Pay it forward

Thanks for the break, Bill.

That was the last line in a reminiscence I wrote a couple of years ago about my time at Harjim Machinery Works out in Victoria BC.

Bill gave me a break.

When he didn't have to.

I don't know if Bill is still around or if Harjim is still in business, but I think that the concept of giving someone a break could use a little encouragement.

The other day I pulled up to the drive-through window at the local Timmies, only to be told that the guy in the black truck two ahead of me had picked up the tab for the next half-dozen strangers behind him.

He was paying it forward.

The very definition of a "random act of kindness."

Try being kind when you don't have to be.

Try giving people a break when you don't have to. It'll make the world a better place in some small way.

Pay it forward.