Being Kind Comes Back to You

Just a little lesson on how kindness does get noticed and repaid.  Not that I would ever be kind to get repaid for it, I get a buzz out of making people feel welcome and comfortable and cared for.  This is why I like to cook!

After our tenants 'left', the pool - our beautiful 12 month old pool, looked like, and was in fact, a duck pond.  It was completely black and needed to be emptied out and cleaned before we could even think of restoring it.  The guy who drew the short straw to do this job was the off-sider of our pool guy.  On the day of our busy bee, which was Easter Saturday, he started early and with buckets and a shovel moved the sludge and mud and muck from the bottom of the pool.  It was a warm day, and it would have been an awful job to do.  We tried to help as much as we could by emptying the buckets and wheelbarrow so he didn't have to get in and out of the pool. 

Before the clean-up

I also made sure he had cold drinks and morning tea.  When I got lunch for the volunteer workers ready, I invited Col to join us for some lunch too.  He left when the job was done and that was that.

Mr Kirsa gets a call from Mark, the owner of the pool restoration business, who employs Colin.  He thanked us very much for looking after Colin so well, Col had told Mark how nice we were to him that day.  All we really did was be a little bit 'country' and offer hospitality in the form of drinks and tea and some lunch.  Today we met with Col again as they were replacing the pumps and filter on the pool (yes more tenant damage).  The boys were going above and beyond what they really had to do, and I know it was because they liked us - Colin told us as much.  He said that he and Mark had discussed how it was not fair that nice people like us (awww) could be treated so badly by the tenants.

After - Part 1 of the cleanup

It was so nice to hear this, really made me feel that good people are still in the world and by being ourselves and treating others as we like to be treated was the best way.  I will admit I got very jaded and angry at what happened with the tenants, I was so tempted to be cold and hard and bitter.  Lesson learnt - being angry and holding a grudge only hurts you.  Opening up, rolling with the punches, getting back on track - all lead to a better and richer life than closing down. Being angry and bitter only allows the person who did you wrong to win.

New Pump, Chlorinator and Filter

Onwards and upwards ... At least we now have all new equipment!