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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 7, 2007 - 07:20pm PT
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I'm not sure that's the right word for it, karma, but I am fascinated by happenings that seem to tie us all into some higher spirit and show us that we in fact are connected. Indeed we reap what we sow. I'd love to hear some examples of when something special happened to you, such as the following:
Sometime in the mid-later 1980s I was utterly broke, no writng royalties, nothing. I went down to a store that buys used outdoor equipment and sold my three or four pair of climbing shoes. The little bit of money would get me some food for the next few days. When I got back to may small apartment, waiting on the doorstep was a box sent me by Heinz Mariacher and Luisa Iovane (they were at the time the leading reps for La Sportiva, and two of the best -- if not THE best -- Italian climbers). The box had a new pair of climbing shoes. It seemed at that moment my karma was such in climbing (if you want to use the word karma), that I was not to be without a pair of climbing shoes. Whatever spirits govern this planet would have nothing of it, or else my friends were tied to my psychically and anticipated the need...
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Great thead
I've got THOUSANDS of em, but here's one I wrote
Meeting Yabo
In the early 1980ıs my best compromise between living and climbing in
Yosemite while avoiding poverty and parental heartbreak was to work for
Curry Company. For three years, I was the Night Housing Supervisor, in
charge of all the Curry employee housing areas between the hours of 5pm
and 1am.
In some ways, it was a dream job for a climber. I had a private tiny
cabin in Yosemite and was free to climb until 5pm every day. There was
a downside though. I was in charge of enforcing a plethora of rules and
keeping the company facilities free of exploitation by unauthorized
persons, particularly climbers.
I was a climber. Curry Company hated climbers. Resolving the dissonance
between these realities nurtured diplomacy in Karl and, eventually,
fostered tolerance within Curry Company.
Curry Companyıs strict grooming code made it easy to divine the
difference between the dorm residents and the Camp 4 residents. I
remember a funny cartoon on the wall of an employee bathroom. It showed
a guy with long hair and a crazy and confused look on his face. The
caption read "Before" Next to it was a drawing of the same crazy and
confused face but this time with short, clean cut hair. The caption
read "After" (employment) Years of the clean-cut company culture
inbreeding made it easy for long-term employees to adopt the attitude
that long hair or a beard were marks of dereliction.
The ex-marine president of the Company was chief among the those who
were pissed at climbers. After some random act of vandalism attributed
to climbers, he took a tour through Camp 4 to the boos and jeers of the
campers.
The behavior of the climbers sometimes didnıt help matters. Besides
snaking showers and drunken deli rudeness, some climbers would camp out
in the cafeteria and scarf leftover food, or shoplift from Curry
Stores.
Worst of all, climbers seeking comfort and love as part of the same
deal would seek out girlfriends among the Curry Employees. Many a young
damsel would be seduced into supporting the lifestyle of a "Park Bum"
or PB as it was abreviated. Now it wasnıt as if there were enough of
these beauties to go around. These were OUR women! Just like in
Alaska, in Yosemite, if youıre a women, the odds are good, but the
goods are odd!
As for me, I definitely had friends on both sides of the fence. I lived
across from Camp 4 and climber friends would come hang out with me. I
tried to encourage a bit of harmony by taking different managers
climbing. I started taking the Manager of Employee Housing climbing and
he got pretty good. We even climbed the grade 5 North Buttress of
Middle Cathedral in a day. One time I had numerous managers and
supervisors camped out on Yosemite Point and dragged them across the
Tyrolean Traverse to Lost Arrow. I hope I played some role in teaching
the Company that climbing wasnıt intimately linked with acts of
vandalism and dereliction.
At night, I tried to strike a reasonable balance between protecting the
companyıs facilities and allowing people to live their lives with
minimum harassment. I wouldnıt bug John Bachar about his Saxophone
playing or hanging out with his girlfriend in the dorms, but when a
world famous cranker emptied a fire extinguisher in the hallways, we
ran him off.
One night I got a call on the radio that there was a violent
disturbance at the Womenıs dorm. I headed my company truck straight
over there with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Responding to
unknown chaos revs the adrenaline, but also the humbling anticipation
that some drunk idiot might be inspired to break beer bottles over my
head. As a standard precaution in potentially violent situation, I
radioed the NPS to send a ranger to the scene as well.
When I arrived, I met a muscular guy of medium height at the foot of
the steps of the dorm. He looked battered. Next to him was a high-end
road bike that looked battered as well. He was reasonably calm. I
asked him what happened. He said his name was John Yablonski and that
he BEAT HIMSELF UP! Naturally, I wanted a further explanation. Yabo
said that his girlfriend lived in the dorm, she dumped him and was with
another guy at the moment. He was so upset that he kicked his own ass!
I thought he was pretty lucid for a guy who just whuuped himself, but
Yabo said he was a non-violent kind of guy who wouldnıt hurt anybody
but himself. He really did an impressive job of hitting himself. You
could tell he was headed for black and blue.
I quickly confirmed the story with Yaboıs girlfriend (and her male
companion) and, since no more conflict seemed eminent, called off the
rangers before they arrived. It seemed like the last thing the
heartbroken Yabo needed was an encounter with the law.
I went back and met with Yabo again. He also managed to totally destroy
his $1000+ (1981 dollars!) road bike that he won in the "Survival of
the Fittest" TV contest. I told him to throw his bike in my truck and I
would give him a ride back to Camp 4. We talked about life, climbing,
and women. Before he got out of the truck he asked for $1 for a pack of
cigarettes. I gave it to him even though I am a cheap bastard and hate
smoking to boot. Somehow, my heart just told me it was the right thing
to do.
The next time I patrolled the womenıs dorm, I was surprised to find a
$1 bill lying on the ground at the very spot that I first met Yabo. It
stuck me at the time that I was being repaid by the Spirit of All
Things for my gift to Yabo.
