Bill Gates plays Santa for one lucky Reddit user

[Shawn Knight]

24-year-old Reddit user "NY1227," identified on her profile as Rachel, received the shock of her life when she opened a Secret Santa gift via Reddit only to discover it was from Bill Gates. In lieu of the makeup, nail polish and other glittery things on her wish list (including an Apple iPad - awkward), Gates instead donated to a charity on her behalf.

Rachel recounts the experience on Reddit, noting how she received a 7-pound package shipped overnight. Inside she first found a cow stuffed animal followed by a card addressed “to Rachel, from Bill.” She then found the bit about the donation – a cow to a needy family on her behalf.

The charity, Heifner International, aims to give families in need the right tools – such as animals, seeds, clean water, safe stoves or a chance for girls to go to school. The last part was especially fitting as the Reddit user said her master’s degree is in education.

Next was a travel book, National Geographic: Journeys of a Lifetime, which was another fitting gift as she professed her love for travel in her likes and dislikes section. She quickly skipped passed the message and signature on the book from Bill, still not realizing who had sent her the package.

That is, until she opened the last portion of the gift – a photo of a man holding a sign. Yep, it was Gates posing with her gifts. Love or hate the guy, you gotta admit that’s a pretty thoughtful gift. Job well done, Bill.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/55072-bill-gates-plays-santa-for-one-lucky-reddit-user.html

 

[psycros]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

 

[benken2202001]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

Way to appreciate a good deed.

Notice how the company is International? If you check out their website, they do things for plenty of other men, women, and children, perhaps you can put aside self-ish nationalism and appreciate his assistance to humanity.

I applaud billionaires who might inspire others to do good. Just because he is rich doesn't mean he deserves resentment.

 

[t3chn0vamp]

Way to appreciate a good deed.

Notice how the company is International? If you check out their website, they do things for plenty of other men, women, and children, perhaps you can put aside self-ish nationalism and appreciate his assistance to humanity.

I applaud billionaires who might inspire others to do good. Just because he is rich doesn't mean he deserves resentment.

Well said.

 

[oldikes]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

Bill gates may be rich and may have not been a perfectly moral bisiness man, but hes been working on his foundation for a long time. And it is wider reaching then some people think.

 

[Ranger12]

"The charity, Heifner International, aims to give families in need the right tools"

That charity sounds like something A LOT different...

 

[pmcardle]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

What a d-bag comment!

 

[Kelvin Teh]

Good for Bill! But the man needs to know that in order for the cow (I assume it IS a COW) to create milk, it needs to have an offspring. So a bull will make a nice addition so that little calves are born and there will be lactation.

 

[Khanonate]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

I find it amazing how little you knew about his charity organization which helps people all over the world.

 

[drjekel_mrhyde]

Gotta love the way ruthless American billionaires spend their retirement years trying to buy their way into heaven. I also really like how little if any of their charity is reserved for their own countrymen.

And I thought I was a bit drunk

 

[9Nails]

A very thoughtful and warmhearted gift. I'm touched and inspired by you Mr. Gates.

 

[St1ckM4n]

A better gift than some cheap junk that she originally requested.

 

[Guest]

So let me get this clear, I order something, but I don't get what I ordered instead I get some **** I can't use and a statement that may as well be just written on a paper.

I know Bill have big contributions to charity but he is a busy man so I would assume that this is an advertising gimmick. It isn't new that he may do this to raise attention to whatever organization mentioned in the card.

good luck using that photo/book/cow on your face as makeup.

 

[St1ckM4n]

You're not familiar with the Secret Santa concept, are you?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I for one am impressed. No matter who you are, I'm certain there is a little bit of good in everyone. Well done and thank you Mr Gates.

 

[Guest]

Bill Gates is the most notable and charitable guy in the whole world. There is not even a single billionaire that can compare to what he's doing right now. There is a reason why he's not number 1 in riches anymore. Because he actually gives a damn about the world unlike Carlos Selim or Warren Buffet who's busy trying to reach first place.

I'd say he's doing an excellent work.

 

[captaincranky]

I for one am impressed. No matter who you are, I'm certain there is a little bit of good in everyone. Well done and thank you Mr Gates.

A couple of points. To every rule, there's an exception. Accordingly, the "gentleman" around the corner from me, now serving life without parole for the one homicide they were finally able to pin on him, probably is nice to his mother. Everyone else, due to their considerable risk of being killed themselves, should not even consider getting close enough to look for any good, which in all likelihood, (IMHO), doesn't exist.

Second, everything every human on the planet does, has some sort of ulterior motive. Paupers to kings, that's a hard and fast rule. No one does anything without the possibility of personal gain. That's human nature.Since most of us don't have to hunt and gather for our food, we address some of our, "survival instinct", to hunting and gathering emotional survival. We can beg for a sense of personal well being from the corner church. or go "hunt it down" via charity.

With that said, people fall prey to their own propaganda, and in the case of charitable giving, that's actually a good thing..

