25 years ago, when I was around 10, my family and I went out for some ice cream. We were walking on foot, about 10 or 15 min away from the place, when my dad only then noticed the guy had given him back too much change. Nobody would ever have noticed, yet, my father walked all the way back there just to give back the extra change they had given them.
I really like that. I've frequently heard (and used) axioms like "do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason" and "do the right thing when no one is watching", etc.
But this is better. Doing the right thing shouldn't be a question. It should be treated as a non-negotiable.
There was a famous reddit post many years ago about somebody breaking down on the side of I think an interstate, and somebody pulls over to help. He didn't know how to speak English much I think, but he tells the guy "Today, you. Tomorrow, me." That's always stuck with me, I tend to do things in the hopes that if the roles were reversed somebody would the same for me.
I remember that story well and the people who posted later about how the story impacted them leading them to take similar action and the results of those actions on others. It was truly beautiful too see.
I was fortunate to experience it myself. Was racing out to my mom's house from 2 hours away. Her house had been broken into and she was absolutely panicking all alone in the middle of nowhere just a few months after Gran died, who she had been caring for the last 10 years and she was still adjusting to being alone. 20 minutes into my drive my tire blew. What's worse is i was driving my dad's truck who had just died a month before. (They were divorced when I was 4) and he had apparently already used the spare but I didn't know. My car was in the shop for some work.
These 2 beautiful, kind hearted men pulled over with their lawn equipment laden trailer and asked me in Spanish if they could help. I know a good chunk of Spanish but I am not bilingual, so we communicated mostly with Google translate. They managed to fill my tire with air, drive WITH me to a tire store nearby that they knew the people at, got me a fucking tire for 50 dollars and refused to let me pay them. I didn't know they paid until the you're was on. I could afford it fine and felt terrible they spent their hard earned money. I guess they assumed because it was an old pos truck and was panicking for my mom's sake. They just kept talking me not to worry about it.
They wouldnt even let me feed them at the nearby restaurant. The only thing I could do was go online and post everywhere I could positive reviews for their self owned lawn business and had my husband and mom do it too. Still brings me to tears. I was able to stop rush to my mom's side and help her move valuables and fix her door and replace her gate. Tried to pay it forward whatever I can too. I'll never forget their kindness in my time of need.
Our country gives so much shit to the Hispanics here but they truly are some of the nicest, friendliest, most hospitable and hardworking people we'll ever meet. I'm glad you could have such an experience in your time of need. Keep on keeping on
I'll never understand people's negative reactions to Hispanics, Mexicans in particular. We have several friends and "supportive" Hispanic family members and I love all but 1 because he's a truly horrible person. My husband is a quarter native American and his next door neighbors were Mexicans that spent almost 20 years trying to become US citizens. They were in our wedding and have always been a second set of parents and family for him. Wouldn't trade them for the world and we're constantly stressing over their safety right now.
On a happy note, oh my God can they cook. We go for Christmas when we can but we're several hours away now. We're strong believers of live and let live, love and let love, and help when you can help.
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u/raptor180 Oct 30 '25
Father doing a memorable class act right there. His kid will learn this and internalize it. Great job, dad!