ORGAN DONATION - GIVE GENEROUSLY

JON GETS INTO THE SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY, EMBRACING ULTRUISM AND LETTING GO

- JON FAINE

THERE ARE two types of car enthusiasts. Like all generalisations, this one is imperfect but may I offer to you a distinction that I have recently experienced writ large.

There are those who hoard parts for their chosen marque, squirrel away more than they could ever use and refuse to part with even a single cog no matter what price is offered or how urgently someone needs it.

And there are those who seem to delight in helping others complete a project, sharing their spare parts and going out of their way to assist anyone in need.

Recognise anybody? Which would you rather be?

I recently visited a man with a double garage bursting with the detritus of a lifetime of industrious collecting. He could barely close the bulging doors but knew where everything lived, down to the tiniest and most obscure piece or relic. He was so insistent that I help myself to anything I needed, and at modest cost, that I was almost embarrassed.

I soon after visited a commercial supplier of new and used spare parts, a long-established business with a formidable reputation. I asked for some not overly technical guidance and was treated like an incompetent idiot by the inappropriately named ‘assistant’, and eventually, somewhat humiliated, slinked out determined never to darken their doorstep again. An assistant who doesn’t assist – just what every business needs.