In the course of years since then, I heard a number of amazing stories
of Yaboıs larger than life existence. Apparently, he would go
free-soloing in fits of despair over relationships. He wouldnıt always
make it. He would always miraculously survive. One time he was caught
in the branches of a tree after falling off an 11c crack! Werner Braun
said "The Angels were watching over Yabo."
Sadly, tragically, Yabo eventually took his own life. He said if
natural forces wouldnıt take him, he would have do it himself. The
incident involved a woman and a relationship, but ultimately, it was
just Yaboıs inner demons. I thought he was a great guy in many ways.
Unfortunately, we are all a bit nuts and those of us with an extra dose
of energy and passion can sometimes be even more nuts. May his Spirit
reach the Summit after a dramatic climb.
Peace
Karl
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monolith
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Quoting our local witch doctor: "You guys don't know sh*t about karma"
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Ouch!
climber
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I once knew a guy who believed so strongly in Karma, he bought a wallet with his last ten dollars.
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Ouch!
climber
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Karl is a cool dude of good disposition who cares about what goes on around him.
Bear 46 edit.....I think I put this in the wrong thread.
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WBraun
climber
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This is a brief description of Karma in a nutshell
The law of karma describes the universe as an interconnected network in which every action causes a reaction to occur in the future. Material scientists understand the gross manifestation of this law in the form of physics, however, they have no idea of the workings of the same law on a more subtle platform.
The effects of karma are not limited to individuals, collective karma effects towns, countries and ultimately the whole planet.
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wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
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I thought that there were 4 traditional ways to build karma.
Yoga karma, practicing charity, meditation? and another?
Here is karma from the perspective of a 60's post beat poet.
http://www.redhousebooks.com/galleries/freePoems/karma.htm
I once shared an article about deep meditation. It was a study that used FMRI scans on monk's brains. They found that an individual who had practiced deep meditation showed increased brain activity in a cortical region that is excited when happy. He wrote back "Imagine having that kind of power in your brain!!!"
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I wrote this not quite a year ago on another thread...
Mike, Lawrence and I were returning from our first trip to the Bugaboos in the mid 80's. We had rented a car to make the drive from New York, it was a Oldsmobile Cutlas Supreme. The climbing was great but we were ready to make the trip home at the end of a couple of weeks. For some reason, we had the idea that we would be less likely to get a ticket speeding in Canada than in the U.S., so we were driving Canada highway 1 east. We had had dinner in Calgary, the strategy being to get through most of Saskatchewan before the sun rose the next day. I've always thought the expansive flatness of the Canadian prairie was too much to take for a mountaineer's eyes.
The condition of the Cutlas was what you'd expect at the end of a trip. First, we had a large amount of gear stuffed in everywhere, the trunk was full, and the back seat was piled too, making a somewhat comfortable place to sleep. We had rigged the car with Lawrence's cassette player, running a pair of wires out the door and directly onto the battery. I can't remember if we had our own speakers or hacked into the factory installed speakers.... anyway, it was quite a sight. One of the secondary jobs of the "shotgun" position in the driving rotation was keeping the cassette player loaded and playing; the first being to keep the driver awake. The car was awash in junk food remnants littering the floor, seats, and really any horizontal surface.
I was driving, we were out in the middle of nowhere, absolute nowhere. The only traffic we had seen for hours was a freight train coming down the track running parallel to the highway. Lawrence was riding shotgun but had given up the ghost and was asleep. Mike was in the back totally bonked out. My only companion was Ravi Shankar playing some intricate raga with Chatur Lal answering on the tablas and the droning of the tamboura played by N.C. Mullick. You get into a strange space on a long drive late at night, and I was there....
So surprise was the emergent response of recognizing a car at the side of the road with people in and around it, a fleeting sight at our speed. But my mind quick to realize that the man leaning on the trunk of the car had his thumb out, and the two women in the back seat were watching us drive pass. I put the brakes on, Lawrence awaking grogily from his road torpor, stopped, and put it into reverse on the shoulder to pick up the hitchhiker.
"What's up?" Lawrence asked.
"Someone is stuck out here and we're the only car on this highway forever" I replied, the guy was walking down the road to meet us. Lawrence opened the door, piled into the back rearranging Mike and the guy got in, maybe slightly hesitantly.
"I ran out of gas," his answer to the unasked question, "just need a ride down the road to the next town to get a can."
"We can take you there and give you a ride back, we're not in a rush." I offer.
The sitar is still playing the soundtrack to this strange coincidence. We start to talk, his opening line: "you boys are sure a long way from home," he had seen the Florida plates on the rental, "oh" I said, realizing his mistaken impression, "we're really from New York" probably the difference between 1500 miles and 2000 miles... his response, "that's still a long way. What have you been doing?" and so we talked about climbing.
Eventually we reach the "town," two gas stations, a cross street heading off into some houses, a railroad crossing. The gas station lights are bright and harsh after driving in the ink black prairie night. He jumps out, talks to the attendant, comes back empty handed. "Let's go across the street" he says.
"They wouldn't give you gas?" was my rhetorical question,
"No"
"What if the other gas station won't?" I ask... "Well, I'll just go home and come back in the morning, I live close to here" was his reply. I never did learn who the two women in the car were, but I always suspected that they were his wife and mother-in-law. He probably did the "guy thing:" "don't forget to get gas!", "we have enough to get home," " are you sure?" "yes, stop nagging me, I know how far the car can go..."
We score a can of gas and back we go into the night. Arriving at the car, he is offering $5 Canadian for our help, "no, keep it, just pick some one up someday broken down on the side of the road." I am making a deposit in the karma bank.
