TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Stories of kindness and helpfulness

Amid a world gone crazy, where common courtesy and doing a good job seem to have gone out the window, it's nice to hear stories of people who have been genuinely helpful at this time. What's your story? davew, you're up!!!

I had two offers from TTOL members to help me with lodging had I needed it. They have both been properly acknowledged and thanked profusely (in private) for their offers. A local SXM friend offered long-term lodging if needed and a small resort offered to work with me if needed as well.

Sadly, I have seen the other side of this in people as well.

Not SXM-related, but yesterday my neighbors (younger than I am) were going grocery shopping and asked if I needed anything. I took them up on their offer as I really dread going grocery shopping these days. I don't have any masks, and gloves are on back-order from Amazon.

Our neighbors after Hurricane Irma basically took the terrible responsibilty to secure our villa, tarp our car that had broken windows and so much more... They live on SXM on the French-side and I have tried to reciprocate but I can never cover all that they did for us. Now another situation that we become needy neighbors and they just say No Problem Mon!

I think it is a VERY sad statement that this post has only generated 3 responses. But, it also does not surprise me based on a few personal experiences.

BTW, I took my 83 year old neighbor to the grocery and pharmacy and also got the trash bins in for the elderly on my street today. I also got her gas for her zero-turn mower as she still enjoys mowing her own grass and does great for being widowed 4 years now.

Same here. I have an elderly widow next door and we check on her daily and on trash day take her trash cans out to the curb for her. There are so many little things people can do to make a difference in someones life. When we go grocery shopping we either take her along or pick things up for her. Self rewarding.

The things I try to do for others I try to consider them as the 'normal type of behavior all of us should share in the face of a global pandemic like this one.' If everyone can simply commit to one daily act of kindness during these times it sure goes a long way and brightens up the day for everyone as well as yourself. With so much self isolation at hand, I have tried to call, text and e-mail everyone that I know who may be going through these difficult times alone in their home or apartment. Those people without a partner or companion at home who very much need to hear from another person. And, I try to end my call or e-mail with " just let me know if there's anything I can do for you." I would like to believe that someday if I did not have my wife around the people I know would do this for me.

That is an absolute true statement. I feel exactly the same way. Besides, I can still feel my mom's hand to the back of my head from 40 years ago if I didn't at least offer to assist in some way. No, I was not abused. I was disciplined.

We experienced so many acts of kindness this trip. We stayed in Orient Village so experienced both the water stoppage issue and Covid 19 restrictions. Our landlords Moune and Dominique stayed up one night to hear what the French government were doing. Because of this she provided and helped fill out the forms we needed to get out and about before most people even knew about them. Sebastien who owns Le P'tit Bistro along with Val invited us to use the washrooms at the restaurant during the water stoppage even though we were not eating there. They were one of the few restaurants that had a fresh water source. One day during the closures we were looking for a baguette for lunch and could not find one. We saw Sebastien and he offered to open the restaurant and bake us one. We were able to get one from the gentleman we had come to know at Good Morning who had some put away. Brice, one of the bartenders at Yellow Sub made hand sanitizer and went around squiritng people's hands before and after drinks. Friends that we have known for only a couple of years opened up the villa they were staying at so we could have a shower when we were without water.
These are just a few of the acts of kindness we experienced. Wonderful people on a wonderful island.

pandp--thanks for the post.

Yesterday, when I was cancelling out our April trip with British Airways (AA flight on BA), and American. It took quite a while for a variety of reasons, but at the end of my conversations, I made sure that the agents understood how grateful I was for their kindness and help. The AA agent apologized to me for us having to cancel our trip and I made sure that he understood from me that his safety and well being were what was most important to me.

As I have gone through life, I have always been courteous to people and it reflected in their attitude to me. I finally got through to the United reservations to cancel our 26 March flight. The agent was very business until I asked her if she was really getting overwhelmed with calls which she said they were. In a friendly manner, I explained to her why we were canceling and she said no problem she will take care of it for me. She thanked me for being so patient and not being nasty like some people have been. I thanked her for her help and told her to please be safe. She wished me the same. Nice lady. It doesn't make sense to me how someone can be mean and nasty to someone that is trying to help them.?.? Helping neighbors is always a plus for me as well. Especially older than me folks.

Our only venture out was to pick up a clicklist order from the grocery, we drove around to see what was going on (some unusually crazy drivers).

At the grocery pickup, we popped the trunk, and I reached for my wallet. Hadn’t needed it in a week so guess what, wasn’t in my pants. Reached into my pocket and had a $1.85.

I took a Clorox wipe and wiped my hand and the coins and hopped out. I told him the story and said here is all I have for a tip and you may not even want it!

The young boy said no thanks, if it wasn’t for this crisis, I wouldn’t have a job. I told him I’d remember and tip him if I ever saw him again.

Funny how it usually works that way. I try to treat people the way that I want to be treated. Doing so generally gets me good results. But that is not why I do it. I do it because it is the right thing to do.

Kudos to you, CaribLee, and to so many others during this stressful time. Your approach is the one I almost always follow and it usually works to my benefit. And the rare time it doesn’t, at least in my heart I know I acted like the adult in the room.

Hang in there Peeps. We will get through this.

Pat--Yes, you most certainly do act like the adult in the room. Our voice of reason.

" I reached for my wallet. Hadn’t needed it in a week so guess what, wasn’t in my pants."
Hope you had your drivers license with you or some type of ID.