We’ve all seen them. They seem to be on every commercial vehicle these days.
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But have you ever called one of those numbers? Have you ever reported somebody? I didn’t think so.
Recently, my son was stuck in traffic behind Truck No. 47. So he called the number on the back of the truck.
“Hello, this is Nancy,” said the voice at the other end of the phone. “How can I help you.” (She didn’t sound very happy to be getting this call, Jacob later said.)
“Hi,” Jacob said. “I want to report Truck No. 47.”
“Yes sir,” said Nancy. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Oh, I just wanted to let you know that the driver of Truck No. 47, well, he’s doing a really great job.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Yeah. The driver of Truck No. 47 is a terrific driver.”
“Would you please hold for a moment sir? I need to find a form to record this on.”
Meanwhile, traffic started moving again.
“You need to hold on, please. Traffic is moving, and I have to pull over,” Jacob allegedly said to Nancy. (I know, I don’t believe him, either.)
“Now, how long were you observing Truck No. 47, sir?”
“Oh, I’ve been following him for a while, all through Northern Virginia. He’s amazing. He stays on his side of the road, obeys the speed limits, always uses his turn signal. Really, this guy is a model driver.”
“Ummm, thank you for calling to let us know, sir.”
“You’re welcome. It’s just nice to see such a great driver on the road these days.” Jacob hung up, smiling.
I am pretty sure that this qualifies as a random act of kindness. It was definitely random.
Cool Kid, 1994
Today is Jacob’s 21st Birthday. Happy Birthday, Jacob!
By telling this story, I just wanted to let you know, today, how very proud I am of this crazy man cub John and I raised. Because you see, Jacob is one of the funniest, nuttiest people I have ever known.
It’s true. Hey, Jacob? You’re nuts! 😉 I couldn’t have found a sillier birthday song for you:
FiftyFourandAHalf 
Happy birthday to Jakob, and there’s nowhere near enough random acts of kindness in the world. Nice to hear about one.
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Thanks GOF!
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Belated happy birth day Jacob. Your act of randomness was so inspiring. I have never ever heard of someone doing this. It’s simply wonderful. I had an idea that I need to call these numbers if I would see a driver driving recklessly on road. Thanks a lot for changing my wrong perception.
Thanks a lot Elyse for sharing this story.
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Sure thing, Arindam.
I think that they are there to keep the drivers in line, knowing that any time they mess up someone will tell on them! I’m proud that Jacob did the opposite.
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absolutely! I am going to do the same next time I will see a driver driving randomly. I will show my random act of kindness then. 🙂
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I keep calling that “How’s My Driving? Dial 1-800-Eat-Sh*t” number but no one ever answers…
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Strange … maybe you should try again! Or I can ask Jacob to do it for you 😉
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Happy Birthday, Jacob.
I have always wanted to make that phone call. I’m glad that there is someone in the world who will.
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It’s hard to notice the folks who aren’t jerks! I will pass along the birthday wishes, Michelle, and thanks! He is nowhere near don celebrating this one!
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I believe he pulled over, and I believe all of the above! Wonderful story, Elyse! You have raised a first class young man. Happy Birthday, Jacob!
And now you’ve got me humming ♪♫ “I believe…”
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Georgette, you may be right about him pulling over. I do know that if he is driving when I call him he answers by saying “Mom, why you trying to kill me?” In my defense, I never know when he’s driving …
And thanks, I am proud of the crazy guy.
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Yeah, I think like many of the others, my initial thought was “Oh, great, he’s making the 10,000th crank call to this line.” Very cool instinct to do what he did.
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Thanks, B-Man. I would have been too embarrassed to post on the subject had he been a jerk! But he really hasn’t got a mean bone. One or two annoying ones, but no mean ones.
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Jacob ROCKS! If he ever wants to write a guest post for DiatribesAndOvations.com, we can use the help on Ovation Days!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Thanks, D&O. He’s a good guy. Alas, he’s not big on writing. Maybe that will change.
