic with over 300 pounds on her 5 foot 1 inch frame. She swore like a sailor, and within minutes of meeting Theresa said things like "God I pity you kids with all that shit going around today like AIDS and all that. Christ, if we'd had that when I was your age I'd be dead for sure by now" and "How do you like my new car? [a TR7] I love the way it sticks up the ass and says 'Fuck You!' if you know what I mean." (don't forget the deep, harsh smoker's rasp when you read that). She claims to have produced the first gay porno film but couldn't find a distributor so it never made it into distribution.
So we're walking down the street and a street person says "Spare change? Spare change?" She opens up her wallet and empties it. It wasn't much, but she empties it and hands him all her cash.
He says "God bless you!"
She says "Yeah, just remember, God didn't give you the fucking money. I did," and walks away.
Then she says she needs an ATM to get more cash. We go to the bank and looking over her shoulder, I see that she has $137 in her account. Total. No other accounts. She turns to me and says "My Social Security check comes in ten days. I don't need much."
She was, in her way, quite an inspiration to me. They say of many people, "She was one of a kind," but Aunt Jack really was. I think the true measure was when one of my Swiss friends met her and simply said "She's awesome, but if she lived in Switzerland, they would lock her up." When I got up at her funeral and told about her trip to Yosemite, complete with unexpurgated quotes, they were rolling in the aisles... I'll save that one for Pubcon though.
I'm in Florence ATM, but I had to check in and see what was going on...
Grnidone, I'm flattered and pleased you can look beyond the clutter:) Ergophobe, I got nothing on you as far as story telling goes - just the same story with different characters:) What a woman. I would've liked to have met her.