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    When you help someone do you ever think, "what's in it for me?"

    +12  Views: 1719 Answers: 24 Posted: 12 years ago

    24 Answers

    No, not ever.  I usually forget the things that I have done for someone shortly after doing them. 


    Every once in a while I am reminded and it's almost like doing them all over again with an, "Oh yeah!" attached.


    One thing that I do every year that I just love doing is... I know a Mom and a little girl that were alone for a very long time.  Their journey has not been an easy one but, they are just fine now.   Very happy, well loved and taken care of.  Every year I have them over to make Christmas presents for the people in their family (All of who live far away).  Last year the little girl spent time in my studio painting ceramic bowls and vases for her many family members asking me questions the entire time.  She and her Mom are joys and I do think I get something out of it... wonderful memories.

    clu

    That is so great! Thanks for helping the mother and daughter! Their memories of you will be so strong! When I hear a story like this I know there are still wonderful humans around! Thanks again!
    valR

    same here...
    FISH-O

    I am blessed in that I can do something. I am thankful for them.
    carmaxable

    i bet that little girl made some beautiful treasures for her family. that is so sweet fishlet.
    FISH-O

    That little girl is becoming very creative and so is her Mom.
    Thanks Carmaxable. I just love doing it!

    I already know what's in it for me.....it makes me feel good inside.  That's what volunteer work is all about and it's what keeps people involved.  If you have never been a volunteer, you don't know what you are missing.

    valR

    i like this...

    No never, those two words "Thank you" is enough for me but in this particular case you can press the thumbs up for me! 


     

    Flip

    If I press the TU for you, I'll fall behind you in karma points ..... Oh hell, what the heck, TU
    valR

    Peter, same here :)
    lambshank

    your welcome

    To be honest ... Yeah, I want their friendship in return.

    valR

    sometimes only...

    No, I don't really. I like to think of it as "paying it forward"........

    clu

    paying it forward is the best way of thanking all people, Good answer!
    west-bus

    Never heard of that expression before.

    If I wonder that then perhaps I'm feeling a bit used....but most of the time I'm happy to help!

    No, not really, but I am aware what I have done to help and maybe one day I may need theirs, you never know.

    valR

    not even that!

    What goes around comes around i like to think that i helped someone as well as myself,looking for something in exchange defeats the purpose of helping someone..


     

    I am very grateful when folk take my suggestions and leave. That’s what they came to me for in the first place. I have been offered employment and money. Tipping the messenger isn’t necessary. When asked what do I want for the idea I gave them, I usually tell them “the opportunity to buy it at a local store.” The fact that someone is willing and able to take a great idea, manufacture a product and build the business up while supporting themselves, their family, employees and advancing from there is simply wonderful and I am so glad I did not have to do that myself. Working at a job or as a business owner cuts into your free time an awful lot and I prefer to be able to do what I am really good at…enjoying my free time.

    only if i do and do and do for someone, then ask them for a small favor and they refuse for some reason. then they ask again for something......that gets old real fast......otherwise I'm happy to do things for people, just for a thankyou.....thanks for asking

    EVERY TIME, what you want doing, how much you paying??

    valR

    sarcastically kidding?
    lewboy

    YOU got it in one

    I get some thing in return, I feel like Im floating on air, when I have helped some one. Thank you to people here, who have thanked me for my answers. You are all very welcome.

    When I offer to help someone, it is out of genuine desire to help. Seeing a happier face, a better grade, a  strike or spare instead of an open frame (yeah, bowling again), a bigger refund than "the other company" came up with, weeding a flower bed, or dropping a spare quarter in someone's parking meter, buying a lunch for someone who is down on his luck and living on the street......I feel good when I am able to do something for another.  
    HOWEVER, I will not pretend that I go around LOOKING for people to help.  It IS on my list of things to do, though.  

    I have too often wondered if my helping wasn't in fact interference in some way  and more often than not discovered that it takes time to see a "helping" result.Case in point...2 folks living in a car last winter,old friends hit by hardship and taken into my home...3 weeks later and I'm having to say the words...it went something like..."Hey! This isn't rent-a-mommy goin' on here...I can't keep carrying you two so what gives?"...by the next day they'd found jobs and a house to live in...bittersweet but I felt awful at being forced to play the ogress!I learned right there that you have to be very careful about WHO to help and that when it becomes a burden...oy vay!! It took a while but when they showed up out of the blue one day with fresh Salmon and giant Shrimp galore for my freezer I had to admit that sometimes you have to go thru a little crap to reach the daisies!!!    I still love to help but I'm more discerning as to whom and for what reasons.Peace.

    gloriafrmCal

    Amen, been there done that.

    I often think, "I'm doing my Christian duty."

    You have to be careful whom you let into your house.


    No, I never think about getting anything in return, just glad to help.

    Honestly,  yes, but certainly not all the time!!   Then I would be a politician..............   :-}.

    NEVER.

    Only if they are driving a Rolls Royce... he would say how can I ever thank you!  And I would answer please, let me ride in your car. And he did and he was single and fell madly in love with me and we lived happily ever after. I did it again, please forgive my flights of fantasy must be time for bed.

    michmar118

    Love your answer! And hopefully, for you, it's not a flight of fantasy........

    No. The essence of good service is to provide it without any plus points in your favor, which is why I answer the foreign questions therefore not understood by most people here, therefore voted up only if the questioner knows what to do, and that too, only if the answer is satisfactory, and he likes to say thank you for the reply/answer. Otherwise not voted up or down by anyone. Happy with that. The element here is helping others. No ulterior motives, no karma points, just happy people!

