Mom Of A Meth Addict Buys This Stranger $400 Worth Of Textbooks To Teach How Important It Is To Be Kind
Working in customer service has its ups and downs. But one bookstore employee has had such an up, it felt like heaven. Some time ago, tumblr user beepboop-its-a-robot witnessed an old lady buying a complete stranger $400 worth of textbooks. Considering that the average student in the USA spends around $1,200 a year on books and supplies, that’s quite a gesture. Heck, she even tossed in some chocolates. And when you learn about her own son’s sad fate, the story becomes even more profound.
And when you thought the story couldn’t get any better…
Image credits: beepboop-its-a-robot
The student who got to experience this lady’s kind heart isn’t the only one who could use her help. Textbook prices have been soaring. And that’s putting it lightly. According to NBC’s review of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, textbook prices have risen over three times the rate of inflation from January 1977 to June 2015. A 1,041 percent increase.
“They’ve been able to keep raising prices because students are ‘captive consumers.’ They have to buy whatever books they’re assigned,” said Nicole Allen, a spokeswoman for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.
Some compare these numbers to a pharmaceutical sales model where the publishers spend their time wooing the decision makers to adopt their product. In this case, however, it’s professors instead of doctors. “Professors are not price-sensitive and they then assign and students have no say,” said Ariel Diaz, CEO of Boundless, a free and low-cost textbook publisher.
People were incredibly moved by this random act of kindness
Truly said,we can't find such awesome things anywhere but on BP only !!! Kuddos to Bored Panda !!
Load More Replies...I recently talked to a teacher who graduated about 5 years ago. She had to buy a textbook that was over $1,000! Holy s**t, publishers, students have enough damned debt already!
Load More Replies...Well.. someone showed kindness to me at my darkest moment.. and after I went through rehab.. I married her..saved my life.
What an amazing person. She is just awesome and is the type of person which the world really needs.
I thought the same thing; some self appointed psychologist comments (in the post above, not here) that this woman was suffering a manic episode and needed help, fast. I found that comment offensive. Seriously, there ARE decent, healthy people in the world who WOULD do such a thing as this woman did. For some are at a point in life where $100, $400 or even $1000 is easy to share. Perhaps they are paying it forward, or simply kind hearted and generous. Personally, to purport the generous person is mentally ill is part of what is wrong with much of society. If there isn't anything in it for the 'giver', they don't see any reason to give. THAT is truly the mentally ill person, not this kind woman.
Load More Replies...“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” - Kurt Vonnegut
How did the kid know her son was homeless? Cause he left before she told that...
I don’t know that he knew her son was homeless or a meth addicted person. I think that, the point is a bit of serendipitous karma has way of showing up in unexpected pleasant ways. It was probably coincidence. When I was very young we had a “friend” my mom would visit that was named “mister minister” he said that he was a homeless veteran that the country had lost his “papers” in the war. It was Easter and I found the golden egg it had a twenty in it. We never gave this guy money but I gave him $20 unprompted because I was shown generosity earlier the month. Sometimes people are shown kindness and just want to pass it on because it makes you happy. You know kind of like the movie pay it forward.
Load More Replies...Sometime kindness and giving is just that. If that bit of kindness brought that lady comfort so be it. It does not have to be defined as a manic episode.
Love the story and all its participants, especially the sweet elderly Lady and the student's deed that followed! We need more of this in our society!
That is incredibly sad. The older woman shouldn't blame herself for her son. Addiction is a side effect of mental illness. You don't become a meth addict because you are happy with your life. If we should be blaming addiction on anything it is the lack of access to quality mental health care and the fact that mental health is incredibly far behind.
I am not old, but I have to say I am super happy to be getting older. I look forward to being an 'old lady'. The term is only negative if you associate it with something negative. I associate age with less men grabbing me and cat calling me when I try to go out. I was just talking to my boss about how we both are so happy to be getting older and how much better it is than being in your 20s. I associate youth with harassment so if someone called me "young lady" I would be slightly offended. Getting old is magical, the older you get the less people want to talk to you, specifically the less men want to grab your a*s. I see your point completely but I am just a big advocate for how amazing it is to be left alone the older you get.
Load More Replies..."They should have gotten her husband"????? Women don't need their husband's permit to do whatever they want. Also, if you deduct that she's senile because she did something kind, I feel really sorry for you. You must have a really sad life!
Load More Replies...Truly said,we can't find such awesome things anywhere but on BP only !!! Kuddos to Bored Panda !!
Load More Replies...I recently talked to a teacher who graduated about 5 years ago. She had to buy a textbook that was over $1,000! Holy s**t, publishers, students have enough damned debt already!
Load More Replies...Well.. someone showed kindness to me at my darkest moment.. and after I went through rehab.. I married her..saved my life.
What an amazing person. She is just awesome and is the type of person which the world really needs.
I thought the same thing; some self appointed psychologist comments (in the post above, not here) that this woman was suffering a manic episode and needed help, fast. I found that comment offensive. Seriously, there ARE decent, healthy people in the world who WOULD do such a thing as this woman did. For some are at a point in life where $100, $400 or even $1000 is easy to share. Perhaps they are paying it forward, or simply kind hearted and generous. Personally, to purport the generous person is mentally ill is part of what is wrong with much of society. If there isn't anything in it for the 'giver', they don't see any reason to give. THAT is truly the mentally ill person, not this kind woman.
Load More Replies...“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” - Kurt Vonnegut
How did the kid know her son was homeless? Cause he left before she told that...
I don’t know that he knew her son was homeless or a meth addicted person. I think that, the point is a bit of serendipitous karma has way of showing up in unexpected pleasant ways. It was probably coincidence. When I was very young we had a “friend” my mom would visit that was named “mister minister” he said that he was a homeless veteran that the country had lost his “papers” in the war. It was Easter and I found the golden egg it had a twenty in it. We never gave this guy money but I gave him $20 unprompted because I was shown generosity earlier the month. Sometimes people are shown kindness and just want to pass it on because it makes you happy. You know kind of like the movie pay it forward.
Load More Replies...Sometime kindness and giving is just that. If that bit of kindness brought that lady comfort so be it. It does not have to be defined as a manic episode.
Love the story and all its participants, especially the sweet elderly Lady and the student's deed that followed! We need more of this in our society!
That is incredibly sad. The older woman shouldn't blame herself for her son. Addiction is a side effect of mental illness. You don't become a meth addict because you are happy with your life. If we should be blaming addiction on anything it is the lack of access to quality mental health care and the fact that mental health is incredibly far behind.
I am not old, but I have to say I am super happy to be getting older. I look forward to being an 'old lady'. The term is only negative if you associate it with something negative. I associate age with less men grabbing me and cat calling me when I try to go out. I was just talking to my boss about how we both are so happy to be getting older and how much better it is than being in your 20s. I associate youth with harassment so if someone called me "young lady" I would be slightly offended. Getting old is magical, the older you get the less people want to talk to you, specifically the less men want to grab your a*s. I see your point completely but I am just a big advocate for how amazing it is to be left alone the older you get.
Load More Replies..."They should have gotten her husband"????? Women don't need their husband's permit to do whatever they want. Also, if you deduct that she's senile because she did something kind, I feel really sorry for you. You must have a really sad life!
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