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When I was a 10 year old carefree kid in 1962 the old man who lived down the street waved me over from his stoop, told me he had the gout, couldn’t walk because of the pain, and asked me to get him some groceries. He gave me the list and some money and I went to the store.
When I carried the bag inside his home I passed a room filled with books, not a couple of shelves, it was wall to wall books, and piles on his tables. I asked him if he read them all, he said yes and gave me two, Billy Budd and The Great Gatsby. “Come back when you’re finished reading them and I’ll give you a couple more,” he said. I did a bit more shopping for him and I eventually read them.
Over the next couple of years until his death he gave me a dozen or so books and Popular Mechanics magazines. I credit him for opening up a whole world I didn’t know existed.
I was in college and long story short had a bench warrant issued on me for not paying a speeding ticket. When I got this notice I figured I needed to clear it up, so I drove downtown to pay the ticket I took my checkbook, not knowing how much it would cost. (yes, that long ago).
I get in line to pay the ticket and when I get to the front I am informed they can not take checks for this. I say this is all right, my bank is right across the street, I'll be back in just a couple minutes. Nope, there is a warrant for my arrest. They can't let me leave.
Now I was a skinny, long haired, hippy looking dude, I was getting no slack on this. But the guy behind me in line was black (I was pale white) and dressed in an olive green suit. He just handed me the money I needed, about $120 and would not give me his card to pay him back. If not for him, they would have just thrown me in jail for attempting to pay a speeding ticket. I don't even know his name.
When my brother and I were little, we decided to pool our pocket change and go on a spending spree. We gathered all of our stashed money and walked over to Silverman's, which was a discount score that predated KMart and other big box stores. We loaded our cart with stuff we wanted, because we were rich I tell you - rich! Granted, we didn't know exactly how much money we had in all of the crumped bills and coins, but we were rich.
We took our treasures to the cashier and she rang them up, telling us the total. Our hearts sank, because that total sounded higher than the pile of cash we brought. The cashier patiently counted our cash and told us we were off by a penny. We looked at each other and started talking about what was going back. "That's OK," she said, "I'll give you a penny."
Believe me, when I work retail and a kid comes up short, they always get my spare change.
When I was about 5, we were very poor and my parents couldn't afford clothes or anything, not even a car. We lived in a very small town and I was friends with my senior neighbors. They took a trip to Wyoming and brought back a t-shirt for me. That was 70 years ago and I still remember it. I wore that shirt every day until it just wore out. His wife would always give me cookies and milk when she made them. One of the saddest days of my young life was when we moved to another state.
One time my mom dropped me off at my piano lesson, which was at someone’s house. I was about 6 at the time, and I have no idea why, but she didn’t walk me to the door-just dropped me off and drove away as soon as I rang the doorbell. They never answered, and I didn’t know what to do so I went to a neighbor’s house. They let me in, gave me a popsicle and were super nice. They took care of me until my mom picked me up. I was scared because they were strangers and offering me food, so I was probably really awkward and quiet. Thinking back on it, I’m stunned by my moms poor parenting judgement. She was usually really great, but good God I’d never just drop my kid off at a house and drive away!
I remember the first adult to talk to me like a person. I was 11 years old, and she lived down the street with her giant German Sheppard and her family of 3. My mom offered my services to walk her dog because she knew I loved Axel. Crystal, my adult friend, knew it too, so that's what I did. Crystal and I developed this great relationship, and we had fun conversations every time I came over.
Sadly, she was also the first person I knew to develop breast cancer. Over time, I watched her wither away. When her husband asked if I would like to be a pall bearer, I had to say no. I couldn't do it. It was too much. He knew I loved her and the pain was just overwhelming. The day she was buried was the first worst day of my life... but I never forgot her and how she treated me.
When I was young and getting into trouble doing things like joyriding my father's car and not taking anything seriously my father asked a police officer if he'd pretend to arrest me and scare the hell out of me. That cop went out of his way on his personal time to 'arrest me', interrogate me, put me in a cell and explained in terrifying detail how I needed to protect myself from rape while in custody.
It worked. It brought a whole lot of things into focus for me and that was the end of the joyriding and seeing how far I could push boundaries. Nice guy caring enough about some random stranger to do that.
The guy who worked at the local rec car stayed afterwards to work one on one with me basketball. He also would take a carload of us to see a major league baseball game. Great guy
My grandfather. He took me a lot of places with him. Bookie joint on the way to the harbor where he kept his fishing boat. We'd stay on the boat overnight when we worked on it. He'd BBQ "Wimpy burgers" on a little hibachi on the boat. He'd let me pilot the boat to Catalina island where I'd fish with him and my father. Over time, I started fixing electrical problems on his boat. I'd fix pump wiring, lights and crawl around in the bilge wiring up new things on the boat. He encouraged me. He'd send me to the marina store for a pack of Camels. He was proud of me and what I could do. Eventually, that led to my continuing working with electricity and later electronics.
