Earlier today, I read about about a 35-year-old gent who noted that today's world is different from the one he grew up in as a kid.
"If you only watched the news, you'd think the whole world has gone to hell," he said. "Just yesterday, about 45 miles southeast from where I currently live and much closer to where I grew up," he continued, "there was a mass shooting. When you reflect on these kinds of things, the world seems like a really scary place, full of bad people."
This gent, however, went on to explain that he recently had purchased a nice reel from a fella he had met on a fishing forum.
"The communication was great," said the gent, "and the seller even engaged me in some conversation. I thought the questions a little strange but nevertheless nice enough. When I received my reel, I noticed the heaviness of the box. The reel I had purchased is one of the lightest on the market. When I opened the box, I found it jam-packed with soft plastics, jigs, jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, etc."
While the seller had no reason to send this gent all the stuff, he did so out of the kindness of his heart...the definition of a Good Samaritan.
"Gestures like these keep my faith in humanity strong," said the gent. "They take away the negativity. It may be a relatively small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but if more people made an effort to do things similarly, the world would be a better place. I vowed to pay it forward and become more like this man, whom I didn't know, with more kind gestures, wanting nothing in return."
As luck would have it, the seller happened to see this gent's comments and answered back with a note of his own.
"It was some stuff I had laying around that doesn't really suit the type of fishing I now prefer...finesse fishing," he explained. "I've had many random acts of kindness gifted upon me over the years, and I try and pay that forward as often as possible...both because I'm able to do so, and because I have a 2-year-old boy, whom I'm trying to lead by example. He's still a little young to catch on, but I'm trying to stay in good practice. Hope you enjoy the reel and the baits."
Also read about a family who had experienced the same kind of selfless act. Seems they had an alternator go out, and they were broken down about 1.5 hours away from home. A nice guy in a service truck let them use his tools and took the man of the family to a parts store to buy a new one, then hung around to make sure the job got done before leaving. They offered the service guy money and dinner, both of which he refused, suggesting instead that they "just pay it forward."
And finally, there was the story of a young bass fisherman who would toss good-eating panfish he happened to catch in his livewell and take them back to the boat ramp in the afternoon to share with bank fishermen. This item in particular brought back some memories of days gone by in my past.
During my Navy days in the '70s, while stationed at the Pentagon, I spent many a Friday night fishing the riffles on the Shenandoah, where I would catch catfish in abundance. Come morning, when I would head in, there always would be bank fishermen along the stretch of water leading to the dock, and I would stop and share my entire catch with all of them.
In the '80s, then, after I had retired from the Navy and was fishing regularly out of West Neck, I got to know a fixture most days on the bank at West Neck. Abe was his name. He was an older fella who fished more out of necessity to have meat on the table than for enjoyment. Accordingly, I often brought him a mess of panfish from my day on the water, which always put a big smile on his face. One year, as another Christmas approached, I noticed that some of Abe's rod-and-reel combos were in really bad shape, so I went out and bought him a new one, which I gave to him that Christmas Eve, and you would have thought he had just won the Lottery.
I often spent time just sitting beside Abe on the West Neck bank and swappin' stories with him. It was a sad day indeed when I learned he had passed.
A better world it would be...especially today...if only more folks would find the capacity to help others who are in need.
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