Doing the right thing……..

We are busy. We have things to do. Places to be and things to be done. We don’t have a lot of time to spare. We let things go by or avoid them just so we don’t waste of any of our precious time. But sometimes, it the precious moments that matter. I saw something quite amazing recently that I haven’t seen for a while. Not that good things do not happen on a regular basis, but in a group effort I don’t see often.

At my husband’s last dirt bike race I saw a show of great compassion for the sport and the people in it. As we waited for the final results to be posted of the race, we were anxious to get on the road for the three and half hour drive home. We drove three and half hours that morning to get there. The race time is about an hour and a half. Now waiting for the results is another hour. It makes for a long day. We had contemplated on leaving before the results just so we can get home and relax. We decided to wait since it would be anytime now. When they did finally get posted, the first thing that was noticed was a mistake. One rider who came in second was showing as second to last. This was not right. One of his laps was not counted correctly.

The rider in question was not at the posting so one of the other riders called him and told him what happened. He came to the posting site. He told the people in the association what had happened. They said it had to be discussed with another person but as it was the places stand. The other riders said that it was not correct and it needed to be changed. They would wait until they could check with the score keepers who called the riders as they came through. So we waited.

Later the association jumped over the class for prizes until they had a decision. The men in the group continued to wait and said they would not get their prizes until this was looked into. Even though we all had places to be, things to do, or just wanted to be home, it was not right to leave when they knew there was a mistake.

Now this could have gone in another direction. The men could have said, “Hey, what’s done is done.” They could have not called the rider and let it go. They could have said, “OK”, when they first said it would stand. But they didn’t. They did what was right. They stood together to make sure the right thing was done. Even if it put them back one spot in placement. And so they corrected the standings and the rider made third place. Even though they thought it should be second, the time read off showed a second difference. But it was good.

It was right for the men to stand together. It was right to support a fellow rider. It was right to wait it out instead of rushing to get to what we wanted done. It was right. It may not seem like a big deal. It may seem like a non-eventful post. It may seem like a so-what. But when did you last gather to make something right? I am not talking about a protest or social gathering. I mean just a few people who took it among themselves to do something right for someone else? To get nothing in return and may even get pushed back. Have you done that lately?