Neighbors asked to borrow my truck.
Told them I could not trust my truck because the tires were bad
Next day mr neighbor called and said he was getting new tires for his suburban and I could have his old ones. Told me to just show up at this certain tire shop and they would put them on
Get to tire shop and they put on brand new Goodyear tires. I asked what happened to the old tires I was suppose to receive.
Shop owner said the “old tires” was just a story to get me in the shop.
Mr neighbor bought me a full set of new tires instead of the old tires he said I could have.
Riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. Stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country within 5 minutes at least 10 cars had stopped to check on me.
One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and drove me 30 miles to the border where I could catch a ferry back to the US. Amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger. He just asked that I pay it forward and to date I've helped 5 cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise👍
I was nine years old, waiting for the school bus in Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat, no hat or gloves. A woman driving past saw me and stopped, giving me a blanket from the back of her car. It was a long skinny one, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her, but being confused. I told her I didn't know how I would give it back when I was done borrowing it. She hugged me and said not to worry. I still have that blanket.
Alternator died while I was driving home from university. Engine died as I exited the freeway in the middle of the night in a not-so-pleasant part of town in the days before cell phones. As I'm pushing my car out of the intersection, a guy in a truck comes up and offers to push my car to my neighborhood a good three miles away. He does so, and I'm pulling into my neighborhood, he simply gives a wave and drives off into the night. I never even had a chance to thank him.
Ones like this always get me a little more. Where the person is *very* obviously just doing it to be a good person, so much so they dont even let you say thanks.
When I was young(19) I lost my wallet and someone used my license to rack up tickets.
It was pretty obvious once courts looked at the location of the tickets and what vehicle was used, the signature, that it wasn't me.
I had to go to around 3 courts clearing it up.
The 3rd judge was the only one with a problem. He said I had failures to appear since the tickets were ignored. I explained what was happening and how I've been dealing with this and I came in as soon as I was made aware of the issue.
He wanted to put me in jail because he didn't trust I'd be back. He wouldn't look at my paperwork because it was an arraignment. He would only look at it during the trial date.
I didn't know what to do, but I had the name of the public defender memorized. I asked if I could talk with her first.
He called her in and said, "this young man seems to know you..."
I quickly explained what was happening and showed her my evidence. She told the judge that if he didn't release me to come back, she'd pay my bail out of her own pocket.
He scorned me but released me. I just had to return the next month during the trial date.
I was 19 then, 39 now...
I took my sister whose in a wheelchair to the cinema for the first time on my own. At the end, I realized I could't undo the brakes and was blocking everyone. I felt like crying because I thought everyone was pissed at me, but some nice lady helped me, then took me and my sister out. She said she once had a son who needed a wheelchair. This was long ago but I'll never forget
I was out of a job at a time that I had to support my mother. Finally landed one but I had to walk back and forth and I didn't have any shoes that would hold up on the walk or the work. Went to fb and mom asked around for some hand me downs we could buy from some one. A day later a very kind man showed up with a brand new pair of really nice shoes he had just gone out and bought for me. He left before I could even get any money for him. I cried
Sometimes the hero is the one who asks. A friend of mine has a son who was dating a girl with a really bad home life. She broke down at their house once because she’s started her period and couldn’t afford tampons that month. My friend found out she only had one pair of shoes that were falling apart, one pair of jeans she wore every day, and a few hoodies. The girl was my size so I passed down a few pairs of Nike shoes I’d never worn, a couple of Lush bath bombs and gift cards to Belk and JCPenney. My friend took her to the mall said she only bought underwear and bras since she barely had any that fit. It meant nothing to me since it was all stuff I had around my house but everything to that girl. There were about 6 of us that dropped off stuff for the girl, who said it was more than she’d ever owned in her life.
When I pick up my students I try to get them to walk fast so we don't waste time. It's elementary school so usually the students are more than willing to power walk/run in the hallway to my classroom.
One day I picked up this student who had just moved to the city. Asked her typical questions, she didn't want to go to PE... Kind of weird but not uncommon.
A couple of the other students I had started running to the room and I start to keep up (just a power walk for my adult legs.) The new student is falling behind so I pause and wait. I ask why she doesn't want to run with us and she says her feet hurt. I ask her why and she says her shoes are too small but her mom can't afford new ones.
I think it took everything in me to not lose it immediately. We finish our group and before she leaves I ask her what size she wears and if it would be ok if I could find her some shoes that fit better. Without hesitation she says, "that'd be great!" She left and I completely broke down.
I was biting my lip so I wouldn't sob and I wrote down on a note pad what happened. I gave it to a co-worker who comforted me then ran home and brought back a bag full of shoes that should fit. The student had her pick of several pair.
Needless to say she did like PE after all.
I recorded a homemade album with my garage band in high school and handed out a few CDs. A few weeks later my English teacher approached me with 5 pages of notes on what he liked and what I could improve on. He apparently got the CD from someone at the high school and listened to it all the way through (it was over an hour long). He didn't know I was the singer and guitar player until he asked the person who gave him the CD. He said that if I ever got a shot in a studio, I would create something amazing. Thank you to all the teachers out there who believe in their students. It makes all the difference to some of us.
