Have you been surprised by an unexpected act of appreciation?
It is those unexpected moments of kindness and appreciation that makes you look at the world with a macroscopic lens of positivity.
One mundane day after work, I walked up my front porch to find a paper bag left outside the front door. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat this time!
Daringly, I reached in to the paper bag to find a $20 gift card to Wawa and a sweatshirt with a business logo.
How it all started…
Several months back our water pipe broke. At least that’s what our City’s water department and Roto-Rooter told us. We were told there is no rhyme or reason for the break.
“These kind of things just happen with old pipes.”, the City told us. “You live in one of the oldest city in the nation.”
Which is true. We have more potholes and city maintenance work than any other city I've lived in. Lane closure at 8am for construction? Nothing new. Our vehicles pile up in city traffic while rubberneckers watch the city workers drill or pave away.
So OKAY. I thought the City would fix the broken pipe since it’s on the street and public property.
WRONG!
Did you know the City will not fix a water pipe if the break is on the pipe leading to your home? Did you know your home insurance does not cover a water pipe break if it is outside your home? All news to me!
We were quoted nearly $5,000 USD to fix the pipe since they have to dig underground. Out of our own pocket. What choice did we have but to fix? We had no running water. Our basement had inches of clogged sewer water. Yes, it was disgusting. We made an appointment for work to be done the next day.
Surprise knock on our door.
As we were having dinner and discussing how we would pay for this unexpected cost, there was a knock at the door. We weren’t expecting anyone. The person at the door turned out to be a master plumber who saw the sewage debris on the street. He was just starting out with his plumbing business. He asked if he can try to unclog the pipes for us.
From his experience, most times the issue is a simple clogged pipe. His service pitch was to unclog using some version of a snake and not charge us for the service unless it fixed the issue. If fixed, his service fee is $250.
Why not? If a clogged pipe is really the issue, then paying $250 is far better than paying $5,000! So at 8:00pm, this unexpected plumber visitor started working on the clogged drain. All available hands helped with that sewage gunk, of course.
Me? I watched busily from the front porch, tea mug in hand.
We didn’t have much hope since two companies told us it was a broken pipe. Imagine the surprise, and gratitude, when he fixed the problem!
It was simply a clogged pipe. The pipe wasn’t broken as told to us by the City and Roto-Rooter. A plumbing job that would have cost us $5k was fixed by this saint of a plumber, in our eyes, that just happened to drive by our home.
Acts of Appreciation
The plumber asked if he could stake a sign in front of our home advertising his business. Of course! We were grateful for his service. We would be happy to help in what ways we can. The sign was left and summer turned to winter. Life moved on but the sign stayed on our front lawn.
How People Surprise You
The gift left to us was his thoughtful way of showing appreciation. He wanted to thank us for letting him leave the sign in front of our house. It was completely unexpected! We hadn’t expected anything in return. He saved us money. Our way of showing appreciation was to let him advertise his business. His act of appreciation was to thank us with a gift.
We don’t see unexpected gestures of kindness and appreciation often in life. We hear of senseless violence and wonder what our world will become. Then one day, someone surprises you with an act of goodness. It is these small token of appreciation that shines light upon the goodness in people.
Thank you for stopping by! Have a BEE-ATIFIC day!
Image Sources:
Plumber, Sign, Heart, Photos original
Beeyou image by@seaslim
Acts like this restores faith in humans. Not the kind of help that you expect something in return (just like follow me and I'll follow you). You give because it is from the heart. Also, the plumber has the best of intentions. Even in desperation he did not take advantage of you. If he continues this practice throughout his business will succeed.
Goodness begets goodness. That's why you are well loved here in steemit because of your good intentions.
You have such a beautiful heart @leeart.
It truly does. It is a rarity to see such kind acts in the real world nowadays. Just as rare in the steemit world, but every now and then..an act of kindness does surprise you and reinforces your faith in the system.
Thank you for your kind words. I've seen your supportive comments on so many of our team members' posts. I'm going to add you to our Newbie team as one of our cheerleading spirit. :) Really, it's all about sharing your good heart and kindness with others. An 'initiative' is only as good as the people behind it, and we are happy to have you join us (if you want). ;)
Sure thing. I can cheer, no biggie. No pompoms though hahaha!
I try my best. I hope in my own way I am.
What a lovely start to my day. As a plumber and heating engineer myself I can only agree that it is hard to find a good tradesman. I have met far to many on the other side. In the end it makes good business sense as well. Happy customers are return customers and also tell their friends. It's all a big circle!
I can tell you are one of those good tradesman @talltuk! Thank you for being one of the good guys. You would think that people want to operate a business with their client's good interest in mind..afterall, as you stated, it makes good business sense. Unfortunately, many are just out there to make that buck.
I am happy to continue leaving that sign in our yard because it really is hard to find a good tradesman. As you can see, many (like I did) just turn to the well-known companies, and they don't always have the customer's best interest at heart.
