Just out of curiosity....

[NeoConMan]

I've known many Masons in my lifetime, every single one was a stand-up guy - and successful.

I regret not joining over the years, despite the urging of a couple friends to do so.

 

But nobody has to join any group to make a difference - just do it.

 

What do the Peaceniks and hippies always preach - random acts of kindness?

Like nobody ever thought of that before?

 

All kinds of things you can simply get up and go do.

If nobody sees you, then you don't get the pat on the back or big thanks of your fellow man.

If that sort of thing is important, then do more with your church or go join some civic association.

 

I often find them to be a waste of time if very many people get involved - lost in self-congratulation.

I prefer to do things on my own.

 

I know the local cops, the head of the local property owners group, and all my neighbors.

Good friends with the contractor who built my house and still works in the area.

If I'm up in the wee hours (quite often with my nutty schedule) I'll cruise the area to see if kids are prowling.

Striking up a friendly conversation is all it takes to make them decide to go home to avoid trouble.

The kids living near me all know me - and know I talk to their parents regularly....

 

 

 

Off the top of my head, here's a few "random" acts I've been known to perform.

Feel free to follow my example or, even better, come up with some that better match your environment.

 

Something as simple as waiting for somebody behind you to get through the door you're holding.

 

Allowing old people to go ahead of me in ANY line I'm standing in.

 

Quietly buying a meal for a military man/woman in uniform at any restaurant you happen to be in.

Family included if they're together.

 

Find a pizza place that's open on Thanksgiving/Christmas, or at least late on Christmas Eve.

Tell the local police and fire guys you're buying half a dozen loaded pizzas for them.

Have one of their guys meet you at the restaurant to pick 'em up.

If they're working the holidays for us, that's the least we can do for them.

 

Picking up your neighbor's newspapers, flyers, trash if they haven't done it for a couple days.

Maybe they left town, or they aren't feeling well.

Keeps your neighborhood more secure.

 

Last two weekends, I took my dog out to the surrounding desert to pick up dumped trash/tires/junk.

Keeps the roads near me cleaner, people dump less sh!t in my area.

I've found and reported probably a dozen stolen cars in the last ten years....

 

Any time I go out 4x4ing or shooting in the desert or mountains, I ALWAYS haul extra trash home with me.

I keep huge heavy-duty garbage bags in my truck for numerous reasons - that's just one.

 

 

Most people don't care.

I've had them drive right past me and not even look twice - but the kids in the car do.

Maybe the kids will get it, when they're at school being indoctrinated the way they are nowadays...

 

My wife knows what I'm doing, my kids do too.

Some of my neighbors have an idea, and they think it's "neat" but they don't have the time - like I do?

 

Just do it.

 

Don't think about it, talk about it, watch others and admire their efforts - just get off your butt and do it.

[yoda]

I've known many Masons in my lifetime' date=' every single one was a stand-up guy - and successful.

I regret not joining over the years, despite the urging of a couple friends to do so.

 

But nobody has to join any group to make a difference - just do it.

 

What do the Peaceniks and hippies always preach - random acts of kindness?

Like [i']nobody[/i] ever thought of that before?

 

All kinds of things you can simply get up and go do.

If nobody sees you, then you don't get the pat on the back or big thanks of your fellow man.

If that sort of thing is important, then do more with your church or go join some civic association.

 

I often find them to be a waste of time if very many people get involved - lost in self-congratulation.

I prefer to do things on my own.

 

I know the local cops, the head of the local property owners group, and all my neighbors.

Good friends with the contractor who built my house and still works in the area.

If I'm up in the wee hours (quite often with my nutty schedule) I'll cruise the area to see if kids are prowling.

Striking up a friendly conversation is all it takes to make them decide to go home to avoid trouble.

The kids living near me all know me - and know I talk to their parents regularly....

 

 

 

Off the top of my head, here's a few "random" acts I've been known to perform.

Feel free to follow my example or, even better, come up with some that better match your environment.

 

Something as simple as waiting for somebody behind you to get through the door you're holding.

