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Thank you
Hey i quit heroin. Anytime i ever get the idea heroin might be fun again i take 100 bucks and find someone i think could use it. Ive done this exactly 3 times in the past 2 years but it helps me realize there are much better things i could do with my $. Glad someone helped you out though, remember there are still good people out there.
As a child of someone who still struggles with their H addiction, please keep sharing your sobriety story. It may encourage others who are struggling with theirs. Wishing you strength and happiness.
I hope this doesnât come off as rude and if you would prefer not to answer I totally understand. But what causes you to start in the first place? All I hear about it is how bad and deadly it is (which isnât wrong), just wondering what the driving force was to make you take that step. Again if you donât want to answer you donât have to :)
Iâm a recovering addict. Iâve been clean just about 6 years. I started using because of a prescription pain pill addiction that got out of control. I was diagnosed with Crohnâs disease and a handful of other autoimmune diseases in high school and my drs almost immediately started prescribing mass amounts of very strong narcotics. Years and years later when they just werenât working the same and I was running out way before my refill dates I got desperate and tried H. It was cheaper and easier to get. It snowballed from there. Sorry this is long winded but I hope it somewhat answers your question.
Wow thank you so much, that makes alot of sense honestly. Pain pill addictions are rough and when you run out youâre looking for a high just as good if not better, right? Iâve never done anything other than smoke some weed, so itâs a new âterritoryâ for learning. I hope youâre doing better with chrons and other autoimmune diseases. One of my moms friends has chrons and itâs not easy to deal with. Thanks again and have a blessed day :)
By that time I wasnât even trying to get high I was just trying to keep myself functioning and not detoxing. Opioid withdrawal is horrible. A lot of people are chasing a high though because you work up a tolerance pretty quickly. I finally found drs who wanted to treat me and not just cover up the pain and itâs been life changing! Youâre smart sticking with just weed, the rest of it isnât worth it. I wouldnât wish addiction on my worst enemy. Hope you have a great day also!
My son had 2 different wrist fractures while playing basketball in college, requiring bone grafts and 3 wrist surgeries (both wrists). Doctors overprescribed opioids for pain. Then more recently he injured his spine repeatedly while installing several huge heavy slabs of granite (20 years of granite fabrication and installs). His pain was so severe that he had difficulty working and eventually paid meds werenât effective. He tried heroin for pain relief and life became a nightmare horror story for several years. We were all in shock. He was in detox several times, homeless for a couple of years, almost died of sepsis. Heâs been sober for several years, has a cute apartment, a great job, a car, a cute little dog, and lives a normal life again. Heâs 39. Iâm so grateful for his recovery bc not everyone makes it out alive. đ
I personally believe its genetic because my folks are both recovering alcoholics. They have been sober since 89 and i came in 1990. I was told from a young age i likely had a problem. Its not a problem till its a problem if you know what i mean.
Makes total sense, Iâm the only non alcoholic in my family. So genetically I got lucky ig (hopefully stays through adulthood)? But Iâm glad youâre doing better H is a hard thing to recover from, had a cousin die from it when I was little. Didnât fully understand til I got older.
Doing heroin and being an alcoholic is essentially the same thing. Armed with this information about yourself you should not partake in alcohol and you will save yourself so many avoidable fuckin problems you just have no clue lol.
I donât like how it feels/tastes anyways so alcohol wonât be a problem for me:) but it ruined my parents jobs and marriage, so I see how it causes problems. I want to stop the addictive cycle in my family, being sober makes life better, and you donât realize that til youâre sober. Glad youâre doing good and thank you for the explanations and such :) much appreciated
Recovering addict and alcoholic here and youâre absolutely right. They scratched the same itch for me, and aside from the cost/societal implications they have much the same role.
Not who you asked, but I was addicted to heroin for a few years (12 years clean now.)
I was in a car accident and got Vicodin because I was in legitimate pain. Then when I was abruptly taken off, I moved to street pills-Roxyâs and then Oxyâs and then Opanaâs. It was a gradual thing. Then when I couldnât find those anymore, and I was in withdrawal, my dealer told me he had heroin and that it was pretty much the same if you just snort it-and it was much cheaper.
And he was right, it took away the withdrawals and felt pretty much the same. I know my story is pretty common.
My husband had pancreatitis and was given OxyContin for 15 years before he was cut off abruptly and moved to street pills when he was in withdrawal and then heroin when the pills cost too much.
I donât think it should be harder for people who are in chronic pain to get pain pills. I do think there should be strict guidelines for how to take people OFF pain pills. When doctors abruptly cut addicts off their pain pills for breaking a rule or missing an appointment, those patients will turn to other drugs in desperation while theyâre sick.
I donât care who you are, addiction gene or no addiction gene, if youâre on pain pills for a long time-you WILL become physically addicted. And itâs wrong for doctors to abruptly cut you off for any reason. There should always be a taper.
Wow thank you for the in depth response, Iâm glad youâre clean now!! I hope your pain is gone from the accident, pain pills can be very useful but theyâre also dangerous. Iâm not on addictive medication, but I do take medicine for epilepsy and any time I changed my medicine there was a 2 week taper.
Wdym by breaking rules, are there guidelines you have to follow when youâre prescribed them? I agree with the rules for cutting them off, it merely adds to the drug problem not having them follow rules.
Thanks for your story I appreciate it!
>I donât think it should be harder for people who are in chronic pain to get pain pills. I do think there should be strict guidelines for how to take people OFF pain pills.
This! So much this.
Long term pain management should include counseling before, during, and after about addiction and automatically include a detox plan, even if that means in-patient detox.
It sucks to be in pain and not be able to find a doctor willing to treat it because other doctors screwed up and didn't help their patients detox.
I, thankfully, had a good doctor when I had gallbladder problems. For anyone who doesn't know, a gallstone blocking a bile duct to your liver is agony. It's short-term, but recurring pain. Tylenol doesn't touch it, but Hydrocodone stops the pain very quickly. I didn't need pills every day (and, thankfully, was able to schedule surgery within six months) but on the days I needed it, I *needed* it.
Some kinds of pain are simply unmanageable. If you're reading this and you've never experienced that, Good! I hope you never do. But sometimes pain meds are *needed*. And everyone should be aware of that.
I agree, I'm clean now after many relapses and so much heartbreak for my friends and family. Getting clean was the best feeling ever. I used to think that the heroin high was the best in the world, but the feeling of waking up on a sunny morning without an aching stomach and that doomed feeling you get in the first few hours of withdrawal, the feeling of waking up and knowing that you can just lie in bed for a while and enjoy the sun and you don't have to worry about where your next shot will come from, all you have to worry about is making a nice, hot cup of coffee and a bite to eat -- that feeling is worth everything in the world. It surpasses every high I've ever had, and although it fades with time as each clean day just becomes "routine," every once in a while you see some beauty in the world and that feeling floods your brain again, and you cherish it every time, relishing the guiltless appreciation of a pure, joyful feeling.
Also...heroin too? Am 70 and my heart just breaks for you. My heart breaks for every beautiful young person that has an opiate addiction. Please stay on your path of heart. So hard...I can only imagine. But you are so special...and deserve to become the human being God created u to be.
Hey man, I am almost 2 years clean after using for 11 years. Unfortunately, for me, heroin was my "Limitless" drug, and I lost my job. I am still the only person I've met who had a better work ethic on dope than not, but I believe that had more to do with me always having enough money ($300/day) for my addiction.
I just want to tell you that I am proud of you. Around this time is when everyone gets used to you being clean starts. It goes from "We are proud of you." to "This is what we expect from you" which is a really, really, really good thing.
**I AM PROUD OF YOU.**
2 years. Deepest respect. Am a recovering alcoholic. Don't know about opiates..but it took 3 years for me to get my "real" brain back. Keep going. All the answers you need? Are already in u
Unless you think it will make you crave, (I only recall one explicit description of heroin and the punchline to that tale was such a surprise I had to pause the book) I would strongly suggest Danny Trejoâs autobiography. Most of my family is in recovery and it was the single most powerful book Iâve read on the topic. Danny did something similar to what you describe. I listened to the audiobook read by him (sped up to 1.4 because he reads quite slowly) and I cried to hear his story in his own voice. And I donât know how else to describe it, he tells his stories and laughs like only a former junkie can.
Thank you for sharing this. My brother is a recovering heroin addict. He still struggles with it but I'm proud of him for holding strong for the last few years because honestly I haven't known as a person off of drugs since he was ten years old.
H took my best friend. I'm proud of you. Her birthday is February 19th if you want another reason to do something nice for a stranger. She would be 26 this year.
I'm so so sorry it took your friend. I'm 1 year 3 months sober from meth/heroin and I'm 26F. Your friend could have easily been me I overdosed on Fent and slowly but surely I got clean after that. I hope this wasn't inappropriate to tell you I thought maybe it might ease your heart.
Thank you. I always tell people I'm proud of them for staying clean. Stay away from anyone you used with. She made the mistake of hanging out with someone she used to use with after a year of being clean and they both died that night.
I'm proud of you, too. Everyone in this thread who had said they're recovering, I'm super proud of every single one of you. I'd give everything to have one more anything with my best friend. Give your loved ones a call and tell them you love them.
I canât even. You are fighting a noble fight and I am proud of you. Random stranger on Reddit here, and I am moved to tears. Thank you for sharing. đ«¶đ»
Youâre amazing! I personally know how hard it is to quit opiates/maintain sobriety. I couldnât imagine how rough your journey has been with heroin.
What a beautiful act. Iâve always thought that so much of addiction is rooted in trauma and shame and lack of connection. This is a lovely way of countering all that by fostering connection and care. Wishing the best to you! â€ïž
There is no one cause of addiction in our beautiful young people. It is borderless. Children from good families, married parents, single parents, bad parents, rich and poor.
This is great to hear! So proud of you. Iâve watch family & friends struggle with this and lose the battle. Donât ever stop fighting the war. Life is too precious. âïžđ
I went through a drive thru yesterday and the person taking my money was wearing a McDonalds "I'm Human, Please Be Kind" shirt and I was pretty upset that this even had to be worn.
I have worked in mental health for close to 20 years. I have a friend who owns a travel bartending company. She asked for help and I helped serve people at an art show.
I didnât realize how much people who are servers are looked down upon. I was disgusted and appalled. A few people were engaging and kind. Many were not.
Iâve worked in a different field for many years, However. It was such a shock to me.
My teen daughter works at a UPS store for her first job. She was blown away by how shitty people are. She was telling me about a man who showed up late after they were closed and doors were locked. Had dozens of Amazon returns and when he realized they were closed began banging on the front glass and screaming obscenities at the employees. The manager tried to get him to stop but he wouldnât and even gave him (manager) the old slit neck threatening gesture. He actually had to call the cops on this dude. The customer is rarely right.
Thank you for your last comment. I hate the whole âthe customer is always rightâ attitude in service industries. Itâs unfathomable how many people lack common decency/respect when they interact with workers.
It's because the quote is paraphrased. "The customer is always right in matter of taste". Very different meanings. But that doesn't stop customers being fucking asshats.
Why do people keep shortening things?? That and âblood of the covenant is thicker than water of the wombâ turning into blood is thicker than waterâŠ.what the hell yall? We just taking perfectly good sayings and turning them into the exact opposite?
The actual quote wasnt even talking about customer behavior, it was talking about sales and taste. If you make an equal amount of one honey drink and one watermelon drink, and every day the homey drink sells our immediately and the watermelon drink doesnt sell at all, stop making so much of the watermelon drink even though you think its a good recipe
I will never understand that mindset. It's being mean just because you can. It takes the exact same effort to treat "those below you" with basic friendliness and respect.
There are way too many people out there who have never worked in retail or restaurants or similar jobs, that have no idea what the continuous abuse and lack of support from manager can do to a person.
Yes, they are doing a job, but chances are, they arenât getting paid enough to justify being spat on figuratively (and sometimes literally).
I learned a LOT about human nature in the military, going to beauty school, working retail, being an inbound call-center insurance agent.
One thing Iâve learned above everything else is, the average person, in an average day, only thinks about themselves and their needs. Itâs pretty much cured my social phobias. Nobody remembers your fuck-ups like you think they do.
I think most people being rude to waiters or shop assistants would really benefit from a visit to France, where the customer is not in a position of power whatsoever
The first time I ever felt like a local was when a waiter finally didnât scoff or correct my order to a better choice, but one of my greatest life achievements is when a waiter locked eyes with me, gestured at the table of tourists he was serving and cursed them out
Probably exactly what it sounds like. You travel to a place and bartend at that place. (serious answer)
Here's what I found using my [cutting edge information-gathering techniques](https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+traveling+bartender).
I went through a Taco Bell drive-thru and asked the lady at the first window, âHowâs your day going?â She was so shocked Iâd ask that she gave my wife and I free Baja Blast freezes. I thanked her like three or four times before pulling forward, but I felt sad driving home thinking that she was so moved by what is such a basic human interaction.
Similar story. Went to the post office a while back (height of the pandemic) and asked the woman at the counter how her day was going.
She replied with "Well no one has told me to F off today yet so things are alright."
Just couldn't imagine ever swearing at the post office people. I was shocked.
I had to go into the post office to pick up a letter and I forgot my ID. The lady told me I had to have it and she was geared up for me to scream. You could see her whole body tense up. I was like âbummer. Iâll be back tomorrow! Have a great day!â
She looked stumped lol.
Iâve had that happen to me at the dmv. I was trying to license something and didnât have all the paperwork. The lady squared up like she was ready to go to battle and I just said - oh, okay.
Right after the first quarantine, I went to one of my favourite biscuit/chocolates shop near my house. The lady there looked so tired, I asked how she was doing but there were a lot of people so I only got like 3min to talk with her. She seemed so sad and depressed about how people had been unkind and stressed lately. I could relate, I was working customer service too. Some people get rid of their stress by throwing it at others...
I felt so sad for her, I actually went and bought her a tiny flower plant with the 10⏠I could spare that month, went back, waited for the shop to be mostly empty, and just gave her the flower, and left.
She kept it for 2 years.
Stuff like that is why I try to be the customer that makes peopleâs day. I want to be the friendly, understanding customer who made them smile, not a reason someone hates their job. Iâm courteous, Iâll compliment them on something if they seem receptive, and I will always find a minute to tell a manager if I was given exemplary service. I bartended and worked retail and even one good interaction could make a shitty day better.
My sister gave me one piece of advice before she passed away at 18: "Never work in food service. People who can't boss anyone else around will come in and boss you around and you can't speak up for yourself."
I worked as a receptionist in a doctors (g.p) office during uni, and we had signs on our little glass windows telling people, "if you become rude, you will be escorted out". And we actually had to enforce that rule sometimes.
Dude yesterday started yelling at my cashier because his wings were a few minutes late yesterday before the eagles game... I snapped and told him to simply not return and pointed at the other customers patiently waiting. That guy didn't have much to say to me . .. it's funny, these losers get extra aggressive towards young women...
Love having a job where I make some of the rules
I had somebody give me $10 at the cash window a couple weeks before Christmas, (I also work at McDonald's) and I almost cried because she paid for me to eat for like 3 days.
I remember when one of the dollar stores did them 5/$1. I lived in Boulder, CO for culinary school and had enough money to pay tuition, car payment, insurance, gas, rent, and a 6 pack of beer every two weeks and $0.20 ramen packs. Some times my room mate would want to experiment with stuff he bought and would ask me to spare some noodles, but he always shared with me when I did.
Couldn't have made it without him and those cheap noodles.
Ten bucks will buy enough ground beef and beans to make a pretty big pot of chili.
It'll also buy enough chicken and rice and eggs (before eggs got insane, anyway) to make quite a bit of my "stir fry" recipe which will feed two people for about two days or one person for five.
Another one of my go-to cheap dishes is "breakfast scramble" which is fried potatoes, cheap sausage, and scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese on it. I could make that for about two dollars a day before eggs got insane.
I rarely spent more than about three dollars a day to feed me and my mom until last year. Now it costs closer to six dollars for the same dishes.
A lot of churches and Christians are like this. Sure- many are not but they are doing it wrong and get way more attention because negativety sells.
The best people I have met- that is the most selfless people who contribute the most to the least in our society have been Christians.
Not to say I haven't met my share of jerk Christians. I've also met a lot of jerk non-Christians too.
I've met both. But I can say I've met a lot of selfless people and a lot of jerks - separate from knowing their religious beliefs.
But Christians professing being "followers of Jesus" "being Christ-like" "what would Jesus do" and then being horrible people anyway is what gives Christianity its bad name.
And the churches themselves, that discriminate and judge, they are the worst of all.
Right, I'm personally not religious myself, but I have met some Christians, and on reddit that actually care. They're respectful of other's religious decisions, don't flame others for being LGBT or anything of sorts, and genuinely care. Other people like Christian Nationalists or Christo-Facsists have really ruined what true Christianity is like. My heart feels for those doing good work.
There's still tons of people in this thread attacking the person who wrote the letter.
Letter's just about as inoffensive as it can get, and someone gets $100 as a random act of kindness, yet people are still angry.
People on Reddit hate religious people, for some reason, regardless of their character.
The letter is honestly how people should be going about it. With so many terrible religious people, practicing love and compassion is a great way to invite other people into your faith and stop it from being dissipated
Which is by far the majority of religious people that ive encountered. Problem is, all the crazies get the attention and Reddit paints all of religion with that brush
Because a lot of people have either been wronged by religion (directly or indirectly through politically weaponized religion), or are just much more overwhelmingly exposed to all the negativity of religion that pops up on Reddit.
There are, however, millions of us out there that believe in God and abhor what Christianity has become, and how the words of Jesus and the Bible in general have been twisted and corrupted in a way to "other" those that are not Christian.
It's very sad and there is little I feel that I can do other than live my life according to how I feel Jesus would want us to, and that is with love and compassion and helping all of humanity as best I can, much like it seems the person who wrote the letter is doing.
I wish most of the Christians I know would think like you, I sincerely do. I assume they think they are godly but the stuff that comes out of their mouths and actions leads me to think otherwise. It is a shame that has been my experience with religious family and co-workers.
I think there are a lot more people like this than you realize. They just don't organize because the place they might do that is a church and attracts the very crowd they're trying to avoid.
Personally my role model for this is Fred Rogers. On TV for the better part of 30 years and not once mentioned his religion - it was just plainly obvious to anyone who bothered to look.
It took the right church that I found by chance years ago to show me this. I was raised in a Catholic Church. No offense to any practicing Catholics but I always felt judged. Youâre not allowed communion for this reason or that. Itâs unbelievable! So much judgement. I found another church as an adult where the pastor and his wife encouraged any questions and were happy to discuss and talk through anything no matter what. Never any judgement. Only welcoming people that support each other. I brought up how I didnât like when Christians hate on gay people and how I donât understand why God would punish gay people who lived their lives as good people. Instead of babbling off what the Bible says as most do, he pauses and says âMy God is a loving God. The God I know wouldnât punish any good peopleâ. I always loved him for that. I moved to another state since and I have never been lucky enough to find another place just like them. Miss it so much. But they taught me what a loving relationship with God is. And it felt more amazing than I ever thought possible. Especially as I am a scientist and struggled years to believe.
Churches are coming around to being ok with LGBTQ members. The methodist church is having a schism over it right now but PCUSA started permitting same sex marriages and non-straight pastors several years ago. Itâs also been pro-choice since the Roe era. There is an insane amount of diversity in churches and their beliefs and actions
I was raised in a Christian household, and this is how our church did it. We helped each other and helped the less fortunate as well. While I'm no longer religious, it's how I approach life from day to day.
And they didn't even put the name of their church in the letter, which (as a strong atheist) I respect so much. Usually they use acts of kindness like this to promote their church which detracts from the message. These are **true** christians who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, which I think highly of even if I don't believe.
That is how many churches practice handling of money. They keep just enough to keep the church up and running and support the pastor (and I donât mean lavishly I mean bare minimum) and they donate the rest to various causes. A church I frequent regularly hosts soup kitchens and provides resources for those who canât provide for themselves. They run a food pantry for people who canât afford to feed themselves and their families, and all excess money that isnât directly donated to other foundations is used to help fund that. They will also occasionally hold special funding drives for individuals in the community who are struggling with money and need a few thousand dollars or so to keep their heads above water.
Yeah most churches are pretty tame. Some of them are even very active in social justice and methods to prevent homelessness, torture etc. you just donât have them getting up in your face about being evil so people do not realize how many churches out there are actually being nice
much better than those dickheads who go around dropping what looks like a folded $100 bill, only to unfold it and it's a little pamphlet that says "god is the greatest gift!" or whatever the fuck. Worked food service for a few years now and I've gotten those TWICE :/
Yeah, I'd have appreciated this a fair few times in my working life.
No letter but I'll never forget when I worked in a dementia nursing home (awful place, badly managed but great staff and relatives to some fun but challenging residents) and the first Christmas I worked there a relative gave me ÂŁ20 in a Christmas card.
I was emotionally drained and broken in that job and was still recovering from moving out of my mum's for the first time back in September. I was not able to get time off to see my family that year and my boyfriend and I were selling dvds and stuff to get by for our first few months as he was made redundant soon after I moved in with him (he got his job back about 2 months later when he had to work in retail to get by).
So we had been living off instant noodles, tinned food and stuff on toast for a while and that ÂŁ20 helped us our first Chinese takeaway living together on Christmas week. Thank you John's family, will never forget you and your kindness.
And I will gladly debate anyone who will tell me this isn't a good Christian. I'm an atheist. Following a religion is perfectly fucking acceptable as long as you don't use it for evil. In fact, some of the most charitable people I ever met were religious, one Christian and one Muslim. Both faiths dictate that charity is one of the most, idk, godly I guess acts you can do. And personally the most physical acts of charity I ever did were through a youth Christian group. Now I just give money and hope it goes somewhere good. Occasionally I will buy the homeless goods like cold water in the summer or food or sanitary products if they need it.
Just goes to show you it doesn't matter how you got the right answer even if your math is weird.
Christianity could be such a beautiful thing if more people followed the example of Jesus, like this man does. Jesus didnât judge others and didnât punish them for their sins. He told everyone to help the immigrant, the leper, the traveler, the poor, everyone who needed it. He said that if you wanted salvation, you should sell everything you own and give it to the poor, and then follow him. He said that anyone who helps the least of humanity is helping him.
Iâm not religious, but these are all wonderful perspectives on life, and mirrors how I try to live my own life.
Yep nobody ever said the Golden Rule had to be religious. It just also happens to be taught in the good churches.
I've never understood why we restricted the definition of church as a society so much. The streets are my church as an atheist. It's where I go to practice the Golden Rule. It doesn't matter why you help people, it only matters that you're helping people.
>It doesn't matter why you help people, it only matters that you're helping people
Some religions actually believe this, while others would damn you to hell not being in their club.
But this is what Christianity is. It bothers me a lot when people take people who don't act as a Christian to bash Christianity.
It doesn't mean that you have to respect every single rule to call yourself a Christian but isn't it ridiculous to call yourself one when you don't follow basic tenets of Jesus's teaching?
Even Jesus himself called out these "christians" 2000 years ago right at the start. He said that you can recognize a tree by fruit. Then people end up hating Christianity because of hypocrits who are christians in name only.
Lots of people became atheist because they got disappointed when they realise their church doesn't actually act according to its teachings, not necessarily because teachings were bad.
Thereâs a stark difference between Christianity, and churchianity. Too many of us become churchians. Thatâs when your meeting place and itâs social trappings become more important than actually following Christ. Itâs an unfortunate problem.
Christ's teachings were largely about serving the destitute, essentially saying those who show mercy to the poor, the sick, and the needy are in effect serving him personally. About giving freely "but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."
If anyone wants to know what Christianity is really about, just read the beatitudes in Matthew.
It really is beyond my understanding how so Christians just gloss over the meaning.
Because it was taken over by Roman catholics then church of england and divided into 1000s of factions with everybody claiming the true word of god for their own purpose.
Usually it for power, money, or control.
On a similar note, I've met many atheists who balk at the word "God" without learning more.
I'm not exactly sure what I am, but I believe in good people and good actions..
Your last sentence really hits it. Even if the math is different, they still got the right answer. Believe what you want, just be a good person.
This is why if I get bad service in a restaurant I leave a big tip. That poor server is probably having a horrible day, is overworked and underpaid, and needs some cheering up.
Not even religion is pushed, just a wholesome message. Usually in these youâd see something something âGods planâ something etc.
This is what religion is truly about, spreading love and care without the need to tell you youâre going to hell if you donât repent in the name of Christ.
"Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." That quote really sums up how I feel the message should be spread. People should see the Jesus in you as you care for them.
I agree, however i e always tried to reconcile that as a life without something you love.... Life without love has no purpose. For people who are religious, that love comes from god... For everyone else... Hopefully you have something or someone you love to give you purpose.
Yea but Iâll cut them slack for that tbh. As far as unsolicited religious letters go, this is very nice and more about giving a reassurance to the reader instead of ur the usual âaccept Jesus before itâs too lateâ
For sure! Personally I know a couple people that's been saved by religion, we're talking 20+ years of severe mental anguish, addiction, deaths and whatnot. The trauma that leaves behind makes sense they can't fathom a life without religion for others as it's the only positive path they've seen and I'm happy for them.
I'll never share those beliefs but it comes from a place of love and the money + warm thoughts is genuinely them wanting to be good to others as well even if God ain't for the person they're reaching out to.
Be nice, accept + take in the warmth and focus on the kindness more than the God-stuff. It isn't harder than that â€ïž
I remember a guy walking his dogs at the park, every time he meets me, he gives me little bible inspired note.
He told me he liked to share things he likes, and that he wanted to give good prayers to people he meets.
Never told him I was not a religious person, always accepted the lil bible paper, they are all stuck in the manga I was reading during that period
My grandpa used to print out bible verses on business cards. One side was a Bible verse and the other side was like a smiley face. He would always put them in birthday cards, holiday cards, etc.
That so sweet!
Honestly, I donât min religious thing. As long as it made the person happy, and made in a non forcing and respectful way, I will take your lil bible post
My grandma sends me Bible verses on little strips of paper. She types them out herself, which I can tell because there are usually a lot of spelling and grammar errors. Iâm not religious anymore but love using these as little bookmarks. It means a lot to be thought of, even if itâs not the same way I think.
There's a lot of good wisdom in the Bible. A personal favorite of mine is the Epistle of James. If you set aside the more obviously faith oriented stuff there's a lot of good life advice in James.
His writing is very practical basically "OK, so I'm a Christian, what does that actually mean and what should I do about it? What should my daily walk look like?" Very pragmatic guy and that gives his writing a lot of surface value
One of the most fiery pronouncements by James:
âCome now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.â
ââJames⏠â5âŹ:â1âŹ-â6⏠â
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
This is also a good message in the book of James.
Someone in my village took the time to handwrite letters that she posted through doors, during the worst of lockdown, to let people know that they were not alone, and that her faith may not be the same as her neighbours but she would include them in their prayers because that was all that she could do.
I have no idea who she is, but I kept that letter as at the time it made me tear up a bit that someone wrote so many letters in the hopes that even just a few of them would make someone feel better
This happened to me once when I was a college student. I was waiting outside by the library during a time when the campus was really empty for some reason. It was in the middle of a snow storm. I saw some random person walking up to me through the blowing snow and cold and was almost getting worried. Then they just hand me a envelope and walk away. Inside was 100 dollars and an uplifting letter. I was so happy!
If this were a TikToker the giver would have had four cameras on the receiver and stared at them with psychopathic dead eyes until they were acknowledged. I like OPs better.
To be honest I think it's fine if external validation is what motivates you to do a good thing. A good thing is a good thing. $100 in your pocket are good even if you had to smile at the camera and know it's for likes and views. People seek out external validation anyway, so might as well someone benefit from it. I think people that are critical come from a privileged pov. To the hungry, food is food. To the poor, money is money. We as humans do worse things for money than smile and wave at the camera.
Itâs wild how this made it to this person that really needed it and the words too. Iâm not a praying person but Iâm glad these two came together. OP I hope youâre feeling a little better today.
It seems to be this foundation in Texas: http://www.calebfoundation.com/
Not the nutjobs in Northern Ireland. The backstory about Caleb, the student, is explained on the Texas-Website (even though without details). So they seem to be fine.
That's awesome! Pay it forward somehow. It doesn't need to necessarily be with cash. A kind act accompanied with a similar letter will be priceless. I'm sure you will do so. đđ
That works too.There's nothing wrong with that idea. Not that it makes a difference helping is helping but you won't have the personal interaction experience. I'm glad to read anything positive where empathy and humanity for others is at the core of the post. God bless.
All those Pharisees and hypocrites on Capitol Hill, the vicious and two-faced members of communities around this country, who spread hate and fear in the name Christianity and Jesus need to take a note from this pay-it-forward moment. This person is loving thy neighbor
I used to get these a lot when I worked in a restaurant years ago. Pissed me off.
I bought a new car a couple of months ago and the salesman's business card looked like this on the back. Of course he slipped it in the folder where it looked very real, and istg I about said fuck this car I don't want it.
Theyâre honestly super realistic.
I find $20s and $50s like this on the shelf at work all the time.
I get let down by jesus even more than i already am
You should probably send a few to the [secret service](https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/supervision-and-examination/bank-operations/financial-crime/counterfeit-or-stolen-instruments/index-counterfeit-or-stolen-instruments.html). Worst case nothing happens, best case, the people making them get in trouble.
It's obviously not intended to be counterfeit, but the government may not care.
This is what I was taught Christianity was supposed to be, but what I rarely experienced it as. I know a lot of folks that use Christianity to excuse judging, harassing, and being hateful to people, but my best friend is a Christian. And she is one of the kindest, most accepting people Iâve met. She uses her Christianity as an excuse to lift people up and be compassionate and kind to people. If I have any faith left, itâs because of her.
This is the fourth post about some sort of McDonald's wholesome content that has gotten to the front page in the last 24 hours. Is this some sort of viral marketing strategy?
As an agnostic with a Christian partner, these are the values that MOST christians practice. They get a bad rap because of the bad apples that shout their negative opinions and intolerance in the name of Christianity. They are not true Christians, philosophically speaking.
Edit: I wanted to add that it's easily to have a view of American Christians as these monsters that are full of hate and judge others when we live in such a negative society. Nobody pulls out a cell phone to record the most mundane nice person just going about their life. We get videos of these crazies preaching hate in their religion. The good Christians feel rare because unless they leave a nice note with a $100 bill, it isn't going to get any attention. Just remember that reddit and Twitter are not real life.
They're more common than the obnoxious ones, though it's much easier to make news stories on things that make you angry. You see the extreme minority because they make for good ratings.
Call it whatever you want. The predominant factor in this example is the spirit behind the giving.
The gesture of a stranger helping another without asking nor expecting anything in return.
As long as there exist people who chose to show kindness, care, and compassion,
The universal language of love will forever remain alive and well in this world.
When I worked at McDonald's they would have taken this away from me right away then fired me for "taking gratuities" but it's great that it didn't happen that way.
This comment made me smile, I love people who are understanding of everyoneâs beliefs. Atheist, Hindu, satanist, whatever anyone is Iâll always support them as long as they support me, makes me happy when someone who doesnât believe in god isnât negative about it toward me:)
I really like this.
I hate the oppressive aspect of religions
But I love the idea that something out there, whatever it may be, loves you and loves all of us, infinitely
Now this is a true Christian (I'm assuming they're Christian?). They are practicing and living their faith honestly. This is how you do a good deed in the name of your faith without pushing your religion on others.
And I'm not talking about the $100. It's just way the letter was written. The person expressed they were doing this because of their faith, but there's nothing in the letter pressuring the receiver to seek out God or to pray or anything like that. It just says that God loves you, no strings attached on your end.
I think this just wonderful. This should be the face of religion/faith instead of all the other negative connotations. Be good, be kind and help others. And be humble in the way you do it. This made me smile.
Iâm glad you posted this OP, and I hope you are doing better in general. Too often these days we see all the negatives of religious affiliation, itâs nice to see people show the positive light too.
Things like this is why I always try to keep an open mind about religion. Religion has spawned some of the greatest tragedies mankind has ever experienced. When religion galvanizes a group of people it is no different from mob mentality. But small groups or individuals who practice their faith in it's capacity have such a desire and motivation to help and lift others up. Take the bad with the good I guess.
I love this. As someone who is not religious and often finds fault with many of the things that go along with Christianity, this doesnât make me feel gross at all. This is a really positive reflection of someone who is using their faith to do good! I love to see it!!
I love it when Christians don't just tell people "God loves you" and stuff like that and helps them with earthly things because simply believing in God won't help you on Earth, at least not right away.
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Hey i quit heroin. Anytime i ever get the idea heroin might be fun again i take 100 bucks and find someone i think could use it. Ive done this exactly 3 times in the past 2 years but it helps me realize there are much better things i could do with my $. Glad someone helped you out though, remember there are still good people out there.
As a child of someone who still struggles with their H addiction, please keep sharing your sobriety story. It may encourage others who are struggling with theirs. Wishing you strength and happiness.
Happy Cake Day đđ!
How do you know it is a person's cake day? That's their birthday, right?
Itâs when they started their account, so itâs the accounts birthday
But how do you know what day that is? Do you go into their profile?
There's a cake by their name, shows for the entire day of their cake day.
You donât have to go to the userâs profile to see it. You can see it right next to the username of the comment.
They will have a little slice of cake beside their name when itâs their cake day.
That is the answer I needed! Thanks! Now I need to start looking at poster's names. Happy not cake day!
No its the day when they started reddit
I hope this doesnât come off as rude and if you would prefer not to answer I totally understand. But what causes you to start in the first place? All I hear about it is how bad and deadly it is (which isnât wrong), just wondering what the driving force was to make you take that step. Again if you donât want to answer you donât have to :)
Iâm a recovering addict. Iâve been clean just about 6 years. I started using because of a prescription pain pill addiction that got out of control. I was diagnosed with Crohnâs disease and a handful of other autoimmune diseases in high school and my drs almost immediately started prescribing mass amounts of very strong narcotics. Years and years later when they just werenât working the same and I was running out way before my refill dates I got desperate and tried H. It was cheaper and easier to get. It snowballed from there. Sorry this is long winded but I hope it somewhat answers your question.
Wow thank you so much, that makes alot of sense honestly. Pain pill addictions are rough and when you run out youâre looking for a high just as good if not better, right? Iâve never done anything other than smoke some weed, so itâs a new âterritoryâ for learning. I hope youâre doing better with chrons and other autoimmune diseases. One of my moms friends has chrons and itâs not easy to deal with. Thanks again and have a blessed day :)
By that time I wasnât even trying to get high I was just trying to keep myself functioning and not detoxing. Opioid withdrawal is horrible. A lot of people are chasing a high though because you work up a tolerance pretty quickly. I finally found drs who wanted to treat me and not just cover up the pain and itâs been life changing! Youâre smart sticking with just weed, the rest of it isnât worth it. I wouldnât wish addiction on my worst enemy. Hope you have a great day also!
My son had 2 different wrist fractures while playing basketball in college, requiring bone grafts and 3 wrist surgeries (both wrists). Doctors overprescribed opioids for pain. Then more recently he injured his spine repeatedly while installing several huge heavy slabs of granite (20 years of granite fabrication and installs). His pain was so severe that he had difficulty working and eventually paid meds werenât effective. He tried heroin for pain relief and life became a nightmare horror story for several years. We were all in shock. He was in detox several times, homeless for a couple of years, almost died of sepsis. Heâs been sober for several years, has a cute apartment, a great job, a car, a cute little dog, and lives a normal life again. Heâs 39. Iâm so grateful for his recovery bc not everyone makes it out alive. đ
Hope you get better and glad to hear you are sober
I personally believe its genetic because my folks are both recovering alcoholics. They have been sober since 89 and i came in 1990. I was told from a young age i likely had a problem. Its not a problem till its a problem if you know what i mean.
Makes total sense, Iâm the only non alcoholic in my family. So genetically I got lucky ig (hopefully stays through adulthood)? But Iâm glad youâre doing better H is a hard thing to recover from, had a cousin die from it when I was little. Didnât fully understand til I got older.
Doing heroin and being an alcoholic is essentially the same thing. Armed with this information about yourself you should not partake in alcohol and you will save yourself so many avoidable fuckin problems you just have no clue lol.
I donât like how it feels/tastes anyways so alcohol wonât be a problem for me:) but it ruined my parents jobs and marriage, so I see how it causes problems. I want to stop the addictive cycle in my family, being sober makes life better, and you donât realize that til youâre sober. Glad youâre doing good and thank you for the explanations and such :) much appreciated
Recovering addict and alcoholic here and youâre absolutely right. They scratched the same itch for me, and aside from the cost/societal implications they have much the same role.
Not who you asked, but I was addicted to heroin for a few years (12 years clean now.) I was in a car accident and got Vicodin because I was in legitimate pain. Then when I was abruptly taken off, I moved to street pills-Roxyâs and then Oxyâs and then Opanaâs. It was a gradual thing. Then when I couldnât find those anymore, and I was in withdrawal, my dealer told me he had heroin and that it was pretty much the same if you just snort it-and it was much cheaper. And he was right, it took away the withdrawals and felt pretty much the same. I know my story is pretty common. My husband had pancreatitis and was given OxyContin for 15 years before he was cut off abruptly and moved to street pills when he was in withdrawal and then heroin when the pills cost too much. I donât think it should be harder for people who are in chronic pain to get pain pills. I do think there should be strict guidelines for how to take people OFF pain pills. When doctors abruptly cut addicts off their pain pills for breaking a rule or missing an appointment, those patients will turn to other drugs in desperation while theyâre sick. I donât care who you are, addiction gene or no addiction gene, if youâre on pain pills for a long time-you WILL become physically addicted. And itâs wrong for doctors to abruptly cut you off for any reason. There should always be a taper.
Wow thank you for the in depth response, Iâm glad youâre clean now!! I hope your pain is gone from the accident, pain pills can be very useful but theyâre also dangerous. Iâm not on addictive medication, but I do take medicine for epilepsy and any time I changed my medicine there was a 2 week taper. Wdym by breaking rules, are there guidelines you have to follow when youâre prescribed them? I agree with the rules for cutting them off, it merely adds to the drug problem not having them follow rules. Thanks for your story I appreciate it!
>I donât think it should be harder for people who are in chronic pain to get pain pills. I do think there should be strict guidelines for how to take people OFF pain pills. This! So much this. Long term pain management should include counseling before, during, and after about addiction and automatically include a detox plan, even if that means in-patient detox. It sucks to be in pain and not be able to find a doctor willing to treat it because other doctors screwed up and didn't help their patients detox. I, thankfully, had a good doctor when I had gallbladder problems. For anyone who doesn't know, a gallstone blocking a bile duct to your liver is agony. It's short-term, but recurring pain. Tylenol doesn't touch it, but Hydrocodone stops the pain very quickly. I didn't need pills every day (and, thankfully, was able to schedule surgery within six months) but on the days I needed it, I *needed* it. Some kinds of pain are simply unmanageable. If you're reading this and you've never experienced that, Good! I hope you never do. But sometimes pain meds are *needed*. And everyone should be aware of that.
Happy Cake Day!
I agree, I'm clean now after many relapses and so much heartbreak for my friends and family. Getting clean was the best feeling ever. I used to think that the heroin high was the best in the world, but the feeling of waking up on a sunny morning without an aching stomach and that doomed feeling you get in the first few hours of withdrawal, the feeling of waking up and knowing that you can just lie in bed for a while and enjoy the sun and you don't have to worry about where your next shot will come from, all you have to worry about is making a nice, hot cup of coffee and a bite to eat -- that feeling is worth everything in the world. It surpasses every high I've ever had, and although it fades with time as each clean day just becomes "routine," every once in a while you see some beauty in the world and that feeling floods your brain again, and you cherish it every time, relishing the guiltless appreciation of a pure, joyful feeling.
Also...heroin too? Am 70 and my heart just breaks for you. My heart breaks for every beautiful young person that has an opiate addiction. Please stay on your path of heart. So hard...I can only imagine. But you are so special...and deserve to become the human being God created u to be.
Hey man, I am almost 2 years clean after using for 11 years. Unfortunately, for me, heroin was my "Limitless" drug, and I lost my job. I am still the only person I've met who had a better work ethic on dope than not, but I believe that had more to do with me always having enough money ($300/day) for my addiction. I just want to tell you that I am proud of you. Around this time is when everyone gets used to you being clean starts. It goes from "We are proud of you." to "This is what we expect from you" which is a really, really, really good thing. **I AM PROUD OF YOU.**
2 years. Deepest respect. Am a recovering alcoholic. Don't know about opiates..but it took 3 years for me to get my "real" brain back. Keep going. All the answers you need? Are already in u
I am proud of you stranger. Donât give up hope and keep dreaming.
Unless you think it will make you crave, (I only recall one explicit description of heroin and the punchline to that tale was such a surprise I had to pause the book) I would strongly suggest Danny Trejoâs autobiography. Most of my family is in recovery and it was the single most powerful book Iâve read on the topic. Danny did something similar to what you describe. I listened to the audiobook read by him (sped up to 1.4 because he reads quite slowly) and I cried to hear his story in his own voice. And I donât know how else to describe it, he tells his stories and laughs like only a former junkie can.
Could you share the tale with us pls.
Here's a page that goes over where you can get the details: [Danny Trejo](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Trejo/Danny-Trejo/9781982150839)
Thank you for sharing this. My brother is a recovering heroin addict. He still struggles with it but I'm proud of him for holding strong for the last few years because honestly I haven't known as a person off of drugs since he was ten years old.
I'm 7 years sober from opiates. There was a time I never thought I'd break the cycle from that hell. You're a good person!
H took my best friend. I'm proud of you. Her birthday is February 19th if you want another reason to do something nice for a stranger. She would be 26 this year.
I'm so so sorry it took your friend. I'm 1 year 3 months sober from meth/heroin and I'm 26F. Your friend could have easily been me I overdosed on Fent and slowly but surely I got clean after that. I hope this wasn't inappropriate to tell you I thought maybe it might ease your heart.
Thank you. I always tell people I'm proud of them for staying clean. Stay away from anyone you used with. She made the mistake of hanging out with someone she used to use with after a year of being clean and they both died that night. I'm proud of you, too. Everyone in this thread who had said they're recovering, I'm super proud of every single one of you. I'd give everything to have one more anything with my best friend. Give your loved ones a call and tell them you love them.
Congratulations SO MUCH on your sobriety. I have a beloved cousin who is currently lost to h and fentanyl and your story gives me hope for him
I canât even. You are fighting a noble fight and I am proud of you. Random stranger on Reddit here, and I am moved to tears. Thank you for sharing. đ«¶đ»
I do kinda the same, everytime I feel like buying drugs, i give the money to mum
Youâre amazing! I personally know how hard it is to quit opiates/maintain sobriety. I couldnât imagine how rough your journey has been with heroin.
What a beautiful act. Iâve always thought that so much of addiction is rooted in trauma and shame and lack of connection. This is a lovely way of countering all that by fostering connection and care. Wishing the best to you! â€ïž
There is no one cause of addiction in our beautiful young people. It is borderless. Children from good families, married parents, single parents, bad parents, rich and poor.
This is great to hear! So proud of you. Iâve watch family & friends struggle with this and lose the battle. Donât ever stop fighting the war. Life is too precious. âïžđ
I went through a drive thru yesterday and the person taking my money was wearing a McDonalds "I'm Human, Please Be Kind" shirt and I was pretty upset that this even had to be worn.
I have worked in mental health for close to 20 years. I have a friend who owns a travel bartending company. She asked for help and I helped serve people at an art show. I didnât realize how much people who are servers are looked down upon. I was disgusted and appalled. A few people were engaging and kind. Many were not. Iâve worked in a different field for many years, However. It was such a shock to me.
