Better to give than to receive

I get to the point in my life where I lose all faith in people. Then suddenly someone surprises me. It’s been almost a month since my Jeep broke down. I have had some wonderful friends who have ran me on errands and one friend who borrowed me his minivan, another who borrowed me her car. I had a friend that I hadn’t seen since high school come out with his friend and diagnose my car. Some friends really did all that they could for me, some friends just listened to me rant or cry, that’s all they could offer. I am okay with that, sometimes that is all you can offer a person.

Last week I was contacted by a man I had never met before from my posting on Craig’s List. A gentleman in his late 50’s, he has been working on cars his whole life. He is in the process of fighting for disability, and believes in doing good deeds for others in need. He told me that he isn’t that fastest at getting it done but he will get it done and it will be done right. I asked what he wanted for payment. He said if you can give me a bit of cash I would appreciate it, but I know things are tight for you. So please don’t if it makes anything difficult. What a nice man. So as of Thursday he started working on my Jeep.

Now I asked one friend if I could borrow his tools, just to make sure we had everything and I didn’t have to go buy anything.(tools aren’t cheap) But he wasn’t going to be coming back down to the Hopkins area from Maple Grove so he didn’t do it. So then I asked another friend if I could borrow tools from him but he is working god awful hours at work so he couldn’t do it either. So yesterday I spent the last $20.00 I had to live off of for the rest of April to buy the tools that were needed for my Jeep. I come home to find out that we need a couple more tools and screws. UGH!! Something in the universe smiled at me and I sold a table. I was able to pay for the screws that were needed. But I need a torque wrench. I went to Oreilly’s. I was going to rent one. They want a check card for deposit. Ok, no problem. It holds $85.00 on your account. PROBLEM… I don’t have $85.00 in my account for them to hold, therefore, can’t do that.

So today my mechanic thought he was going to be able to finish my Jeep before the thunderstorms rolled in for the weekend, since all of the work is being done outside in my parking lot. But because I couldn’t get a simple torque wrench, couldn’t do it. Oh well, just a few more days without a car.

As of tomorrow it will be a month since my Jeep broke down. A month I have been without a car. I am working my ass off this weekend, so that I can pay this mechanic as much as I possibly can. I would give him more than I would give a shop, just because he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart. Unselfish acts. It amazes me how many people don’t know what this is anymore. My dad always told me it’s better to give than to receive. I have always believed that to be true. I love giving people things. Attention, love, gifts, help, anything..

I cried out for help on more than one occasion, for those of you who call yourself my friends where were you? That’s not what friends do for one another, they don't just ignore cries for help. If you aren’t really my friend, then why are you reading this? Why do I have a stranger doing more for me than my close friends? Makes me so incredibly sad.