 

Allowing old people to go ahead of me in ANY line I'm standing in.

 

Quietly buying a meal for a military man/woman in uniform at any restaurant you happen to be in.

Family included if they're together.

 

Find a pizza place that's open on Thanksgiving/Christmas, or at least late on Christmas Eve.

Tell the local police and fire guys you're buying half a dozen loaded pizzas for them.

Have one of their guys meet you at the restaurant to pick 'em up.

If they're working the holidays for us, that's the least we can do for them.

 

Picking up your neighbor's newspapers, flyers, trash if they haven't done it for a couple days.

Maybe they left town, or they aren't feeling well.

Keeps your neighborhood more secure.

 

Last two weekends, I took my dog out to the surrounding desert to pick up dumped trash/tires/junk.

Keeps the roads near me cleaner, people dump less sh!t in my area.

I've found and reported probably a dozen stolen cars in the last ten years....

 

Any time I go out 4x4ing or shooting in the desert or mountains, I ALWAYS haul extra trash home with me.

I keep huge heavy-duty garbage bags in my truck for numerous reasons - that's just one.

 

 

Most people don't care.

I've had them drive right past me and not even look twice - but the kids in the car do.

Maybe the kids will get it, when they're at school being indoctrinated the way they are nowadays...

 

My wife knows what I'm doing, my kids do too.

Some of my neighbors have an idea, and they think it's "neat" but they don't have the time - like I do?

 

Just do it.

 

Don't think about it, talk about it, watch others and admire their efforts - just get off your butt and do it.

 

 

 

 

I wish more people would do this!!!!!! RIGHT ON NEO!!!

[RichCI]

I've known many Masons in my lifetime' date=' every single one was a stand-up guy - and successful.

I regret not joining over the years, despite the urging of a couple friends to do so.[/quote']

 

It's never too late. We have guys in my lodge who have joined at ages greater than yours.

 

But nobody has to join any group to make a difference - just do it.

 

What do the Peaceniks and hippies always preach - random acts of kindness?

Like nobody ever thought of that before?

 

All kinds of things you can simply get up and go do.

 

Amen! Just making someone's every day journey a little better or easier is a great thing - open the door for the FedEx guy, let someone out in front of you in front of traffic, hold the elevator, whatever. Some like the saying "No small deed goes unpunnished" but I'd rather take my chances than leave somebody hanging.

 

You go, Neo! You don't have to be a part of an organization to do any of that stuff.

[milod]

Membership in any social institution tends to be dependent on two factors: First, that one has a personality that would "fit" into a given institution, and secondly that others in that institution "connect" with the potential member.

 

That's true of everything from Boy Scouts to Rotary, churches to the PTA, Ducks Unlimited or PETA.

 

I've made the point, for example, that most of the people on this forum have much, much more in common than one might have imagined in the past when we had some pretty nasty flaming over politics and stuff.

 

It's not a joke that we all share a culture that values the guitar both as an instrument to listen to playing variations of music we understand, and as an instrument we want to be able to use to create our own music.

 

Consider that cultures without the guitar are very, very different. We can leave it at that. I honestly believe from my own experience that as other cultures adopt the guitar and music it "fits," it's easier to communicate with them.

 

I think we've had our ups and downs in "western" culture the past 50 years because every one of us on this forum is so young. Even me. I don't remember what it took to make it through the depression, or a world war. While folks of that generation were building something better, I was playing with toy trucks or learning to argue philosophy - which I later did rather extensively, the arguing, anyway.

 

Some of us will be comfortable developing a habit of joining this group or that group if we share the values. Some of us won't. I think personally that it is good to join some sort of group whose values we share whether it's the Lions Club or some local "church." I think also that it's good for children to see parents have values beyond themselves.

 

My concern for the broader culture at this point in history is whether we do very well at both having a strong set of values and yet also being strongly "tolerant" when there are differences exposed. It's not easy, and most of us have trouble at times in harmonizing the two.

 

m

[cookieman15061]

GROUP HUG!!!!