Archive for the ‘In General’ Category

9
Mar/11
21

Taking Responsibility

Last week a parcel delivery truck raced down our street, a very short street with three houses on each side.  I remembered it from every other night because the truck was traveling so fast, and right in front of my house, there was a loud bang as he passed.  I looked out to see if the truck had hit something, but I saw nothing and the truck continued down the street as if nothing happened.

The next morning my neighbor met me at the end of my driveway in tears.  He informed me that last night a parcel truck struck and killed his dog, right in front of him while he was outside playing with the dog.  The truck never stopped or acknowledged hitting anything.  The dog was known and favored by all of our neighbors, and the family is devastated.

Later that day a parcel truck delivered a package to my house.  As the driver exited his truck, I met him in the driveway.  I asked him if he was the same driver from the previous night, and he indicated he was.  I asked him if anything unusual occurred as he passed my house the previous night, and he indicated nothing unusual.

I told him as he passed my house the night before, there was a loud bang, loud enough that I heard it as did my other neighbor who was in his house.  He then acknowledged that he remembered hearing something, but thought that a package had fallen in the back of his truck.

I informed him that the loud sound he had heard was his truck striking and killing my neighbor’s dog.

A week has gone by, and the same driver has been delivering packages to our neighborhood since I spoke with him.  While not necessarily his fault that the dog was killed by his truck, one would think he would be gracious enough to either stop at their house and talk with them, or send them a note or something acknowledging what happened and their loss.

Nothing.

Worse, his racing down our street has not stopped.  One would have thought after learning that he struck and killed a dog that he should slow down, especially since there are small children playing in our neighborhood, but that hasn’t resignated with him either.

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21
Dec/10
2

Homeless Vet’s Act A Sign Of Doing The Right Thing

Here’s a great story illustrating how doing the right thing can lead to greater rewards.

I first heard this story last week at a local restaurant having breakfast with my son.  I searched to find the story, and to my surprise it occurred just as they other patrons had described.

A homeless man found a wallet containing cash, and faced with the dilemma of keeping the cash to buy gifts for his three kids for Christmas versus returning the wallet (funds intact) to the rightful owner, he chose to return the wallet.  A true testament to the fact that there are good people in our society who still value doing the right thing, even when presented with an easier route that would provide personal benefit.

The result of his actions has been an outpouring of calls to provide support not only to the man, but also to the shelter that has provided housing to him.  On a more personal note, his action transformed him from being an unknown homeless vet to “Brian the homeless man from outside Boston who chose to do the right thing.”

Hats off to Brian and all those who have extended offerings to support him and the homeless shelter.

Here’s the URL to one of the articles about this story:

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/national/homeless-vet-brian-christopher-returns-wallet-he-found-in-boston-20101216-wpms

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30
Nov/10
1

Accountibility Redeemed – Just another night of damage to our vehicle

Quietly eating dinner tonight with my family, the waiter came to our table and asked if we own a certain vehicle in their parking lot.  I could tell before he even came over this wasn’t going to be good news.  The waiter told us someone just struck our vehicle in the lot, and then drove away, leaving our damaged vehicle behind.  The waiter also told us two other customers witnessed the crash, and both wanted to stay to be witnesses.  They even got the plate and a good description of the driver.

One witness told us the young lady backed into our car, making it move, and then walked over to our vehicle.  She shrugged her shoulders, walked back to her car, and drove away.

I am happy to report that while having our vehicle damaged yet again (this makes like five times), for the first time, the plate the witnesses provided along with their description lead to the young lady being arrested.  She is at the police station as I write this blog – horray !

Had the witnesses decided not to get involved, commonplace in today’s busy society, we would simply have found our damaged vehicle for the fifth time, and suffered another hefty repair bill (our auto body shop knows us all too well).

To anyone who witnesses something and chooses to step forward to help make those less responsible to be held accountable, thank you!

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