Lawrence is back riding shotgun and we are racing east to the sunrise once again, on the wings of a sitar solo.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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another favorite...
Hindu scripture, recited by J. Robert Oppenheimer to Vannevar Bush:
In the forest, in battle, in the midst of arrows, javelins, fire
Out on the great sea, at the precipices edge in the mountains
In sleep, in delirium, in deep trouble
The good deeds a man has done before defend him.
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john hansen
climber
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I try to invest as much as I can in the 'Karma Bank' each day.
Werner,, I think you finally nailed it!
The good deed's Yes indeed.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Ventura
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Karma does go hand in hand with good climbing ethic's.
I just feel for those who don't have the ethic's established yet!
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 8, 2007 - 07:21pm PT
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Ed I was expecting you to run out of gas down the road, and have those people stop for you, or something...
Monolith: If we know nothing about karma, that must mean you knowing something about it. We're all ears, ready to learn.
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monolith
Trad climber
Berkeley
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It's not about why I know, it's about what the witch doctor knows.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2007 - 12:55am PT
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If one is the author of a thread, is there a way to end it? But for a few entries, this has turned out to be disappointing, much like the regional rivalries thread. I think I need to find something else to do with my late nights.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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You can delete your original post and make the whole thread disapear, although that wouldn't be very nice to the folks who took the time to write long and thoughful responses.
Weekends are low traffic days. People are climbing. Give it some time, and maybe you'll get the sort of story you were looking for.
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Gunks Guy
Trad climber
Rhinebeck, NY
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Please don't delete the thread. I loved yours, Karl's and Ed's posts. Thanks.
Walt
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snyd
Sport climber
Lexington, KY
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Instant Karma:
The year that I graduated from high school, my school won both the state high school football and basketball championship. I
didn't have much use for most of the folks in my school. You might wanna say that I hated both school and the jock-centric,
bully dominated, cliques that characterised my high school. I didn't fit in with most of the kids and kept mostly to myself,
passing silently under the radar so to avoid getting rousted by the young a$$ holes that dominated the institution. Once I
graduated from school I left that town, never looking back and tried to forget all about Carmel High School class of 79.
Flash forward to 2005. I'm on a flight from Cancun to Charlotte, NC after a nice vacation in the sun down in Mexico. Seated
next to me are two young, loud jocks. Tanned, drunk, and sporting the telltale golfware, they reminded me of the kinds of
kids that I went to school with all those years ago. I sat uncomfortably next to these future date rapists and thought of my
former classmates. Finally, after an hour of stewing in my own juices I asked "Where are you guys from"? "Carmel, Indiana!"
they replied in unison, obviously proud of their hometown. It all made sense to me then! They were just like the little
f*#kers that made my high school years a torture session. "I graduated from Carmel High School", I replied to them. Their
bloodshot eyes brightened and they both sat bolt upright in their seats. "What year did you graduate"? "1979", I replied.
"Holy $hit, you guys were state football and basketball champions that year!" These guys were obviously hip to sports
history. "Were you on the football team"? one of the youngsters asked. No, I wasn't on the damn football team. I didn't even
go to the games. I hated the football team. All these thoughts went through my mind but what came out of my mouth was "Yes, I was on the football team".
The kid seated next to me eyes lit up, he jumped out of his seat, turned to the back of the plane, and yelled as loud as he could...."Hey Dad! This guy was on your football team!"
Busted
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Busted
Laughed out loud at that one.
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TwistedCrank
climber
a luxury Malibu rehabilitation treatment facility
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My best example of Murphy's law is the bread and butter. When the slice of bread slips out of your hand and falls to the kitchen floor - it will invariably fall with the buttered side DOWN.
That's not Murphy's Law, it's Newtonian physics.
As for Karma, well, believe what you want but that's actually quantum physics.
It's how I explain the luck and adventures I had hitchhiking between Colorado and California back in the post-Oli on a freighttrain/pre-lycra on a Euroboy days.
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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I once posed as a famous North Face athlete to get my medical bills covered. I eventually ended up with a few bills of my own though.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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Hmmmmmm, what does it mean that my bread almost always lands with the butter side up?
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Bart Fay
Social climber
Redlands, CA
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Dang.
Another cool thread gets LEBulated.
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TwistedCrank
climber
a luxury Malibu rehabilitation treatment facility
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Some breads are dense and have lots of whole grains. You know, like the kind that you can buy at your local earth muffin healthfood store.
Some butters are "fluffy" and are puffed with air. You know, like the kind that have the word "Spread" in the brand name.
The combination of the two will yield a higher likelihood of having the slice fall bread side down.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2007 - 05:00pm PT
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Chris and others bring up a good point that karma cuts both ways, for good or for bad. In my youth I was a little liberal at times with the truth, being young and exuberant and seeking acceptance, being insecure and not yet learning and trusting the power of truth. Every time, not once failing, I dug a pitfall I landed in head first.
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Nohea
Trad climber
Aiea,Hi
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A boat sank nearby where I was working. The owner decided to leave it so we began diving it cleaning off anything useful. We scored winches, a fresh water maker, sails, everything useful, even if bolted down. Then while going through the drawers I found a wallet complete with ID, Credit cards, and cash
$40 to be exact. I mailed the wallet to the address but kept the $40 and bought the beer that night.
Two weeks later I left my wallet at a bar, and picked it up the next day. As I checked it out, all cards were present but the $40 I remembered having in there was gone
and then it hit me
I deserved it.
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WBraun
climber
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So one day I find wallet in El Cap meadow with 8 $100 bills in it.
Wow it's all mine now, he he he yep mine! I'm gonna buy something, something that'll make me happy.
Then I see owner later (Drivers license photo).
I give him wallet with all money. He very happy now.
Me $800 poorer now ........
