-Blog post by Mike B., a Kindness Investor from Cromwell, CT
My third day of this journey gave me my first rejection, but life always takes a strange turn. I began the day with the intent to give the $10 to a person in Southfield, Massachusetts, who I had yet to meet. Southfield is a very small town in the Berkshires and I was there for the day assisting a friend on a 500+ acre plot of land that is home to a YMCA Summer Camp called Camp Wa Wa Segowea. It’s an old-fashioned resident camp that is one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. Of course, I might be a little biased, but it does seem that time stands still there. And there’s nothing like seeing and hearing kids in the summertime enjoying themselves outdoors all day, learning and playing with their new best friends. Every kid should go away to camp!
Anyways, stopping in Southfield for a cup of coffee brought me to my first person saying no, they couldn’t accept the money. When asked why, his response was he had just finished an internship that had “that kind of giving” included, and also he was trying to reduce his presence on the internet. I was a little distraught, but said goodbye and moved on. Cut to the end of the day, and now I’m on my way back home, knowing I still had not found my daily recipient. I was pretty sure I didn’t have anything in the refrigerator at home, so I was also in search of dinner. I passed by a place, Tonio’s in New Hartford, Connecticut and was always going to stop there, but hadn’t yet. I figured maybe two birds with one stone?
I went in, placed my order and spotted another guy also waiting for his order. I made my introduction and found myself feeling pretty good as this was the 4th time I had said it, and thought I had it pretty down to a science now. When the part came to ask if he would accept the $10, he asked if he could ask me a question. Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes. If I don’t answer it correctly, he’ll say no! But the question was pretty simple. He asked why the unemployed part? I interpreted that meaning wouldn’t it be easier if an employed person would be the one doing the giving? And I think I was correct in my interpretation. My response was a couple of reasons and I gave them with the caveat that it was from my perspective. I felt as an unemployed person, it was a shock at first and I was okay with it being that way right in the beginning, but after the newness wore off, it felt like I wasn’t a contributing member of society anymore. This type of giving was helping me back in the fold. I had something to offer someone. The second reason was that it just feels good when you’re giving.
I’m guessing I interpreted right as he agreed on the being a contribution part and he indeed, said yes to the money. He even said he felt honored to be given it! He himself was unemployed for nine months and shared that same feeling about needing to contribute to society. His name is Tim L. and he’s from Wethersfield, CT. He and his girlfriend were coming back from skiing at Catamount up in Hillsdale, NY and added the skiing was great there! From middle school on, he said he always wanted to be in radio, on-air.
Tim L. at Tonio's Pizzeria in New Hartford, CT.
He graduated from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and then had an internship at Clear Channel Radio. He was on his way! Unfortunately, due to the economy, he was laid off and he’s currently working in the mental health field at Community Mental Health Affiliates. He helps monitor people with mental health problems and it keeps him quite busy. His first love is radio though and before he left the internship, he was working in promotions for Clear Channel and liked that as well. Unfortunately he couldn’t find a job in radio, and he was just starting to get into the behind the scenes work.
I said earlier that life takes a strange turn and because that first person said no to my $10, I felt I was destined to meet Tim, just to share radio stories! My career in communications started in radio as well, after completing a course in NY, similar to Tim’s path. We had a common bond! So it was fun hearing someone else saying they had a passion for radio.
Tim had gotten his pizza, and I had gotten my sandwich and his girlfriend, who had been waiting in the car for him, came into the restaurant wondering what was up? I felt bad keeping him and asking questions, but she was very nice and waited till we were done. I gave him my card, took his picture and he said he would look up the website for Year of Giving and we both went our separate ways.
Two questions I wished I would have asked him…1. What was he going to do with the money? And 2, is there anything he would like in the Lend a Hand portion of the website? I’m totally guessing on #2, but I bet he would love a job in radio!
So, Tim if you read this, what did you do with the money and am I right about #2?
Year of Giving 