Unpaid debt

Whilst I was riding my bicycle to school, I had a flat. I walked it into a local station that stood on the corner of Glenoaks and Polk in Sylmar.
Noticing the nail in the tire, the service attendant asked if he could repair it. All I had was my lunch money, he would not take it. Instead he asked me to remember him and repay the kindness to someone else.

When I owned and managed tire repair shops, I always gave away the first flat of the day.

I often tell this story when someone offers to pay. That debt for that one act of kindness is not paid off yet. You see, I have not been released from the obligation, as I have never seen the gentlemen again.

However, the interest on that debt keeps spreading around the communities where I live and work. Yes, they also hear the story and I include them in the repayment.
I ask them to do a kindness for some one else with out expectation of re-payment, other than to tell the story over in their own words and actions.
My kids know this story well.