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2007 - 05:28pm PT
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No, Werner, when you kept the loot you were 800 dollars poorer. When you returned it you were 800 dollars richer. But wealth is not always measured in currency.
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phillygoat
climber
portland,
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Would of been a lot more classy if the guy slipped you a c-note or two for your trouble!
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spectreman
climber
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I was packing up the haul bag one fine morning, I believe day 2 on Mescalito, when big dollops of fresh poop started plopping onto the portaledge, the haul bag, my shoes!!! We were being bombed and with our short tethers and no place to hide we were sitting ducks - plop, plop, plop! What a freakin mess, and difficult to clean up with the meager supplies at hand. I wonder what Karma had in store for the responsible A$$hole? Or should I ask what I had done to bring this onto myself?
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Jul 10, 2007 - 12:52am PT
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The Karma of Assholes is always Shitty!
Many of you have read my Shield Trip report. If you haven't It's some of my better work! It's got some karma in there for sure. Pay attention to what happens to the hammers.
http://www.yosemiteclimber.com/ElCapShield.html
Peace
Karl
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Degaine
climber
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Jul 10, 2007 - 10:53am PT
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Great stories, Karl. I enjoyed both your post at the beginning of this thread and your Shield story.
Thanks for the read!
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jul 10, 2007 - 11:49am PT
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Cool trip report, Karl. Good writing and a perfect example of karma in action. Geez, that must a been a painfully long ascent.
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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 10, 2007 - 11:52am PT
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On the other hand...
How many thousands of coincidences do not happen each day?
How many thousands of events are not worth mentioning? The noteworthy ones must be karma?!?!?
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L
climber
Atlantis...before the flood
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Jul 12, 2007 - 04:37pm PT
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Pat--One of my best experiences of "instant karma":
Walking along Manhattan Beach early one morning, collecting the fragile skeletons of sand dollars (a favorite pastime of mine), I happened upon three remarkably perfect specimens all within the short expanse of a mile.
It felt like my birthday and Christmas all wrapped in one.
I'd only ever found chipped or broken sand dollars before, and not many of those; this was bounty beyond my dreams. I turned around to retrace my steps back to the car, and immediately fell into envisioning where and how I would display these little gems in my apartment. Perhaps a shadowbox on the wall. Or maybe in the enormous glass jar with the rest of my shell collection.
I was pleasantly adrift in these designer musings when chaotic movement caught my eye.
Looking up, I watched a little boy--3 or 4 years old at the most--zigzagging towards me. He was running from debris clump to debris clump, swiftly inspecting each, and then moving to the next. He was obviously looking for shells.
Not far behind him walked a man with an even younger boy perched on his shoulders: his father and little brother. I was in the process of assimilating this happy family scene when a soft voice within whispered, "Maybe I should give that little boy one of my sand dollars."
"Nooooo!" screeched another rather nasty little voice from the other side of my brain. "They're mine! All mine!"
I was a bit surprised at the vehemence with which this second voice attacked the idea of sharing the bounty.
"Yes, but I have three of them. He has none. I think it would make him very happy to have a perfect sand dollar."
"No, no, no! I've searched beaches for years! I've paid my sand dollar dues! Now you want to just give them all away???? Noooooo!"
By this time the little boy had passed me by in his search for gifts from the sea. The nasty little voice breathed a sigh of relief.
I was almost face to face with his father.
"Hi there--I found several sand dollars on the beach this morning. Do you think your son would like one of them?" I said quickly, smiling and offering him one of my treasures.
"Wow--yeah, he would love one!" the surprised man said, smiling and taking the little sand dollar from my hand. "Thank you so much."
I walked away to the sound of the father calling to his son to come see what the nice lady had given him. For some strange reason, tears welled up in my eyes, and my heart felt like it could explode...with an odd sort of exuberance I couldn't understand. It felt as though a great battle had been fought on some unseen plane, fought and won in a place far from the bleary eyes of mankind.
I continued down the beach with my diminished treasure, a ludicrous little grin on my face.
About 50 yards from where I'd given the man the sand dollar, on the very same sand I'd walked not 15 minutes before, I looked down.
There, nestled in the sea foam, lay a battalion of sand dollars. Perfect, unbroken sand dollars. Eighteen in all--with two of them still mauvy-pink and alive. I threw those far out into the breaking waves, collected the rest, and proceeded to finish my walk to the car, handing out sand dollars to everyone I passed.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 12, 2007 - 06:20pm PT
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That's a great story. Thanks.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Knob Central
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Jul 12, 2007 - 07:54pm PT
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That's a nice story Laura, but you do know that sand dollars have little sticks for feet kind of like sea urchins. So if you are finding nice smooth ones they are already dead but not quite cleaned out by the waves and other critters yet.
Here's a photo of a live one.
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scuffy b
climber
Bates Creek
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Jul 12, 2007 - 08:00pm PT
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Three cheers for radial symmetry!!
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Jul 12, 2007 - 08:02pm PT
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That's pretty cool, Jan! I don't think I've ever seen one alive before! Thanks!
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 12, 2007 - 08:07pm PT
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Just see,
This karma thread is becoming sublime ....
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davidji
Social climber
CA
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Jul 12, 2007 - 08:31pm PT
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Really enjoying this thread. Thanks all.
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scuffy b
climber
Bates Creek
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Jul 12, 2007 - 09:57pm PT
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Many years ago I was climbing at Donner Pass. I took a fall,
pulled some gear, and banged up my foot pretty well.
After recuperatin for a week, I found myself up there again
without a partner, but there was a group of young men from Japan.
I was wearing a T shirt form 10,000 Waves in Albuquerque(?) with
Japanese characters on it. They were pretty stoked, and taught
me the pronunciation. We toproped the thing that I had fallen
from and had a great time. When I was ready to leave, I pulled my
rope but forgot to go to the top and retrieve my gear from the
anchor. I realized it when I got back to Berkeley. I called the
Alpine Skills Institute, and one of their people went out to look
for my gear but couldn't find anything.
