Greater than 2 minutes, my friend!
The Kindness of e-Strangers Relying on it
Editor’s Note: Dear friends and colleagues! I understand that this post doesn’t quite fit into what we normally share with you. We apologize in advance if it caused you any trouble or discomfort. We allowed to publish this post because Vova is an active contributor of our tiny community and he considers The Open Mic to be one big family. We strongly believe in helping others on The Open Mic that’s why we encourage you to read this story and land a helping hand, if you can. Or you can simply turn the page and read other articles. Thank you so much for your understanding. Enjoy the rest of your day!
~ Dmitry Kornyukhov, founder of The Open Mic.
The web is a peculiar place. On the one hand, we have so many contacts and interact so much online that it seems we are more connected than ever. On the other hand, apart from a few dozens of people that we really know, we still remain strangers to each other — all having our own, different lives offline that remain largely unknown to the others.
Yet, sometimes the roulette of fortune throws the ball our way — and we are to test the online-offline frontier and many other things in life, including the proverbial kindness of strangers.
As some of you know, for the last few days I have been raising money for a friend’s upcoming cancer surgery. As part of the “quest,” I’ve sent hundreds of emails to people I’m at least vaguely connected to. This included anyone I’d ever exchanged an email with, my childhood pals and acquaintances, and even my 6,000+ LinkedIn contacts.
Not unexpectedly, the response was mixed.
First of all, I will forever owe a debt of gratitude to those who have already donated — Philippa, Julia, Dmitry, Tony, Norbert, Alexei, Ally, Cynthia, thank you! A lot of people sent me words of support or advice and offered help in spreading the word — my thanks go to you, too.
There were also people who called me “spammer” or even “scammer.” I want to thank them for saying this in my face, as it helped me improve the way I approach people with my plea. If you are reading this, I wish you health and prosperity — and heaven forbid you ever have to fold your hands in supplication as I’m doing now.
But my main message goes to the third part — by far the biggest one — those who remained silent and (hopefully) hesitating:
I know how you feel. I would feel that way myself. You earn your money through hard work, you have plans on how to spend them, and these plans do not include giving them to a stranger coming out of nowhere.
Yet — I know this from my own experience — random acts of humanity return to you hundredfold. For the world is a logical place, and it would be evolutionarily illogical for our species to thrive, had our fitness no dependence on our kindness.
That is why I believe in the kindness of strangers in general and in you personally.
Do you? If yes, there are many ways to bestow your charity online. One — just one of them — is to help my friend Guzel.
Finally, remember that a kind deed need to be a deed of donation. By merely clicking the “Share” button below, you are already making ours a better world, a world that has a chance to survive.
What do you think? Are kind strangers an antiquity or majority in this realm?
Dear Vladimir,
your post gave me the shivers.
I’m going to receive some money in the next few weeks (my workflow is bit slow at the moment) and I’ll send you something, even if not much :-(.
Anyway, the world wide web IS sharing.
Good luck with your plea and a hug to your friend from a stranger
Thank you so much for your words and your willingness to help, Giovanna — as I said elsewhere, the world turns on because of the good people like you!
Hey Vova! I’ve just donated 30 USD. I know it’s not much, but I hope this small contribution will help you get closer to your goal. Crossing my fingers and hoping Guzel will win this battle. Hugs from Toronto!
Спасибо огромное, Дим!
Dear Vova,
I would like to make a donation but I have no credit card, and I see no option to pay via PayPal. Does this option exist? If not, I’ll ask my son to pay with his credit card. Greetings from Belgrade!
Puno vama hvala, Biljana! Mozete takodje da posalite novac preko Paypal-u direktno na leisanmini@gmail.com (adres mojoj zene), ako je to pogodno za vas. Svaka vam cast jos jednom!
NIsam do sada koristila PayPal za uplate na lični račun. Da li idem na *send&request payments > pay for goods or services > email address or name?*
Mislim da nije “pay for goods or services” — ima li opcija “send to a relative/friend”?
Čini mi se da nema, ja je ne vidim.
Pokušala sam da nađem odgovor na sajtu PayPal-a, ali izgleda da ja nemam mogućnost da pošaljem novac kao poklon. Dogovorila sam se sa sinom, u petak će uplatiti novac na svoj račun i poslaće uplatu za Guzel.Nadam se da to odgovara.
Svaka čast na znanju srtpskog jezika!
Šaljemo najlepše želje za srećno ozdravljenje.
Srdačan pozdrav,
Biljana