Tweet
Back when I was 15, (16 years ago) I was not a well lad - in fact, I was still a few months out of a significant brain haemorrage - But I was determined to make things right and to get "back out there". It was made harder after having 3 people die on me in the previous year.
Back then, I was also a member of a gem craft club, back in Melbourne, Australia - my only friend that I trusted outside of my family was an elderly lady named Mavis, she was about 85 and had suffered a stroke a little while before, so she knew wht I was struggling with.
Picture this, a tall (6'2 - am 6'5 now) but painfully thin (130 lbs) teenager, who had to wear calipers (hiden under my jeans) and use crutches as my legs were still not functioning properly and would get exhausted pretty quickly. But I always smiled and as part of my upbringing, was polite.
Anyways, I loved (and still do) volunteer work - so there I was at a gem stall, selling raw gem pieces found by members with all money to be donated to the Red Cross. As such, Mavis and I wore Red Cross tops.
Many customers were lovely, truly lovely - from young kids, to teens to adults - they could see that Mavis and I were struggling a bit, and were very understanding. Many gave a little extra for the Red Cross
Until 'he' and 'she' wandered in....
HM - Husband
HW - Wife
me - the teen with calipers
M - Mavis, an angel...
D - my dad - then a police officer
me: Hi, sir, ma'am, how may I help you? <standing up, balancing on my crutches>
HM: Hey! HW, look it's a tall version of Tiny Tim!! <wtf!
>
HW: Hey retard, what's this crap you tryin' to offload??
M:....
Me:....
D:.....
Other people nearby:....
Before I could answer, she/it continued:
HW: This shit can't be as good as this, look at this... go on... <as she shoves her diamond ring in the face>
It was then I noticed it, see Mavis had trained me in identifying real and fake diamonds... this was so fake that it was almost plastic!
HM: Yeah man, paid $4000 on this
Me:... <omg>
Now, my dad is looking over towards me and slowly approaching and Mavis had edged closer and it was clear I was in pain - my legs were bad, real bad. But I hatched a plan....
Me: Hey dad!
My dad comes over in full police uniform, HM and HW are like
Me: could you get Tom (a recognised jeweller from town) to come over here with his gear, please?
Enter Tom the Jeweller - a very nice man who knew of my situation.
Me: could you please look at this lady's ring, I think she and this man here have been cheated.
Tom: sure, you had better sit down, you don't look so well.
Mavis and my dad help me to sit down as I was literally about to faint. I lift the pant leg to readjust the calipers, as Tom looked over the ring.
HM notices me struggling with the calipers and I heard him say to HW under his breath.. "oh shit, look at him"
Tom: Ummm you two better come with me, D could you com over as well please.
HW: ummm what's going on?? <turning paler>
They walk over to Tom's stall, so my dad told me what happened:
Tom: <showing his diamond display> these are real diamonds in the most popular facets, now look at yours...
HM: sigh! What you tryin' to sell?
HW: Honey.... I think you better look...
HM looks and apparantly went white as a ghost.... it was glass...and poor quality glass...
HM: But, but... I .... paid $4000 for this....
D: You have been conned I am afraid, badly.
HM: shit shit <repeat>
HW: ....
D: Do you remember where you got it?
HM: yeah, from a man at the station......oh crap....
D: You spend $4000 on a ring with no certificate from a guy at the station??? It could also have been stolen.... are you aware taht reciving stolen goods is a crime??
HM: but, but... I didn't know.....
HW: ..... <same expression, you'd think the wind had changed>
HM: .... what can we do about it?
D: You can file a report, give us a description of the man and the time, I'll contact the railways and get the CCTV images hopefully....
HW: oh wow, thank you officer
HM:... yeah, thanks mate...
HW: I suppose this is worthless now.... here <hands it to my dad> evidence I guess...
D: We can do that at the police station and we can get a statement from you...
HM: yes, of course...
According to dad's recount, they became very unsucky... and were genuinely thankful for the help that Tom and my dad were giving. All the time, both HW and HM kept on peering over to me... I was okay and serving more customers raising funds for the Red Cross - their words stung but I got over it, thank God for Mavis' kind words (she passed away some years later - I still miss her terribly).
D (to HM and HW): Could you do me a favour?
both HM and HW nod
D: Do you remember who first raised the alert?
HM: Yeah, erm.... Tim?
D: no, my son, his name is Damien - and he won't ask for this - but realise that in 12 months he lost his grandpa and a friend to cancer and another friend hung himself in front of him (this incidently still hurts to this day) and we almost lost him on Christmas Day last year - could you please thank him at least?
both HM and HW nodded to dad and returned to my stall
HW: look, Damien, we are sorry, I did not mean what I said....
HM: same, I am sorry
Me: forget it <still smiling>
A month later, a letter came via the police station to me from HM and HW...I still have this letter:
Dear Damien,
We want to apologise again for the name calling, we now understand how far you have had to come to be where you are now. We also saw your poem in the paper - you are a bright man. We also want to thank you very much for alerting us to the fraud we were victim of, the man was caught, and Tom even helped us out. You are surrounded by good people Damien... you too are a good person, you did not have to help us, but you did.
Most sincerely
HW and HM
I kept this letter as in the next year, my world fell apart again, and again last year - but their kind words remind me that there is still a bit of hope.
