Interesting Anecdotes

[NOV]

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

The older lady said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on to explain:
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.

Back then we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.
Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a r azor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the"green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.

We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

[NOV]

Imagine for a moment what it would be like if no one showed up for your son’s 6th birthday.

He’s all excited, asking where everyone is.
And NO ONE, not one person, showed up.

That’s what happened to the family of this little boy in Osceola, Florida.

But don’t worry there is a great ending to this story.
Lets just say a lot of strangers, including firefighters and sheriff’s deputies all came and saved the day.
(And believe me, reading this story is going to make your Sunday)

I’ll explain these pictures in a moment.
But first the back story.

Glenn Buratti has epilepsy and a mild form of autism.
He recently turned 6.

But none of his classmates showed up for the party his family had planned.
His mother Asbhlee said:
“From the minute he woke up that day he wanted to know how many minutes until his friends came.
None of the kids’ parents RSVP’d, but I was still holding on to the hope that some of them would show up.
It never crossed my mind that it would be zero.”

She says her son started crying when she finally had to tell him that no one was coming.
She says:
“He’s really sensitive.”

Ashlee was really frustrated, so she went on a community Facebook page to vent.
She said:
“I know this might be something silly to rant about, but my heart is breaking for my son.
We invited his whole class (16 kids) over for his 6th birthday party today.
Not one kid came.”

But what happened next is one of those things that just helps restore your faith in people.

Instantly complete strangers started responding.

Ashlee says:
“One lady brought him a brand new bike.
One guy brought his camera and spent most his time snapping pictures of our family, which he gave to us.
It was just amazing.
The people who came out were so awesome.”

And then the Sheriff’s department and the Fire department heard about it.
And that’s where these pictures come in.
They let him sit in the drivers seat of a fire truck.
They brought presents for him to open.
And they let him sit on a police motorcycle.

Glenn’s father Jack was so touched he wrote this thank you on his Facebook page:
"Huge thank you to Osceola County Sheriff's Department, Osceola County Fire Rescue and Frank who owns Koffee Kup for coming to our house today for my son Glenn's Birthday.
He had such a great time!
Such an amazing thing for our local law enforcement and firefighters to do for us. Thank you to everyone involved."

I have no idea why NO ONE in Glenn’s class wanted to come to his party.

I’m sure they all had their reasons.
I'm sure they can all justify it.
But I sure wonder what they feel like now.

Happy Birthday Glenn.

Story courtesy of Charlie Reed/Osceola News-Gazette

[NOV]

My boss drove a luxury car everyday and it was my duty to greet him and to open the gates for him, as I worked as a watchman in his villa. But he never responded back to my greetings.

One day he saw me opening the garbage bags outside the villa in search for any left over food. But, as usual he never even looked at me, it was like as if he never saw anything!

The very next day I saw a paper bag at the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered well. It was fresh and good food like someone had just brought it from the supermarket. I didn't bother as to where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was so happy about it.

Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed for home. This became my daily routine. I was eating and sharing this food with my wife and kids.
I was wondering who this fool could be?! To forget his paper bag full of fresh food everyday.

One day there was a big problem in the villa and I was told that my boss has died. There were too many guests coming to the villa that day and I didn't get any food that day, so I thought that one of the guests must have taken it. But the same thing happened the 2nd day, the 3rd day and the 4th day.

It went on like this for a few weeks and I found it difficult to provide food for my family, so I decided to ask the wife of my boss for a raise in my salary or else I would quit my job as a watchman.

After I told her, she was shocked, and asked me, how come u never complained about your salary for the last 2 years? And why is this salary not enough for you now?!

I gave her so many excuses but she was never convinced! Finally in the end, I decided to tell her the truth, I told her the entire story of the bag of groceries, and as to how it was my daily provision.. She then asked me as to when this stopped? I told her after the death of her husband. And then I realised that I stopped seeing the paper bag immediately after the death of my boss.

Why didn't I ever think of this before? That it was my boss who was providing this for me? I guess it was because I never thought that a person who never replied to my greetings could ever be this generous!

His wife started to cry and I told her to please stop crying and that I'm really sorry that I asked for a raise, I didn't know that it was your husband who was providing me with the meals, il remain as a watchman and be happy to provide my service.

His wife told me, I'm crying because I've finally found the 7th person my husband was giving this bag full of food. I knew my husband was giving 7 people everyday, I had already found the 6 people, and all these days I was searching for the 7th person. And today I found out.

From that day onwards, I started to receive the bag full of food again, but this time his son was bringing it to my house and giving it to my hand. But whenever I thanked him, he never replied! Just like his dad!

One day, I told him THANK YOU in a very loud voice! He replied back to me to please not be offended when he doesn't reply, because he has a hearing problem, just like his dad!

Oh May God forgive us all, for we have all, as humans, judged another person without knowing the real story behind their actions.. May God forgive us all and guide us towards the right path in life.

[NOV]

[NOV]

Germany is a highly industrialized country. In such a country, many will think it’s people lead a luxurious life.

When we arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.

As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us. When we left, there was still about one third of un-consumed food on the table.

When we were leaving the restaurant, the old ladies spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food.

"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague told the old ladies.

The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform from Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet.

The officer told us in a stern voice, "Order what you can consume, money is yours but resources belong to the society. There are many others in the world who are facing shortage of resources. You have no reason to waste resources."

The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. We really need to reflect on this. We are from country which is very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat.

[aanaa]

.......

money is yours but resources belong to the society.

[NOV]

A Boy proposed his Girl-friend for Marriage…

Girl: Tell me..; who do you love most in this world..?
Boy: You, of course!
Girl: what am I to you?
Boy: The boy thought for a moment and looked intently in her eyes and said
“You are missing part of my heart”.

