@Roberta,
Roberta wrote:I bought one share of stock for a young boy. Why? Dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was. Because he was a minor, the share was in my name and his. I got a quarterly dividend check (usually not more than two dollars). I cashed the check and sent him the money. He loved this! For times a year he got money from me, and four times a year he and I were connected.
I adopted whales in the names of two children. Unlike other wildlife "adoptions," I got to select the whales. They had names. I picked a huge female for the girl child and a young male for the boy. They received siting reports and updates all year long. They loved it, and I enjoyed getting the updates from them.
Every year I visit the same friends for Christmas. I was running out of gift ideas. I pondered. I came up with the following:
I went to various health food and exotic food stores or sections in markets. I found unusual and/or exotic items such as cranberry mustard, pickled watermelon rind, etc. I bought a big basket. I wrapped each food item individually and placed each in the basket. Then I wrapped the basket. I threw in a small bottle of champagne and some caviar. My friends loved receiving this gift. Opening it was fun. They tried and enjoyed most of the things I bought. I got reports. The cranberry mustard was a hit.
As I was writing, I realized that these gifts all have one thing in common. Each kept me connected to the person I gave the gift to.
Each was in a sense a gift that kept on giving and gave back to me.
What gifts have you enjoyed giving?
"Risk a R.A.S.K." (Random Act of Senseless Kindness)
There have been many gifts, most of them to strangers in public places.
Mostly, I 've given
cash both to children and to adults. (The adults were usually chicks.)
I like to respect their
autonomy n their
personal freedom.
Cash enhances freedom. One of my favorite gifts was dropping cash
from a passing hot air balloon down onto the grass below,
with some children frolicking not far away. The pilot of the balloon called out to them.
The sun flashed in dimes, quarters n half dollars, on the way down.
Another, in Denver for a convention, was in a movie theater.
After paying for my Milk Duds with a
$2O bill,
I turned to 2 boys (maybe about 11 years old) who were behind me in line
and invited them to share the change that I left on the counter for their enjoyment.
Their receiving
$$$$$ on an
UNEXPECTED basis adds to the thrill of it.
Ofen (not ofen
enuf), I have dumped
$5O bills in front of a child in public places, without breaking stride.
I saw from their facial expressions that thay were surprized; then I saw them beaming
joy.
I 1ce abandoned a
$1OO bill in front of a cashier (very pretty brunette) in a bookstore.
She screamed in rage &
fury at me. She got
mad! I dunno Y. (Maybe she thawt it was not enuf.)
Street bums have been consistent in showing
very little interest when u give them a few dollars,
as thay inventory trash cans looking for bottles, tho each $1 = 20 bottles and the cash is ofen cleaner than the trash.
Another stunt is buying a chocolate pop from an outdoor ice cream vendor (teenaged boy) in summer
with a
$5O bill and leave, abandoning the change.
1ce, I saw 2 young girls (c.1O years old, give or take) lying supine on a rug
in a hotel lobby by a Christmas tree. I showered them in
$2O bills.
I doubt that thay were expecting that to happen (looked surprized).
In the 1980s, I was seeing a young lady who had an 8 year old son.
He liked dinosaurs. I got some stamps from the Post Office
with dinosaurs on them (not
real dinosaurs, just pictures).
I flew a lot around America. Over time, I sent him several
$1OO bills
by mail from other States, using false indenties;
e.g. I 1ce typed him a cover letter for the cash,
postmarked in a distant State saying something like
:
"Mr. Yadda Yadda
Address, NY
Dear Sir:
1. It is the purpose of this writing to inform you that you won Second Prize in the Contest.
2. Here is the money.
3. Better luck next time.
The Contest Committee"
(Those events were never associated with me; forever anonymous.)
My thinking was that he 'd
re-tell this strange event
many times to his friends, his classmates and to his grandchildren
and each time he does, he will
RE-live it, creating more
JOY at no expense to me.
I 've gone to many conventions of groups to which I belong;
e.g. the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Mensa symposia, the NRA,
the International Association for Near Death Studies, Republican Party, Astronomy,
the 2nd Amendment Foundation, Bar Associations, libertarian groups, gun shows &
gold coin shows.
In the convention hotels, when I've been alone, unobserved,
I 've abandoned
$2O bills or
$5O bills in public areas,
e.g. ballrooms or halls, on top of wooden furniture for whoever finds them first. Its kinda fun.
Sometimes, in a crowd, I 've just silently dropped
money on the carpet.
The cash flows of children r smaller than those of adults,
so RASKing results in more of an emotional SHOCK; its more efficient than qua adults.
For instance, I 1ce met a woman at a summer resort, who introduced her son to me.
She said that it was his 13th birthday. I had a
$20 bill and a
$10 bill immediately at hand,
(I 'd been swimming, using my false wallet near the pool) with which I begifted him for the occasion.
A few weeks thereafter, we were sitting on the porch in conversation
and he said to me: "u know, David, when u put that money in my hand,
that was
THE MOST MONEY that I had ever held
in my life!"
It made a good impression on him; that was what I wanted.
RASKs r not exercises in finances; thay r exercises in hedonics -- to create
JOY
In December, I attended the 1OOth birthday party of an old friend.
His 8 year old great-grandson looked bored. I sought to rescue him
from his boredom with a
$2O bill. It was an
emergency.
(I have a hunch that he was not expecting that to happen.)
Half an hour later, he was still holding it in his hand.
He said that he did not have a wallet. (That happens a lot.)
I did not have a spare wallet with me, or I 'd have stuffed
a respectable amount of cash into it and given it to him.
I suggested to his mother that she get him one.
A gentleman is not properly dressed without his wallet or his guns.
RASKing has been kind of an informal hobby of mine over the years, decades n centuries.
Another stunt is when food in a restaurant has been outstandingly good,
and when I like the looks of my waitress, I've tipped her in
$1OO bills b4 the check is presented.
Sometimes thay r surprized at that.
1ce I tipped a singularly
BEAUTIFUL blonde court reporter a
$1OO bill at the end of a deposition.
She showed no interest in it, as I left. ( I have
NEVER seen a court reporter get tipped
anything except
then.)
I deemed my gift to have
failed to create joy for the
blonde. Sad.
A few years later when I met her again on-the-job, she seemed happy with me. Maybe she remembered.
In some restaurants, I have called over
particularly beautiful young ladies and begifted them with
$1OO bills.
Thay have inquired qua the reason for that, to which I have answered:
"because u won the contest." Thay asked "what contest?"
I said: "the most beautiful girl around here contest." That was fun.
Possibly, we have a hobby in common, Roberta.
David
