My boss literally gave me a check for $1000 to help me pay my rent, no strings attached. Why did he do this?

My boss owns a small piece of property. He has 4 apartments (one in each corner of a square) that he rents out. All of the apartments are connected by a hallway, so I guess you could call it a 2000 sq ft house with 5 doors that he is renting out. He hires a handyman to live in the main apartment with full utilities and one parking spot included. The handyman also gets a discount on his rent. It’s supposed to be his go to guy in case something were to happen. The handyman lives in apartment 1 and the other apartments (2, 3, 4) are rented out to tenants.<br><br>So I have been the handyman/property caretaker for the last 3 years. I have been the most loyal guy that he has hired. I’m always on time and very quick to respond to tenants asking for help. I also have a few other jobs, but I have also been doing additional work for him. The additional work is front yard work, painting the walls white because the tenants leave marks on the walls, and a few other odds and ends. <br><br>So this is a little backstory to show my boss what kind of guy I am and why he might think I am loyal enough to help out.<br><br>So two weeks ago, I got a call from tenant in apartment 2 that her microwave got wet on the bottom and she doesn’t know why. Well I come and take a look, and the vent that is supposed to go straight out to the outside got clogged up with lint somewhere down the line. The vents from each apartment go into the ceiling with one big fan blowing out the lint. The lint built up and caused water to collect and drip into her microwave. So I climb into the ceiling and walk on the beams to the vent to see where the problem is. I find the blockage, and it’s just a big buildup of lint. I come out and tell the tenant that I found the blockage, and it was just clogged. But I let her know that the entire vent system is clogged and it’s exactly how house fires start. I explain that I have to hire someone to come out and blow out the vents because I don’t have the equipment or the insurance to perform the job. She was grateful to not have a leak and thanked me for fixing the problem. <br><br>When my boss comes to collect the rent, I let him know what happened. I tell him that I’m concerned for the safety of his tenants. He agreed and we talked about hiring someone to come out and blow out the vents. <br><br>The next morning he calls me and lets me know that he found someone that will come out and do it for $1500. I said that sounded like a good deal, and I would call the tenants and let them know that someone would be coming out to inspect and clean out the vents. He also let me know that he was going to have someone come out and inspect all of the roofs to make sure they are good. I thought that was funny because why would he care about the safety of his tenants now when he hasn’t ever had anyone come out to look at the vents or the roofs in the 3 years I have been there. <br><br>I think maybe 5 minutes after I get off of the phone with my boss, he calls me again. He lets me know that he found someone to inspect the vents for cheaper. The new price is $1000. I said awesome, that sounds like a good deal. <br><br>We talk for another 2 minutes, and he says that he knows a lot of people in the city that he has a hard time saying no to when they ask for work. He says he was talking to his buddy, and he said he wanted to come out and inspect the vents for $500. I thought that was super cheap so I agreed that sounded like a great deal. <br><br>We talked for another minute and somehow ended up back at the original price for $1500. It was really strange how we keep talking about all these different prices. <br><br>He says he is going to send me his buddy to collect the $1500. I was shocked. I don’t remember the last time he asked me for money. So I let him know that I didn’t have the money. He let me know that he needs the money so that his buddy can get paid. He then lets me know that I don’t need to pay him back, he said it’s a gift. <br><br>I was very confused at this point as to why he would give me a gift. I said okay, but I don’t have the money. He said he would give me the cash and I could pay him back out of rent. I said okay. He showed up with his check book and gave me a check for $1000. I tried to pay him back out of my own pocket, but he wouldn’t take it. <br><br>I’m wondering why he did this. Am I missing something?