A Victorian tradie’s touching act of kindness and generosity has been shared and commended all over the world, reminding us that good deeds can unite and inspire us.
When Bendigo tradesman and father, Dave Love, went into his local McDonald’s to buy a cup of coffee, he arrived at the checkout next to an elderly gentlemen, who appeared to be down on his luck.
Mr Love saw the man was struggling with loose coins as he attempted to pay for his coffee.
And though the two had never met, Mr Love paid for the coffee. And as the old man walked left the counter, Mr Love tucked $20 into his palm.
“That’s for your next coffee,” he said.
“Thanks you very much,” the elderly gentleman says.
As the couple left McDonald’s, Mr Love stopped to bid the elderly gentleman goodbye. The old man can be heard to say, “Thanks so much. I appreciate it.”
Unbeknownst to Mr Love, his partner, Melanie Langley, filmed the incident.
The video begins showing two men side by side. They couldn’t be more different – the tall, young tradie in his work clothes towers over the stooped elderly gentleman dressed in smart trousers and a jumper.
Yet, you can sense that something has occurred between them as the elderly man thanks the taller man.
When Mr Love asks Ms Langley if she filmed the incident, she tells a small lie and denies it, and the two discuss the incident.
“I was just helping the old feller out. He’s down to his last $20. He’s standing there with a whole heap of change. He’s a pensioner and he’s old. So I paid for his meal and I gave him $20.”
As it turned out, the elderly man’s grandson saw the video and contacted the couple. He said his grandfather was recently diagnosed with dementia, and had lost his wife and daughter.
He and his grandfather recorded a video to thank Mr Love, which hasn’t been shared publicly, but news.com.au reports that in the video, the man says, “I would like to thank David very much for his kindness shown to me in McDonald’s, where I sit and have breakfast a few times a week.
“Thank you so much.”
Mr Love was humble about his kindness.
“It is what is is. It’s life.”
“Oh honey, you’ve amazing,” Ms Langley says.
Ms Langley shared the video on Facebook, and at the time of writing it has been watched 3.2 million times.
Ms Langley and Mr Love have appeared in media all around the world to talk about the incident.
Mr Love said the man had reminded him of his own father, who had passed away recently.
“When I looked at that man I saw my dad, who has passed away. I just had to help him,” he told news.com.au.
“Pensioners need our help. I just hope people who see the video remember to do a similar thing in the future.”
Ms Langley told Yahoo7 she shared the video so that Mr Love’s generosity could inspire others to be kind.
The popularity of the video tells us that people like to be reminded of the generosity of the human spirit, and that helping those who may be less fortunate can be a reward in itself.
