It's a good feeling.

[Kowal]

So something interesting just happened here at work that I had to share.

About three years ago, I was hosting a tournament in Hadley.  Turnout was good, prize support was adequate.  If I recall correctly, Mike Sanchez took home a very nice condition Emerald.  If I recall further, I was stranded with no way to get home.  A TMDer who went by Walking Dude was kind enough to give me a ride home, even though I was 30 minutes in to the sticks, the opposite direction from the highway, and he lived somewhere in upstate New York.

On the way home, I heard what's now one of my favorite musical artists, Helium Vola.  And when we finally arrived at my house, I gave what I could to Walking Dude for gas money, but it wasn't much at all, and certainly not worth the gas it took to get from Hadley to Southampton and back to the highway.

Well, about five hours ago, I'm standing around running my night audit reports, and a young man and a young woman arrive at the front desk inquiring for hotel vacancy.  He looked a little familiar, but I didn't really put it together until I took his ID and recognized the name.  We chit chatted a bit, but his significant other was a little under the weather so I didn't keep them waiting long.

And at long last I got my opportunity to thank him for what he did.  While the measly pocket change I gave him back then may have been a start, the $60 or so worth of hotel room that mysteriously disappeared from his bill certainly starts to make it better.

Consider this your karmic reward, Will.

Anybody else run in to something similar?  There are precious few times I get quite this sentimental over community, but I know there are plenty of people who have felt the same.  Ray in particular I'm sure has at least one story he could share in such a thread.