Another Reason to Believe in People

Sometimes, I can be really cynical. I've often felt that people will only really help others or be generous when they have a reason to be. However, I'm glad to be proven wrong.

Yesterday, I finished class, got a few groceries, and walked out to my car to drive home, only to find that my car was dead. About then, it started raining, and it didn't seem like fun to walk home in. So, I went right back into the small store south of campus and bought some oil, hoping the problem would just be that there the car was running low. That wasn't it. Annoyed, I walked home in the rain and grumbled to myself about how much I loved my car breaking down so I could walk home in the rain.

I got home and tried to get some help from my roommates, but they did not have any jumper cables. Discouraged, I then posted on Facebook as a last resort that I could use some help jumping my car. I didn't expect anybody to respond and, for a while, they didn't, as I stewed over what in the world I would do.

It didn't take too long before I heard from a friend asking if I still needed help with my car. This was somebody I hadn't talked to in a while. He didn't even live in the same apartment complex. What surprised me the most, however, is that this person had no reason to help. There was nothing tangible really gained for him, as there was no cute girl involved, and it took a few minutes out of a likely busy schedule. After jumping the car, we left to do our own things, and there was nothing more made of it besides my offer to return the favor whenever he might need it.

Shortly after, I received another text from a girl asking if I still needed help with the car. I was even more surprised then, because I didn't even think one person would really want to help, and now here I was getting another person willing to give me a hand.

After yesterday, I've changed my perspective a little bit. Maybe people don't all need reasons to help. There really are individuals out there who will be charitable for its own sake, even without being asked directly. After thinking for a bit, I'm not sure if I would have done something like that, and I could probably use to have a mindset more like somebody who is looking for opportunities to help. Hopefully, I can become the type of person who would do more out of pure generosity. That would be something for everybody to strive for.