One of the reasons I enjoyed Pay It Forward so much is that I've been living by the Golden Rule since I could talk. My earliest memory of a generous act:
My little sister desperately wanted a pet turtle. So i went down to the nearest pet store, an easy walk from our house, and looked over their stock. They all appeared to have soft-shell disease, a thing pet store red-eared turtles get. So, without returning to or calling home, I hopped on the bus and went to an aquarium store in the next town; a big, well-stocked place with knowledgeable staff, one of my favorite places on earth. I found a healthy turtle and brought it home.
Mom told me afterward how eagerly and impatiently my sister had waited for me to come back - rushing out to the driveway every few minutes to look down the street. And then she complimented me on my generosity - which hadn't even occurred to me; I was just having a good time doing the right thing.
My life, by the conventional definitions of material success, is pretty crappy, but nonetheless I've been paid back many times for that little turtle.
gently feral