I’m not sure if this a positive sign that people expect others to appreciate help, or a negative sign that people expect to be paid for helping someone in need.
I was bush hogging yesterday, and as I turned a corner I happened to notice a person a good ways off who had chosen their spot outside the fence so I’d be driving toward them when I turned. She was waving her blue motorcycle helmet to get my attention.
I finished my strip of mowing and shut down the mower and headed toward her. I throttled down and climbed down to see what was up. She gestured toward a pair of motorcycles down the road and asked if I had a wrench and pliers they could borrow. I told her I did and I’d meet her at the bikes. She came to the fence and got the tools and handed them to the guy she was with. He worked on her bike for 3 or 4 minutes, came up to me, handed me the tools and offered me a $20 bill. I told him I couldn’t take money for loaning a couple of tools to somebody in trouble.
Though I appreciated the offer, it hurt me a little that they might have thought I expected money in return. That’s not me. They went by going the other direction a half hour later and waved like crazy. That was worth more than the money.