Week Thirty Four: Helping Some Good Friends Move.

Losing yet another close friend to the city of Toronto! Danielle, an old friend of mine and ex-roommate of four years, got accepted in the Masters degree at York so her and her boyfriend Ryan are packing up their bags and moving to the big city. Danielle had asked me if I could help them out with packing up a load for their first trip and I agreed without hesitation. I know how physically taxing and stressful a move can be and so I thought I’d help them out. I know they would definitely do the same for me.

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Wishing them all the luck - I couldn’t be happier for the two!

G.  

Week Thirty Three: Leaving a Kind Message to City Workers.

As hard working folks, city employees who do the garbage and recycling run deserve much respect and recognition for their profession. This week I thought it would be nice to leave them a little note, thanking them for keeping our city clean.

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A working class hero is something to be.

G.

Week Thirty Two: Writing Up an Employee Review for Excellent Customer Service.

Everyone who knows me well knows that I’ve been having the worst luck with my bike lately. As I use it for long distance commuting every day, the poor thing takes quite the beating. Getting flat tires have become a regular occurrence in my life – and of course this week, it happened on my way to work. Luckily for me, I was close enough to my workplace that I could just walk the rest of the distance and was able to get a ride home from my awesome coworker after my shift.

The next morning, I went to get the tube tire replaced. I would usually change it myself, but as I was a bit short on time, I decided to go in Kunstadt, the nearest bike store to my place in order to try to get it done for me. I told the person working there I only had 45 minutes to spare (har har, bike puns) – and he responded by saying that he could have it done in 15 minutes tops.

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Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the deed was done. As I was paying, he gave me tips and tricks as well as a free spare part that would help me put air in my tires. Before heading out the store, I asked what his name was and thanked him for all of his help.

I wrote up an Employee Review for him because it’s always great to receive positive feedback from costumers. He was great at his job and he enjoys what he does, which showed and he should be rewarded for that.

Too often do people tend to focus on the negative situations that happened with clients in a day, so I wanted to have a positive impact on his day – the same way he had one on mine.

G.

Week Thirty One: Helping Out a First Time Greyhound Traveler.

Having traveled, I know how stressful it can be to have a destination but not knowing exactly where it is. 

On the bus going home from Ottawa this past long weekend, a shy young girl travelling alone sitting behind me asked me if I knew how much longer it would take to get to Sudbury. After telling her, I asked her where exactly she was going. She said that she was hoping to get dropped up in Markstay, which is a smaller town located right before Sudbury. I told her that since the bus was doing a local route and hitting small towns along the way, that maybe the town she wanted to get picked up in was already in the itinerary. I told her to follow me as I went to ask the bus driver if this was indeed already in the plan. The bus driver said: "No, not usually, but we can this time!"

After the bus driver and the girl finished talking, she came back to sit down behind me again and genuinely thanked me for the trouble I went through to help her out. 

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As I arrived at my location, I gave my goodbyes to the girl, wished her good luck and thanked the Greyhound driver. I told him that he was the best one I've had in over 6 years of taking the intercity bus. 

Everything is so much easier and pleasant when we just help each other out. 

G.   

Week Thirty: Bringing a Bag of Food to a Homeless Couple.

This week’s big 3-0 gesture goes out to my amazing mother who always seems to inspire me to be a better person.  

Around this time last year, she was explaining to me that an itinerant was hanging around the chipstand that she owns near Sudbury. Everest was a harmless, kind and hungry man, who would keep to himself and not harass anyone for money. My mom, not being able to stand seeing anyone struggle, felt bad for the fellow and started giving a free meal once in a while. Some loyal customers started noticing this. One day, one man gave my mother some money and told her to make Everest anything he wanted. This other woman, who saw this occur, did the same, which also encouraged a kid to give the rest of his change to the homeless man. Next thing you know, Everest had a couple bucks in his pocket and was able to sustain and nourish himself for a little while. A couple of days later, a cop car drove up to the chipstand. The police were there to take Everest away in order to find him a shelter and to help him get back on his feet. As the police car drove away, Everest’s last words to my mom were: “Thank you for everything. I’ll never forget you.”

Where is Everest now? We don’t know. We can only hope that those couple of days stay at my mom’s chipstand not only gave him more time, but the right moral support to inspire him to help himself as well.

What amazed me from this story was the ripple effect that one little gesture initiated, which eventually grew to bigger and better things.

So this week, I decided to do my own version of this by prepping a little bag of food and dropping it off to someone in need. The designated recipients were a couple sitting on the street and who seemed to be struggling a lot. I asked them if they were hungry and with a despaired look in their eyes, they responded with a yes. I handed over the bag and they both thanked me repeatedly, sporting the biggest smiles on their faces. 

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I also have to add that this week, I was also inspired by one of Herdmag’s article in their 4^th issue named HighJinx, Antiques & Vintage Oddities With A Serving Of Soul. I highly recommend grabbing one and reading that very well written piece. In a nutshell, it talks about HighJinx, a locally-owned antique shop in Ottawa who strives to help out vulnerable people in the community with the money that they raise selling unique treasures and pieces. They think and operate outside the box by adopting a very different business model, and they know how to make it work. An article well worth reading.   

It makes me happy that there are some good folks out there. I’m also delighted and feel fortunate enough that my mother is one of them.

G.

Week Twenty Nine: Bringing Cold Treats to Coworkers on an Unbearably Warm Day.

I think all of you can agree with me that this week was brutal. I think I’ve sweated in ways that I’ve never sweated before. Especially at work since our AC isn’t the best. I started noticing that some of my coworkers were getting really affected by the heat so I decided to go out and get a couple of slushies for them. They were really grateful upon receiving them and instantly felt refreshed.  

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It’s funny how a small thing such as that can really lift up everyone’s spirits.

G.

Week Twenty Eight: No More Squeaky Doors For Our Neighbours.

My roommate and I recently moved, and we’re loving our new place. However, since it is an older building, the hinges on the doors seemed to be squeaking a lot. Since I ALWAYS have WD-40 close to my disposal (those who know me well knows that this is true), I gave all the doors in our apartment a good spray down. Good as new.

Then, when we first met our neighbours as they were stepping out of their apartment, I noticed that their door also seemed like it was one coming straight out of The Crypt Keeper. So I decided to bring out my trustee WD-40 and spray their hinges as well.

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Now they won’t have to fear imagining the worst sound ever every time they step in or out of their apartment.

G.