Keep the Love Flowing

The cycle of kindness, also rolls down continually, from one person, to the next, we need more stories like these, especially at this day and age! Translated…

The rain came pouring down on my exercise walk, I’d rushed into the breakfast shops to hide out, the shop owner’s mother in her seventies ushered me in, and she’d, taken out a yellow raincoat from the closets, for me to put on, her act of kindness had, warmed up my heart.

As the rain slowly dissipat4ed, as I was, about to, return the raincoat, she’d started telling me the funny things that happened to her while she was on a trip to the eastern side of the island. A couple of years ago, she’d gone to Hualien to travel during the New Year’s holidays with her family, and, the trip was a spur of the moment thing, and, she’d only worn the short sleeves and shorts, and, the cold fronts made everybody shiver, and so, they can only, run back into the cars to hide, they’d not gone anywhere.

And, a woman who was standing at the side of the road saw, she’d immediately gone home, brought a ton of clothes for them to choose from, waited until the seven, eight adults and children had, selected the thick coats and smiled and said their thank yous, they’d wanted to ask her address, so they can send the clothe back, but, the woman turned them down. She’d told them, that her kids are all grown and lived elsewhere, that the clothes were just, taking up space in her home. And, every time after that, as the family saw the clothes, they’d always, smiled on it, and, remembered the kindness from the woman, who’d given them the coats to wear.

In order to keep the love flowing, the breakfast shop also gathered some donated clothes for the comers to borrow, other than keeping the shop connected with the local communities, it’s, a way of repaying the woman for her kindness. As I’d heard, I thought, maybe I can write this tale down, or maybe, by chance, that kindhearted woman that the family met in Hualien will see, that her kindness had become, a cycle already.

And so, this, is how some random act of kindness had touched so many lives, and, by passing the kindness to the strangers that came to the breakfast shop, the owner is keeping the kindness that was shown to her and her family flowing, and we need more stories like this in the world we live in right now!

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Grateful Toward the Free Umbrellas, He’d Used One, and Returned Five Back to the Place

Kindness flowed around in this neighborhood all right, from the Newspapers, translated…

The umbrellas provided for those who need, either that the umbrellas would get forgotten somewhere, or that they don’t get returned back at all, and, the number of these free-for-use umbrellas are declining in the numbers, but, the free umbrellas for the use of those who may need in Shi-Chiu Borough, Keelung kept growing in number, the locals not only would return the borrowed umbrellas, they’d even, donated some from their homes too, a local person because he was very grateful for the compassion umbrellas, allowing him to not get wet on a rainy day, he’d returned FIVE back to the office, everybody there chips in, in this effort to show compassion.

Lin, the man in charge of the borough had placed a row of compassion umbrellas out by his office, and, a year ago, there were only one-digit number of the umbrellas, but now, there are, over twenty, and the ones that got broken, would be recycled, and on the rainy days, the locals would borrow it away, and when the weather gets better, they’d returned them.

Lin said, it rains a lot in Keelung, and there would be the local residents who’d gone to the marketplaces that were rained on, and couldn’t get home, he’d had the thought of placing the “compassion umbrellas” so everybody can get home without getting wet.

And because the office is on the way to the marketplace, when the man in charge of the borough saw a person without an umbrella, he’d bring one to her/him, and said, “Don’t get wet, you’ll catch a cold!”, it’d made the locals feel warm inside.

“The compassion umbrellas are very practical”, a resident, Yu told, once he’d forgotten to take his umbrella and was drenched, thanks for the umbrellas, he didn’t get too wet.

Most of the users would usually return the umbrella the very next day after they took it home, and there were a lot who showed their gratitude by bringing an extra umbrella to return back to the office.  A local, Lai said, “Everybody is a part of this kindness, I’d donated an umbrella too.”

Lin said that there were locals who’d donated five umbrellas at a time, and not left her/his name, just told him, “it’s to help those in need”, it’d moved him so, and so, he’s passing on the program.

A lot of the volunteers at the points all brought their extra umbrellas, so this work of kindness keeps on rolling.

So, kindness is also infectious, because someone was aided, and so, the person showed gratitude by returning the “favor”, so those in need would have it available to them, and, this is just in ONE small borough here, but, imagine how much good this could accomplish, if several boroughs start doing this, kindness is still, cycling here…

 Still NOT my photograph…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Elderly Woman Was on a Cart, Being Transported to the Hospital in the Hot Weather, the Passersby Were Extremely Kind, Put Up Shades So She Won’t Get Overheated

Help from strangers, goodness in the world here, from the Front Page Sections, translated…

The owner of the roadside food stand, the truck driver, the young man who volunteered for the local worships put up the money and gave the assistance, were reported for doing good?  “There’s no need to put our good deeds out there.”