In this case, they went from being SC's to a couple who's words, like many I have, have helped me out of some particularly dark moments.
Back then, I was also a member of a gem craft club, back in Melbourne, Australia - my only friend that I trusted outside of my family was an elderly lady named Mavis, she was about 85 and had suffered a stroke a little while before, so she knew wht I was struggling with.
Picture this, a tall (6'2 - am 6'5 now) but painfully thin (130 lbs) teenager, who had to wear calipers (hiden under my jeans) and use crutches as my legs were still not functioning properly and would get exhausted pretty quickly. But I always smiled and as part of my upbringing, was polite.
Anyways, I loved (and still do) volunteer work - so there I was at a gem stall, selling raw gem pieces found by members with all money to be donated to the Red Cross. As such, Mavis and I wore Red Cross tops.
Many customers were lovely, truly lovely - from young kids, to teens to adults - they could see that Mavis and I were struggling a bit, and were very understanding. Many gave a little extra for the Red Cross
Until 'he' and 'she' wandered in....
HM - Husband
HW - Wife
me - the teen with calipers
M - Mavis, an angel...
D - my dad - then a police officer
me: Hi, sir, ma'am, how may I help you? <standing up, balancing on my crutches>
HM: Hey! HW, look it's a tall version of Tiny Tim!! <wtf!
>HW: Hey retard, what's this crap you tryin' to offload??
M:....
Me:....
D:.....
Other people nearby:....
Before I could answer, she/it continued:
HW: This shit can't be as good as this, look at this... go on... <as she shoves her diamond ring in the face>
It was then I noticed it, see Mavis had trained me in identifying real and fake diamonds... this was so fake that it was almost plastic!
HM: Yeah man, paid $4000 on this
Me:...
<omg>Now, my dad is looking over towards me and slowly approaching and Mavis had edged closer and it was clear I was in pain - my legs were bad, real bad. But I hatched a plan....
Me: Hey dad!
My dad comes over in full police uniform, HM and HW are like
Me: could you get Tom (a recognised jeweller from town) to come over here with his gear, please?
Enter Tom the Jeweller - a very nice man who knew of my situation.
Me: could you please look at this lady's ring, I think she and this man here have been cheated.
Tom: sure, you had better sit down, you don't look so well.
Mavis and my dad help me to sit down as I was literally about to faint. I lift the pant leg to readjust the calipers, as Tom looked over the ring.
HM notices me struggling with the calipers and I heard him say to HW under his breath.. "oh shit, look at him"
Tom: Ummm you two better come with me, D could you com over as well please.
HW: ummm what's going on?? <turning paler>
They walk over to Tom's stall, so my dad told me what happened:
Tom: <showing his diamond display> these are real diamonds in the most popular facets, now look at yours...
HM: sigh! What you tryin' to sell?
HW: Honey.... I think you better look...
HM looks and apparantly went white as a ghost.... it was glass...and poor quality glass...
HM: But, but... I .... paid $4000 for this....
D: You have been conned I am afraid, badly.
HM: shit shit <repeat>
HW: ....
D: Do you remember where you got it?
HM: yeah, from a man at the station......oh crap....
D: You spend $4000 on a ring with no certificate from a guy at the station??? It could also have been stolen.... are you aware taht reciving stolen goods is a crime??
HM: but, but... I didn't know.....
HW: .....
<same expression, you'd think the wind had changed>HM: .... what can we do about it?
D: You can file a report, give us a description of the man and the time, I'll contact the railways and get the CCTV images hopefully....
HW: oh wow, thank you officer
HM:... yeah, thanks mate...
HW: I suppose this is worthless now.... here <hands it to my dad> evidence I guess...
D: We can do that at the police station and we can get a statement from you...
HM: yes, of course...
According to dad's recount, they became very unsucky... and were genuinely thankful for the help that Tom and my dad were giving. All the time, both HW and HM kept on peering over to me... I was okay and serving more customers raising funds for the Red Cross - their words stung but I got over it, thank God for Mavis' kind words (she passed away some years later - I still miss her terribly).
D (to HM and HW): Could you do me a favour?
both HM and HW nod
D: Do you remember who first raised the alert?
HM: Yeah, erm.... Tim?
D: no, my son, his name is Damien - and he won't ask for this - but realise that in 12 months he lost his grandpa and a friend to cancer and another friend hung himself in front of him (this incidently still hurts to this day) and we almost lost him on Christmas Day last year - could you please thank him at least?
both HM and HW nodded to dad and returned to my stall
HW: look, Damien, we are sorry, I did not mean what I said....
HM: same, I am sorry
Me: forget it <still smiling>
A month later, a letter came via the police station to me from HM and HW...I still have this letter:
Dear Damien,
We want to apologise again for the name calling, we now understand how far you have had to come to be where you are now. We also saw your poem in the paper - you are a bright man. We also want to thank you very much for alerting us to the fraud we were victim of, the man was caught, and Tom even helped us out. You are surrounded by good people Damien... you too are a good person, you did not have to help us, but you did.
Most sincerely
HW and HM
I kept this letter as in the next year, my world fell apart again, and again last year - but their kind words remind me that there is still a bit of hope.
In this case, they went from being SC's to a couple who's words, like many I have, have helped me out of some particularly dark moments.
Comment