During my last visit to the Cinema, as I waited at the entryway, I sat down and put my wallet on my lap. I was a bit tired and just wanted to sit for a while before getting the movie ticket.
In a few minutes time I stood up to walk up to get the ticket with my friend, on taking a few steps I realised I had forgotten my wallet so I went back to where I sat, I saw that I had left my water bottle also. I checked where I sat but didn’t see the wallet. A lady sitting beside where I sat tried to tell something I couldn’t really hear well, it was as if she wanted to talk but then was bothered that she was overstepping her boundaries, luckily I had heard a bit of what she said to understand that she was hinting that the security guard had taken my wallet. I walked up to security guard and told him I had left my wallet, asking if he picked it up for me, he was smiling in a weird way and asked me why I left my wallet, I told him I was tired and it fell off my laps when I stood. I collected the wallet, thanked him and moved on. As I caught up with my friend who I was seeing the movie with she asked if I had tipped the security and I replied No thatI didn’t think it was necessary, she kinda insisted that I should and I got her point but then it never occurred to me to tip him.
I think the short discuss ending by me saying, It’s okay for people to do good for the sake of doing good, clearly, if I was in the security man’s shoes I’d have helped the person pick up their wallet and try to return it without expecting a reward.
“Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon”
― Adam M. Grant, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
Sometime in August, I was on an Uber ride and somehow the driver found his way into the gutter, in the bid to push the car out of the gutter we asked someone nearby to help push the car out of the gutter, in like 3 secs of combined effort the car was out. It was a bit into the night and you can imagine that I just wanted to keep moving, then the man who helped out requested to be given some money in appreciation, we found some change and gave him an amount I can’t remember, he rejected it saying it’s too small. I was so disgusted, I was asking myself how can you feel entitled to being paid for helping out a stranger. He was so certain I had more money but truly I didn’t have any money on me, it was a card trip. Situations like this make me feel uneasy when people are being extra nice in public or when they want to help out, sometimes I really want to establish a good relationship but when I think about how I don’t have the money to fund this relationship I pull back. A little familiarity and the next thing the person is asking for help or rather expecting you to always give money.
Sure we should reward good deeds, I don’t hesitate to when I can but it’s okay to do good deeds without expecting a reward from the recipient of the good deed. It’s a faulty worldview to expect that your reward (if there’s any) has to come from the recipient of the good deed.
Your reward doesn’t have to come from that person, your reward doesn’t have to come immediately and don’t be scared your reward isn’t necessarily only in Heaven as they say — it’s also on earth.
Do Good because it’s the right thing.
Do good even if you were dealt a bad hand.
Do good because it’s the right thing to do.
Featured Image: Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash