The Lucky Kid

[TrailBeast]

Pretty much all my life if I wanted something it showed up before long.
Doesn’t work with money though, I have tried.

So we had a motorhome trailer, dirt bikes and such for the kids and I and we used to go for 2-5 day camping and riding.
Wife used to ride but gave it up.

Kids grew up, got jobs and we didn’t get to go much anymore.
One day I told the Wife I wanted to get rid of all of it and get a Mopar again.
30 years ago we both had Mopar daily drivers (when we met.)

Well wouldn’t you know, a 73 Dart popped up on Craigslist a day or two later.
Probably 10 years ago now.
So I call the guy and I end up telling him I would need to sell the RV first.
(This was when gas was real high and that thing took 100 gallons to fill up)

Two days later I end up selling the RV for more than I was asking.
(I know, right?)

So I call again and asked to check the car out and my Brother and I take off for a place about 130 miles from my house south west off Phoenix.
We knew the guy was driving it back and forth to work so it was drivable.

So short story, I decide to take the car.
He told me what he was asking on the first phone conversation we had.
I asked if the price still stood and he shuffled his feet a little and said he could take a few off but that’s all.

He was a young guy, not much mechanical knowledge and expecting his second little one.
Come to find out his Wife wanted him to sell it for obvious reasons, though he really didn’t want to.

We still talk on occasion and I update him on what’s changed with pics an descriptions and he is always exited to see the progress.
Also told him he would get first crack if I ever decided to sell it.

Anyway I told him the car was obviously worth what he was asking, so I gave him his full asking price and drove it the 130 miles home.
I get lucky all the time, so maybe he can get some lucky as well, right?

Remember this.
Young people sure could use help sometimes these days, and I believe that paying it forward can be well worth the effort in the long run.
You may never see that person again, but that one little bit of help when they needed it could change the course of someone’s life.
Maybe even many others, as paying it forward always seems to get payed forward many times over.

If some small act of kindness could possibly help change the course of a person’s life, maybe consider it.

 

[oldkimmer]

At the start of the school year in 2018 we had a high school kid come to the shop for the work program. Seemed ambitious and a decent worker. I took him under my wing and tried to teach him about the ins and outs of automotive mechanics. He was a quick learner and had a good grasp on the subject. I seen him last fall and he told me he is apprenticing to become a journeyman automotive technician. He told me that I am the reason he became a mechanic. That made my day right there. I told him I really enjoyed teaching him and that I was very proud of him. Kim

 

[RustyRatRod]

Pretty much all my life if I wanted something it showed up before long.
Doesn’t work with money though, I have tried.

So we had a motorhome trailer, dirt bikes and such for the kids and I and we used to go for 2-5 day camping and riding.
Wife used to ride but gave it up.

Kids grew up, got jobs and we didn’t get to go much anymore.
One day I told the Wife I wanted to get rid of all of it and get a Mopar again.
30 years ago we both had Mopar daily drivers (when we met.)

Well wouldn’t you know, a 73 Dart popped up on Craigslist a day or two later.
Probably 10 years ago now.
So I call the guy and I end up telling him I would need to sell the RV first.
(This was when gas was real high and that thing took 100 gallons to fill up)

Two days later I end up selling the RV for more than I was asking.
(I know, right?)

So I call again and asked to check the car out and my Brother and I take off for a place about 130 miles from my house south west off Phoenix.
We knew the guy was driving it back and forth to work so it was drivable.

So short story, I decide to take the car.
He told me what he was asking on the first phone conversation we had.
I asked if the price still stood and he shuffled his feet a little and said he could take a few off but that’s all.

He was a young guy, not much mechanical knowledge and expecting his second little one.
Come to find out his Wife wanted him to sell it for obvious reasons, though he really didn’t want to.

We still talk on occasion and I update him on what’s changed with pics an descriptions and he is always exited to see the progress.
Also told him he would get first crack if I ever decided to sell it.

Anyway I told him the car was obviously worth what he was asking, so I gave him his full asking price and drove it the 130 miles home.
I get lucky all the time, so maybe he can get some lucky as well, right?

