It pays to be nice

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:09 pm

I heard this on the Dave Visscher show with Dean Alexander this morning which they said has been verified to be true:

There has been a lot of debate recently about the dangerous US Highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky. Recently a couple slid off the road on their way to Big Sky. A short time later a farmer came by in his pickup and stopped to check on them. Upon finding out that they were ok, he offered to pull them out of the ditch. The man in the car politely declined and said that wasn't necessary as they had AAA and would just call a tow truck to get them out. The farmer said it wasn't any problem and proceeded to pull them out. Once they were out, the guy in the car asked for the farmer's name because he wanted to do something nice as a thank you for taking the time to help them out. But, the farmer said that wasn't necessary, got into his pickup and drove away.
The next week, the farmer got a call from a man who said he was the person who had benefited from the kind act. He informed the man to go down to Ressler Chevy and pick out whatever pickup he wanted!
It turns out that the man in the car was Bill Gates. And, not only did he buy the guy a new pickup, but also paid off all of his farm debts at the bank. WOW!

The radio show said they contacted Ressler who confirmed this to be true.

Pretty amazing thank you for something that most of us Montanans would consider the right thing to do without hesitation.

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:52 am

Wow. It always pays to be nice, and this guy certainly did well with it. I have the feeling that farmer would have done that for anyone, but it's good that he got rewarded. Sometimes nice guys don't finish last after all.

MSUCATS · Post by **MSUCATS** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:55 am

That is a truly amazing story! I would have done the same thing as the farmer (well I would have stopped, that's for sure)... I don't actually have a pickup, but I would have offered to drive them to their destination so they wouldn't be late.

BWahlberg · Post by **BWahlberg** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 11:53 am

barechestcat wrote:I heard this on the Dave Visscher show with Dean Alexander this morning which they said has been verified to be true:

There has been a lot of debate recently about the dangerous US Highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky. Recently a couple slid off the road on their way to Big Sky. A short time later a farmer came by in his pickup and stopped to check on them. Upon finding out that they were ok, he offered to pull them out of the ditch. The man in the car politely declined and said that wasn't necessary as they had AAA and would just call a tow truck to get them out. The farmer said it wasn't any problem and proceeded to pull them out. Once they were out, the guy in the car asked for the farmer's name because he wanted to do something nice as a thank you for taking the time to help them out. But, the farmer said that wasn't necessary, got into his pickup and drove away.
The next week, the farmer got a call from a man who said he was the person who had benefited from the kind act. He informed the man to go down to Ressler Chevy and pick out whatever pickup he wanted!
It turns out that the man in the car was Bill Gates. And, not only did he buy the guy a new pickup, but also paid off all of his farm debts at the bank. WOW!

The radio show said they contacted Ressler who confirmed this to be true.

Pretty amazing thank you for something that most of us Montanans would consider the right thing to do without hesitation.

Hmmm.....interesting.

About 1 year ago and uncle of my wife's was telling this story. Happened to a "buddy of his." But there were many differences, it was on a road going into Glacier, it wasn't Bill Gates but his father, he wasn't in a car but a broken down pickup pulling a large 5th wheel camper. The story I heard said that the "buddy" went into the park for the day and when he was leaving saw the truck and the camper had not moved, he pulled over to see if the guy needed help, and was told that he was going to call AAA or something like that. The "buddy" took a quick look under the hood, saw the problem and quickly fixed it. Refuses any sort of pay or anything, a few days later his mortgage is paid and there's 10,000 in a savings account for his kids to go to college.

Now hearing a different twist to this story my mind is made up that this just an urban legend (or based on the locations a rural legend).

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:23 pm

Re/Max Griz wrote:
barechestcat wrote:I heard this on the Dave Visscher show with Dean Alexander this morning which they said has been verified to be true:

There has been a lot of debate recently about the dangerous US Highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky. Recently a couple slid off the road on their way to Big Sky. A short time later a farmer came by in his pickup and stopped to check on them. Upon finding out that they were ok, he offered to pull them out of the ditch. The man in the car politely declined and said that wasn't necessary as they had AAA and would just call a tow truck to get them out. The farmer said it wasn't any problem and proceeded to pull them out. Once they were out, the guy in the car asked for the farmer's name because he wanted to do something nice as a thank you for taking the time to help them out. But, the farmer said that wasn't necessary, got into his pickup and drove away.
The next week, the farmer got a call from a man who said he was the person who had benefited from the kind act. He informed the man to go down to Ressler Chevy and pick out whatever pickup he wanted!
It turns out that the man in the car was Bill Gates. And, not only did he buy the guy a new pickup, but also paid off all of his farm debts at the bank. WOW!

The radio show said they contacted Ressler who confirmed this to be true.

Pretty amazing thank you for something that most of us Montanans would consider the right thing to do without hesitation.
Hmmm.....interesting.

About 1 year ago and uncle of my wife's was telling this story. Happened to a "buddy of his." But there were many differences, it was on a road going into Glacier, it wasn't Bill Gates but his father, he wasn't in a car but a broken down pickup pulling a large 5th wheel camper. The story I heard said that the "buddy" went into the park for the day and when he was leaving saw the truck and the camper had not moved, he pulled over to see if the guy needed help, and was told that he was going to call AAA or something like that. The "buddy" took a quick look under the hood, saw the problem and quickly fixed it. Refuses any sort of pay or anything, a few days later his mortgage is paid and there's 10,000 in a savings account for his kids to go to college.

Now hearing a different twist to this story my mind is made up that this just an urban legend (or based on the locations a rural legend).

Re/Max,
Normally I would agree with you. The only thing that makes me a believer is that the source (the guys on the radio show are well respected radio personalities) actually got confirmation from the dealership in town. They actually laughed a little bit and admitted it sounded crazy when the farm loan part was told to finish the story. But, if a local business actually say that, yes, it's true, I have to believe there's some credence to it.

wbtfg · Post by **wbtfg** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:48 pm

I've heard the same story, except for it was a "microsoft" big wig outside of Butte who had a flat tire. Later that month when the guy who pulled over to help sat down to play the bills, he somehow had a zero balance on his morgage payment.

I'm not saying it's not true, it sure seems to happen a lot.

WalkOn79 · Post by **WalkOn79** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:25 pm

I also heard the Going-to-the-sun version in Glacier. I'm thinking rural legend.

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:33 pm

Gates does have property at Big Sky, I believe at the Yellowstone Club, so it's certainly feasible.

ChiOCat · Post by **ChiOCat** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:53 pm

Well, when I help him with something, and he offers me a lot of money, I'll ask him to be the Denny Washington MSU never had!

It pays to be nice

It pays to be nice

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