The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week, we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
This week’s Something Good is a child in South Africa sacrificing to help a friend.
A couple of months ago, 10-year old Vaughn Fish made friends with Tony, a Caltex gas station attendant, while his mother was filling up. He was ill, she says, and Tony made Vaughn laugh. After that meeting, Vaughn and his mother regularly visit that gas station and he eagerly watches for his friend Tony. Tony listens kindly when Vaughn chats about the bikes the family had with them on their trips. Eventually, Tony asked them to keep an eye out for a reasonably priced bike for him. Vaughn promised he would.
Meanwhile, Vaughn had been saving silver coins to help fund a family vacation and had collected quite a few.
Mandy, Vaughn’s mom, says one night he came to her and asked if it would be okay if they used that money to buy his friend Tony a bike instead of going on vacation. So they opened the piggy bank and bought Tony a bike. In a Facebook post that has made Vaughn a bit of a celebrity in South Africa, Mandy says her heart was full of joy when a stunned Tony accepted Vaughn’s gift.
The story by Good Things Guy about Vaughn’s act of kindness was tweeted by Caltex, the gas station where Tony works. Game, the store where Vaughn bought the bike, stepped up and gave both Tony and Vaughn gift vouchers, saying that Vaughn had “good Game”.
Caltex offered to provide the Fish family the holiday that Vaughn sacrificed to buy Tony his bike.
On one hand it is sad that a simple act of kindness by a child goes viral because shouldn’t it be the norm rather than be so notable? But we are all hungry for good news in this polarized world we live in and one child’s sacrifice has ripples that have touched people across the globe. Kindness is like that… something simple can have far reaching effects and, while an act of generosity blesses all it touches, the giver is always blessed the most.
Now it’s your turn… Tell me Something Good!
