First and third Wednesday evening is the regular meeting day of the Toastmaster club that I belong to.
Today on the way to the meeting, I decided to have dinner at NS Nasi Kandar .
When I was parking my bike, the parking attendant who is looking after the car in the area came to move the bike next to mine to enable me to park my bike easier.
And he walked away just like that while telling me ” Tonight have to watch football. Brazil against Zimbabwe. Friendly match”.
I was surprised. He did not have the usual vibe of a sleazy parking attendant. A sleazy parking attendant who will scratch your car if you don’t pay them for looking after your car that is parked in their ‘area’.
And I could sense that he was helping me for the sole purpose of making my life a little easier. How many “parking attendants” with such a great heart can you find nowadays?
I took my dinner and I walked to my bike. In my head, I was thinking to myself “This guy is a nice guy. I should give him some money to make him happy. But how much? And will he feel insulted ”
In the end, I gave RM1 to him.
But on my way to the Toastmaster meeting, I felt like it was too little. I should have given him at least RM5.
After all, he went out of his way to make my life a little bit easier for a little while.
Plus, my Law of Attraction (Steve Pavlina version) says if I want to get more, I should be ready to give more.
Then only the nature will be in equilibrium.
Sometimes, this question of how much is too much and how little is too little seems to be quite complicated too.
If you are served by a great waiter in a restaurant, the rule of thumb says you should tip at least 15 percent.
But this kind of random act of kindness. How should you do it?
Pay it forward? Pay it back to the person?
What do you think?