So, if someone like Angelina Jolie, unwittingly starts out adopting underprivileged children for the publicity it brings her, so be it. Eventually, that "deception", won't have any significance, as she'll eventually come to believe she was doing it for purer intentions, like say, helping people way more unfortunate than herself. And that's a good thing. If the reward of a warm feeling inside is all one gets from giving charity, why would anyone deny it to the giver?

(Again, IMHO), charitable giving on the part of the super wealthy, has an exact parallel in, "survivor's guilt". It simply replaces the question, "why am I the only who lived", with, "why am I this filthy rich, when so many others are starving".

So, if a person reaps an emotional benefit from giving away a portion, or all of their wealth, in search of their personal answer to that question, we probably shouldn't judge, or interfere.

Although, should a person giving a gift announce they're a secret Santa? I suppose that's a question for the ages....

 

[wytcld]

Second, everything every human on the planet does, has some sort of ulterior motive. Paupers to kings, that's a hard and fast rule. No one does anything without the possibility of personal gain. That's human nature.

How do you know that? Sure, this is something that some people say. But opinions don't become true by repetition. There's a lot of evidence that even babies less than one year old value fairness and generousity over selfishness. So much so that they don't pursue their personal greatest gain. Many experiments have been done in this area in recent years. Human beings, by nature, from infancy are prone to do things in ways that do not maximize personal gain, but instead maximize fairness in society and the good of others.

It's only as we're raised in particular cultures, such as modern America, that we learn to value a calculated selfishness instead. And they we get people claiming that the attitudes our culture gives us are our true nature, true in general of human beings. But that's not true of infants. And it's not true across cultures.

As to whether we're better off ignoring our original nature and going with the culture, that's a whole nother discussion. It may turn out we are. But it's intellectually dishonest to pretend that the culture's values here are aligned with our original nature as human beings. They're not.

 

[captaincranky]

As to whether we're better off ignoring our original nature and going with the culture, that's a whole nother discussion. It may turn out we are. But it's intellectually dishonest to pretend that the culture's values here are aligned with our original nature as human beings. They're not.

Actually, when you're dealing with action equals reward /benefit cycles, you're pretty much dealing with doings of the Id. Even animals have this capacity, so it's not entirely a cultural phenomenon. You pet the cat, the cat purrs. Going beyond that, the cat is fully aware of the ultimate reward, since it will consciously cry when it wants attention.

Bottom line, my cats cry to be petted, they also cry when the feel their litter is too dirty. You pet them, or clean the litter, they stop crying(*).. So, (IMHO), you're giving man too much credit, when you say these behavioural loops are entirely intellectual.

(*), and want is a different cry from need or pain. (Granted the difference is a bit more subtle than our spoken languages..

If you really want to dig for obscure studies, you'll find research on plants being able to sense pain, and also the pain of other organism.

Me, I really want to hear less BS, about how man is superior to animals, and more admissions than he is one.

As far as, "ulterior motives" goes, park it for a while and consider the spreading of the news about Jesus. That made practically ithe entire continent of South America Catholic, and wiped out the Aztecs in the process.

Like I said, part of charity on the part of the uber rich, can be explained by comparing it to "survivor's guilt".

And by the way, you know all those sleigh bells you hear in Christmas music?The ones that ring to let you know it's time to buy presents? That's the same technique Pavlov used on his dog.

 

[tipstir]

Good he come out and done something. but all this money they have to give it away so that the taxes don't get high on them by the IRS. So more billionaire, millionaire will be doing some good this holiday season.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

A couple of points. To every rule, there's an exception. Accordingly, the "gentleman" around the corner from me, now serving life without parole for the one homicide they were finally able to pin on him, probably is nice to his mother. Everyone else, due to their considerable risk of being killed themselves, should not even consider getting close enough to look for any good, which in all likelihood, (IMHO), doesn't exist.

Second, everything every human on the planet does, has some sort of ulterior motive. Paupers to kings, that's a hard and fast rule. No one does anything without the possibility of personal gain. That's human nature.Since most of us don't have to hunt and gather for our food, we address some of our, "survival instinct", to hunting and gathering emotional survival. We can beg for a sense of personal well being from the corner church. or go "hunt it down" via charity.

With that said, people fall prey to their own propaganda, and in the case of charitable giving, that's actually a good thing..

So, if someone like Angelina Jolie, unwittingly starts out adopting underprivileged children for the publicity it brings her, so be it. Eventually, that "deception", won't have any significance, as she'll eventually come to believe she was doing it for purer intentions, like say, helping people way more unfortunate than herself. And that's a good thing. If the reward of a warm feeling inside is all one gets from giving charity, why would anyone deny it to the giver?

(Again, IMHO), charitable giving on the part of the super wealthy, has an exact parallel in, "survivor's guilt". It simply replaces the question, "why am I the only who lived", with, "why am I this filthy rich, when so many others are starving".

So, if a person reaps an emotional benefit from giving away a portion, or all of their wealth, in search of their personal answer to that question, we probably shouldn't judge, or interfere.

Although, should a person giving a gift announce they're a secret Santa? I suppose that's a question for the ages....

I'm glad I never noticed any cynicism in your reply (although most would disagree) I assume you just call it as you see it from life's experiences.