My next opportunity to get back was 5 days later. On top of the
rock I found my gear in a brown paper bag with a message:
"Attention. These are the equipments of Ten Thousand Waves.
Please leave here.
Japanese Climbers"
So, I plugged the pieces back into the cracks and set up the top
rope again. My partner and I had a good time, climbing and
chatting with a trio from the Sac area. When they were leaving
one said to the other, "Don't forget to grab that gear up on top
of the rock."
I said, "You mean the friends I left here last week, the ones
with my name engraved on them?"
He said, "Yeah, we were going to take them. People have to learn
that they can't do that kind of sh#t."
Hearbreaking to miss out on that kindly lesson, let me tell you.
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john hansen
climber
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Jul 12, 2007 - 10:57pm PT
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A few years back around thanksgiving I was buying some groceries at the supermarket. I had half a cart full of goodies like steak and stuffing mix and scalloped potatoes and even some Hagendas and a bunch of salad stuff ect.
In line behind me was a young mother with her two small children in tow. She only had one item to buy.. a can of soup.
You could tell they were kind of down on thier luck. I thought how nice it would be to pay for my stuff and then tell the cashier to give it to this young lady and her kid's. It would have fed them for a couple weeks.
I have always regreted letting that moment slip by. In some way I didn't want to embarass her..but it would have been such a nice thing to do.
A few times I have been behind someone in a checkout line when the bill is tallied and they come up short. Just tring to feed thier kids, milk, bread, cheap stuff. They end up putting something back. I always wanted to say "how much are you over?"
And pay the diffrence. I never had the courage to do it(Again, not wanting to embarass them, or seem like I am superior to them)
It would have to be done with just the right humility, with maybe a "Hey,I been there myself.. pass it on someday when you can.."
Someday when the opportunity comes my way again I will do it.
If you were to recieve a gift like this would you feel embarassed, gratful, offended,,,?
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Jul 12, 2007 - 11:15pm PT
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L- really great story. The truth is, we always get back tenfold what we give.
John- probably a dozen times over the years a situation like you describe has presented itself to me. If I have the money, I always offer to pay. Never was there any embarrassment or resentment. Sometimes, it was obvious that the person didn't really need the help, they just didn't have the change. Other times, it was clear that a few dollars was a big thing. In either case, I don't try to judge the situation or the people to determine their need/worthiness. I just give them the money if I have it, they thank me, I say "no problem, glad to help " and we all go on with our lives.
I do it for me, because I'm selfish. It makes me feel good.
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john hansen
climber
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Jul 12, 2007 - 11:17pm PT
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I hear what your saying Jello, It would make "Me" feel so good.
I will do it next time.
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Ed Bannister
Mountain climber
Riverside, CA
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Jul 12, 2007 - 11:19pm PT
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falling asleep while belaying,
bad Karma.
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 12, 2007 - 11:19pm PT
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John in those kind of situations you just hand the money to cashier and act like nothing is happening.
The cashiers usually know how to handle it and just go along with it silently like nothings happening. They just need the money for the purchases and don't care who gives it to them.
No one's offended.
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john hansen
climber
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Jul 12, 2007 - 11:23pm PT
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Yeah , like I said I always regreted not doing that..
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Jul 13, 2007 - 12:36am PT
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Ok here's a non-climbing related one.
Ages ago when I was going to UC Berkeley, an Indian Saint was visiting the Bay Area and giving a free talk in Marin County. I headed over there to check it out.
I had to cross the San Rafael Bridge and was waiting in traffic to pay my toll. I was totally straped for cash and started thining petty thoughts along the lines of "this Spirituality thing should be free and here I'm having to shell out cash to cross this bridge" It was stupid but that's clearly what was going through my mind.
I get to the toll booth and the fee person tells me "the car in front of you paid your toll!"
I took it as a sign!
I didn't have any hippy stickers on my car and nobody I knew was around. It was just out of the blue and long before "Random Acts of Kindness" became popular.
Since then, once in awhile, I'll pull something like that to give someone an unexpected random gift. The rewards seems to outweigh the costs for sure.
Just one of a million such stories
peace
Karl
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 13, 2007 - 02:19am PT
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I have no idea if the following events are connected, but at least I can say life is give and take.
I was riding a freight train from Salt Lake, headed to Denver, with an older black fellow who told me he was on his way to Grand Junction "to pick peaches." He had just spent the last month in a jail in California for begging and vagrancy. He and I were in a kind of open gondola car full of boards and trashy junk. For food he had a head of lettuce. For food I had a loaf of French bread. He would toss me the head of lettuce, and I would toss him the bread, then back and forth that way. It got cold for a while over Soldier Summit, and I realized he didn't have a coat. I reached into my pack and pulled out the orange cagoule I had spent a long time finding, for El Cap, etc. It was the only cagoule I ever had discovered that truly kept one dry. When we finally arrived in Grand Junction, he got off. It was now about a hundred or more degrees outside, i.e. scorching hot. He walked away, on down the line to infinity, still wearing that cagoule. He was so proud of it he wasn't about to take it off.
Not too long after, I was invited to England. Upon arriving, some people greeted me with a gift from Patrick Edlinger, his newest pair of rock climbing shoes, and Dennis Gray, President of the British Mountaineering Club, took me to a climbing shop where they basically gave me a wonderful new Heley Hansen coat I have kept and worn forever (though my wife has in recent times stolen it from me and claims it as hers)...