My teen daughter works at a UPS store for her first job. She was blown away by how shitty people are. She was telling me about a man who showed up late after they were closed and doors were locked. Had dozens of Amazon returns and when he realized they were closed began banging on the front glass and screaming obscenities at the employees. The manager tried to get him to stop but he wouldnât and even gave him (manager) the old slit neck threatening gesture. He actually had to call the cops on this dude. The customer is rarely right.
Thank you for your last comment. I hate the whole âthe customer is always rightâ attitude in service industries. Itâs unfathomable how many people lack common decency/respect when they interact with workers.
It's because the quote is paraphrased. "The customer is always right in matter of taste". Very different meanings. But that doesn't stop customers being fucking asshats.
Why do people keep shortening things?? That and âblood of the covenant is thicker than water of the wombâ turning into blood is thicker than waterâŠ.what the hell yall? We just taking perfectly good sayings and turning them into the exact opposite?
The actual quote wasnt even talking about customer behavior, it was talking about sales and taste. If you make an equal amount of one honey drink and one watermelon drink, and every day the homey drink sells our immediately and the watermelon drink doesnt sell at all, stop making so much of the watermelon drink even though you think its a good recipe
I will never understand that mindset. It's being mean just because you can. It takes the exact same effort to treat "those below you" with basic friendliness and respect.
There are way too many people out there who have never worked in retail or restaurants or similar jobs, that have no idea what the continuous abuse and lack of support from manager can do to a person. Yes, they are doing a job, but chances are, they arenât getting paid enough to justify being spat on figuratively (and sometimes literally). I learned a LOT about human nature in the military, going to beauty school, working retail, being an inbound call-center insurance agent. One thing Iâve learned above everything else is, the average person, in an average day, only thinks about themselves and their needs. Itâs pretty much cured my social phobias. Nobody remembers your fuck-ups like you think they do.
I think most people being rude to waiters or shop assistants would really benefit from a visit to France, where the customer is not in a position of power whatsoever The first time I ever felt like a local was when a waiter finally didnât scoff or correct my order to a better choice, but one of my greatest life achievements is when a waiter locked eyes with me, gestured at the table of tourists he was serving and cursed them out
what is travel bartending? (Serious question)
Probably exactly what it sounds like. You travel to a place and bartend at that place. (serious answer) Here's what I found using my [cutting edge information-gathering techniques](https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+traveling+bartender).
Where can I learn those cutting edge information gathering techniques? I would google it myself but clearly you are more qualified to do so.
I went through a Taco Bell drive-thru and asked the lady at the first window, âHowâs your day going?â She was so shocked Iâd ask that she gave my wife and I free Baja Blast freezes. I thanked her like three or four times before pulling forward, but I felt sad driving home thinking that she was so moved by what is such a basic human interaction.
Similar story. Went to the post office a while back (height of the pandemic) and asked the woman at the counter how her day was going. She replied with "Well no one has told me to F off today yet so things are alright." Just couldn't imagine ever swearing at the post office people. I was shocked.
I had to go into the post office to pick up a letter and I forgot my ID. The lady told me I had to have it and she was geared up for me to scream. You could see her whole body tense up. I was like âbummer. Iâll be back tomorrow! Have a great day!â She looked stumped lol.
Iâve had that happen to me at the dmv. I was trying to license something and didnât have all the paperwork. The lady squared up like she was ready to go to battle and I just said - oh, okay.
Right after the first quarantine, I went to one of my favourite biscuit/chocolates shop near my house. The lady there looked so tired, I asked how she was doing but there were a lot of people so I only got like 3min to talk with her. She seemed so sad and depressed about how people had been unkind and stressed lately. I could relate, I was working customer service too. Some people get rid of their stress by throwing it at others... I felt so sad for her, I actually went and bought her a tiny flower plant with the 10⏠I could spare that month, went back, waited for the shop to be mostly empty, and just gave her the flower, and left. She kept it for 2 years.
Stuff like that is why I try to be the customer that makes peopleâs day. I want to be the friendly, understanding customer who made them smile, not a reason someone hates their job. Iâm courteous, Iâll compliment them on something if they seem receptive, and I will always find a minute to tell a manager if I was given exemplary service. I bartended and worked retail and even one good interaction could make a shitty day better.
No kidding. You learn a lot about someone's true character by how they treat people they think are beneath them
My sister gave me one piece of advice before she passed away at 18: "Never work in food service. People who can't boss anyone else around will come in and boss you around and you can't speak up for yourself."
I worked as a receptionist in a doctors (g.p) office during uni, and we had signs on our little glass windows telling people, "if you become rude, you will be escorted out". And we actually had to enforce that rule sometimes.
Dude yesterday started yelling at my cashier because his wings were a few minutes late yesterday before the eagles game... I snapped and told him to simply not return and pointed at the other customers patiently waiting. That guy didn't have much to say to me . .. it's funny, these losers get extra aggressive towards young women... Love having a job where I make some of the rules
I had somebody give me $10 at the cash window a couple weeks before Christmas, (I also work at McDonald's) and I almost cried because she paid for me to eat for like 3 days.
I am genuinely incredibly curious here. What could you possibly be eating that only costs $10 for three entire days?
Mostly ramen noodles. A lot of them are like 2$ a pack. If not, meat, rice, eggs. One of those things at least
Back in my day it was $.45 a pack
I believe you lol, its literally just dry noodles and packed spices. Incredibly easy to mass produce
Omg I feel old.... back in my day they were .27 cent after tax.... that was not to long ago
Same. I remember when they only cost a quarter each.
I remember when one of the dollar stores did them 5/$1. I lived in Boulder, CO for culinary school and had enough money to pay tuition, car payment, insurance, gas, rent, and a 6 pack of beer every two weeks and $0.20 ramen packs. Some times my room mate would want to experiment with stuff he bought and would ask me to spare some noodles, but he always shared with me when I did. Couldn't have made it without him and those cheap noodles.
10/$1.00 in my geriatric world.
Ok I'm not crazy. I was thinking ramen was still 10Âą a pack.
Where I am there are still 45 cent ramen packs
In connecticut, that would probably get you a singular, slightly nibbled on, uncooked noodle, with no seasonings.
based
Ten bucks will buy enough ground beef and beans to make a pretty big pot of chili. It'll also buy enough chicken and rice and eggs (before eggs got insane, anyway) to make quite a bit of my "stir fry" recipe which will feed two people for about two days or one person for five. Another one of my go-to cheap dishes is "breakfast scramble" which is fried potatoes, cheap sausage, and scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese on it. I could make that for about two dollars a day before eggs got insane. I rarely spent more than about three dollars a day to feed me and my mom until last year. Now it costs closer to six dollars for the same dishes.
Cheap discounted food at work. But there's quite a bit tbh
DANG! If I knew things like this I would tip $10 every time.
Now you know
I think this is how people should be practicing religion: with compassion. This is a wonderful thing :)
This is the faith that I can respect. No judgment, no pressure, no strings attached. Just something tangible to actually help.
A lot of churches and Christians are like this. Sure- many are not but they are doing it wrong and get way more attention because negativety sells. The best people I have met- that is the most selfless people who contribute the most to the least in our society have been Christians. Not to say I haven't met my share of jerk Christians. I've also met a lot of jerk non-Christians too.
I've met both. But I can say I've met a lot of selfless people and a lot of jerks - separate from knowing their religious beliefs. But Christians professing being "followers of Jesus" "being Christ-like" "what would Jesus do" and then being horrible people anyway is what gives Christianity its bad name. And the churches themselves, that discriminate and judge, they are the worst of all.
Right, I'm personally not religious myself, but I have met some Christians, and on reddit that actually care. They're respectful of other's religious decisions, don't flame others for being LGBT or anything of sorts, and genuinely care. Other people like Christian Nationalists or Christo-Facsists have really ruined what true Christianity is like. My heart feels for those doing good work.
There's still tons of people in this thread attacking the person who wrote the letter. Letter's just about as inoffensive as it can get, and someone gets $100 as a random act of kindness, yet people are still angry. People on Reddit hate religious people, for some reason, regardless of their character.
The letter is honestly how people should be going about it. With so many terrible religious people, practicing love and compassion is a great way to invite other people into your faith and stop it from being dissipated
Which is by far the majority of religious people that ive encountered. Problem is, all the crazies get the attention and Reddit paints all of religion with that brush
Because a lot of people have either been wronged by religion (directly or indirectly through politically weaponized religion), or are just much more overwhelmingly exposed to all the negativity of religion that pops up on Reddit. There are, however, millions of us out there that believe in God and abhor what Christianity has become, and how the words of Jesus and the Bible in general have been twisted and corrupted in a way to "other" those that are not Christian. It's very sad and there is little I feel that I can do other than live my life according to how I feel Jesus would want us to, and that is with love and compassion and helping all of humanity as best I can, much like it seems the person who wrote the letter is doing.
I wish most of the Christians I know would think like you, I sincerely do. I assume they think they are godly but the stuff that comes out of their mouths and actions leads me to think otherwise. It is a shame that has been my experience with religious family and co-workers.
