Bruce

 

I was pretty discouraged late this morning with the less-than-positive comments....wishing that I had never started this thread 12 hours before. I'm glad to see.....8-10 hours later....that a number of folks have understood my original idea.

I only have two close and special 'communities' in my life. One is this Mens Group....a very strong mutual support thing. The other one is the Vintage S2000 Forum and this group of strong individuals.

 

I am surprised by the responses here as well. Especially from people that I thought were quite liberal in their thinking?

 

Interesting thread.

I too have been very surprised by the amount of suspicion and question of the original intent held by the OP's friend(s).

If you "disagree" with someone telling you how to spend the money, can you at least see that there is a good intent and purpose behind his actions?

The concept behind "paying things forward" is that the end result would be measured not in monetary value, but in social change. The purpose was to get people to rethink being kind to each other, and I'm surprised that many of you feel differently.

It's not about the $500 his friend handed out. He could have just donated it anonymously to a homeless shelter, and it would help people. But giving it to others to spread around really helps to encourage (so I thought) others to be generous as well. The money still ends up helping people, only it passes through more hands along the way.

To those who would return the money, would you honestly have spent $50 to help someone this past week anyway? Whether or not it's your money, the fact that you're doing something to help others, his actions have already affected positive change.

to the concept and to those naive enough to believe that small actions can change the world.

 

This comment is the biggest joke of all. Now it becomes a question of whether those who question the motives are charitable. Quite frankly, its none of your business, but asided from that, nobody was questioning the charitable giving, only the motives.

[QUOTE]I am surprised by the responses here as well. Especially from people that I thought were quite liberal in their thinking?

 

All I can say is that, when I read the first post, I had an immediate negative reaction. Perhaps I should have thought more about the context (Jerry's Men's Group), which probably is a noble one. However, the reporting back part (the method, as Rob put it) still troubles me. Jack told everyone they had a choice about what to do with the money, including keeping it. But did they really?

What do you think would happen if someone chose to keep it and reported that back to the group? Jack was imposing his own (and the Pay It Forward concept) on the rest of the group members, in effect putting them on the spot to do something "good" with the $50. This is the same thing Oprah did on her show, except with $1000. It did not go over well with quite a few members of her audience. You can criticize me all you want for my thinking, but it appears I'm not alone.

I suspect Jerry had no idea this thread would cause so much controversy (contrary to his usual postings - ), and for that I am sorry. As I said above, all of us are charitable in our own way. What that way is, however, makes a difference to many.

 

I agree with Carmen. I frankly don't understand what the big deal is. While I didn't care too much for the having to report back what you did with it, I don't think that the act had any hidden agenda. My guess is that the thought was that some nice stories could be shared by the group.

To me this was a simple case of trying to do some good for others and letting his friends participate and help others.

Maybe I'm too trusting and try to see the good in most peoples deeds, but I can't see any other motives in this kind jesture.

If I had any reservations at all I would take the money and just give it to the church or a Salvation Army bucket and be done with it.

This reminds me of a man who would go to one of the local restaurants and pay peoples bills. When you would ask for the check the wait person would say that the gentleman has paid the check and in return asks that you extend kindness (did not ask you to spend money) to others.

 

[QUOTE=ralper,Dec 11 2006, 09:49 AM]

 

Trust me, Deb.....the folks in this group will have no compunction about refusing to 'report back' next Saturday

I'm already fairly sure that's what Art (one of the lawyers) will do. He's the tongue-in-cheek type who would love this little guy==>

 

Wellllll, I would have no problem giving away a gift of cash to whatever charity I felt a for and I'd have no problem telling the benefactor what I did with it and I'd embellish telling him what I did with it by telling him why I did it. I've always felt a true compassion for those less fortunate than me and I've always felt that giving is an important part of my service to mankind. Frankly, I have no reason to care what any of you do with your money, how much or how little money you have and you won't find me knocking on your door asking how much you pay for something, how much you make, what you've got in your portfolio or any other such personal questions. I feel that Jerry's post was innocent and that he had no agenda. He was simply curious about what you'd do with $50 that someone gave you to do what you want to do with it. Particularly at this time of year when we're all talking about what we're going to give to various people and what we're buying for this person or that, I don't see anything to get all worked up about or feel any sense of negativity. I commend your friend, Jerry, for passing the $$ around, whether someone goes out and gets himself a gift with it or gives it to some needy charity.
I'm extremely disappointed to see jabs being poked around as well. Get over yourself, people. This is a great group of people and we need to always look at the good points we all have instead of trying to seek out opportunities to poke jabs at one another.