Karma, paybacks and the secret to happiness

Six years ago, I used to teach and do research at a major university here in New Jersey. I did that for a number of years and was vested there. Thus, I took a VERY early retirement and switched careers. I have a pension from the university, but am way too young to collect on it yet.

Anyway, while I was there I had a nice size lab and a couple of graduate (Ph.D.) students and usually one or two undergraduate students. Because my research was microbiology based, usually, the undergraduate students were biology majors.

However, while I was there I had one forestry major undergraduate. He was a gentle Ben, a huge guy. He stood about 6'7", full beard and usually wore jeans, boots and a flannel shirt. He kind of stood out in a microbiology building. The women who worked there were afraid of him. This was not only because of his imposing stature and his less than preppy attire. It was also because he cursed a lot. However, he always did a good job and was very respectful to me. Nonetheless, I often had to defend his presence there to the director of the department. This was heightened when he lost his dorm room. He had nowhere to stay.

Without actually suggesting, nor stating, that he could live in the microbiology building until the semester ended, I gave him a wink wink tour of the more secluded areas of the building. These were sort of secret places that I discovered, as places to get away from students and peacefully prepare grants, research papers, grade tests, etc.. I also let him see that there was a shower in the basement. Thus, unofficially, he moved into the building. This went OK for a couple of months until one of the secretaries stumbled upon him sleeping in a seldom used storage room one morning. This resulted in another meeting for me with the director of the department. Bottom line was, Ben had to move out with only one month left in the semester.

So, I knew from previous discussions that he didn't have much money and no family to depend upon. Thus, I "loaned' him the money to get an apartment, which he did. It got him through the semester and he graduated. That was 6 years ago. I have never heard from him since and had no idea what happened to Ben. I've moved 4 times in the past 6 years and no longer am affiliated with the university.

Yet, I just now got a phone call from Ben. Apparently, he was able to "finally" track me down using an online address site. He tried Google and that didn't work. After sharing some laughs about old times, he asked me if I remembered, that I loaned him some money. I said that I remember helping him get an apartment, but it was my pleasure to help him in a tough spot and that he didn't owe me anything. He said he was now in the military and doing fine and that he wants to mail me a check. I asked if he was sure he didn't need the money and he said that he doesn't and wants to do this. I said OK and gave him my address.

Karma and altruism are ironic. We often reap what we sow. Frequently, I accidently run into people I've worked with, played ball with, went to school with or met in other cicumstances.
A lot of times they remind me of things that I've done in the past that either caused them to laugh, inspired them, helped them, or just made them feel good. Ironicly, I guess its sort of selfish, because in reality it makes me feel good. While I am not religious at all, I do believe that we should leave this earth better than we found it and how we interact with our fellow earthlings is part of that legacy.

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