One of the great things about having season tickets to the Giants-other than being able to attend games myself-is being able to give tickets to friends, family and customers so they can experience the fun. There is nothing quite like being able to see a game with The G-Men in the stadium, the way it was meant to be seen. It’s one of my ways of “paying it forward,” as the saying goes.
Recently, I received an email from my friend (and Matchmaker Logistics customer), Steve. I’d given Steve and his wife four tickets to a Giants game and they had decided to go to the game with another couple. The day before the game, Steve’s wife was suffering from back pain. Worried about sitting on the cold bleachers with her bad back, she and her girlfriend decided to go shopping instead. Well, that left Steve and his friend with two spare tickets. As Steve wrote in his email, it was purely by chance that later that day he discovered his waitress was a Giants fan. He decided on the spur of the moment to give her the extra tickets:
“Our server, Rose, was obviously an avid Giants fan, so I offered her the two spare tickets. Bob, I cannot describe her excitement! I can be skeptical sometimes and was not sure of her sincerity about being unable to buy tickets. I was fearful she was going to simply scalp them, which would have been fine if she needed the money more than a football game. Well, wouldn’t you know it, she came to the game and her boyfriend had full Giants regalia on! Rose bought us a round of beers and they were both very grateful. It made me feel good that I could use the tickets in this way; I hope you approve.”
Of course, I emailed Steve back to say that I approved! It was great to hear that my tickets had traveled all that way to someone I’d never met and I was indirectly able to give a young woman and her boyfriend a memorable game day. And I’m glad to have a friend like Steve, who chose generosity over skepticism. We may think that stuff like this only happens in the movies-remember that Nicolas Cage movie, It Could Happen to You, where he splits his lottery ticket with his waitress? Friends like Steve remind me that we, too, can do the right thing for others:
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. ~ Sir Winston Churchill
No person was ever honored for what he received, but for what he gave. ~ Calvin Coolidge
Pay it forward this weekend,
~Bob