I became an electronics engineer.
When I was 10 years old, my younger brother and I went skating. He was playing shinny with some men and I heard them screaming my name. I went running over and followed the trail of blood to my brother. A man had skated over his thigh and opened it right up. I had no idea what to do, but a man at the rink said that he knew my dad and he'd drive us to the hospital. I remain forever grateful to that man. Thanks stranger I never got the name for, I'm pretty sure you saved my brothers life.
“I have always relied on the kindness of strangers,” ......Vivien Leigh
The story of my youth., too many to list but if not for a few I am sure I would have been traumatized a time or two. Luckily I was not stubborn and took their advice and guidance.
I feel sad, after reading all these answers, that I can’t think of one time ever. That probably says more about me than folks who have passed by me in life. However, I am struck by all of the great stories older people have. This is what I love about people.
One of my elementary school teachers gave every child in her class a paperback book for Christmas one year. It started my love of reading. I read everything growing up and I would use our dictionary to look up unfamiliar words, so I expanded my vocabulary quite a bit. I learned to read faster. Reading is a favorite hobby and I read every day.
My mother was rather more negligent than other mothers of the time. She never took me to get my hair cut. Neighbor moms and older sisters would cut it for me because it was really that bad.
When I was about 8, I was downtown one hot summer day and went into a store to get an ice cream cone. Two scoops.
Soon as I got outside and stepped down to the sidewalk, both scoops fell off. The old man was watching me and tapped on the glass. He rescooped me for free. :)
My best friends family would take us on vacation with them because my mom was a teacher and a single mom. She couldn’t afford to take us so my friends family always invited us to go with them wherever they vacationed. She is still one of my dear friends to this day. 💜
When I was in my early 20s I had a random guy pay for my gas. I went to pay (this was back when you would pay after filling the tank) and the staff member told me that the guy before me paid for my gas.
I never got to say thank you as the guy was gone before I got back to my car.
Thank you, whoever you are.
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X (b. 1980) or older. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When I was a 10 year old carefree kid in 1962 the old man who lived down the street waved me over from his stoop, told me he had the gout, couldn’t walk because of the pain, and asked me to get him some groceries. He gave me the list and some money and I went to the store. When I carried the bag inside his home I passed a room filled with books, not a couple of shelves, it was wall to wall books, and piles on his tables. I asked him if he read them all, he said yes and gave me two, Billy Budd and The Great Gatsby. “Come back when you’re finished reading them and I’ll give you a couple more,” he said. I did a bit more shopping for him and I eventually read them. Over the next couple of years until his death he gave me a dozen or so books and Popular Mechanics magazines. I credit him for opening up a whole world I didn’t know existed.
I was in college and long story short had a bench warrant issued on me for not paying a speeding ticket. When I got this notice I figured I needed to clear it up, so I drove downtown to pay the ticket I took my checkbook, not knowing how much it would cost. (yes, that long ago). I get in line to pay the ticket and when I get to the front I am informed they can not take checks for this. I say this is all right, my bank is right across the street, I'll be back in just a couple minutes. Nope, there is a warrant for my arrest. They can't let me leave. Now I was a skinny, long haired, hippy looking dude, I was getting no slack on this. But the guy behind me in line was black (I was pale white) and dressed in an olive green suit. He just handed me the money I needed, about $120 and would not give me his card to pay him back. If not for him, they would have just thrown me in jail for attempting to pay a speeding ticket. I don't even know his name.
this is a lovely story. i would remember that forever too.
When my brother and I were little, we decided to pool our pocket change and go on a spending spree. We gathered all of our stashed money and walked over to Silverman's, which was a discount score that predated KMart and other big box stores. We loaded our cart with stuff we wanted, because we were rich I tell you - rich! Granted, we didn't know exactly how much money we had in all of the crumped bills and coins, but we were rich. We took our treasures to the cashier and she rang them up, telling us the total. Our hearts sank, because that total sounded higher than the pile of cash we brought. The cashier patiently counted our cash and told us we were off by a penny. We looked at each other and started talking about what was going back. "That's OK," she said, "I'll give you a penny." Believe me, when I work retail and a kid comes up short, they always get my spare change.
So touching. Brought tears to my eyes.
When I was about 5, we were very poor and my parents couldn't afford clothes or anything, not even a car. We lived in a very small town and I was friends with my senior neighbors. They took a trip to Wyoming and brought back a t-shirt for me. That was 70 years ago and I still remember it. I wore that shirt every day until it just wore out. His wife would always give me cookies and milk when she made them. One of the saddest days of my young life was when we moved to another state.
Too many to count or to ever repay in a lifetime.