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DixieGal
Trad climber
NC
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Jul 13, 2007 - 02:30am PT
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Here's one from the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore's book
entitled "Gitanjali" (#50 from from this collection of Song
Offerings/poems translated by the poet himself from the original
Bengali):
"I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path, when
thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream
and I wondered who was this King of all Kings!
My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and
I stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth
scattered on all sides in the dust.
The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glance fell on me and
thou camest down with a smile. I felt that the luck of my life
had come at last. Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right
hand and say 'What hast thou to give to me?'
Ah, what a kingly jest was it to open thy palm to beggar to beg!
I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I
slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to
thee.
But how great my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my
bag on the floor to find a least little gram of gold among the
poor heap. I bitterly wept and wished that I had the heart to
give thee my all."
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 13, 2007 - 04:50am PT
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Yes if only we had the heart. And the courage. And the integrity. I wonder what kind of karma happens when one of us does not forgive another. There are people who have never spoken to me again, because of some stupid little thing I said 40 years ago when my thoughts were little more than so many birds flying in the trees...
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L
climber
Atlantis...before the flood
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Jul 13, 2007 - 03:12pm PT
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Thank you, Jan. You've made it obvious on several occasions that you don't think much of my intelligence (as I'm a woman :-)), but I do know the difference between a live echinoderm and a dead one. The two I threw back into the ocean were complete with moveable spines covering their bodies and podia on their food grooves.
And although I know you're unaware of this small point, it is important: The story wasn't about the two I threw back.
Pat--Another story from my instant karma archives:
My sister had a baby 8 months ago, and of course I sent the appropriate baby gifts. Then one day months later I was in the Gap, and somehow found myself in the kids department. Those miniture pieces of apparel were just too much to resist--so out of the blue, my sister and her baby daughter found themselves in possession of a Tommy Bahama outfit that would've made Jimmy Buffet green with envy.
Two days after I mailed that gift, I came home to find a 100 lb. box leaning against my front door. My sister, who hadn't sent me a gift in 15 years, had--outta the blue--purchased a Pilates exercise machine ($500) for me, and it had crossed paths with the baby clothing ($57) to land on my doorstep. Neither of us knew the other had any gift-giving plans...and it was over a year ago when I made the off-hand remark that I was thinking of getting one of those Pilate things.
If you knew the lack of sentimentality inherent in my sister, you would realize what a complete miracle this was.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jul 13, 2007 - 03:34pm PT
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John Hansen, I know exactly what you were talking about...about trying to be nice but feeling weird about it. I say weird because I'm not sure if 'embarassment' and 'superiority' are the right words to describe the situation when I encounter it. I don't really know what word I'm looking for but I guess fear of embarassing someone is the closest.
Next time, I too will just suck it up and do the right thing. Maybe feeling a little embarassed by someone's kindness and generosity is a small price for feeding your hungry kids for two weeks. That's the way I'll look at it from now on. And, yes, it's a tad selfish because it makes us feel good too, but it also creates alot of good karma in a world of materialism and greed.
Thanks John!
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Frog Man Junior
Social climber
CA
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Jul 13, 2007 - 03:59pm PT
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Years ago I stopped to help a guy on the freeway with a flat tire (My jeep is equipped with air and I always carry a puncture kit). I fixed his tire and he offered me money, I said no thanks just help someone the next time you can.
A few months later I had a radiator hose blow on the freeway. I just happened to have an old one in my tool box, I was laying under the truck finishing the replacement and realizing that I had no water to fill up the radiator when I here this vehicle stop behind me and then see these feet walking up to my truck, I poked my head out from under the truck only to see a Alhambra water delivery guy standing there with a 5 gallon jug of water on his shoulder and a big smile on his face.
He said: "I saw the water puddle and figured you needed some".
Talk about putting a smile on yer face.
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John Moosie
climber
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Jul 13, 2007 - 05:59pm PT
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great stories !!! Thank you for sharing them.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Jul 13, 2007 - 06:06pm PT
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Frog, now that is karma, baby!
I know what you mean about people offering money too. I have a truck so I always get the 'moving-people' hitting me up for help. I almost always agree and then they wanna pay me. I usually just explain that I'm doing them a favor, not being hired to do a job. I usually settle for a beer afterwards with the parties involved.
"Will work for beer, just keep your money."
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onyourleft
Social climber
SmogAngeles
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Jul 14, 2007 - 02:08am PT
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Oli:
Thank you for this thread. And thank you for being a member of this forum "the virtual campfire." Here's my contribution:
On a road trip across Northern Arizona a few years back, I stopped in Page and paid my off-road vehicle access fee to the Navajo Nation tribal office. I intended to go up Antelope Wash and shoot some photos of the orange-hued slot canyons. The lady operating the tribal office warned me that the wash was very sandy and that people get stuck easily. The Navajos charge a hefty fee to go in there and tow the unfortunate ones back out. I turned off the pavement, locked the hubs on my 4Runner, and started up the sandy wash, being sure to stay on the most packed-down part of the track. About two miles in and completely off the beaten track on the opposite side of the wide sandy floor of the wash, I spotted a bogged-down rental car. The four elderly occupants were out in the soft sand trying to push the car back to the track, a hopeless endeavor. I turned and traversed the sand over to the group and offered my assistance. They were similarly attempting to get up to the head of the wash to do some canyon photography but, because of their blunder, had decided to abandon their plans and just get back to the pavement. Surprisingly, two of the foursome, a husband and wife couple, were completely deaf, although the woman could read lips and speak in a rather halting way. The other couple explained that they were all retired professors from Gallaudet University, the Washington D.C. institution that is considered the world's most prestigious college for the deaf. I carry a towing strap and suggested that, instead of them giving up on their photography excursion, everyone should pile into my vehicle, we'd go up and shoot our photos, then on the return, I would hook up their car to my towing hook and tow them back to pavement. The speaking couple signed the info to the deaf couple and the plan was approved. While we were transferring photo gear and passengers into my car, on the far side of the wash we could see a large 4wd van full of tourists chugging upcanyon. We loaded my vehicle and headed up the sand. Upon arrival at the entrance to the slot canyon, the tourists from the large van were all milling about. My passengers got out and while I was in the back of my truck organizing my camera and tripod, I was unaware of a bizarre occurrence that was taking place. I looked up to see the deaf couple signing wildly with some folks from the other group. The woman ran over to me and in her halting speaking tone, she said: "You don't know what you've done for us. They are all deaf! They are a group of deaf visitors on a southwest tour. Many of them were our students! And also, many of their children were our students! We have not seen these folks for many, many years! We never would have met up with them if not for your kindness! You have made our trip!" I stood back and watched an incredible reunion in the beautiful Arizona desert complete with excited deaf-signing, emotional hugging, tears of joy, the sharing of family pictures, the exchange of addresses, all done in utter and total silence. We all traipsed into the slot together and shot our fill of photographs. We said our goodbyes to the other group and I took my new-found friends back to their car. I towed them successfully back to pavement and they turned west towards Page, while I, smiling, headed the opposite direction, having enjoyed one of my most special days.
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L
climber
Atlantis...before the flood
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Jul 14, 2007 - 10:04pm PT
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Onyourleft--What a great story!
I think you should relate your Whitney-In-A-Sudden-Snowstorm story, too. Lots of good karma there, also.
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wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
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Jul 14, 2007 - 10:30pm PT
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A woman's place...
I had problems with a professor in clinic, and unfortunately, it made my experience in school much more difficult. After our first encounter, I learned that he was scheduled to be my instructor again. During the second round, I tried to be as humble as possible, and did my best to keep my head down. I just remembered that the professor once told me about the proverbial single nail sticking up. He had shared this wisdom with me once, when we met alone. It was at the time when my problems in clinic were beginning.
Anyway, in practice, there are many approaches to patient care (and one goal I believe). Also, the knowledge base is constantly evolving. Sometimes in school, the information and techniques we learned in lecture, were different than what we saw performed in clinic. At times, I found this difficult to reconcile.
Anyway, I was doing my best to get through the clinic, and my spirits weren't the highest. One day a patient walked into the exam room, and said, "I'm a mountain climber!".
I replied, with teeth half clenched, "Really?, have you ever climbed any 8000m peaks?", the tone of my voice rising slightly.
She said "Yeah!", and I replied "Really!?!".
It turns out that it was Arlene Blum. www.arleneblum.com Anyway, this above story isn't directly related to the anecdote below, but I wanted to mention her here because this thread seems to be about good works.
Later in the same session, I saw a boy and treated him in a way that I thought was appropriate. He wanted glasses. He didn't really "need" them, but still, they were covered by his insurance. Also, his father understood, and agreed that they just might help. I went to the aforementioned professor to discuss our plan. The professor disagreed, and said that the patient should return for some additional testing. I apologized to the patient and his father, and they re-scheduled since we couldn't finish the exam at that time.
When they came back, the professor worked with me directly. I did the tests he recommended and recorded the results. Afterwards, the professor and I went into the room and he did the same tests incorrectly. He called me outside of the room to discuss things in front of the other students and the second instructor.
Other classmates have said that the professor singled them out in a similar way. The professor insisted that he performed the tests correctly, but he quickly realized that he hadn't. No harm was done to the patient, and at worst, he and his father were inconvenienced. Afterwards, the professor was obviously embarrassed. He maybe only lost a little credibility. However, in clinic, the consequences as a student can be much more severe.
I had many professors that are very accomplished. They seemed to be the most gracious and humble. At times, the ones that were obviously less competent seemed defensive or difficult. It reminds me of a WWII veteran I met while on a rotation. He spent time as a prisoner of war in the Philippines. I said that they must have been tough. He said that the older ones weren't so bad, it was the younger ones who just got power that you had to watch out for.
Also, my father has a lot of issues. He chooses to cope with them by drinking. I can't change his decisions, but I will try to provide support if he wants to do better for himself. I've learned that I sometimes can't change people.
I believe its a gift when I can see goodness in other people. I believe its an intrinsic quality of being human. Its also something my uncle taught as a practice. I think my family would be happy knowing that I look for it, even when others aren't providing the examples, I assume.
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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Jul 15, 2007 - 11:35am PT
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I deleted my post because the thread drift resulting from it was horrible. I had no intention of calling any attention to myself, just wanted to share my most recent tale of karma.
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wildone
climber
Where you want to be
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Jul 15, 2007 - 12:36pm PT
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This thread wasn't "Leb-ized"?
I count 11 posts by you on this thread out of 74.
Wow.
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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Jul 15, 2007 - 12:40pm PT
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Yeah, I sent her an e mail.
Apologizes to Oli.
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wildone
climber
Where you want to be
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Jul 15, 2007 - 12:45pm PT
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...just an observation
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wildone
climber
Where you want to be
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Jul 15, 2007 - 03:05pm PT
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Lois- you crack me up. PLEASE keep posting!
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cintune
climber
Penn's Woods
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Jul 15, 2007 - 09:57pm PT
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As always, should you or any of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
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wildone
climber
Where you want to be
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Jul 16, 2007 - 12:23am PT
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Lois-
Go ahead and e-mail me when you're done posting on this thread, and I'll give 'er a quick count. Until then, I'll be CLIMBING, which is kind of, oh, I don't know... a common thread around here- a frame of reference we all share, if you will.
P.S. - Has an Easterner STILL not taken you top roping in your quarry? A shame.
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wildone
climber
Where you want to be
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Jul 16, 2007 - 01:22am PT
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Any idea what kind of rock?