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I like Jackob!!! What a good sense of humor. He’s a world changer.
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Thanks Barb. He does have a great sense of humor. I don’t know if he will end up changing the world, but he certainly does make people smile and laugh along the way.
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Happy 21st Jacob. Today you get the keys to… something! They say the nut never falls far from the tree, your get togethers must be so much fun :D.
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So, you’re buying him his Ferrari? Thanks!
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LOL, my 17 year old wants the same thing!
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Good timing! It was my Beloved’s birthday yesterday and I shared the birthday clip with her.
Russ
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Well Happy Birthday to your wife, too. Penguins rule!
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What a lovely post—even before I got up to the part about it being your son’s b’day. Just great! 🙂
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Thanks, Ben,
Jacob is quite a character. His version of the story is somewhat longer and much funnier. If only he’d write … sigh.
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I remember you talking about your little budding comedian when we were discussing Robin Williams — I wouldn’t expect anything less from Robin Williams! Happy birthday, Jacob!
And I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Elyse. That vest? Wow. Jacob indeed looks very 1994 sporting the Canadian tuxedo look (denim on denim).
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Thanks Angie,
Jacob is particularly funny in the car, when I’m driving on our twisty, turny roads. He makes me laugh so hard I worry about ending up in a ditch or a tree. (NO Jacob, that DOES NOT mean you can drive.)
Glad you like the outfit. He loved it. And those boots? I tried to get them on his feet for six months, pushing and pushing. Then I realized that there was a wad of paper in the toe. It was easier to get his feet in without all that paper in there.
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Ha! Great story!
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Great common sense, too. The looked like they should fit him for the longest time …
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A very Happy Birthday to Jacob. And a great job on the phone call. I was actually on the receiving end of one of those – I was doing mainframe computer support for a credit card company, and I had just taken care of a problem for one of our users. My boss suddenly comes striding into the cube, and I figure I’m screwed. The boss, quite stunned, proceeds to tell me the user was so happy, she had HER boss call mine. I was rather taken aback as well, but managed to stammer out something about “just doing my job”. My boss admitted he had NEVER had a user, much less a user’s manager, call to praise an employee, only to complain!
It was a nice surprise, but I think if either the boss or I had been a few years older, the shock would’ve given us heart attacks! 😀
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John, I am so glad that this compliment didn’t happen later or I would have far fewer comments on this here blog of mine! (I could not resist.)
Thanks for the nice birthday wishes for Jacob.
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Awesome! Now that is a great random act of kindness 🙂
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Thanks, Christy,
He had a great time doing it, too. It made him laugh and made him feel good too!
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What a great guy. I know you must be proud and thankful.
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I am proud of him. He’s a good egg with a huge heart. Thanks!
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Great Son!
Great Mom!
Happy Birthday….to you both!!!
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Thanks, Jots. I will pass on his share!
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I think I like your man cub very much! He must be a reflection of great up bringing. Cool Birthday song also.
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Yes, he is a cool not-so-little bear cub. I don’t know about the great upbringing, though. I think he came this way!
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Happy birthday to him and a happy day to you for making it this far and seeing it through to the other end. It’s just the thing moms with nine-year-olds need to hear: happy “endings,” the kids really do turn out all right. You did great, Mom. Great story. And I love the photo!
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I don’t know about “the other end” — but I can thankfully say that the teen years are over (although there are occasional flashbacks!). And Jacob’s turning out so well is all because of Artemis Fowl and the farting dwarf. Trust me!
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That is beyond awesome. Happy Birthday Jacob!
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Thanks Speaker7!
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An excellent way to spend time in traffic. And Nancy will probably tell that story forever “No, this guy called and complimented him! Can you believe it?”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACOB!
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Nancy is still probably in shock! According to Jacob, she didn’t quite know what to do — nobody calls in to complement!
Thanks for stopping by Guap.
