Sunday, September 04, 2011

The Richest Man on the Bus.

Post 752 ~~ Sunday, 4th September, 2011.

Hello my friends ~~ I hope everything in your lives is going
well and that you are all happy and content. I am doing fine.
It has been a lovely sunny day, and I had a visit from my
cousins, Phyl, Gordon and Phyl's sister Edna. They even
brought chicken and salad for our lunch, which was lovely as
I haven't had many salads lately. That time is coming as the
weather gets warmer.
A very Happy Father's Day to all the Aussie Dads.
I took a few photos from my garden so will show you these - -




Some daisies by my front gate.



A rhododendrom which nearly always has a flower.



A red camelia with large flowers

A pink variegated camelia covered in blooms.

It is amazing how these bushes grow and flower with very little care.
They need a bit of trimming back, which I cannot do myself.

"The Richest Man on the Bus" which was a Mountain Wings
item.
He is on my bus only occasionally, a worn man in crumpled
clothing with disheveled hair. His life looks different from the
rest of us. We are mostly middle income. His face is etched
with exhaustion and he carries virtually no belongings. We
drive ourselves to the parking lot. He appears along a busy
road seemingly out of nowhere. We sometimes wonder
where he slept the night before.

A few weeks ago he boarded the bus, took one of the side
facing seats and as he typically does and looked down at
the floor.

A few stops later a young woman boarded, a regular rider who
speaks good but not native English. She swipes her bus pass
only to find the machine will not accept it. The driver told her
she would have to deposit the $2.25 fare, "I just bought this
card," she said. "I paid the money."

The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office
and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to
pay the fare for today. The woman became distressed and didn't
understand why she would have to pay the fare. The rest of us
just watched wondering how the problem would be solved.

Suddenly the crumpled clothed man rose from his seat, dropped
a jingle of coins into the coin box and sat back down, his eyes
returning to the floor. His act was so unobtrusive that the
distressed passenger didn't even realize what had happened.

"You're good," said the bus driver, "he paid for you." The bus
driver repeated it and pulled away from the curb. A hush fell
over the bus. The rest of us had watched the woman's
discomfort, he felt it.We wondered absently how the dilemma
would be resolved. He resolved it.

We lawyers, journalists, business people were headed down-
town to help fix the world. He fixed her world. We could have
paid the $2.25 and never missed it. It's easy to imagine that
was his fare home.

You never know when you'll be in the presence of greatness
or of grace. To the world my fellow passenger looked like a
man in need of solutons. I had looked at him and saw only
what he lacked.

By the time he stepped off the bus that morning, it was
obvious that he was a richer man than the rest of us. He had
enough to open his eyes and his heart to a stranger, enough
to give of what he had and trust life fir the rest.

I haven't seen him since that day. Some people believe angels
occasionally drop down and mov
e among us. All I know is that
I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It keeps
the bus rolling and speeds us along the way.

~~Krista Ramsey; Cincinnati Enquirer. 2010.
<><>
Now for some jokes -- an old one from my N.Z cousin Karyn.

A man and his wife walked into the dentist's office. The man
said to the dentist, "Doc I'm in one heck of a hurry. I have 2
buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to play golf so
forget about the anaesthetic. I don't have time for the gums
to get numb. I just want you to pull the tooth and be done."

We have a 10 am tee time at the best golf course in town
and it's 9.30 already. I don't have time for the anaesthetic."

The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness, this is surely
a very brave man asking to have his tooth pulled without any
pain killers."

So the dentist asks him, "Which tooth is it?"

The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth Honey,
and show him."
<><>
Another from Karyn. Thank you Karyn for "The Halfwit."

A man owned a small farm in Ireland. The Irish Internal
Revenue determined he was not paying proper wages to his
staff and sent an investigator out to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them"
demanded the investigator.

"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who has been
with me for 3 years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and
board. The cook has been here for 18 months and I pay her
$150 per week, plus free room and board."

"Then there's the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day
and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes
about $10 a week. He pays his own room and board, and I buy
him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday night. He also sleeps
with my wife occasionally."

"That's the guy I want to talk to . . .the halfwit.?

"That would be me," replied the farmer.
<><>
One from my friend Barbara.Thank you for "Giving up Wine."

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a
particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who
asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner. I took out my wallet
got out $10 and asked "If I give you this money, will you buy
wine with it instead of dinner?"

"No, I had to stop drinking years ago." the homeless woman said.

"Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?"

"No, I don't waste time shopping." the homeless woman said.
"I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."

"Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?"I asked.

"Are you NUTS?" replied the homeless woman. I haven't had
"my hair done in 20 years."

"Well", I said, "I'm not going to give you the money. Instead I
am going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me
tonight."

The homeless woman was shocked. "Won't your husband be
furious with you for doing that? I know I am dirty, and I
probably smell pretty disgusting."