The eighty-year-old elderly woman, Lin two days ago, lay on her flatbed transport, her daughter rode her motorcycle, and dragged the flatbed, with her on it, to the hospital, the oyster-fry shop owner, the truck driver, and a young man who volunteered at the temple celebrations witnessed this, they’d put up the money, to get the elderly woman to the hospital, and installed warning lights on her flatbed, and this once again, showed that heartwarming stories are still, occurring throughout Taiwan.

The elderly woman, Lin, lived on the third floor of a housing unit with her fifty-eight year-old daughter, they’d picked up recycle materials to make ends meet, and because it’d become hard, for the elderly to climb up the stairs, she’d often slept in the cart that she’d used to haul off the recycling materials with.

The elderly woman has a debilitating condition, every two months, she’d needed to go to Changgang Hospital in Chiayi to see her physician, but, they were without money for a cab, each and every time, the daughter would ride on her motorcycle, pulling along the flatbed, and she’d ride for eighteen kilometers, to get her mother to her doctor’s appointment.  And because her elderly mother is sitting on the flatbed, she’d ridden her motorcycle very slowly, and, each time, the trips took them over an hour each way.

Two afternoons ago, around five, the mother and daughter showed up as they’d passed through the Chingtien Temple, and was spotted by the oyster fry stand owner, Hou, and the truck driver, Chen.

“I could tell, by one look, that they’re not well off!”, the driver, Chen told, the mother daughter were parked by the side of the road, the elderly woman was without any mobility, lay, slanted, on the cart, and, other than the quilt that was beside here, there was also, a store-bought packed lunch; the elderly woman’s daughter was sweating like crazy, panted, told that she’d ridden for forty minutes, she’d become overheated and tired, she stopped, to rest.

The owner, Hou and the pickup driver, Chen decided to put up the money, so the elderly woman could be transported via a cab, and, a couple of the young men from the temples saw, and they all went to help out.

The youth from the temple, Huang said, everybody worked together, some flagged down the cab, some accompanied the elderly on the ride, some rode alongside the daughter, to help the elderly cross the streets, he’d bought a flashing light, placed it at the tail of the flatbed.

Huang said, that the cab driver was kind too, kept waiting for them at the hospital, and then, he took the elderly woman home.  The trip cost five hundred dollars, but the men gave the driver an extra hundred dollar bill.

The group of young men were asked, “Can we mention your act of kindness on the papers?”, everybody frowned and said, “This, is what we can do to help out, there’s no need, to make it known to the world.”

And here, we still have kindness from strangers, because they saw this elderly woman who was in need, and, they all chipped in, to offer her assistance, and, this, is a heartwarming story, in this world that’s growing colder every single day, as there are so many awful things happening in the world right now, and we need MORE stories like this one, to keep our faiths up.

The Japanese Teenage “Part-Timing Girls” Walked Along the Borderlines of the Law

Look how easily they’d all SOLD!!!  From the Front Page Sections, translated…

On Hara Street in Tokyo, you see an assortment of adolescent girls, wearing uniforms from so many high schools, shoving the small flyers, into the hands, of the male passersby, “This, is what’s called the JK (High School Girl) industries I suppose.”, I’d thought to myself.  Based off of the small flyers, there are, pricings for massages, cleaning the ears, lying on your thighs, carrying on in conversations, with the separate price ranges.

The representative of the Colabo Group, Nito Yume gave a speech at the specialist organizations, estimated that there were, about 5,000 adolescent girls who are involved in the JK industries, “The government does nothing.”, the workers are wandering at the borderline of the law, like when those high school read your fortunes, hears you pour your heart out, and recently, there’s the shops, with the girls, folding origami in a glass room, with a single-direction binocular, the chairs are set up, for the customers who are peeping, to see what’s underneath their skirts.  But, because of the legislations, it makes the police hard to enter into the places, to do a search, to collect the related evidence.  In the whole of Japan, only Aichi Agata set up the bans for these JK industries this February.

Nito, who’d once wrote out her experiences into “High School Refugees”, in 2011, set up Colabo, to offer cares and concerns for girls in the high school level; she said, a lot of people believed, that those girls in the sex industries are from lower economic statuses, but they actually only made up one-third, “the other third was from well-to-do-families, but the students don’t get along well with the members of the families, or the classmates, and, another third came from children from good backgrounds”.  A lot of the teenage girls believed, that they’re not selling their bodies, they’d earned the easy money, working these easy gigs, and at the end, they were, PUSHED into the slave trade.