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Oh, I loved this story! Happy birthday to him! Random acts of kindness are the best. A woman once paid my toll in NH and I was so floored I paid the person behind me once I hit Maine tolls. See…love and kindness really do get spread around. You’ve raised your son right, Elyse.
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Thanks Darla. I think he is a terrific guy, though. And I love this story, too. It happened a couple of months ago and I knew I’d found what I could say about him in this post without being too sappy (and without embarrassing him).
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What a cool story! Way to go, Jacob and nice job, Mom! Happy Jacob’s Birthday to you!
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Thanks, Moms (which happens to be what Jacob calls me).
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That picture of him as a youngster is adorable. You can already see a awesome personality beginning. May all his kindness come back to him! Proud mom: you should be.
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Thanks, I love that picture of him. He’s still adorable, though. Still full of personality, too. And I’m very proud of him. He’s a good hearted guy.
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Happy Birthday Jacob! For some reason, I’ve got a feeling that you must be a lot like your mom. Meanwhile, good birthday by mom!
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Jacob, like John and I, has a great sense of humor. But it’s all his!
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Cheers to Jacob … and I’ll have a shot of limoncello in his honor this afternoon.
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Happy 21st Birthday to Jacob!!! And great move on calling to report Truck No. 47 for terrific driving! I wonder if that has ever happened before? In any case, it should happen more. And thanks to Mom, for writing a fun and uplifting post, with a great fireworks video, a really funny (but still cool) pic from 1994, and even a song and dance number with dancing penguins!
But what happened to the Synchronized Swimming video? Huh? Just kidding, Elyse! Lol 🙂 Jacob seems like a great kid, and looks like he’s absorbed his Mom’s sense of humor, and now he’s playing his own variations on your theme.
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I actually think that when we adopted Jacob we got Robin Williams’ love child. Jacob is truly hilarious.
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Lol @ Robin Williams’ love child! 🙂 Hey, could be true, cause I’ve heard that he was involved with creating quite a few during his younger and wilder years while on tour.
This is off topic, but you might want to take a second look at my most recent post – it’s been expanded, cause one of my readers was unimpressed with my two pics of beautiful and very attractive (as well as anti-depressant) women.
So I added some photos that I thought she might like… because hey, fair is fair! Lol 🙂
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Jacob was born in Santiago, Chile. The idea of a Robin Williams routine in Spanish makes my head spin!
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OMG! You’re not the ONLY one!!!
It seems like going the adoption route has gone very well for you and your family and I’m glad for you that it did. And the best result of all, is that you have Jacob in your life as your son, and it’s clear that Jacob makes you happy. 🙂
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Absolutely! Thanks, Chris!
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There should be more random acts of kindness in this world – well done Jacob 🙂
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Thanks TB!
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Happy 21st Jacob! I think everyone should call one of those numbers today and say something nice, in honor of Jacob’s birthday.
As if you could have raised anything but a funny, nutty cub…please, it’s clearly genetic. Best wishes for a fun filled celebration.
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Until Jacob told me this story, I wouldn’t have thought about it. You never get excited about the good drivers, only ticked off at the bad ones (I’ve never called on one of those either, but I have been tempted!)
So yes, a call in may be a good way to celebrate!
As for genetics, I don’t know. Nature or nurture. You see, Jacob was adopted as a baby!
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Clearly you’ve rubbed off…it’s all in the nurturing!
It’s sad that the woman seemed startled by his kind words, just sad. Jacob, with this one little act has proven how much kindness is missing in our every day lives…you have yourself a trend setter.
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🙂
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Jacob is one of the coolest sweetest 21 yr old..
What a lovely soul he has
Wish Jacob tons n tons of love, luck and happiness
God bless him
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He is a very big hearted young man. And I’m wishing those same things for him, as I do every other day. Thanks for joining in, Soma!
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Happy Birthday, Jacob.
I thought he was about to make a prank call and annoy this woman. Good for him showing an act of kindness. Maybe the driver will get a few more pennies on his check.
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Thanks, Totsy. It was kind, and it was funny. I’m pulling for the driver to get something more too!
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