Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2018-32

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IN THIS ISSUE

• In this Heroic Story, Scott Dunham recalls a kind gesture
• Karen Anderson writes about paying-it-forward
• Catherine Nesbitt forwards examples of English around the world
• Here are reasons to live in the provinces of Canada
• Barbara Wear and Tom Telfer suggest interesting sites

Scott Dunham of Maryland writes about

ONE LAST CARD

In 1990, my wife Katie and I were transferred from Maryland to London by an engineering company for which I was working. She was a little worried about moving to a foreign country. Because we had only been married a year, the move could´ve been an additional source of stress.

However, we found a flat in a nice suburb near the Thames River. I started work in my new position, and Katie began getting accustomed to our new habitat. London turned out to be a wonderful place to live. Contrary to their reputation for being somewhat reserved, our neighbours proved to be friendly and quite interested in the new American arrivals.

Although some areas of the city attract large numbers of U.S. expatriates because of the presence of American schools, we lived on a thoroughly English street with turn-of-the-century Victorian houses and many long-term residents. Peter, who lived downstairs, had been in the area for 40 years and knew practically everybody. We became friends, and he hosted frequent chats over tea with Katie and whatever neighbours happened to stop in.

In particular, one fellow named Jim Morton became a regular visitor. He was almost 80, a widower and retired cartoonist with few relatives. He was a delightful man, with many funny stories and a real affinity for people. Although age and arthritis had slowed him down and made cartooning more difficult, he still loved his art.

In 1992, our son was born and Jim began an annual tradition of creating hand-drawn and coloured birthday cards for him. Perhaps they were really for us, since Matthew hadn´t quite reached an appreciative age!

Every year Jim hand delivered another special creation, customized for whatever Matthew had been doing lately. The cards clearly took a lot of effort to make, and we were always touched by his thoughtfulness.

In 1995, my company´s contract ended and we had to return to the U.S. Although we were going "home," Katie and I had extremely mixed feelings about departing. After spending five of our six married years in London, it felt more like home than Maryland. We kept in touch with our English friends, but distance made keeping up with daily events rather difficult.

About a year after we came back, a letter arrived with an unfamiliar return address. Inside was a note from one of Jim´s neighbours, informing us that he had passed away after a household accident.

This complete stranger had taken the initiative to go through Jim´s address book and write individual notes to each person. We were upset about Jim´s death. Yet we were very grateful that someone was kind and concerned enough to make sure that all of his friends and acquaintances knew what had happened.

It was such a simple act, but it showed that Jim was special to others besides us, and that his passing had not gone unnoticed.

E-mail subscriptions to Heroic Stories are free. Sign up here: HeroicStories.org.

From The Mercury News, here is an article by Karen Anderson:

A PAY-IT-FORWARD STORY

In September, 1980, we are in the middle of the Moroccan desert halfway between Casablanca and Marrakech, a four-hour drive. My husband has a bad case of turista so I am driving our rental car to Marrakech. I discover that men of Morocco do not like women to pass them so I am doing all sorts of tricky things as I speed down a two-lane road.

It is 100 degrees out and we have no air conditioning. I am driving a small European car, and as I ascend a hill my cars starts to slow. I try downshifting. The car still slows so I pull over. The car dies. There are no villages, no people. Only a goat herd very far away.

My husband drags himself out of the car and pokes around. Nothing. One of the men I had passed gallantly pulls over. He speaks Arabic and French. I took French in school 20 years before. He also pokes around the car, lifts the hood. Car does not start.

He cannot take us anywhere as his small car is full. With a wave, he calls, "Bonne chance, Madame!" and drives off! Trucks ignore my wave, cars are few, and it is 4:00 p.m. We are extremely concerned. We are very far past the last the gas station and have no idea what is on the other side of the hill.

Finally, another man pulls over. He speaks English! He used to work for our air force. We are saved.

He tows our car to a gas station just over the hill, as it turned out. He tells us he is a coffee dealer and shows us $100,000 in U.S cash under his mat. He is our new best friend. He takes us to our hotel and we babble about taking him and his wife to dinner to show how grateful we are.

But he explains that he is Muslim, and in his faith, you may not take compensation for a good deed, but the person helped is required to aid someone in need in the future.

A few months later on another steamy day we are in California on Interstate 5, somewhere south of Fat City, 30 miles from the last gas station. It is again 100 degrees. We see a woman pushing a stroller with a baby in it, going in the opposite direction from us and away from an obviously stalled car. I shout to my husband, "She´s the one!"

He makes an illegal U-turn and pulls over. She has run out of gas. She climbs into our car and we drive her to the closest station. The men there are so astonished to see a woman with a baby that they volunteer to bring her gas themselves.

So much goodness that started from the kindness of a stranger in Morocco!

Catherine Nesbitt sends these examples of

WONDERFUL ENGLISH FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Cocktail Lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctor´s Office, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Dry Cleaners, Bangkok: DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS.

A Nairobi Restaurant: CUSTOMERS, WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE, OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.

On the main road to Mombasa, leaving Nairobi: TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom: ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP

In a city restaurant: OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS.

In a cemetery: PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

Tokyo hotel´s rules and regulations: GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE, OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS, IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss Restaurant: OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Tokyo Bar: SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

Hotel, Yugoslavia: THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Hotel, Japan: YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow Hotel, across from a Russian Orthodox Monastery: YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY, WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY, EXCEPT THURSDAY.

A sign posted in Germany´s Black Forest: IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE, THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT, UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Hotel, Zurich: BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

A Laundry in Rome: LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND THEN SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

And finally, the all-time classic, Seen in an Abu Dhabi Souk shop window: IF THE FRONT IS CLOSED, PLEASE ENTER THROUGH MY BACKSIDE.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Vancouver : 2.3 million people and two bridges. You do the math.
2. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just five hours from downtown.
3. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
4. Weed.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA
1. Big rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 5% instead of the approximately 200% it is for the rest of the country.
4. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN
1. You never run out of wheat.
2. Your province is really easy to draw.
3. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
4. People will assume you live on a farm.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA
1. You wake up one morning to find that you suddenly have a beachfront property.
2. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
3. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
4. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO
1. You live in the centre of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC
1. Racism is socially acceptable.
2. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
3. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada.
4. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo *#!%!"

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK
1. One way or another, the government gets 98% of your income.
2. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
3. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick .
4. Everybody has a grandfather who runs a lighthouse.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA
1. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
2. You can pretend to have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
3. You are the only reason Anne Murray makes money.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island, you still got the big bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
4. Everyone has been an extra on "Road to Avonlea."

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND
1. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
2. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
3. The workday is about two hours long.
4. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders to your wedding.

SUGGESTED SITES

Barbara Wear sends the URL for a video of a nostalgic song written and sung by Jesse Goldberg: "Once Upon a Long Time Ago":

Tom Telfer forwards this link to a Good News story of a hiker who carried an injured dog six miles on her back to get help for him:

This kindness app pairs people with problems with neighbours with specific solutions:

This Good News story is about a woman on a plane talking to her neighbour about the low-income school where she taught, and the other passengers giving her money to help the school:

In this video, Dr. Keith Scott claims that eating a wide variety of culinary herbs and spices will help prevent cancer:

From the Washington Post, a story of a teen-aged boy auctioning his pig to fight cancer:

This video from Toronto tells how to start a community garden. Maybe the wrong season for this, but interested people could start planning for next year:

To sign this petition to federal leaders asking them to protect the last of the endangered southern resident orcas in the waters around Vancouver Island, click on