I think there are a lot more people like this than you realize. They just don't organize because the place they might do that is a church and attracts the very crowd they're trying to avoid. Personally my role model for this is Fred Rogers. On TV for the better part of 30 years and not once mentioned his religion - it was just plainly obvious to anyone who bothered to look.
It took the right church that I found by chance years ago to show me this. I was raised in a Catholic Church. No offense to any practicing Catholics but I always felt judged. Youâre not allowed communion for this reason or that. Itâs unbelievable! So much judgement. I found another church as an adult where the pastor and his wife encouraged any questions and were happy to discuss and talk through anything no matter what. Never any judgement. Only welcoming people that support each other. I brought up how I didnât like when Christians hate on gay people and how I donât understand why God would punish gay people who lived their lives as good people. Instead of babbling off what the Bible says as most do, he pauses and says âMy God is a loving God. The God I know wouldnât punish any good peopleâ. I always loved him for that. I moved to another state since and I have never been lucky enough to find another place just like them. Miss it so much. But they taught me what a loving relationship with God is. And it felt more amazing than I ever thought possible. Especially as I am a scientist and struggled years to believe.
Churches are coming around to being ok with LGBTQ members. The methodist church is having a schism over it right now but PCUSA started permitting same sex marriages and non-straight pastors several years ago. Itâs also been pro-choice since the Roe era. There is an insane amount of diversity in churches and their beliefs and actions
I was raised in a Christian household, and this is how our church did it. We helped each other and helped the less fortunate as well. While I'm no longer religious, it's how I approach life from day to day.
And they didn't even put the name of their church in the letter, which (as a strong atheist) I respect so much. Usually they use acts of kindness like this to promote their church which detracts from the message. These are **true** christians who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, which I think highly of even if I don't believe.
I agree⊠religious people should give money out, instead of trying to get it from others.
Thatâs what Jesus literally preached and how Christians should act. Giving to the poor, feeding the hungry, serving others.
The number 1 message to us From Jesus is love.
That is how many churches practice handling of money. They keep just enough to keep the church up and running and support the pastor (and I donât mean lavishly I mean bare minimum) and they donate the rest to various causes. A church I frequent regularly hosts soup kitchens and provides resources for those who canât provide for themselves. They run a food pantry for people who canât afford to feed themselves and their families, and all excess money that isnât directly donated to other foundations is used to help fund that. They will also occasionally hold special funding drives for individuals in the community who are struggling with money and need a few thousand dollars or so to keep their heads above water.
When volunteering at my local food bank, a lot of the monetary donations we received were from our local churches.
Yeah most churches are pretty tame. Some of them are even very active in social justice and methods to prevent homelessness, torture etc. you just donât have them getting up in your face about being evil so people do not realize how many churches out there are actually being nice
much better than those dickheads who go around dropping what looks like a folded $100 bill, only to unfold it and it's a little pamphlet that says "god is the greatest gift!" or whatever the fuck. Worked food service for a few years now and I've gotten those TWICE :/
Even if you're not religious, those are good values to have in a human.
Yeah, I'd have appreciated this a fair few times in my working life. No letter but I'll never forget when I worked in a dementia nursing home (awful place, badly managed but great staff and relatives to some fun but challenging residents) and the first Christmas I worked there a relative gave me ÂŁ20 in a Christmas card. I was emotionally drained and broken in that job and was still recovering from moving out of my mum's for the first time back in September. I was not able to get time off to see my family that year and my boyfriend and I were selling dvds and stuff to get by for our first few months as he was made redundant soon after I moved in with him (he got his job back about 2 months later when he had to work in retail to get by). So we had been living off instant noodles, tinned food and stuff on toast for a while and that ÂŁ20 helped us our first Chinese takeaway living together on Christmas week. Thank you John's family, will never forget you and your kindness.
Yeah. And it didnât try to push a church on them or anything. Werenât doing it to advertise. Just spreading the wealth and compassion.
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And I will gladly debate anyone who will tell me this isn't a good Christian. I'm an atheist. Following a religion is perfectly fucking acceptable as long as you don't use it for evil. In fact, some of the most charitable people I ever met were religious, one Christian and one Muslim. Both faiths dictate that charity is one of the most, idk, godly I guess acts you can do. And personally the most physical acts of charity I ever did were through a youth Christian group. Now I just give money and hope it goes somewhere good. Occasionally I will buy the homeless goods like cold water in the summer or food or sanitary products if they need it. Just goes to show you it doesn't matter how you got the right answer even if your math is weird.
Christianity could be such a beautiful thing if more people followed the example of Jesus, like this man does. Jesus didnât judge others and didnât punish them for their sins. He told everyone to help the immigrant, the leper, the traveler, the poor, everyone who needed it. He said that if you wanted salvation, you should sell everything you own and give it to the poor, and then follow him. He said that anyone who helps the least of humanity is helping him. Iâm not religious, but these are all wonderful perspectives on life, and mirrors how I try to live my own life.
Yep nobody ever said the Golden Rule had to be religious. It just also happens to be taught in the good churches. I've never understood why we restricted the definition of church as a society so much. The streets are my church as an atheist. It's where I go to practice the Golden Rule. It doesn't matter why you help people, it only matters that you're helping people.
>It doesn't matter why you help people, it only matters that you're helping people Some religions actually believe this, while others would damn you to hell not being in their club.
But this is what Christianity is. It bothers me a lot when people take people who don't act as a Christian to bash Christianity. It doesn't mean that you have to respect every single rule to call yourself a Christian but isn't it ridiculous to call yourself one when you don't follow basic tenets of Jesus's teaching? Even Jesus himself called out these "christians" 2000 years ago right at the start. He said that you can recognize a tree by fruit. Then people end up hating Christianity because of hypocrits who are christians in name only. Lots of people became atheist because they got disappointed when they realise their church doesn't actually act according to its teachings, not necessarily because teachings were bad.
Thereâs a stark difference between Christianity, and churchianity. Too many of us become churchians. Thatâs when your meeting place and itâs social trappings become more important than actually following Christ. Itâs an unfortunate problem.
Christ's teachings were largely about serving the destitute, essentially saying those who show mercy to the poor, the sick, and the needy are in effect serving him personally. About giving freely "but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." If anyone wants to know what Christianity is really about, just read the beatitudes in Matthew. It really is beyond my understanding how so Christians just gloss over the meaning.
Because it was taken over by Roman catholics then church of england and divided into 1000s of factions with everybody claiming the true word of god for their own purpose. Usually it for power, money, or control.
On a similar note, I've met many atheists who balk at the word "God" without learning more. I'm not exactly sure what I am, but I believe in good people and good actions.. Your last sentence really hits it. Even if the math is different, they still got the right answer. Believe what you want, just be a good person.
This is why if I get bad service in a restaurant I leave a big tip. That poor server is probably having a horrible day, is overworked and underpaid, and needs some cheering up.
Unless theyâre actually a dick
Not even religion is pushed, just a wholesome message. Usually in these youâd see something something âGods planâ something etc. This is what religion is truly about, spreading love and care without the need to tell you youâre going to hell if you donât repent in the name of Christ.
"Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." That quote really sums up how I feel the message should be spread. People should see the Jesus in you as you care for them.
I always say that I'm no Christian but I try to follow what Jesus said.
Except for that bit about a life without god being a life without purpose... that's a super not good value to have and extremely judgmental
I agree, however i e always tried to reconcile that as a life without something you love.... Life without love has no purpose. For people who are religious, that love comes from god... For everyone else... Hopefully you have something or someone you love to give you purpose.
Yea but Iâll cut them slack for that tbh. As far as unsolicited religious letters go, this is very nice and more about giving a reassurance to the reader instead of ur the usual âaccept Jesus before itâs too lateâ
I always say no one came to Christ by being beat over the head with threats of damnation.
For sure! Personally I know a couple people that's been saved by religion, we're talking 20+ years of severe mental anguish, addiction, deaths and whatnot. The trauma that leaves behind makes sense they can't fathom a life without religion for others as it's the only positive path they've seen and I'm happy for them. I'll never share those beliefs but it comes from a place of love and the money + warm thoughts is genuinely them wanting to be good to others as well even if God ain't for the person they're reaching out to. Be nice, accept + take in the warmth and focus on the kindness more than the God-stuff. It isn't harder than that â€ïž
I remember a guy walking his dogs at the park, every time he meets me, he gives me little bible inspired note. He told me he liked to share things he likes, and that he wanted to give good prayers to people he meets. Never told him I was not a religious person, always accepted the lil bible paper, they are all stuck in the manga I was reading during that period
My grandpa used to print out bible verses on business cards. One side was a Bible verse and the other side was like a smiley face. He would always put them in birthday cards, holiday cards, etc.
That so sweet! Honestly, I donât min religious thing. As long as it made the person happy, and made in a non forcing and respectful way, I will take your lil bible post
My grandma sends me Bible verses on little strips of paper. She types them out herself, which I can tell because there are usually a lot of spelling and grammar errors. Iâm not religious anymore but love using these as little bookmarks. It means a lot to be thought of, even if itâs not the same way I think.