I hope you have a beautiful day! I'm sure you will help many people resolve their issues and avoid the headache of a clogged septic or heating system failure. I read somewhere that somewhere in Massachusetts, there is actually a shortage of plumbers! The city was willing to pay someone to relocate to the small town and be the designated plumber. It was an interesting tidbit of information. :)
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this is a nice story, I hope I get such kindness if it happens to me. I do know there are great guys and not so nice guys.. The key is finding the ones that treat people as they would like to be treated themselves... Very good post @beeyou! It is a reminder that good things do happen to good people :)
We are definitely appreciative of the great guys out there, especially this wonderful plumber that knocked on our door and asked if we needed assistance. We really had not expected a gift but definitely a nice surprise gesture. Thanks @davemccoy, you're always very kind.
awww thanks @beeyou... And I'm glad you got a big break here! :)
Me too @davemccoy. Sometimes people surprise you. Especially on steemit..so many unexpected people and events I've come across on here. Very happy I stumbled across this platform.
Yes... unexpected and marvelous people. I never would've thought it and certainly didn't expect to still be here enjoying every minute of every day with wonderful people like @beeyou ;)
Ditto @davemccoy. Steemit would be a very boring place without our wonderful team members. I never thought I would care for so many individuals on here, but I do. What a surprise, a cryptocurency platform of all places. 🙂
hehe.. come for the money, stay for the honey.... I think that is the saying!!! hehe
I’m always so happy to hear stories that prove that there are still kind and respectful people in the world.
I need to be reminded of that every once in a while, so thanks! :0)What a great story, @beeyou.
I need to be reminded of that fact too @simplymike. Sometimes I see more love coming from our beloved pets than people...I don't know what that says about human civilization..
How awesome is that! The universe gives back to it's finest ^_^ And what a relief to have great people help you out and save so much. I am happy for you. Quite the scare at first I can imagine.
Where I live, we get multiple water breaks, especially in the winter. Thankfully they are all the ones in the streets as we wouldn't have the means to pay for it either.
Hi @foxyspirit. Thanks for stopping by! I really don't mind if the universe continues to work its charm. :) We were running through those repair figures and really did want to cry, hehe. Never would I have thought someone would randomly stop by and offer their services. Very thankful he did.
Lucky those water breaks are in the streets. Seriously, I never knew pipes leading into the home are not covered. What is the point of home insurance if it's not meant to cover these type of expenses?
It's just a way for the government to have loopholes in where they do not have to pay and all that crap. I know we pay for our insurances but its all tied in. A big scheming system really.
Love that the universe is on your side :D Means you are doing good things lol.
love it that here, the City ‘owns’ the sidewalk but any accidents on it are the owner’s responsibility and let’s not have any weeds or long uncut grasses on the sidewalk either. Big fat ticket from the city police.Of course @foxyspirit! I especially
I pray the universe will continue to keep us on it’s good side. I welcome love from that direction! ❤️
Any way they can grab money right. My town doesn't even have sidewalks XD So we are sort of lucky? HAHA.
I pray also, that it gives back to those that are in need and respect the right ways, to those that respect the earth and people and to those that are true. Take care beeyou. I hope you have a wonderful day ^_^
Aw that is fantastic. Good people like that are hard to find but sometimes they find you. On a side note, I would never want to be a plumber.
that part at least.That is the beauty of it all @doomsdaychassis. He found us! Some acts of kindness are just so unexpected and should definitely be appreciated. Yeeeaaahh...after seeing and smelling the basement..I give plumbers some mad props for doing their job. We had to call a sanitizing company for some serious sanitizing afterwards. The home insurance covered
Right on. That's the kind of place that we live and I could never go back to living in a larger centre. Sure there are good people, but the ratios are out of whack.
Lucky you @profanereviews, for living in a place with good people. I live in the city and it really is rare to see people being so kind. First to be willing to do a job for free if his attempts didn't work, and second for the kind gift. Ratio of good people out there is very much out of whack..I agree with that!
Yeah! Av been surprised with a golden necklace on my birthday.
What an awesome story of human kindness, appreciation and karma!! It would be better if the guys who quoted you the 5k ended up with a broken pipe, but oh well, I'll take the "goodness" that came from this. I love the new guy, starting out a business, and simply helping and doing what's right. It's simple really...the world could truly be a wonderful place if everyone just did the right thing.
And I'm so happy that you guys didn't have to come up with the extra money too ;)
This is really touching, the plumber sure have an appreciative heart not everyone can return such act of kindness. There are indeed good people out there, just that the bad ones are much..lol. Well not so surprised it happened to the Queen because you have a heart of gold.
The more one gives (without expectation of reward) freely, the more freely does the universe give back. Or, as my dojo master says, ''The more you give, the more shall be given you.''
Keep on keeping on. 😇
Resteemed.
BTW, do you know anyone blogging from a phone¿ I'm having a headache day attempting to upload a video from YouTube. In the app YouTube I cannot find the URL, and url from the vid uploaded to app is not working, like I've missed essential character or something¿ Someone who does upload from phone frequently might just trigger a 'stupid-me' moment 😂. Thank -you.