When did you last do somebody a good turn?

Did they appreciate it or not? I often hold doors open for people and recieve nothing more than a grunt (if I'm lucky) in gratitude.

It does sometimes make you wonder why you bother.

I try do do a good turn whenever I can, but sometimes when you have things on your mind things such as holding open doors etc. can slip your mind.

As for gratitude, I don't really expect any, just to be trated in a similar way. I always give gratitude back though.

I find doing a good turn for someone satisfying but only if they acknowledge it. Sadly too many people fail to acknowledge others going out of their way to be curtious/helpful which can make people think twice about doing it again.

Is there a difference between doing a good turn and good manners? I think I would put holding a door open in the latter category. To me, it's a bit like letting people in to the flow of traffic or saying please and thank you. It's about showing respect for people, IMHO.

Originally posted by Smiler
Is there a difference between doing a good turn and good manners? I think I would put holding a door open in the latter category. To me, it's a bit like letting people in to the flow of traffic or saying please and thank you. It's about showing respect for people, IMHO.

I agree Smiler, it was a bad example.

The thread was prompted when I remembered once filling in a job application (think it was for M&S) when that question was asked. I had to think really hard about it and wondered if fellow members had to do the same.

That's an unusual quaestion on an application form! How did you answer it?

I had been listening to Radio Sheffield earlier that day and a listener had phoned in to ask where single measles vaccines could be obtained rather than the MMR jab.

As I have had my children vaccinated singly I offered my phone number for anybody who wanted more information.

Considering that it took me six years to get the information myself, I think that could be classed as a good turn.

Didn't end up sending the application in for some reason.

Originally posted by Mo
When did you last do somebody a good turn?
Hmm... well I tend to try and do a good turn whenever there's an opportunity... sort of a hold over from my old cub scout days ;)

I figure it's often a case of what goes around, comes around... and more often than not, it does seem to work...

Aside from anything else you ever found yourself suddenly turning a day around?.. because of someone else's mini-kindness like a smile and a nod.. :) so it sometimes helps to bear that in mind even if your own "good turn" doesn't appear to be appreciated at the time...

I try to do my best by people, offer help/support (where it's wanted!) I enjoy helping elderly people & so do loads of voluntary work for the Red Cross, UN, etc but also like human rights oriented issues, so do the whole Amnesty International thing...helping people I know/friends & acquitances etc presents problems in its self as people misinterpret your kindness for whatever whim takes their fancy...that they're not accustomed to kindness so you MUST fancy them:shocked:

have to agree.. but what i believe is what you give is what you get.. i.e. karma..

so everyone do good.. even though others do not do good to you.. cos it will play off in the end..

I get the feeling from the posts on here that doing good is a good thing and that people posting on this thread will generally do the good thing. Taking that to it's logical conclusion then all those people who use do-gooder as a pejorative term must be do-badders and go around purposefully doing bad turns.

My position on doing good deeds is unassailable as I have it on good authority that I am a do-gooder.:thumbsup:

Originally posted by max
Taking that to it's logical conclusion then all those people who use do-gooder as a pejorative term must be do-badders and go around purposefully doing bad turns.
LOL... erm... perhaps not... lots of grey in the middle and the do-gooders will surely be doing bad things anyways... ho hum... but will them do them to the best of their ability we wonder.. Oh the quandries...

My position on doing good deeds is unassailable as I have it on good authority that I am a do-gooder.:thumbsup:
Hand me the baseball bat and we'll see about the unassailable bit Max ;)

Personally, I dunno... but the whole doing a "good" turn is probably a bit twee but it never hurts to just help out once in a while... you never know when you might need someone to do the same for you..

Originally posted by Martin_s
LOL... erm... perhaps not... lots of grey in the middle

They'll be the do-nothingers then?:P Or are you referring to my hair?:mad:

I attempt to do good turns all the time. The "pass it on" idea where a good turn is done for someone who then has to pass it on by doing another good turn for someone else, I think is a really good idea. I believe that the only rule is that you have pass the good turn on to a stranger.

Originally posted by max
I get the feeling from the posts on here that doing good is a good thing and that people posting on this thread will generally do the good thing. Taking that to it's logical conclusion then all those people who use do-gooder as a pejorative term must be do-badders and go around purposefully doing bad turns.

My position on doing good deeds is unassailable as I have it on good authority that I am a do-gooder.:thumbsup:

I find that a little strange as I have had the bad fortune of your sarcastic nature in recent posts. It seems to me that your idea of a do-gooder is a little far fetched.

Originally posted by bonny
I find that a little strange as I have had the bad fortune of your sarcastic nature in recent posts. It seems to me that your idea of a do-gooder is a little far fetched.

If you mean this:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?postid=110224#post110224

then I think you may be being a touch sensitive. If not, then wtf?

Sensitive or not, I think bonny has a very good point. He/she posted an "amusing" story in good faith and look what happened.

Perhaps through inexperience he/she didn't think to insert paragraphs to make the post more readable. Not exactly a hanging offence, but people were queuing up to have a go at him/her and I remember thinking at the time how unfair that seemed.

For a relatively new member, I dare say that must have been an upsetting experience for him/her. All that was needed was a friendly word of advice on how to lay out a long post, instead he/she could easily have been put off using the forum for good by the aggressive response.

If someone is mouthing off, then I suppose it's reasonable to shoot them down in flames, but that definitely didn't apply in this case.

The self-confessed do-gooders were obviously in short supply on that occasion.