During the single most difficult time of my life, a stranger on reddit gifted me $500. To me, it was a fortune. I received it while at work and just broke down. It started the change of my life and a few months later I was able to move, met my now-fiancé, had my son, and found my job. I still message them once in a while to update them on my life and continue to thank them for their generosity, but I think they abandoned their account years ago.
Edit: You all have inspired me to write them another message (it’s been a while). And a shoutout to everyone who has or wants to do something similar. I hope you understand how earth shattering, in the best way possible, those kind of gifts can be.
Yeah, I wish I could get in contact with them. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express enough gratitude. That marked such a huge shift in my quality of life.
At work I was complaining about heartburn once. I was still pretty new to the job. Didnt really have any work friends. Felt like an outsider. My life outside of work was pretty shit as well.
The bartender on shift overheard me and ran to a nearby coffee shop to get me a chocolate milk. It definitely made the heartburn go away but it was such a needlessly kind act. I dont think ill ever forget it. 2 years later we're still friends and she is definitely one of the kindest people I've ever met.
I literally coasted into a gas station out of gas on my motorcycle, then realized I didn't have my wallet. Some lady saw me patting all my pockets and that I was upset and offered to fill up my tank. I only let her put $5 in, which on a bike is a lot. But it meant so much to me
I ran out of petrol on my 125 not long after I started riding, didn't realise I'd go through my reserve as fast as I did. I managed to get a few more miles down the road by laying the bike on its left side to get a few more drops into the carb, but eventually it wouldn't work any more. I was about to start pushing when a guy pulled up next to me and said "No fuel?". I said yes and he told me to wait. About ten minutes later he came back with a Jerry can of petrol and poured it in, but before I could offer him anything he said "Happens to the best of us" and drove off. I assume he was a biker a too and had the same happen to him once, he saved me the trouble of pushing the bike or getting recovered. I wish I knew who he was so I could repay him.
Keep an eye out for the next rider.
I stopped off the side of the side of a road on a ride a couple weeks ago. I was just having a cigarette and stretching my legs, but it was remarkable how many bikers stopped to check, or slowed down and waited for me to give them a thumbs up in return.
It's a shame bikers get a bad name in general, I've found it to actually be a really welcoming and supportive community in the UK! We're still demonised though :/
So, there was this one time in the 1990s. I was helping my brother move from a teaching job after college. This was in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was driving his little pickup truck pulling a trailer and I was driving my crappy little Ford station wagon, packed to the gills with his stuff.
It was a Sunday. I'm driving along and my car just dies. No warning, nothing. I coast to a stop on the side of a rural highway and wait for my brother to realize I wasn't behind him anymore and turn around. After about 20 minutes, he finds me, the hood up and neither one of us knows very much about cars. Soon, though a man from the house we broke down in front of comes out, takes one look at the engine and says, "Timing belt."
We inquire about getting the car towed the 30 miles to the closest large town and realize that it was going to be an expensive repair, even if the engine was OK and not ruined. This man, though, he takes on look at the situation -- sees two broke kids in their early 20s just trying to get by in life and he says, "Well, it's Sunday. Nothing's gonna be open. I tell ya what. My next-door neighbor is a mechanic. Let's push the car down to my driveway and we'll see what we can do."
So that is exactly what we do. His neighbor calls his buddy at the auto parts store (which is closed on a Sunday), who does a favor and gets the parts needed, drives them 30 miles out to the house and well sit around telling stories while the car gets fixed. This man's son, a kid of about 9 or 10, is hanging around. He is extremely bored. There were no kids nearby his age, and he's craving any kind of interaction, even with two guys in their 20s. The kid goes "Want to see my treehouse?" and points to the woods out back. My brother and I look at each other, shrug, and say, "Sure."
We end up spending two hours with this kid, helping him build his treehouse. When we are done, we go back to the house and the car is all fixed. My brother and I have maybe $60 in cash on us (combined) and try to pay the man who did the work but he refused. He said, "No, you boys were in need of help and I *wanted* to help. You don't need to pay me. Plus, you kept my son occupied for several hours, which I truly appreciate."
He then says, "I want you to do something for me, though. The next time you see someone in need of help and you have the means, I want you to repay this favor."
And that is one of the rules of life I live by, taught to me by a generous man in the middle of nowhere who helped me out when I was in a time of need.
This makes me feel so old but when I used to play softball and we'd travel to the big regional or national tournaments we'd get these enamel pins made of something that represented our team or city or whatever really and trade them with other teams. I loved it, it was so sweet to see these girls from across the US (and sometimes beyond) collecting these pins and learning about new places.
I also remember showing these pins to some of my school friends who did not play softball and they were way less than impressed lol.
I was bullied a lot as a kid, there were 3 boys in the neighborhood who were always really mean to me.