I can't hazard a guess as I haven't the foggiest where Glen Gardner is..
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L
climber
Third star to the left of Ursa Major
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Jul 16, 2007 - 03:11pm PT
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HossJulia--You're right. I was part of the hijacking and deleted also. Sorry Pat.
Lois, please be considerate of this thread's intent: Tales of Karma. It's not about psychoanalyzing other's experiences, nor is it about climbing in the quarry. Thanks.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Jul 16, 2007 - 03:21pm PT
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It might turn out to be good Karma if you posted a photo of that quarry.
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John Moosie
climber
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Jul 16, 2007 - 03:30pm PT
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Oli wrote,
" I'd love to hear some examples of when something special happened to you "
This doesn't sound like he wanted to explore the nature of Karma........ But pictures would be good.
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L
climber
Third star to the left of Ursa Major
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Jul 16, 2007 - 04:58pm PT
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"Correct me if I am wrong, but I got the impression that the OP was exploring the phenomenon of karma and inviting posts related to that topic."
Lois, I think you're incorrect...Pat asked for Tales of Karma, not the psychological implications of what you think might be going on in someone else's life. This means personal anecdotes of things that happened to you, and how karma might be reflected in that.
Of course, regardless of what you choose to do, thank you so much for being my helpful monster. You're certainly one of the best, and I mean that most sincerely.
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Wild Bill
climber
Ca
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Jul 16, 2007 - 05:15pm PT
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LEB, start a new thread.
And have a modicum of respect and delete your silly posts here.
Are you seeing a pattern, LEB, with people repreatedly asking you to not mess up threads?
Do you notice that NO ONE ELSE on ST - except maybe Crowley - receives such requests?
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Jul 19, 2007 - 03:17am PT
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Did that photo work out? Watching for it, every day.
I'm hoping for a new climbing area in the east.( in the UK there are a bunch of quarry based climibing areas, Lois, no kidding)
Think of the new rte name potential!
Lois' lieback,
The Nurse practioner's office,
Ain't gonna work on Lois' farm no more,
Beta Blocker,
The virtual and the analog
retire to fire
Gift of the Bren I,
follow this one, please,
thanks for the lines, LEB!
Leb Line direct.
just off the top of my head ...
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Jul 19, 2007 - 08:23am PT
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Poor Pat
The Lois-If-Ication of His thread IS a tale of Karma as well.
What you resist, presists
Karmic Parallel thread
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=415031
I'm afraid there is a corollary to Godwin's law, once Lois has posted 3 times to a thread and not mentioned the topic, and we have responded somehow and made the thread about her, that thread has become toast.
Hopefully this post won't count for that. The trick is, just keep posting about karma and take any Lou-izzy sidetracks to other threads.
Lois, any OT image is important enough to post on it's own thread to perserve this one.
Pat, I was against your idea in that linked thread, but believe me, I'm with you in spirit. It's just a slippery slope
PEace
Karl
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L
climber
Third star to the left of Ursa Major
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Jul 19, 2007 - 12:51pm PT
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Karl,
Lois is a troll. Jaybro is feeding the troll. In the grand scheme of things, what does it really matter?
The great thing about Karma is that it will always give you back what you put out there...just not always in a form you recognize...like this great little story:
A friend of mine is a landscape designer. A while back he left his wallet on top of his car and drove to town. Of course the wallet didn't make the trip with him...the wallet, several credit cards, and $1200 in cash decided to take an alternate route.
My friend didn't even realize he'd lost the wallet until a guy called him saying he'd found it on the road. When my friend got his wallet back, everything was still in it--cash included.
He insisted the guy who found it take a thank you reward for it...and then he found out the guy was an arborist--which was exactly what he was needing for one of his jobs at the time--so he gave the guy a job, too.
I love that story, don't you?
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scuffy b
climber
The deck above the 5
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Jul 19, 2007 - 01:40pm PT
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Losing my wallet at the airport on my way to the Woodson Shindig
ultimately led to an enhanced experience. The cascade of mishaps/
adjustments/recoveries induced a state that made me think of
a manic phase (not that I've been diagnosed that way). If anyone
thought I was enthusiastic at Woodson, I'll tell you I'm usually
a bit more subdued.
Because I arrived at San Diego without the ability to rent a car,
Salad took pity on me and took me into his home.
This meant that I was able to get to know him and his lovely
family before the Shindig, and I was more comfortable knowing my
hosts for the Big Party beforehand.
After a few fruitless calls to the airport lost & found, I
received my wallet in the mail, from Southwest Airlines, three
weeks later, fully intact.
Tale of Karma? Maybe not, but it's a Bump at least.
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Wild Bill
climber
Ca
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Jul 19, 2007 - 01:47pm PT
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"Leb Line direct."
There is no such thing, and never will be.
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L
climber
Third star to the left of Ursa Major
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Jul 19, 2007 - 02:03pm PT
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Wild Bill--That was soooooo funny!
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 19, 2007 - 03:38pm PT
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Thanks, Karl. Yes it must be my own karma, to complain about the bugs flying into the windshield, obscuring the view, and then to run into a thick nest of them here. Not even windshield wiper fluid can wipe it away.
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Frog Man Junior
Social climber
CA
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Jul 19, 2007 - 03:38pm PT
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Here's a bad Karma story:
My son recently purchased a surround sound system from the back of a truck at a gas station. The guy showed him a sales slip indicating they were selling for $1500.00 My son gladly bought them for $300.00 cash.
He came home and with a big smile and said I got a killer deal on this system and I'm going to sell them to some dummy for $1000. and make some free money". Checking e-bay he found 8 identical systems selling for $75.00
Costly lesson, but a lesson in both creditability and attitude none the less.
I wounder what has happened to the jerk that scammed him?
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