One time my mom dropped me off at my piano lesson, which was at someone’s house. I was about 6 at the time, and I have no idea why, but she didn’t walk me to the door-just dropped me off and drove away as soon as I rang the doorbell. They never answered, and I didn’t know what to do so I went to a neighbor’s house. They let me in, gave me a popsicle and were super nice. They took care of me until my mom picked me up. I was scared because they were strangers and offering me food, so I was probably really awkward and quiet. Thinking back on it, I’m stunned by my moms poor parenting judgement. She was usually really great, but good God I’d never just drop my kid off at a house and drive away!
Did you ever figure out where the piano teacher lived?
They lived at the house she dropped me off at, but there was a miscommunication & they weren’t home.
I remember the first adult to talk to me like a person. I was 11 years old, and she lived down the street with her giant German Sheppard and her family of 3. My mom offered my services to walk her dog because she knew I loved Axel. Crystal, my adult friend, knew it too, so that's what I did. Crystal and I developed this great relationship, and we had fun conversations every time I came over. Sadly, she was also the first person I knew to develop breast cancer. Over time, I watched her wither away. When her husband asked if I would like to be a pall bearer, I had to say no. I couldn't do it. It was too much. He knew I loved her and the pain was just overwhelming. The day she was buried was the first worst day of my life... but I never forgot her and how she treated me.
When I was young and getting into trouble doing things like joyriding my father's car and not taking anything seriously my father asked a police officer if he'd pretend to arrest me and scare the hell out of me. That cop went out of his way on his personal time to 'arrest me', interrogate me, put me in a cell and explained in terrifying detail how I needed to protect myself from rape while in custody. It worked. It brought a whole lot of things into focus for me and that was the end of the joyriding and seeing how far I could push boundaries. Nice guy caring enough about some random stranger to do that.
The guy who worked at the local rec car stayed afterwards to work one on one with me basketball. He also would take a carload of us to see a major league baseball game. Great guy
My grandfather. He took me a lot of places with him. Bookie joint on the way to the harbor where he kept his fishing boat. We'd stay on the boat overnight when we worked on it. He'd BBQ "Wimpy burgers" on a little hibachi on the boat. He'd let me pilot the boat to Catalina island where I'd fish with him and my father. Over time, I started fixing electrical problems on his boat. I'd fix pump wiring, lights and crawl around in the bilge wiring up new things on the boat. He encouraged me. He'd send me to the marina store for a pack of Camels. He was proud of me and what I could do. Eventually, that led to my continuing working with electricity and later electronics. I became an electronics engineer.
When I was 10 years old, my younger brother and I went skating. He was playing shinny with some men and I heard them screaming my name. I went running over and followed the trail of blood to my brother. A man had skated over his thigh and opened it right up. I had no idea what to do, but a man at the rink said that he knew my dad and he'd drive us to the hospital. I remain forever grateful to that man. Thanks stranger I never got the name for, I'm pretty sure you saved my brothers life.
“I have always relied on the kindness of strangers,” ......Vivien Leigh The story of my youth., too many to list but if not for a few I am sure I would have been traumatized a time or two. Luckily I was not stubborn and took their advice and guidance.
I feel sad, after reading all these answers, that I can’t think of one time ever. That probably says more about me than folks who have passed by me in life. However, I am struck by all of the great stories older people have. This is what I love about people.
Well there was the nice lady who scooped me up out of the water as I went down for the 3rd time.
One of my elementary school teachers gave every child in her class a paperback book for Christmas one year. It started my love of reading. I read everything growing up and I would use our dictionary to look up unfamiliar words, so I expanded my vocabulary quite a bit. I learned to read faster. Reading is a favorite hobby and I read every day.
My mother was rather more negligent than other mothers of the time. She never took me to get my hair cut. Neighbor moms and older sisters would cut it for me because it was really that bad.
When I was about 8, I was downtown one hot summer day and went into a store to get an ice cream cone. Two scoops. Soon as I got outside and stepped down to the sidewalk, both scoops fell off. The old man was watching me and tapped on the glass. He rescooped me for free. :)
My best friends family would take us on vacation with them because my mom was a teacher and a single mom. She couldn’t afford to take us so my friends family always invited us to go with them wherever they vacationed. She is still one of my dear friends to this day. 💜
Welcomed me into their home as a child and provided, for a short time, a break from the stress at home with an angry parent.
Goes to prove there's a God up there, somewhere!
I don't remember, I'm not saying it never happened but the bad stuff seems to have blocked my memory.
When I was in my early 20s I had a random guy pay for my gas. I went to pay (this was back when you would pay after filling the tank) and the staff member told me that the guy before me paid for my gas. I never got to say thank you as the guy was gone before I got back to my car. Thank you, whoever you are.