She smiled, and she accepted his proposal.
After their wedding, the couple had a sweet and happy life for a while. However, the youthful couple began to drift apart due to the busy schedule of life and the never-ending worries of daily problems, their life became difficult.

All the challenges posed by the harsh realities of life began to drift away deir dreams and love for each other. The couple began to have more quarrels and each quarrel became make their relation more worst.

One day, after the quarrel, the girl ran out of the house.
At the opposite side of the road, she shouted,
”You don’t love me…!!!”

The boy hated her childishness and out of impulse, said,
“May be, it was a mistake for us to be together..!!!”

You were never the missing part of my ____!!!”
Suddenly, she turned quiet and stood there for a long, while She regretted what he said but words spoken cant be taken back. With tears in her eyes, she went home to pack her things and Before leaving the house, she left a note for him..;

“If I’m really not the missing part of your love, let me go and search for some one who is..…
It is less painful this way… let us go on our separate ways and search for our own partners…!!”

Five years went by….
He never remarried but he had tried to find out about her life indirectly. She had left the country and was living her dreams.
He use to regret on what he did but never tried to bring her back. In the dark and lonely night, he lit his cigarette and felt the lingering ache in his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was missing her.

One day, they finally met, At the airport, He was going away on a business trip. He saw her, She was standing there alone, with just the security door separating them.

She smiled at him gently.

Boy: How are you..?
Girl: I’m fine. How about you.., Have you found your heart’s missing part…?
Boy: No.
Girl: I’ll be flying to New York in the next flight.
Boy: I’ll be back in 2 weeks time. Give me a call when you are back, You know my number, Nothing has changed.
With a smile, she turned around and waved good-bye.
“Good-bye . . .”
Same evening he heard of a plane crash which was headed to New York. He tried to know about her and found that, She died.
Midnight… Once again, he lit his cigarette… And like before, he felt the lingering ache in his heart. He finally knew, she was that missing part that he had carelessly broken…!!!

“Sometimes, people say things out of moments of fury.

We take out our 99% frustrations at our loved ones, And even though we know that we ought to”think twice and act wisely”, we actually don’t do it. Things happen each day, many of which are beyond our control.”
Try not to hurt your loved once, because a moment of anger could be a lifetime punishment.

[NOV]

A young man went to seek an important position at a large printing company. He passed the initial interview and was going to meet the director for the final interview. The director saw his resume, it was excellent. And asked, '
- Have you received a scholarship for school?' The boy replied, " No '.
-' It was your father who paid for your studies? '
-' Yes.'- He replied.
-' Where does your father work? '
-' My father is a Blacksmith'
The Director asked the young to show him his hands.
The young man showed a pair of hands soft and perfect.
-' Have you ever helped your parents at their job? '
-' Never, my parents always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides, he can do the job better than me.
The director said:
-' I have got a request: When you go home today, go and wash the hands of your father and then come see me tomorrow morning.'

The young felt his chance to get the job was high.
When he returned to his house he asked his father if he would allow him to wash their hands.
His father felt strange, happy, but with mixed feelings and showed their hands to his son. The young washed his hands, little by little. It was the first time that he noticed his father's hands were wrinkled and they had so many scars. Some bruises were so painful that his skin shuddered when he touched them.
This was the first time that the young man recognized what it meant for this pair of hands to work every day to be able to pay for his study. The bruises on the hands were the price that he payed for their education, his school activities and his future.
After cleaning his father's hands the young man stood in silence and began to tidy and clean up the workshop. That night, father and son talked for a long time.

The next morning, the young man went to the office of the director.
The Director noticed the tears in the eyes of the young when He asked him: -' Can you tell me what you did and what you learned yesterday at your house?'
The boy replied: -' I washed my father's hands and when I finished I stayed and cleaned his workshop '
-' Now I know what it is to appreciate and recognize that without my parents , I would not be who I am today . By helping my father I now realize how difficult and hard it is to do something on my own. I have come to appreciate the importance and the value in helping the family.

The director said, "This is what I look for in my people. I want to hire someone who can appreciate the help of others , a person who knows the hardship of others to do things, and a person who does not put money as his only goal in life". ' You are hired '.

[NOV]

In 1987, a 74-year old rickshaw puller by the name of Bai Fangli came back to his hometown planning to retire from his backbreaking job. There, he saw children working in the fields, because they were too poor to afford school fees.

Bai returned to Tianjin and went back to work as a rickshaw puller, taking a modest accommodation next to the railway station. He waited for clients 24 hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he found.

He gave all of his hard-earned earnings to support children who could not afford education.

In 2001, he drove his rickshaw to Tianjin YaoHua Middle School, to deliver his last installment of money. Nearly 90 years old, he told the students that he couldn't work any more. All of the students and teachers were moved to tears.

In total, Bai had donated a total of 350,000 yuan to help more than 300 poor students continue with their studies. In 2005, Bai passed away leaving behind an inspiring legacy.

If a rickshaw-puller who wore used clothes and had no education can support 300 children to go to school, imagine what you and I can do with the resources we have to bring about positive change in our world!

[NOV]

Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw once started addressing a public meeting at Ahmedabad in English.

The crowd started chanting, "Speak in Gujarati. We will hear you only if you speak in Gujarati." F

ield Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw stopped. Swept the audience with a hard stare and replied,
"Friends, I have fought many a battle in my long career. I have learned Punjabi from men of the Sikh Regiment; Marathi from the Maratha Regiment; Tamil from the men of the Madras Sappers; Bengali from the men of the Bengal Sappers, Hindi from the Bihar Regiment; and even Nepali from the Gurkha Regiment. Unfortunately there was no soldier from Gujarat from whom I could have learned Gujarati.".............

You could have heard a pin drop