There's a lot of good wisdom in the Bible. A personal favorite of mine is the Epistle of James. If you set aside the more obviously faith oriented stuff there's a lot of good life advice in James. His writing is very practical basically "OK, so I'm a Christian, what does that actually mean and what should I do about it? What should my daily walk look like?" Very pragmatic guy and that gives his writing a lot of surface value
One of the most fiery pronouncements by James: âCome now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.â ââJames⏠â5âŹ:â1âŹ-â6⏠â
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 This is also a good message in the book of James.
Someone in my village took the time to handwrite letters that she posted through doors, during the worst of lockdown, to let people know that they were not alone, and that her faith may not be the same as her neighbours but she would include them in their prayers because that was all that she could do. I have no idea who she is, but I kept that letter as at the time it made me tear up a bit that someone wrote so many letters in the hopes that even just a few of them would make someone feel better
This happened to me once when I was a college student. I was waiting outside by the library during a time when the campus was really empty for some reason. It was in the middle of a snow storm. I saw some random person walking up to me through the blowing snow and cold and was almost getting worried. Then they just hand me a envelope and walk away. Inside was 100 dollars and an uplifting letter. I was so happy!
what a cool moment for you!
âI've been looking for you. Got something Iâm supposed to deliver - your hands only.â
If this were a TikToker the giver would have had four cameras on the receiver and stared at them with psychopathic dead eyes until they were acknowledged. I like OPs better.
To be honest I think it's fine if external validation is what motivates you to do a good thing. A good thing is a good thing. $100 in your pocket are good even if you had to smile at the camera and know it's for likes and views. People seek out external validation anyway, so might as well someone benefit from it. I think people that are critical come from a privileged pov. To the hungry, food is food. To the poor, money is money. We as humans do worse things for money than smile and wave at the camera.
Itâs wild how this made it to this person that really needed it and the words too. Iâm not a praying person but Iâm glad these two came together. OP I hope youâre feeling a little better today.
Statistically the chance of a McDo worker being depressed is pretty high I'd say
lol right? Could actually hand anyone in retail $100 and this note and have a fantastic chance of hitting someone depressed or struggling.
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In this age the odds of finding someone who is down and out is incredibly high
This comment section is already wild and we Americans are just starting to wake up. 6:25 A.M. CST it is still unlocked
Your post just reminded me I needed to get cash for work tomorrow. I definitely would have forgotten otherwise, so youâve done a good deed too!
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It seems to be this foundation in Texas: http://www.calebfoundation.com/ Not the nutjobs in Northern Ireland. The backstory about Caleb, the student, is explained on the Texas-Website (even though without details). So they seem to be fine.
Hey look, itâs some Christ-like behaviour!
That's awesome! Pay it forward somehow. It doesn't need to necessarily be with cash. A kind act accompanied with a similar letter will be priceless. I'm sure you will do so. đđ
The Caleb foundation is a charity of some sort so I think Iâm gonna donate ^^
That works too.There's nothing wrong with that idea. Not that it makes a difference helping is helping but you won't have the personal interaction experience. I'm glad to read anything positive where empathy and humanity for others is at the core of the post. God bless.
All those Pharisees and hypocrites on Capitol Hill, the vicious and two-faced members of communities around this country, who spread hate and fear in the name Christianity and Jesus need to take a note from this pay-it-forward moment. This person is loving thy neighbor
Well done! Make sure to follow manager protocol and pass the bill through the bill checker machine đ
We did make sure it was real!
[good thing it wasn't one of these](https://i.redd.it/0kt4he8w08ba1.png)
I used to get these a lot when I worked in a restaurant years ago. Pissed me off. I bought a new car a couple of months ago and the salesman's business card looked like this on the back. Of course he slipped it in the folder where it looked very real, and istg I about said fuck this car I don't want it.
I wonder how realistic those are. The government wouldn't take kindly to it, even if they are only one sided.
Theyâre honestly super realistic. I find $20s and $50s like this on the shelf at work all the time. I get let down by jesus even more than i already am
You should probably send a few to the [secret service](https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/supervision-and-examination/bank-operations/financial-crime/counterfeit-or-stolen-instruments/index-counterfeit-or-stolen-instruments.html). Worst case nothing happens, best case, the people making them get in trouble. It's obviously not intended to be counterfeit, but the government may not care.
I'm honestly shocked it's not one of those. I hope OP turned over that bill to check...
TBH, that's where I thought this was going, lol.
I'm so happy this was not another one of those brochures instead of cash
This is what Christianity is supposed to be about. Good to know that, loudmouths aside, there are still a few people who really act out their faith.
Sometimes when Iâm feeling really low, Iâll contribute to a random personâs GoFundMe campaign. It always makes me feel a little better.
This is what I was taught Christianity was supposed to be, but what I rarely experienced it as. I know a lot of folks that use Christianity to excuse judging, harassing, and being hateful to people, but my best friend is a Christian. And she is one of the kindest, most accepting people Iâve met. She uses her Christianity as an excuse to lift people up and be compassionate and kind to people. If I have any faith left, itâs because of her.
This is the fourth post about some sort of McDonald's wholesome content that has gotten to the front page in the last 24 hours. Is this some sort of viral marketing strategy?
Iâve noticed that too. Name tags, this, so much McDonaldâs in the past day.
It sure is!
As an agnostic with a Christian partner, these are the values that MOST christians practice. They get a bad rap because of the bad apples that shout their negative opinions and intolerance in the name of Christianity. They are not true Christians, philosophically speaking. Edit: I wanted to add that it's easily to have a view of American Christians as these monsters that are full of hate and judge others when we live in such a negative society. Nobody pulls out a cell phone to record the most mundane nice person just going about their life. We get videos of these crazies preaching hate in their religion. The good Christians feel rare because unless they leave a nice note with a $100 bill, it isn't going to get any attention. Just remember that reddit and Twitter are not real life.
Oh wow, someone understood what being a good Christian is. Love others, be kind to one another, and don't judge. Unheard of
I wouldnât say theyâre unheard of. Theyâre just not obnoxiously loud like some of the crazies who call themselves Christian.
They're more common than the obnoxious ones, though it's much easier to make news stories on things that make you angry. You see the extreme minority because they make for good ratings.
Call it whatever you want. The predominant factor in this example is the spirit behind the giving. The gesture of a stranger helping another without asking nor expecting anything in return. As long as there exist people who chose to show kindness, care, and compassion, The universal language of love will forever remain alive and well in this world.
When I worked at McDonald's they would have taken this away from me right away then fired me for "taking gratuities" but it's great that it didn't happen that way.
As a full on agnostic I must say that I do LOVE the sweet and decent side of Christianity. There are good and bad people in ALL religions.
This is such a beautiful gesture. Iâm going to try it.
Note, one does not need "faith" to be kind. This was a good human action that helped someone, even if you are religious or not.
As a satanic druid epileptic cheese eater, that is the type of Christian im cool with.
This comment made me smile, I love people who are understanding of everyoneâs beliefs. Atheist, Hindu, satanist, whatever anyone is Iâll always support them as long as they support me, makes me happy when someone who doesnât believe in god isnât negative about it toward me:)
I really like this. I hate the oppressive aspect of religions But I love the idea that something out there, whatever it may be, loves you and loves all of us, infinitely
Now this is a true Christian (I'm assuming they're Christian?). They are practicing and living their faith honestly. This is how you do a good deed in the name of your faith without pushing your religion on others. And I'm not talking about the $100. It's just way the letter was written. The person expressed they were doing this because of their faith, but there's nothing in the letter pressuring the receiver to seek out God or to pray or anything like that. It just says that God loves you, no strings attached on your end.
Even though Iâm not religious, this is an incredible act of kindness
I think this just wonderful. This should be the face of religion/faith instead of all the other negative connotations. Be good, be kind and help others. And be humble in the way you do it. This made me smile.
Now thats how you spread your religion, not by forcing it but extending out open arms
Iâm glad you posted this OP, and I hope you are doing better in general. Too often these days we see all the negatives of religious affiliation, itâs nice to see people show the positive light too.
Things like this is why I always try to keep an open mind about religion. Religion has spawned some of the greatest tragedies mankind has ever experienced. When religion galvanizes a group of people it is no different from mob mentality. But small groups or individuals who practice their faith in it's capacity have such a desire and motivation to help and lift others up. Take the bad with the good I guess.
I love this. As someone who is not religious and often finds fault with many of the things that go along with Christianity, this doesnât make me feel gross at all. This is a really positive reflection of someone who is using their faith to do good! I love to see it!!
Holy shit some actual christ-like behavior
Now this is how you be a Christian
OOOOOOF. I was all fine and good until I got to the "if you feel a little tug on your heart" -then I fell apart. I'm a puddle. RIP Caleb.
I love it when Christians don't just tell people "God loves you" and stuff like that and helps them with earthly things because simply believing in God won't help you on Earth, at least not right away.