Warning, I Have A Rant

I don’t like what’s become of people. I’m not that old, but I remember when helping someone for no reason was a good thing. Neighborly and all that. I like to help people, always have. One reason I started this blog was to help people. Give them freebies, show them new places on the ‘net, solve some problems and make them laugh. Or at least smile. In return I ask for nothing. Well, maybe an occasional ‘nice one’ or ‘thanks’. Nothing more.

I run a business. Yes, I’m a boss. But not a normal one. My employees like me. And that’s because I treat them well. I tell them the most important asset in this plant is the people. And I firmly believe that. Without them, I say, the machinery would not run. The product would not get made. The business would fail. These families in this community depend on me to earn their living. And it works both ways. I depend on them to make the business succeed. And I appreciate them. I don’t hesitate to show them either. Every one of my employees has been invited to my home. And I’ve told them to feel welcome to return. We’re like family. I like to take the entire plant to lunch once a month. No fast food, a restaurant is what I mean. On holidays I give them bonuses to insure their holidays are happy.Why? Because I know they appreciate it. And I like to make people happy.

Just last week I was returning from a business trip in my pickup truck. I had stopped to get fuel. A young girl, about 20, came up to me in tears. She said she had ran out of gas and didn’t have any money. She wanted to borrow a dollar to make a few phone calls so she could get help. She was upset and seemed terrified. I gave her some money, more than enough to get her home, no matter where that might be. She was bewildered that a stranger would do that. She wanted my address so she could send it back to me when she had it. I told her no, it’s a gift. Keep it. She was speechless, and then she gave me a hug. I told her to get going before someone started to worry about her. And I felt good.

Was it a scam to get money? Maybe, I don’t care. It’s possible I may have helped, and that’s good enough for me. That is a chance I’ll take again because I like to help.

But that’s not what’s bothering me. What bothers me is that too often today, way too often, I try to help someone and it backfires. They eye me suspiciously and wonder what I’m up to. Why would I want to help them? I don’t even know them. And that pisses me off. Not the person I’m trying to help, but the society that made them that way. Have we evolved into a society where helping someone is abnormal? Is the average person today expecting to get screwed? When you offer a hand and people look at you with distrust, then that good feeling of helping is gone. It is replaced with a sadness of realizing how our society has descended into a world where everyone is on their own and constantly on guard. The joy is gone. The satisfaction of knowing you helped, for no good reason other than you like to, is missing. And that is wrong. And that is sad.

But I won’t stop. I’ll keep helping people, it’s in my nature. And I will be getting the same return on my investment, a good feeling of knowing that I helped. Just not as much feeling as I used to.

It’s a terrible thing to feel like the bad guy when you know you’re not.