South Boston parking accident leads to act of kindness

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — It’s the last thing you want to see when you approach your car. “Walking across the street, saw a note on the hood of my car and was like, ‘ugh, never good,’” said Mike Neff of South Boston.

That’s what happened to Mike Neff after finishing his bartending shift at Tom English’s Cottage at 118 Emerson Street in Boston Saturday night.

“Opened it up. It was a note saying someone had clipped the back of my car. Left a phone number- which very unusual. Normally people just drive away,” explained Neff.

A text exchange between Neff and Chad Perrone followed, with Neff turning down Perrone’s offer to pay for any damage.

“I guess you never know if someone is going to be upset. But he was extremely kind and generous just in his approach to everything so I thought I’d do the same and pay it forward,” said Perrone.

So, Perrone donated to a charity of Neff’s choice instead. He contributed $250 in Neff’s name to a GoFundMe for a South Boston mother named Nicole Downs DiMaggio who recently suffered a stroke. That fundraising page can be found here.

“He went above and beyond. It was really nice of him to donate that much money to someone he doesn’t really know. So it’s strangers helping strangers,” said Neff.

As far as damage to the car, Neff said all he had to do was brush off the paint, which revealed a few minor scratches, and he plans on leaving it as is.

“Mike deserves all the credit. Just thinking of that family and his generosity and kindness and forgiving me for hitting his car and scratching it up,” said Perrone.

Mike shared the story on Twitter to an overwhelmingly positive response, getting over 6,000 likes and hundreds of comments in less than 24 hours. Many people were seemingly inspired by the way the situation was handled.

“It’s nice to know there’s nice people out there and that people do the right thing and just to be a small part of that for me is really, really nice,” said Neff.

Upon meeting up on Tuesday afternoon, the two men ended up recognizing each other from the neighborhood, proving that in a small world, it’s best to be kind.

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