The way that Nito saved these girls is head to the streets, and strike up conversations with these girls on the streets, the very first line was usually, “You want to eat together?”  she’d told, that some of the adolescents never even had hot pot with the families, or had never even seen their parents cook.  She’d cooked with the girls, and sat with them, laughing and talking at the supper table, to give them a place of comfort.  Not everybody would immediately open up to her right away, some, after six months of hanging out with her had, told her about their own sexual abuses from the childhood years.

Nito said, that unlike how the U.S. would punish those who’d solicited sex from the younger children severely, the Japanese culture had, encouraged the adults, to seek out younger girls, and the society carried the attitude of how it’s the families, or the girls’ own fault”, and even the teens felt, that they’re to blame, so they couldn’t reach out for help.  A lot of the young adults feared getting sent into government facilities, Nito pointed out, she’d heard, that the “protection center’s” workers aren’t professional social workers, she’d heard, that all the children there should not maintain eye contact with each other, no exchange of names, no talking in private, and they go to the bathrooms, brush their teeth, under strict surveillance, “This, is not care and concern, it’s managing”.

She said, “It’s a shame, that those who are willing to show ‘care and concern’, providing them with food, shelter, and work, even afterschool tutoring, are the workers in the JK industries, no wonder the adolescent girls are so faithful to them.”

And so, because these teens can’t feel accepted by their families, and in school, that, is why they’d turned to the first ones who’d offered them that place that felt like “home”, and, oftentimes, those places that “felt” like home, are so far from home, that once they get in, they will NEVER have the chance of getting out again.

Purpose of Age-Progressing One’s Child

Thanks to the modern day technologies, now, you can get a first look at what your infants will look like when they’re ADULTS, but, why the HELL would anybody want to do that?

The purpose of age-progressing one’s child is, uh, let me think, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wow, I’m STUMPED!  And, you have to ask yourselves: What the HELL are those god DAMN parents thinking of?  And, don’t they KNOW, that the childhood years are the most precious of all, so, why the HELL are they, RUSHING to see what their kid would look like AT age eighteen (as that, is the “marker” for adulthood?).

It’s just one of those POINTLESS things that people do, like use that photoshop program, to see what the two of your children will look like, when you have yet to tie the knot!

The Online Age, Allowing the Talents to Shine Ever So Brightly

Translated…

The reform in education is a topic that’s been ranting in Taiwan for decades on end, in the policies of the past, Taiwan set up many colleges and high schools, turning a lot of the professional training schools into technical universities, and the trend of everybody’s studying, and an influx of students from colleges and universities, and this new reform in education had caused a ton of parents, moving into the better school districts, causing some areas to have an influx of population.

When everybody owns a college degree, the values of the college degree is degraded, and, people started claiming that “We must also up the competitive edges, instead of focusing solely on the degrees”, or, “looking at just degrees will make you miss out on a ton of able-bodied workers”, etc., etc., etc., all of these, are actually, great views, but, under the considerations of realities, the degrees are still the key to how the enterprises find the employees, although, looking at just the degrees may not be objective enough, but, it’s the quickest way.

Take for instance, the namely enterprises, they’d receive over ten thousands of résumés each year, and, if you read through one thoroughly, it’d take two minutes, simply put, reading ten thousand résumés through thoroughly, it’d take 20,000 minutes, exchange that into the workdays, it’d take someone almost TWO months, to sort through the résumés thoroughly, and completely, and this still doesn’t include the trial phases of the workers, and the skills tests needed for the post, from a more economical angle, using degrees as a determinant for whether or not someone gets hired, it may be a bit biased, but, it’s a way to save time in finding someone who can have the ability to learn.

Of course, we should not get too superstitious about the degrees either, but, based off of the conditions of how the streets are filled with college grads, the companies are having more difficulties, finding a match in hire, just looking at the performances in school, but this doesn’t mean, that the values of the namely and prestigious schools are declined, actually it’s increased by a lot.  When the college degrees are diluted, the name brand colleges would only become more emphasized by the corporations.

But, does that mean, that if the kids didn’t get to attend one of the namely schools, their futures are screwed?  When problems surface, there would always be a way out, and solutions too.

With the help of the internet, it’d broken the barriers of space and distance, in the past, we were limited in looking for work in Taiwan locally, but through the internet, the opportunities exist worldwide.  When “the world is flat” came out, the openings in work posts became a shared opportunity.

