The Good Samaritan Thread

I agree with ondoho, so called random/spontaneous (being a genuinely good person) acts are generally more sincere then "prepared acts".

Taoism and Zen have a very old "rule" regarding kindness: It's only a good deed if it is a Win/Win for all parties involved, if anyone is harmed then it is not a good deed. At first this does not sound too different, however, it rules out so called Martyrdom and self sacrifice as being a good deed, the Taoist Classics (Pao Piao Tzu) actually call that (using modern terms) pure Narcissism. Also, if your supposed good deed actually harms the receiver (encourages them to be dependent etc...) then its a bad deed, doing good deeds so that you are rewarded (going to heaven etc...) is also viewed as a bad deed.

Loved the movie "Pay it Forward"!

Does it hurt, to be kind to others......

......of course not.

Fatmac, that was a very good koan. Bravo.

I went for a drive yesterday t show off my new UNIX-like license plates and decided to go back home to get a pair of Pioneer speakers I've had sitting in the closet for years.

When I got into the building I checked my mail and stood there talking to a guy who lived there a minute or two and a couple young guys came in behind me. I got onto the elevator as one was checking his mail and his friend was on the phone. If I had pushed the button the door would have closed right about the time they would have turned around to get on the elevator so I held the door for them.

The guy on the phone sounded like he made a drug deal by what he said to his friend when he ended the call and when I looked over at him his friend started to slump over on him and was having a petite mall seizure.

I worked with people who had grand mall seizures where they went into the cross position and their face turned blue so this was nothing to me. His friend was calm but looked like he didn't know what was happening. I asked if he needed some help and put my arm under his other to help hold him up.

It went past both our floors and lasted about a minute. When he started to come out of it I told him he was alright and we had him. I helped walk him to his apartment and to his bedroom, asked the other guy if he had it and went on my way. I got my speakers and saw them both leave 15 minutes later when I was trying to get them installed.

It was nothing to me and just another day at the office, but if I hadn't decided out of the blue to come back home, or held the elevator door open for him, I wouldn't have been there to help. And Lord help him if he fell out in the lobby.

So, yes, it does pay to be kind to people.

Texas Firefighter Helps Elderly Woman
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/18/us/te...ly-woman-trnd/

This is a related nice link:

https://www.wikihow.com/Give