Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

OP here.

IMHO, your mindset is what keeps you from giving. I was never rich and never will be but I'm always involved in some sort of charity. During my teen years I was a volunteer at our local orphanage. I went off to college and worked as a camp counselor in a camp for kids that struggle with physical and mental disabilities. After I graduated I worked weekends tutoring kids who were incarcerated.

Now, with 2 kids under 2 I feel like something is missing. As soon as they're grown to go to school and I get to have "me" time again I'll go back to volunteering. You don't need to have money to give away. You can use your strengths and apply them to improve the lives of those less fortunate. You just need to have the willingness to share.

I dunno. I volunteer, just not at a non-profit. I am kind of content with being a regular nice person. Holding doors for people, thanking the bus driver, visiting people when their kid is in the hospital, saying hello/thankyou to doormen, tipping well in restaurants, giving positive feedback when deserved, etc. That stuff alone is a big effort for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

I'm the PP that you're responding to. When I did this, I was single and made about 60% what I make now. Despite that, I had a lot more disposable income. Now, I have a bigger home, a family and other commitments that I didn't have then. With our current lifestyle, it would be harder to buy supplies nearly as often for the soup kitchen as I did then.

Above PP again. Despite the fact that I don't donate as much, I still volunteer with soup kitchens. You can still be selfless without being rich. Time and elbow-grease is a priceless commodity and many charities and charitable organizations would never be able to survive without the wonderful selfless people who donate both of those in abundance.

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

I'm the PP that you're responding to. When I did this, I was single and made about 60% what I make now. Despite that, I had a lot more disposable income. Now, I have a bigger home, a family and other commitments that I didn't have then. With our current lifestyle, it would be harder to buy supplies nearly as often for the soup kitchen as I did then.

Anonymous wrote:Do you know any?

I was talking to my mom on the phone and just found out one of my friends from HS is now a very famous doctor in the town he grew up who is treating a lot of people for free. One of the patients is his dad, who left his mom when he was just 3yo. She was 7mos pregnant.

He was always such a brilliant student. His mom was our English teacher, they were our neighbors. His dream was to go to Med school but obviously they could not afford then. I went away for college and never heard about them again until now.

BTW, his dad doesn't know the doc is his very own son.

Do you have any such stories to share?

I'm sorry, but this just sounds ridiculous. Why in the world doesn't the father know that his doctor is his very own son? That makes no sense.

In a thread on noble, selfless people, I'm the bitch saying this reads like one of those stupid urban legend emails that your great uncle forwards now that he's learned to use email at age 80.

OK, maybe if the mom then remarried, and the son was adopted by step father, there'd be different names, but still. If this is in the town where he grew up, come on, people would tell the dad. I'm from a small town, and people know these things. And then the sentence "his dream was to go to Med school but obviously they could not afford then." What does that even mean? And obviously if he IS a Doctor, then he DID go to medical school. So how did he afford it?

This is just so riddled with logical inconsistencies. I think that is why no one is posting. And also, I think people are people. SOme people are more selfless than others, but if you are selfless, you tend to not talk about it so much, It's just what you do. And you don't view yourself as especially noble or selfless. So, not so many posts.

I have a friend who got pregnant, was not married, did not have a college degree and the father booked.

My other friend supported her and her child until she finished her degree and got on her feet. About 5 years.

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

OP here.

IMHO, your mindset is what keeps you from giving. I was never rich and never will be but I'm always involved in some sort of charity. During my teen years I was a volunteer at our local orphanage. I went off to college and worked as a camp counselor in a camp for kids that struggle with physical and mental disabilities. After I graduated I worked weekends tutoring kids who were incarcerated.

Now, with 2 kids under 2 I feel like something is missing. As soon as they're grown to go to school and I get to have "me" time again I'll go back to volunteering. You don't need to have money to give away. You can use your strengths and apply them to improve the lives of those less fortunate. You just need to have the willingness to share.

I'm trying to be that every day. It's a work in progress. I will never be in the position to donate expert medical skills etc., but hope to volunteer more, and frankly just be kinder to people, and put out less negative energy by being more compassionate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

Do you have cable? A cell phone? Shop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods?

Seriously PP. Get off of it.

Anonymous wrote:It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

Do you have cable? A cell phone? Shop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods?

I know a person who is a huge business networker. Even if he met somebody once for ten minutes, if that person needs a favor, an ear, whatever, he will bend over backwards to help.

It seems like it's really hard ot be one of those noble, selfless people unless you're rich. I volunteer weekly, but not at a non-profit, and I don't have $100 to give away.

I know many people who do some noble and selfless acts. I have an acquaintance who in an immunologist and used to participate regularly in Doctors Without Borders in third world countries. He was upset he had to give that up when they had twins. When the twins are older, he wants to go back to it. I have worked for 20+ years in a local soup kitchen and there are many people who give selflessly to that cause. For several years, I worked there weekly and when they had funding issues, I regularly bought $100+ worth of supplies to stock up the supplies that were running out. My sister-in-law and nephew travel annually to third world nations to participate in Habitat for Humanity community building projects. I know friends who lived in New Orleans during Katrina and have spent a lot of time besides rebuilding their own home volunteering to help rebuild their local community, especially some folks who cannot afford to rebuild themselves. And many more.

I can't imagine why this thread isn't getting more hits, considering the thread listed before this is "I don't want to babysit your kids-ever", and the thread listed after this is, "I can't think of a single good thing about living here right now."

Sometimes we only see what we're looking for. My husband is very generous, unselfish, always quietly helping people. I get the impression many people, especially in his own family, see him as naive and a simpleton.

Great story, OP! You will not find much of this in these here parts, unfortunately. Though I know many famous, down to earth, selfless people - whom I count among my riches.....

Do you know any?

I was talking to my mom on the phone and just found out one of my friends from HS is now a very famous doctor in the town he grew up who is treating a lot of people for free. One of the patients is his dad, who left his mom when he was just 3yo. She was 7mos pregnant.

He was always such a brilliant student. His mom was our English teacher, they were our neighbors. His dream was to go to Med school but obviously they could not afford then. I went away for college and never heard about them again until now.

BTW, his dad doesn't know the doc is his very own son.

Do you have any such stories to share?