When the degrees got tossed out as the standard for hiring, this generation became an even more gifted generation compared to the generations before, in the past, the industrialized world, there was a need for workers who have great rote memories, but in this age where talents beats all, having creativity is what makes you shine.

Like how recently, there’s an influx of artists that surfaced, these creators, in the past, can only be known through the traditional bookstores, but, if we go by the past publishing processes, all those very talented artists will get overlooked, but, in the online era, the not being restricted by borders can allow the artwork to shine, and, all these opportunities had never occurred before.

Then, how can we help the kids, find out what they’re good at?  We can have them start with something they’re good at and passionate about, the professionalisms can be instilled and trained, the talents needed to be discovered, in the online era, you can find opportunities everywhere you look.

Although the name-brand universities is still a standard to which the enterprises take to hiring, but, with that special gift, the online world can be a brand new opportunity for you, so, use the internet wisely, and, the world shall see how talented you are.

And so, because everything IS online these days, having an acclaimed degree from a prestigious school is NO longer as important as it once was, besides, today, they’re more focused on the skills you are able to acquire, so, work hard, hone up on those working skills, so that way, you will still get equal opportunities, even IF you didn’t graduate top of your classes.

We’ve Never Met

On modern-day interactions, translated…

Some people whom I’d never met, and, don’t know if they have the chances of meeting one another in life, but had become, this light scent of nostalgia to me.

For instance, T, one of my friends on Facebook, a man with a warm smile, and deep eyes, the articles he’d posted are very well-written, and he’d lightly disclosed, how three years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare illness, that it’d turned his views of life upside down, and, since, his writings showed this brand new understanding, this new kind of clarity about life.

One day, I’d recalled how it’s been a very long time, since I saw anything from him, and I’d gone of Facebook, to check out his page, then, I’d gotten to know, through someone else’s posting, that he was currently engaged in a tug-of-war with death in the I.C.U.  Since then, I’d gone on his Facebook page to check on him, hoped to get the message, that he’d made a full recovery.  And I’d often prayed to God, to look out for T, he once had such passions for life!

Another friend, C, one day, he’d also vanished, and, he canceled his Facebook account too.  What happened?  Why did he close his account?  In reality, C and I had NO shared friends, and so, I couldn’t find out how he was, even if I wanted to.  C is one of those lowkey people, who used a piece of photography as his display picture, and, the name he used was his initials, I have NO idea what was going on with him in real life.  And still, in the psychological sense, he’s such an interesting person, would use his humorous, and unique way, to reply to all of my postings, and it’d become nostalgic to me.  Having lost a Face friend such as he, I felt very awful.

And, don’t remember how long ago afterwards it was, I’d picked up a book I’d ordered online from a bookstore, as I’d told the cashier my name, after I’d gotten the book, was about to walk out, a man called out to me.  He looked very handsome, with this clean aura about him, but, I was certain, we’d never met.  He said, he was, once my friend, on Facebook.

Once?  I’d inquired.  He said, yes, he’d not logged on Facebook anymore, because someone made an anonymous complain about his account, his account was canceled, and so, he’d stopped using Facebook altogether.  “Actually, it’s a good thing, it’d given me more time, to do other things, it’s just that I regretted saying goodbye to some of the friends I’d shared deep conversations with is all.”  And so, as he’d heard me say my name to the cashier, he was so happy, that he could tell all of this to me to my face.

And, all of a sudden, I’d said his initials which had been erased completely from my mind previously.  And, his smiles became more radiant, “You still remembered me?”

I smiled too, “Of course!  I’m really glad, that I ran into you.”  Thanks to this chance meeting, it’d resolved ALL the questions I have about his disappearing on Facebook.

Back then, we’d started chatting, carried on like we were old friends, recalled some of the interactions we’d shared on Facebook.  Then, without leaving ANY ways of getting into contact with one another, we’d parted ways again.  I still don’t know his real name, or anything else about him, but that was unimportant.  Being able to meet back up with him, was more than enough for me.

Facebook had gotten those who originally had nothing in common together, like how a cloud, bumped into another cloud, or how a duckweed, swam into another duckweed.  In the world online, we’re close, and we’re far apart, maybe we would get forgotten by the world, and, we may become one another’s questioning thoughts.  Turns out, that in our not being aware of it, some of the interactions already had feelings infiltrated into them, and when we don’t see one another, we’d start to care and concern, and also, miss, each other.

This, is how friendships continued AFTER you’d logged off, and that still just shows, how even though you are making a ton of friends online, you should still WORK on the interpersonal relationships you have offline, because you don’t want to have a ZILLION friends on your social networking sites, but, ZERO friends in reality, do you?  I wouldn’t think so.