February 20, 2014

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Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth

There are many kind people in this world

Now, I would like to talk about a few other memorable experiences I had that summer. After about three weeks of selling, I finally got a FREE bike so that I could go to more houses. YAY! The man who gave me that bike was also a saleman, his name is Stud. His children were all grown up. Therefore, I didn’t even bother trying to sell to him since the books I was selling were designed for high school kids and younger. Before I left his house, I asked him if he had any bike to spare, and he gave a small bike. I didn’t really like the bike at first, because it was quite small and it was a girl bike, lol! But then I thought: “Well, yeah it’s a girl bike, but whatever, at least it will make my life easier”. I am very thankful for that man. He was such a nice guy. Thanks to him, I no longer had to marathon for the whole day, lol! I always locked my bike to a fence near the area I worked after I finished work. Unfortunately, one week later, some highschool kids found my bike and totally destroyed it! See the video below for a pro biker :))

Be willing to help people without expecting anything in return

Then I went to look for another bike and I quickly found one. I don’t remember his name, but he was happy to give me a bike and he even spent an hour to help me make sure the bike was working properly. It was a small bike as well and I only used it for a day since it was so hard to ride. And again, I had to find another one. This man, his name is Mark and he was a teacher. When I knocked on his door, I saw him doing barbecue at the backyard. A few seconds later, the dogs began to bark like crazy which made him realize someone was at the door. I thought: “Oh man, he might be angry with me”. Luckily, when he came out to talk to me, he was very nice and calm. I asked him for a free bike and we went to his garage. But AGAIN, a small bike, this one was even smaller than the ones I had, lol! I thanked him anyways and left his house. However, after I crossed the street, he ran after me and told me to come back. You know what? He decided to give me the bike that he was using to bike around in the weekend! It was a big and fully functioning bike. Then he told me something that I can never forget, he said: “Johnny, you go out there and help someone like I helped you today”. At that moment, I learned something very valuable. I learned that when we want to help other people, we should expect nothing in return, and even possibly sacrifice ourself for the sake of other people. 

Here is another valuable lesson from that summer. At my 6^th week of selling, I passed by an area that has lots of mansion houses. I was like: “WOW! I have never seen so many beautiful houses like this in my life!” The people living in those houses must be so rich! I knocked on most of those houses, but I didn’t sell anything. I finally came to this house. I must say it’s the most beautiful house in that area (in my opinion). See this video for some cool mansion houses:

Money cannot buy you love because it's over priced

When I knocked on the door, a man opened the door, he was Caucasian. He looked very upset and he told me to come back another time. I came back the next day, and I met his wife, she was Asian. I also saw a little white girl hiding behind the door, calling her: “mom”. At that moment, I knew that the man was divorced at least once and this woman was his new wife. The woman also looked upset and she told me to come back a few days later. Few days later, I came back and I saw both of them. They didn’t seem to be “happy” together at all! My friend, you see the point here? Money can’t buy love! There was no love in that family even though they were very wealthy. Actually, I found love in a poor family that I dropped by a few days later. They were Filipino and they welcomed me to enter their house. They even gave me foods and chat with me even though I was a complete stranger. They were happy being together and the atmosphere in their family was really cozy! 

A little good deed that I did

Time passed by and I finally reached my 8^th week of selling. I was very disappointed at my performance and I decided to quit. Before I went back to Vancouver, I wanted to do something meaningful to make a good last impression. So I went to see a few people who loved the books I was selling but couldn’t afford the price. It’s pretty touching to see the parents having to say “no” to the kids, knowing that their kids might hate them if they didn’t buy the books. I remember this conversation from a family:

“Kids: Daddy, the books are so cool! Can I have the books? Can I have the books?”

“Dad: No, we don’t have money honey.”

“Kids: Daddy, I want those books!!”

“Dad: I said no!”

“Kids: *crying* You lie! WHY??? WHY???”

I decided to give those kids some of my sample books for free and they cried out of joy! I can never forget that moment and I am pretty happy with how I ended my summer, even though I was a total loser for several weeks.  That’s all I want to share. 

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