I said, "That's Okay. It's important for him to see what a
woman looks like after she has given up shopping, drinking
wine, and hair appointments."
<><>
A few shorter jokes from the papers - - -

Woman: "I'd like to order the steak and kiddley pie, please."
Waiter: You mean the steak and kidney pie."
Woman: "That's what I said diddle I?"
<><>

The Sunday school teacher asked her class, "Can anyone
tell me where God lives?"
One little boy said, "In the bathroom."
"What makes you say that?" asked the teacher.
" Well," replied the boy, "every morning my dad thumps on
the bathroom door and shouts, "God are you still in there?"
<><>

Murphy asked Paddy to guess how many rabbits were in the
bag. "If you get it right, you can have them both."
Paddy answered, "Three?"
<><>

My five year old cousin recently told me she didn't like to stay
in the sun too long, because of the "extra violent" rays.
<><>

Q. What are two things you can't have for breakfast?
A. Lunch and dinner.
<><>
How do you stop a rhino from charging?
Take away his credit card.

A police officer stops a young blonde woman for speeding
and politely asks to see her license.
Huffily the blonde says, "I wish you people would make up
your mind. Just yesterday, you take away my license and then
today you expect me to show it to you.
<><>

Quote of the day - - -

I don't mind coming to work, but the eight hour wait to go
home is damn awful.

Take great care of yourselves and each other. Find something
to smile about every day and be happy. My love and best
wishes to you all. Cheers, Merle.

Post 752 ~ ~ ~ Sunday, 4th September, 2011.
<><><>


13 comments:

Patty said...

Good morning Merle, glad all is well at your place. Loved the story about the man riding the bus and really liked the quote for the day. Both are so true. Sounds like you had a lovely visit and a good lunch. Your flowers look beautiful. Right now we don't have a lot left blooming that looks real nice. It's getting close to Fall and everything is starting to die off for Winter. We had a little family get together last evening for our Grandson, he turned 19 on Aug. 27th. and that was the first time we were all able to get together. Seems someone was always working or busy. Our youngest daughter had to work but got home at 8pm, and that's when we had the cake and ice cream along with chips and salsa. We had a terrific thunder storm last evening, not sure how much rain we got. Will check the rain gauge when it gets daylight. Love, Patty

Unknown said...

I wish someone would drop in to see me me with chicken and salad in their hands!

Blessings, Merle, to you and yours.

Rob said...

Hi merle its nice to see spring flowers at this time of year. Here things are starting to close down.

Peter said...

Hi Merle, glad to hear you are doing well, same here except for the remnants of "Bells".
David and Val called in on their way home from Yepoon, they've bought a new Fiat Motor Home, its really nice.

Granny Annie said...

Once again you are one of those "angels" who touches us with an emotional story then with our hearts open, you tickle us with laughter.

Keep taking care of yourself and letting others take care of you because we all need you around:)

Patty said...

We got one and a half inches of rain, which is nice since everything was looking burnt, dry and brown.

Jim said...

Hi Merle ~~ You sure do keep on having company. That is very nice for you.

I liked your short jokes tonight. They were all good. I think the 'God lives in the bathroom' joke was the best. It was one that I hadn't heard before either.

Things are ticking along here. It is good to be driving again. I only drive to therapy and to the fitness center here. One thing though, Mrs. Jim has to back the car out of the garage before I can get the doors open far enough to get my bum leg in.
..

Big Dave T said...

I liked the half-wit joke best, but I really liked them all. Pretty flowers too. I think half of my petunias have passed on, but I still have a few that are hanging in there.

Ran into one of your compatriots, an Australian, here in Canada. I overheard him say that they don't have too many lakes and large bodies of freshwater there, like they have in Canada here.

Dave said...

Great post as always Merle!

Every day I read your blog, I smile... you do something wonderful for this world!

HORIZON said...

Beautiful photos Merle - sorry l've not been by in so long- glad to hear you are doing ok.
You will be warming up now as things over this way cool down- my garden has reached its peak as we are now in Autumn - next stop Christmas- arghh!!
Would you believe that they already have Christmas stock put out in our local supermarket and we're still in Sept?!!
I've been catching up with your posts below and am so pleased that you have had these lovely visits from your family and friends Merle- and that your doctor's check ups seem to be going well. I am thinking of you.
must get to my bed now
lots of love and a big hug
sarah x

Joy Des Jardins said...

Your flowers are so beautiful Merle...I just love them. I don't think I know another lady who has more visitors than you dear friend....I guess you are just so loveable. I'm glad you've been doing well sweetie... Happy Weekend coming up... ~Joy xoxo

audrey` said...

WOW! The flowers are so lovely in your garden, Merle :)

Margaret Cloud said...

Yes, that was a sad day indeed. Glad you are doing good. Loved your birds on the bird bath so pretty. These were really good and funny especially the elephant one. Have a good weekend.