I was 19, about to start my sophomore year of college. It was the first evening in our apartment (I had not even spent the night there yet) on a late August evening when a knock came at our door. A kid from Hawaii in his early twenties was on the other side, and he asked politely, "Do any of you have a twenty dollar bill I could borrow?"
Well, I don't know about you. But I'm not the first to raise my hand to give that amount of money to total strangers under the supposed pretense of letting them "borrow" it. I had just paid for tuition and the deposit and first month's rent on my apartment. And on an undergrad minimum-wage type income, well, 20 bucks was my grocery budget for the week and then some. But I heard the guy out.
His wallet and his phone were locked in his sister's car, who happened to be at the temple and was unreachable. He was to pick up a girl for a date in less than half an hour. He couldn't reschedule the date because he didn't have the girl's number memorized AND because she was leaving on her mission the very next morning and he wouldn't see her again for 18 months. None of his roommates were home, and since he was pretty new to the area himself he truly didn't have another soul to ask. So he started knocking doors of the complex asking for money.
None of my roommates had any cash. This kid's eyes were desperate--either he really REALLY liked this girl and didn't want to mess this date up, or he was a phony with a real talent for acting. I had two Andrew Jacksons in my wallet...so... I gave him one. He promised to return the funds within the week.
And you know something?
He did!
I got a nice card the following Sunday with a fresh 20 and a keychain from Hawaii that read, "That was the best 20 dollars! Thank you so much!"
I got to know him a little at social gatherings over the semester, but I didn't think much of it and forgot about it.
Four years later I was working as a secretary at the advisement center on campus. I looked up to greet the client that walked through the door, and I saw Hawaiian kid! I knew immediately who he was because I have an elephant brain, and I stopped him and said in all my awkwardness, "HEY! I know you, I lent you 20 bucks once so you could go on a date with a girl before she left on her mission."
It took him a minute (that's kind of the most random thing for a secretary to shout out at you), but then his eyes lit up and he said, "Oh yeah! Hey thanks. You know something, I married that girl!!"
Mic drop. MIC DROP PEOPLE.
Sometimes you have to take caution. But sometimes you have to just take a risk and help a brother out.
P.S. For any of you skeptics this is a TRUE STORY haha and I have witnesses!
Well, I don't know about you. But I'm not the first to raise my hand to give that amount of money to total strangers under the supposed pretense of letting them "borrow" it. I had just paid for tuition and the deposit and first month's rent on my apartment. And on an undergrad minimum-wage type income, well, 20 bucks was my grocery budget for the week and then some. But I heard the guy out.
His wallet and his phone were locked in his sister's car, who happened to be at the temple and was unreachable. He was to pick up a girl for a date in less than half an hour. He couldn't reschedule the date because he didn't have the girl's number memorized AND because she was leaving on her mission the very next morning and he wouldn't see her again for 18 months. None of his roommates were home, and since he was pretty new to the area himself he truly didn't have another soul to ask. So he started knocking doors of the complex asking for money.
None of my roommates had any cash. This kid's eyes were desperate--either he really REALLY liked this girl and didn't want to mess this date up, or he was a phony with a real talent for acting. I had two Andrew Jacksons in my wallet...so... I gave him one. He promised to return the funds within the week.
And you know something?
He did!
I got a nice card the following Sunday with a fresh 20 and a keychain from Hawaii that read, "That was the best 20 dollars! Thank you so much!"
I got to know him a little at social gatherings over the semester, but I didn't think much of it and forgot about it.
Four years later I was working as a secretary at the advisement center on campus. I looked up to greet the client that walked through the door, and I saw Hawaiian kid! I knew immediately who he was because I have an elephant brain, and I stopped him and said in all my awkwardness, "HEY! I know you, I lent you 20 bucks once so you could go on a date with a girl before she left on her mission."
It took him a minute (that's kind of the most random thing for a secretary to shout out at you), but then his eyes lit up and he said, "Oh yeah! Hey thanks. You know something, I married that girl!!"
Mic drop. MIC DROP PEOPLE.
Sometimes you have to take caution. But sometimes you have to just take a risk and help a brother out.
P.S. For any of you skeptics this is a TRUE STORY haha and I have witnesses!
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