@Rockhead,
Rockhead wrote:so you've stated previously.
I think it only counts if it's done anonymously.
when it's done as a show, it loses something critical.
IMHO
I 've done it both ways, Rocky.
I disagree about "only counts" as u put it.
(Please
explain your reasoning qua this limitation.)
My reasoning is that
what counts is
how much
joy u create by the kind act.
That joy can be created in the recipient,
in the donor (me) and in witnesses.
For instance, I 've given unexpected cash
to children, while their parents were nearby, observing.
That has
THRILLED them. Thay
LOVE it; elation; huge smiles, or winks,
or thay came over and shook my hand or embraced me, invited me to dinner.
On the other hand, qua anonymous donation,
e.g., in the 1980s I was seeing a young lady
who had an 8 year old boy. I travel a lot.
While in a distant state, I sent him a letter,
to be postmarked therein, saying (as well as I recall):
"Mr. Joe Blow
street address
Forest HIlls, NY
Dear Sir:
1. It is the purpose of this writing to inform you that you won second prize in the Contest.
2. Here 's the money. [ A
$1OO.oo bill was enclosed.]
3. Better luck next time.
The Contest Committee "
I was never identified to that gift.
It can be
fun to screw with people 's heads, if u do it right.
I reasoned that each time that he told his friends
or his grandchildren, about this unusual occurrence, he 'd re-live it,
at no expense to me. I also liked the iconoclasm of disproving that:
"there is no such thing as a free lunch."
Giving to children can be
efficient,
in that their cash flows r usually smaller,
so that thay will get a bigger emotional lift, by the unfamiliarity of it,
e.g., once at a summer resort, I met a lady who mentioned that her son
(whom she pointed out) was 12. He was having his birthday.
Later that day, I had a
$2O bill and a
$1O bill immediately at hand, and gave them to him.
A few weeks later, he said: "U know, David, when u put that
money in my hand,
that was the most
money that I ever held in my
LIFE."
Someone has commented that:
" Life is a succession of special moments strung together by boredom."
I have not found that anonymity is indispensable, Rocky.
David
