'Can I borrow two cups of milk

[GoodDaughter]

...........

[flatwater]

Well good daughter you can't make a bomb out of milk that I know of and ya said they were sweet little girls so a prayer was the best thing that could happen unless you would go over yourself and said hi.

[WileyCoyote]

Not to burst your bubble or anything...

My experience with that is that "if you give a mouse a cookie..." I started out 'helping' just such a family, and six months later she sent her kids down to eat dinner with us. :rolleyes: Um, no. I didn't breed 'em, I won't feed 'em. They send the kids because, like the hoboes of old, they know a 'soft touch' when they scent one.

I hope for your sake it was just a one-time thing. I didn't mind my kids bringing their friends over for dinner or supper, or to play in the pool and have a cookout - but when parents start expecting others to raise their children for them, it becomes a question of "just how rich are you?" Even had one parent come to my door late one night because her car had been repossessed and she needed $1000 cash by morning. As one of my friends asked, "Do you have the word 'guppy' on your forehead?" Be careful others don't think so.

[GoodDaughter]

............

[annabella1]

I can remember the times where you could go and borrow a cup of sugar, or a stick of butter from a neighbor. The important thing is that you give them an opportunity to pay it back, when you see them again ask them for a favor, something simple like helping you pick some beans in the garden. Then they are not being beggers but being friends.

[backlash]

OH hell, I forgot the maxim of many here... I guess I should have just shot the begging little burdens on society....


You are right about that.
People are getting more and more selfish and uncaring.
My neighbors and I help each other all the time.
Several of them speak very little English but we manage to figure it our.
Good on you for helping 3 small girls. I would have done the same.
backlash

[countryjo]

I thought it was nice of you to do that........glad you had two cups of milk.....we don't always have that much.

[jen_in_southtexas]

That was very kind of you GoodDaughter.


Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

[RueTheDay]

Unless they start to make a habit of it, I would just assume they were cooking and ran out of milk. No need to assume the worst from the start.

[WileyCoyote]

That's true, about not assuming the worst - but you DID state that you had seen CPS down there at their house several times. Apparently you had a reason for including that little tidbit in your post? You shared your experiences, I shared mine. Shrug. If it makes you feel good to help folks, that's certainly your perogative.

My neighbors and I share and help each other all of the time - but it is give and take, not one-gives-another-takes. Just not something I share with strangers. What difference does it make to anyone on here if DH's honey oat bread is one of the sought-after treats locally, or if people love my ceramic creations and doughnuts, or if Don hooked up his buckboard and Belgians and gave us a ride all over town to celebrate our anniversary because DH helped him with his heart problem? I don't need folks' approval or approbation for what I do; I prefer and enjoy a symbiotic community relationship, where people work together, and I don't like to be taken advantage of - even though I have been in the past. And that was my point. But, hey, that's me.

[GoodDaughter]

...........

[Wyobuckaroo]

Here is my opinion on this one incident.........

Regardless of there past history, on this one day, you did the right thing. You were the "good neighbor"

Doesn't matter if there Mama used it to make a cake.......
They drank it half way home...............
They made mud pies with it..............

They were experiencing a life lesson in how to be a good neighbor.

Now, I don't doubt someone somewhere has had something like this turn into a bad situation. For the time being, it would seem there is nothing more to read into this than they are just kids, being kids. If or when this situation does take a turn for the worse, you can always ambush them. I'm sure they won't be suspecting it.............

Remember, kindness to children will ALWAYS be rewarded. If not on this earth, eventually.

Bless you
Wyo

[Anon001]

Gooddaughter, you definitely did the right thing. It's a shame when people are so selfish as to think those little girls or their mother will expect you to feed them.... YOU did the unselfish thing and those girl will remember it. If their mother or father had come to the door, would you have done the same? I would. And if you saw CPS there, then it doesn't indicate that the people are selfish or expect anything. It was just a couple cups of milk. But, seeing CPS there might mean that they can't afford groceries and maybe they don't know how to raise their own. But, the thing you do know is that you weren't the selfish one. YOU were the one that did the right thing. YOU were the one that taught the children a lesson in sharing and being neighborly. It's a shame more people aren't like you.

[flatwater]

Helping one another is how we are going to free this country from the grips of hell were in now. Well at least one of the ways.

[oldnndway]

Who ever knows Gooddaughter, but at that moment you were a blessing to that family and to those kids.

The fact that CPS was there could have been meant many things.
The fact that those kids are still living there after CPS left there means it must not have been that BIG a deal.

Love your neighbor ... good advice.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

OH hell, I forgot the maxim of many here... I guess I should have just shot the begging little burdens on society....

I would have given them the milk and some cookies too. Feeling compassion is never wrong. What you sow is what you reap...... If you feed three hungry little girls someday another person will feed someone close to your heart too. Love is compassion in action not just the emotion in your mind. True faith and true love are actions not simply emotions.

[NCLee]

I would have given them the milk and some cookies too. Feeling compassion is never wrong. What you sow is what you reap...... If you feed three hungry little girls someday another person will feed someone close to your heart too. Love is compassion in action not just the emotion in your mind. True faith and true love are actions not simply emotions.

Well said. We would have done (and have done similar), too. Over the years we've been burned a couple of times, but that hasn't changed our viewpoint. We'll help anyone in need when we can.

Don't know how many times we've pulled folks out of the ditch before our road was paved. Gave a fellow a length of hose the other day when he ran out of gas. (Dual tank and switch wouldn't work.) Gave another fellow enough to get to a gas station, a couple of weeks ago.

