Happened in December 1968. A lady with a very tired worn out 57 Chevy 4dr, 235 stick had brought the car to our shop a couple months earlier to have it patched just enough to get her to work. Her car, her clothes, her shoes, nails, etc., reflected that she had very little money to spend and I could see it pained her to ask for time pay out for the repair. She had been driving the 15 miles to work in second gear because the syncro drum was so bad she could no longer hold it in high. I told her we had several of those transmissions from an oval track car that we pulled the weak sycro drum type Chevy from to use the very strong Ford top loader and I would furnish the trans and install it for $35. She had a low end job at a place nearby that made school desks and every single pay day she brought in something even if it was fifty cents---all that she could spare. The pay day before Christmas she brought in FIVE DOLLARS. I asked her if she could spare that much so close to Christmas and she said not really but she wanted to make sure I had money to buy MY family a present. I stapled the five to her bill, marked paid in full, and handed it to her. The tearful look of gratitude and heartfelt thank you was the very best Christmas present I have ever received. Merry Christmas to all; Evan
Great way to help other people when needed This whas a very nice gesture you did and i am shore the lady in case remembers you fore the rest of here life thinking of this particulair occasion! A litle story ;This happened before he became the president of the US. Barrac Obama whas standing in line at the airfield in Washington planning to take his plain to europe. A norwegian lady from Oslo whas standing next to him in line and had to rescedule here flight because of some famely matters in here home country, but she whas kinda short of money and the situation became a bit difficult in front of the desk. Obama understood the situation and gave here the 200 dollars she whas in short of not asking to have them back. The lady said that as soon as she came home to norway she would send him the money and she kept here promise. Later Obama send here a note and thankted here fore that. Great story Evan and all the best wishes fore 2013 Martinius.
God loves a cheerful giving heart, I'm sure that happiness you felt from the look on her face was more rewarding then the best sale of the week. I'll bet you are the best role model for the youngun's at the shop! Merry Christmas.
Great story, Evan. I know how blown away my wife was when she (with my daughter) got ready to pay for some stuff and the cashier told them that the customer who just left had already paid for it. These things will hardly ever get mentioned on the news, but it is exactly the kind of thing that can restore wonder and pride in a country that at times seems to be deflating at an incredible speed.
Thanks for Sharing that with us, sharing and giving from the heart is what this season is truly about. Thanks Again Evan. Charles
Very touching story, Evan. When I was about 12 or 13, we had a '58 chevy that had something wrong with the rear-end. My Mom and I took it to a local small garage, and the owner fixed it for us, then wouldn't accept payment as we were clearly not well off. Five years later, He called the house and asked my Mom if I wasn't about working age, to which she replied Yes. He said 'send him over and let me talk to him". Long story short, Mr Rich, (yeah, that's his real name) hired me and took me under his wing, teaching me a lot about mechanicing, and how to treat people... You just can't buy that kind of help, can you?
