Reality Check. Driving up 275 in DTW on way to client. Pulled over at Rest Area as a particularly animated conference call I needed to focus on. Spent the next 30 mins on the call observing (cont)

Great story OP. Love the reminder. This time last year, I was in Pittsburgh at a CVS looking for deodorant. Overheard a woman almost in tears because her coupons had expired. Her cart was full of toilet paper, soap, cereal, and water. I offered to buy her cart and she was almost in tears again she was so grateful. I think it was about $50. Then I went home and hand washed my clothes in the bath tub because I recently flexed and wasn't shelling out for hotel laundry lol. Anyone else have a random act of kindness story for the holidays?

A6, Big snow on East Coast last year, snomageddon they were calling it. Big lines at grocery stores with everyone stocking up. A couple in front of me in line, with a few young children in tow, had all their groceries scanned and were trying to pay. Card kept being rejected. They were clearly stressed and a language barrier between them and the cashier didn't help. The father looked defeated. Reached up an swiped my card and they were on their way. The look on their faces was worth 1000x the cost of the groceries. It took little effort on my part and I was glad to do it.

.... a couple with a, I guess, 12-18mo year old. Watched them switch over some layers of clothes, take some snow, put it in a pan over a small gas burner and make coffee. After the call, had a chat with them. He lost his job 5 months ago in rural Michigan and they headed to Detroit hoping for more opportunities. Nothing happened so they're living out their car and scraping by where they could. I took them to a Wendy's up the road, bought them lunch, gassed their car, left enough money with the manager for them to stay around until closing, and to cover dinner. Wendy's manager was sourcing some baby formula.

🐟 people.... we are incredibly lucky in what we do. Only yesterday I was planning whether I spend my points on a JW or not.... take some time over the season to remember that we're not all as fortunate. We are (generally) all bright, motivated, successful people - and many others haven't had the opportunities we have.

Time to give a bit back if you don't already. Volunteer at shelters, donate - heck, we CAN all afford to.

Sorry for too slow.... was quite long....

.... and as for people bitching about elections, hook ups, whether there's a holiday party or not.... grow up.

Update: just dropped of team members after dinner and headed to Wendy's. They'd just headed out - and are staying tonight in a shelter, run by a relative of one of the staff there. They'll be able to stay until after the New Year!

Way to pay it forward, and remind us all what little it takes to help someone in need. Bravo.

Too slow

Well done OP, it's great that you did that. A lot of people would just keep going without giving it a second thought

Thanks OP. You rock. Very very nice of you, but it's heartbreaking to think that in this country of plenty, there are still so many people in such dire conditions. You inspired me to think outside of my own family this holiday season.

Just read through the comments on here. Truly humbled that quite a few of you 🐟 out there have found this helpful and focusing this season. Glad that others will take the opportunity to look outside of our own bubbles. @HCG1: I do think that one of me in the world is perfectly sufficient - I've got many less positive traits than altruism! @A6 & @K1 - nicely done! See, you guys prove that FB is populated by good people. On that note, I do believe that all of us are inherently "good people" - we just get so tied up in deliverables, work products and the like that we sometimes forget we are in the 1%. @P3 - thanks! I'm pretty comfortable with the Big A though ;)! @D4 - don't read posts like this on a plane or people will look at you funny! @A8 - sad, but I was wondering how this related to Agile Delivery... I need to get out more....

So fishes one and all.... get out there and pay it back!

Well done OP. We really need to do a better job at grounding ourselves.

Bless you. And yes this post did inspire me to think about what good I can do this holiday season.

Thanks OP from all of us! Talk about remembering the season. We don't often run into people in need in our privileged lives, so this brings it home. Time for all of us to step it up.

Tbh - until about 2.5hrs ago, I was also being inward looking. Yes - time to look around us.

Thank you for sharing, OP. This brought tears to my eyes. It's a much needed reminder for me to be thankful for what I have.

This is perhaps the best use of FB I have ever seen. Thank You!

Thank you OP

Thanks OP! Important story to keep us attached to perspective. Bravo

OP, posts like this renew my faith in humanity (and the FB microcosm). I give regularly to charity, but could certainly do WAY more.

Very well said OP! The world needs more of you, thanks!