Remember this.
Young people sure could use help sometimes these days, and I believe that paying it forward can be well worth the effort in the long run.
You may never see that person again, but that one little bit of help when they needed it could change the course of someone’s life.
Maybe even many others, as paying it forward always seems to get payed forward many times over.

If some small act of kindness could possibly help change the course of a person’s life, maybe consider it.

I almost always give asking price unless something's a total POS. For one, I've never been one about having to get one over or get the better end of the stick. Just never been who I am. And secondly, like you say, let somebody else have a little glory. Although I did negotiate 100 bucks off the price of my Ford truck, Gladys when I got her. Kitty and I test drove her and she had a dead skip. I asked the guy about it and he was honest, saying it had a burned valve. I offered him 100 less, because it was already a really good deal for what the truck is, and we drive her home. I have a conscience and it won't let me do something unethical.

 

[TrailBeast]

At the start of the school year in 2018 we had a high school kid come to the shop for the work program. Seemed ambitious and a decent worker. I took him under my wing and tried to teach him about the ins and outs of automotive mechanics. He was a quick learner and had a good grasp on the subject. I seen him last fall and he told me he is apprenticing to become a journeyman automotive technician. He told me that I am the reason he became a mechanic. That made my day right there. I told him I really enjoyed teaching him and that I was very proud of him. Kim

I had kind of the same thing happen.
I was the mechanic at a car lot and got hurt pretty badly, to where I couldn’t walk or bend.

I made a deal with the owner that I wouldn’t claim workers comp if they kept paying me the normal wage if I instructed the young car wash kid on what to do and how.

Years later that kid showed up at my house married with a kid and told me he was the lead mechanic at some large shop, and that he was able to make a decent living because of that time we spent together.

I apologized for helping commit him to being a mechanic for a living.

 

[68gtxman]

I got a part time job in high school pumping gas, doing oil changes and fixing flats. I asked the mechanics a million questions and one of them patiently explained things to me (thanks Frank!). I learned a lot and found that my desires included becoming a mechanical engineer due to the gas station job. It’s been a great and lucrative career for me. I tried paying it forward my whole life too.

 

[Shenango]

This post brought back a memory for me. It was 1979 and the year before my wife and I were finally able to buy a new car. A beautiful black and tan Mercury Zephyr. The following year an elder lady backed out of a space at the local plaza and crunched my driver's side front fender. I was upset as the car was barely 14 months old but agreed to get a couple estimates and she would give me the money. I went to 2 body shops for estimates and took them to the lady and she wrote me a check for the higher estimate. The total cost of parts and paint, of the estimate, was $800.
I took the car to a friend of mine who said he could save me some money and left the car in his hands. He called 2 days later and said the Zephyr was ready. I asked how he was able to do it so quickly and he said, a lot of good luck. It seems a local salvage yard had an identical car with right side damage and he got all parts needed for $100 bucks. His total bill was $200 so that left me a profit of $600.
On my drive home I started to feel guilty of a crime so I stopped at the lady's house and handed her $500 in cash. She was a happy person that day and I felt better about myself.
When I think of that day I can still see how happy she was but I do feel guilty for keeping the extra $100. My family probably needed that cash as much or more than she did but it wasn't mine to keep.
It is strange how some things haunt you even after 46 years.

 

[barbee6043]

I asked the guy selling the car IF I paid his totally jacked up price, what would he do with the money? He was an honest dude, he said probably buy a lot of wacky weed. We discussed the price some more...he dropped the price>

 

[Demonx2]

I had a young girl back into and knock over my brick mailbox. Totally destroyed it. Her mother did not want to turn it over to insurance and wanted to just pay me cash for the rebuild. I got an estimate from a brick mason and she gave me the full $1400 he told me it would cost.

The brick mason took forever to come and do the job but when he did, he charged me less. So I looked her up and handed her a few hundred bucks and told her it cost less than planned and I was returning her money. She was shocked and thrilled! And I had a clear conscious.