Wise Up!

Good Deeds

"¢ Some boys playing baseball in a park once saw Babe Ruth stopped at a red light, and they requested, "œCome on, let us see you hit a few." Babe parked his car and spent 30 minutes hitting easy fly balls so the boys could catch them - and he hit a few that traveled a very long distance. Babe was generous with money, too. One day during spring training, rain resulted in the cancellation of a game, so he went to a racetrack, where he won $9,000. In Babe's day, players were not paid during spring training, so most of his teammates were broke. Babe went back to the clubhouse, threw the $9,000 on top of an equipment trunk, and said, "œWell, boys, look what I found." He was also kind to Father Matthias, who ran St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, where Father Matthias taught him how to play baseball. Babe bought Father Matthias a new Cadillac each year, and when some of the buildings at St. Mary's burned down, he arranged for the band of St. Mary's to tour with the New York Yankees and hold concerts to raise money for new buildings. He also returned occasionally to play baseball with the boys of St. Mary's.

"¢ Yousuf Karsh suffered through the persecution of Armenians during the early 20th century; fortunately, his father moved the family to Syria. Also fortunately, an uncle named George Nakash allowed Yousuf to live with him in Canada. Of course, Yousuf was worried about making friends in a new country, but quickly he and his Canadian classmates became friends. Mr. Nakash was an established photographer, and he gave Yousuf a camera. Yousuf took a photograph of playing children and presented it to a classmate, who entered it without Yousuf's knowledge in a photography contest - Yousuf won the 1st-place prize of $50. (Yousuf sent $40 to his parents in Syria, and he gave $10 to his classmate.) With the impetus of these good deeds-his uncle taking him in, his Canadian classmates being friendly, one particular Canadian classmate liking Yousuf's photograph so much that he entered it in a photography contest without Yousuf's knowledge - and lots of his own hard work, Yousuf became a world-famous photographer.

"¢ Minor-league baseball players don't make much money, and major-league baseball players make a lot of money. Once in a while, a major-league player will go down into the minor leagues to rehab after an injury. A tradition has sprung up that the major-league player will buy a meal for the entire minor-league team. This is quite a good tradition because some minor-league players find it difficult to pay rent and buy food during the season. During the 2004 season, the Tampa Yankees enjoyed a truckload of Hooters wings, courtesy of Jon Lieber, and they enjoyed P.F. Changs Chinese food and Outback Steakhouse steaks, courtesy of Jason Giambi. (Another good thing about minor-league baseball is creative promotions. In 2002, the Nashua Pride had a "œWho Wants to be a Turkish Millionaire" promotion. Fans who correctly answered a trivia question received a million Turkish lira. At the time, a million Turkish lira was worth $1.16.)

"¢ On July 15, 2009, a man and his young son came into the Red Cross chapter in Athens, Ohio, while his wife stayed outside with a 4-month-old baby whom they had discovered on their doorstep a few days before. The man and his family needed supplies to take care of the baby, and they lacked money to buy the supplies. The Red Cross started making telephone calls to find some organization or business that could help with the supplies. Eventually, they called the Athens Wal-Mart, whose assistant manager immediately agreed to give the family whatever they needed to take care of the baby, including formula, diapers, and clothing. In a letter to the editor of The Athens NEWS, Pamela Martino, executive director of the Athens County Red Cross, wrote, "œOn behalf of the Athens County Red Cross, I want to thank Wal-Mart for their kindness, generosity and quick response when help could NOT wait!"

"¢ Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who was Jewish, stood up for the people he respected. One day, Celtics head Walter Brown took a telephone call from a man who accused the Celtics of being anti-Semitic because they had cut a basketball player who was Jewish. Red was in the office when Mr. Brown got the telephone call. Red got on the telephone and said, "This is Red Auerbach! Listen, you f***in' Heeb! I'm a Jew, g*dd*mnit! I cut that kid - he couldn't f***in' play! Walter Brown is one of the finest human beings on the whole g*dd*mn planet! And you're talking this s**t to him! If I find out who you are, I'll come over there and kick your *ss!"

"¢ While in Japan, film director Quentin Tarantino entered a trendy clothing store, where he heard some interesting music that turned out to be by the 5,6,7,8's. He was impressed by the music, and he asked for permission to buy the CD, explaining that he was leaving Japan almost immediately and would not have time to buy the album at a music store. (He also figured that he would not remember to buy the album once he had left Japan.) The employees at the store very kindly let him buy the album. Because of their kindness, the 5,6,7.8,s appeared in Mr. Tarantino's film "Kill Bill, Volume 1," and one of their songs ("Woo Hoo") appeared on the soundtrack album of the film.

"¢ Teamsters Union official Jimmy Hoffa was in a Southern state meeting with some local union officials there when a woman came to him with a problem. She explained that she was a widow, her late husband had been a union truck trucker and had died on the job, she needed a job to support her children, and the local union would not give her a job. Mr. Hoffa made the local union officials hand their wallets to him, and he took all of the money out of their wallets and out of his own wallet, and handed it to the woman. He also told her to call him if in two weeks she did not have a job.