FWIW, I believe that because we help others, help is provided to us when we need it. A few months ago our truck stopped running on a busy divided highway with fencing on each side. It was a long walk to the next intersection. However, almost directly across from where the truck stopped there was a large opening in the fence that gave access to a store on the service road where we called for a tow. When we stopped the temperature was in the 90's. Shortly after we stopped, it became cloudy and we had a shower of rain that cooled things off while we waited.

Some may call that coincidence. We don't.

Lee

[WileyCoyote]

Since everyone is so anxious to refer and allude to bible quotes, may I remind you of Matt. 6:2?

[mom2]

Since everyone is so anxious to refer and allude to bible quotes, may I remind you of Matt. 6:2?

how can someone turn a good deed by throwing out a Bible verse - really sad

I myself prefer Matthew 7:12 - So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets

[gwhilikerz]

Since everyone is so anxious to refer and allude to bible quotes, may I remind you of Matt. 6:2?

So if we disagree with you about 2 cups of milk and then give examples of helping others we are hypocrites? I'm not sure what you need, but you need it badly.

[WileyCoyote]

TYVM, I need nothing. :D I am neither sad nor angry...

I didn't 'turn a good deed' - I made a point that telling everyone, even and especially complete strangers, about it, is its own reward. As did Matthew.

[Anon001]

Wiley,

Even though some of us know you didn't intend to sound angry or mad, your posting came across as someone that won't help anyone for fear of being taken advantage of... some see it as sad and angry. But, like I said, I don't think you meant it that way.. that is the problem with writing. We often come across in a way that we didn't intend. I do it too.

[GoodDaughter]

Maybe Matthew 7:9 would be more appropriate for some of you. As for 'trumpeting' my "good deed", no, I wasn't 'trumpeting' it, I was simply making an observation on an unusual happening and that I thought it was sweet, and I was a little concerned for the girls. That's all. I understand some are so jaded that they see trouble even in little girls, and that's so sad. Little girls are just that--little girls, and of themselves are not trouble.

As for bible quotes, there are many that contradict Matthew 6 if one reads far enough.

I am really sad that this post took such a rancid turn. I'll post no more on it.

[Anon001]

GoodDaughter,

I apologize for helping take this thread down the wrong road. I just felt like you did when I read your posting, and I felt that you were being put down for it and that ticked me off. I should have left it alone.

Paul

[cinok]

And i thought I was cynical. Little things like that used to happen all over the country many are afraid to approach their neighbors. You said it was sweet so i am assuming they were polite so something mus be right in the house. As per CPS being out there all the time it could divorce related or some other family battle, if the kids are still there things must be OK. You did a good thing as a person and that is what is needed in these days and time. BTW milk is one of those high priced items for those on limited budgets. If they drank it that's great but if mom was making some that's even better since the girls probably wanted to help.

[Grizzy]

Whether or not to help someone is a gut feeling on a case by case basis. Sometimes it's not healthy to offer assistance and sometimes it's small taters to share what someone needs. I do what I think is right at the moment and don't care or worry what someone else will think, nor do I need for my actions to be validated. However, sometimes we wonder if we did the right thing. It's how we learn. We DO something and see what happens. We watch others do something and see what happens.

I've done things for older folks and for children that I knew someone else should have done instead, but am a dishrag for both the young and the old.

We live and die by the choices we make... and sometimes we just sleep better at night because of them...

~Grizzy~

[sissy]

Very Well said, Grizzy
Sissy

[Southerngirl]

Gooddaughter,
I believe your name holds true and I think it was very nice of you to help the little girls!
Whoa, come on folks, I don't feel it's "tooting one's own horn" to speak of something nice that happened in your day. It's not like she was asking for anything in return from this.
It was NICE to hear a person still has some "goodness" inside them.
There's sooooo much bad in our everyday, it was nice to read something good, thanks for sharing it with us hun!
Southerngirl

And yes, my name holds true as well, I give "southern hospitality" to those that come to my door, as long as they mean me no harm....

[Anon001]

Is this deed from GoodDaughter the same as what we hear so much about now.... "pay it forward"???

When I was first out on my own, I had rented an apartment in a two story house that had been converted to four apartments. It was owned by a couple in their late 70's. They were also antique collectors. I can't remember what happened or what the man's deed was, but in some major way, he helped me out. When I stopped by their house to thank him and try to find a way to repay, he said something that I will never forget.. and that was almost 30 years ago. He said, "You want to know how you can repay me? The only repayment I will take is this. Someday in the future when you see someone else that needs help, you help them. When you do that, you have then repaid me."

I think that is a good way to live. Pay it forward....

[CastIronCook2]

Paul, I agree about the importance of paying it forward. Also, I can remember when neighbors borrowed (and paid back) regularly. Same for doing good deeds for others.

My 95-year-old mom, God bless her, regularly has folks over for tea parties and lunch and dinner. She enjoys their company, but she also knows that when she needs a ride to the airport, if she's already done something nice for someone else, she doesn't feel bad asking. Same with her tithes: when the weeds in her back lot get too high, she doesn't mind asking her church to send someone 'round.

When we borrow or lend or help another or ask for help, it's like a social bank we pay into and draw out of. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we could expand that bank to a national level? an international level?

[rAcErRicK]

For whatever it's worth GoodDaughter, I would have done the exact same thing.