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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 29, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A single event can waken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery Source: Carol's Thought for Today, http://users.adelphia.net/~mrs.carol ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: It has been my pleasure to help facilitate and coordinate donations and sponsorships on behalf of Speedway Children's Charities over the last six years as national marketing director. All of the funds are deeply appreciated and always come from the heart from both donors and sponsors alike, no matter the amount of the contribution. One donation that sticks in my mind, however, is a donation that comes in to us every six to eight weeks. It has no return address, usually has a small drawing on the envelope (obviously a children's drawing) and a cashier's check for ten dollars mailed from Harrisburg, North Carolina. It definitely is not the largest donation we receive throughout the month, but it's one that touches all the employees here at the Speedway Children's Charities every time it's received. The reason it means so much to us is twofold. One, somewhere out there is an adult(s) who has taken the time to drive the child to the convenience store that the cashier's check is drawn on, making the act of giving a special activity. Second, the child never leaves a name or return address; he or she just gives unconditionally to other children in need. Speedway Children's Charities is fortunate to have such supporters as this child and his or her parents; I only hope that I can raise my own children to know what the true meaning of giving is, as our anonymous donor does. By Deb Wilson (c) 2002 from Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Matthew E. Adams, Jeff Aubery and Kirk Autio. All rights reserved. Visit us and read other sample stories and meet the authors. http://www.chickensoup.com Source: Beliefnet Chicken Soup, http://ydib.net/n_soup/subscribe.shtml ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A friend of journalist David Halberstam was planning a visit to Japan. It would be his first visit, and he was a little anxious because he couldn’t speak Japanese. How would he communicate with the people he came in contact with? Since most taxi drivers do not speak English, someone suggested that it might be a good idea to carry with him something bearing the name of the hotel at which he would be staying written in Japanese. That was exactly what he did. As soon as he arrived in Japan he picked up a box of matches bearing the name and address of his hotel. Then he went sight-seeing. Afterwards he got into a taxi and did as the friend suggested, he took the box of matches out of his pocket to show the driver where he wanted to go. There were a few awkward moments before the driver understood. Finally his face lit up. Quickly they sped away. Half an hour later, the taxi came to a screeching halt. The driver turned and beamed at his passenger, pointing out the window. There was only one problem. They had stopped, not in front of a hotel, but a match factory! Source: Illustrations, http://www.cybersaltlists.org ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The New York Police now, they've got police on bicycles...I tell you, it's a little embarrassing when you get run down and arrested by police on a bicycle. That's bad enough, but then you've got to ride all the way back to the station house on the handlebars. David Letterman ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: We moved into an apartment while we were looking for a place that would let us keep our pets. We could not have our pets at our apartment, so my brother-in-law kept our cat for us until we could find a place that would let us keep him. One day he came home after dark and saw the cat on the porch eating. He reached down to pet him and while he was petting him he looked over toward the fence where he saw MY cat sitting. Looking back around to see what he was petting he realized that it was a raccoon that had came up to eat the cat food. After that the cat was fed in the house. Source: Cybersalt Digest, http://www.cybersalt.org/