    Colleen

    Moderator
    I can list 5 people off the top of my head (there are others I'm sure but 5 who are steady at it) who also answer the foreign questions. Do not believe yourself alone in the venture. You are also not the only one who is not here for the karma. You sound very insulting by pointing out these things like you are so unlike the rest of the members here. You answer a heck of a lot more than the directions questions by the way. You did not gain 8090 karma in a month from just directions questions alone. The element here is to help others and also to have fun and socialize with the members. This is not the type of forum you are use to. You should really think about the way you word things when you are speaking of yourself like you are being better than the rest of the members here.

    You have 854 questions answered and only a mere 9 of them are foreign language questions. Do tell us again how you've rescued all the foreign speaking people by answering all their questions because only you can understand them. We get 10 or more per day asked in a foreign language. Who do you suppose answered the ones you didn't get around to after the 9 you answered in the 31 days you've been here?

    I've answer 10 or more foreign language questions in a day here. It took you a month to answer 9. Either you're not as concerned about them as you claim to be or you're really slow in translating. Or you're simply a blow hard. Which is it?
    coolandy2000

    @colleen, having fun is best left to chat rooms and other socially interactive websites where one needs friends. Here, it is to answer "Any question" and any question it is. I do not attempt to be funny,I attempt to give the questioner another opinion, and whether he/she rejects it is left to her/he. Also, "methinks"since copied from me "it is a question of whether the pot calls the kettle black". I do not come on question websites to find friends, it is a pity that there are those who do, but each to his own and God for us all. You have your methods and I have mine. Mine here is to help people, and I do not need friends who would need to give me life support through Karma points! :).
    FISH-O

    Every once in a while someone new comes along to inform us what the site is about, to scrutinize the rules and the moderators.
    Thank goodness for your brilliance and intellect.
    I would sincerely like to thank you for pointing out the flaws once again, in the members of this forum especially myself. I have made friends on this forum. I also do have a sense of humor and use it.
    No worries, you won't be making friends with me.
    Colleen

    Moderator
    @ coolandy, akaQA is a social help forum. Whether you agree with the members being able to chat together here or not is a mute point. The owners of the forum want the interaction between the community members. You do not decide how akaQa is to be run, this is not your call, it is theirs. You are a guest here. If you do not wish to be social with the members here, that is your prerogative. Do not reply to them in any question or comment. You keep to your ways and leave the rest of the members to this forum to answer in their way. The moderators and the admin will handle the rest. You do not instruct members on how they should reply here. You do not instruct members on the questions they should answer. Any question or answer that is deemed unfit for this forum will be removed by the moderators even if they have answers. Any member that is viewed to be a problem or a trouble maker will be spoken to by a moderator and the rest of the members stay out of it. You are a volunteer guest here. That's as far as it goes. You do not instruct and you do not moderate. Follow these simple rules and you will be more than welcome to continue answering questions here on akaQA the social help forum.
    coolandy2000

    @colleen and @fishlet. Good.I do not inflict my opinions on you. I do convey them to the questioners. I do not ask people to vote up others or vote down others. I do not reject "Newbies" because they are the ones who make you function. And it is also not your role to tell me how I should answer anyone., nor @colleen to tell others what not to vote for and who to do so. Thank you!. And I do not join a happy fan club merely to feel appreciated, I will be here, as long as I feel my answers can be appreciated by those who want an unbiased view, and I do not need any "Karma" points to make me feel good, nor compliments from neither of you. If you do need an honest answer, that you will get from me. And the question was pretty straight "Yahoo = 2points for the answer, and 10 points from the questioner, with not a panel member to vote you up or down. Needless to say, the massive number of karma points here, does not necessarily indicate the correct answers but your fan club. It is a pity @colleen that one should keep on jotting up your social happiness on the points swayed in your direction.
    coolandy2000

    As said before, if this is a fun place, then please advise the Admin that it should be converted to a "Chat room" but I wonder where it will leave you and your conversation when there are no karma points to go with it?
    FISH-O

    @coolandy2000... I totally agree. You absolutely have no opinions at all.
    Colleen

    Moderator
    You really do not get akaQA do you? You also have no apparent understanding of a moderator and what they can do. Did you get booted off of Yahoo forums for your mouthiness too? Your guest pass has been revoked temporarily to allow you the time to fully grasp what akaQA is all about. Do not create another account because if you do, your IP address will be blocked. Colleen ~ forum moderator with 34,454 answers posted and also an advocate for the removal of the karma system you believe I think so highly about in all your envy. All the members here know I do not agree with the karma system. You are just making yourself look like a fool harping on and on about that.
    Colleen

    Moderator
    So you claim you are not here for the Karma, yet you created a new account "carolinamoon33" and then went to this account and gave it a bunch of thumbs up. Why? Thumbs up mean KARMA!!!

    +15 carolinamoon33 voted up your answer in which you said: "Sure, as much as you do not kn..."

    2012-03-16 17:42:29
    +15 carolinamoon33 voted up your answer in which you said: "No. The essence of good servic..."

    2012-03-16 17:40:15
    +15 carolinamoon33 voted up your answer in which you said: "When you cannot sleep, you can..."

    2012-03-16 17:39:42
    +15 carolinamoon33 voted up your answer in which you said: "Upside down like a pineapple b..."

    2012-03-16 17:31:42
    +15 carolinamoon33 voted up your answer in which you said: "Yes it does. When all is said ..."

    I could not see beyond this point because it went off the karma chart
    valR

    Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    No Never, I like to help if I can,you don't need to look for something in return, just the satisfaction of being able to do something for someone is enough.

    i think it depends on the person im helping lolx

    I don't think that way, but i am damn sure if i ask someone for help they are thinking whats in it for them.

    Never ever.



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