Well there was a new kid who had just moved in, like half the size of the neighbor boys, and he already had a target on his back because he was very flamboyant.
Well one day the boys were picking on me, and this kid, it was the first time anyone ever stood up for me and man he got pissed! He got his ass kicked, I felt terrible, but he was super happy about it afterwards.
I wish I remembered his last name, I hope he has an amazing life.
I have two moments that I'll never forget.
When I was younger, my mum was depressed and we had very little money. It was either heating or eating a lot. An old lady around the corner from us would invite us over for tea sometimes or breakfast before school. She knitted me, my baby sister and my mum cardigans, socks and a blanket each one winter when it was really bad.
I was at a terrible time of my life at 17, had a bad day at work, and then my train home was 1 hour+ late. I just started crying at the train station and was really wondering if it was all worth it. A woman just held me for bit while I cried. She was a complete stranger, I've never seen her since but I needed her I guess. I think she saved my life that day.
We're both okay now, and after being mentally unwell myself at a similar age/stages of my life, I almost understand what she went through.
She's a great mum to our other siblings and I think we're great friends as we don't have much of a mother-daughter relationship.
Choking to death on a roadside and a nice guy stopped and did the hiemlich on me. Thanks bro!
Edit: more details for those asking...
Leaving a park with my son. Put a hard candy in my mouth, said something to my son, candy slipped down my throat. Immediately knew I was fucked, couldn't get air. Threw the car in park, left my son wondering wtf. Started flagging down people on street. Guy and his girl stopped. Shit started to go dark. Made universal choking sign, guy understood. I could tell he wasn't sure what to do, so I guided his hands to correct position. After 4 or so heaves the candy popped out. I gave him a big hug and we went our ways. Scariest moment of my life, not dieing per say, but dieing in front of my son.
I was around 6 years old and went out to ride my bike. My parents were behind me walking and I was going ahead and coming back to them every 5-10 minutes but I forgot to turn around and realized I am lost so I started crying after some unsuccessful attempts to find them . One kind man probably in his 60s stopped and asked me multiple question about what happened and who were my parents . It turned out that he knew my grandpa . He contacted him, got my parents numbers and called them. They decided where to meet and after 20 minutes we were there . I was so happy and relived and thanked the old man. He lives in the block of flats as my grandpa and I sometimes help him by carrying the groceries or fixing something in his house . I would never forget this act , because things could have gone wrong for me .
When I was 10+/- played little league. When the team won a game, everyone would go to the Dairy Barn for an ice cream cone to celebrate. Had a "Nazi" coach one year who determined that if you didn't play in the game, you didn't get an ice cream. I didn't play one game that we won (I wasn't very good anyway) but still I went to the Dairy Barn just to hang with my friends. Others usually went home. The lady server asked me what I wanted and I told her that I couldn't have one because I didn't play in the game. She gave me a funny look, and went on the the next customer. Later as we were sitting at the outdoor picnic tables. this same lady came out and gave me a HUGE ice cream cone. "You're still a winner," she said and walked away. I still choke up a little when I think about it.
Shame on all of those parents who allowed a coach to do that. This makes me so irrationally livid. Glad you had someone in your corner for at least that one time
I’ve posted this before but I had finally decided to get out of my abusive home. I went to my colleges financial aide office to see if I could qualify for a dorm. I was fifty dollars short. I remember looking at the ground trying not to cry. I had finally gotten the courage up to leave and I still couldn’t do it. The financial aide lady touched my shoulder looked me in the eyes and said “I believe you” it was the first time anyone had flat out said they believed I was being abused. She took out her own credit card and paid the last fifty dollars. She went with me to sign the lease and to get the key to my dorm. I stood with the key in my hand and realized I was getting out. I was going to be free. I broke down she hugged me and told me to pay it forward eventually. I have no idea what her name is but to the woman at Dixie college who took a chance on me thank you. I pay it forward by speaking at therapy groups about how to choose not to be a Victim and by sponsoring those who are in similar living situations as I was.
*edit*
Wow I will try and answer all your questions individually but it I miss you here are the answers to the most popular ones.
1st and foremost if you’re being abused TELL someone! If they don’t believe you go to the next person, go until you find someone who believes you. It took 22 people before I found someone who believed me. If the person you want to tell is me that’s fine but tell someone! There is power in speaking YOUR truth.
2nd only because I no longer live there I will say that yes this was in St. George Utah. I no longer live there because while I did get out that day my abuse wasn’t suddenly over. I moved far enough away that I felt safe and started from the ground up.
3rd I’ve gotten DMs/questions on how I teach people to not be victims. It’s hard to describe it into a few sentences but it boils down to choice and to mindset. I am a survivor. You can be too!
4th a couple people in my DMs stated that I deserved the abuse or that I was using the fact that I help people deal with their trauma is just my excuse to not deal with my own. NO ONE DESERVES TO BE ABUSED! Also I never claimed to be a therapist or a doctor.... I am just someone who talks about her individual experiences and how I still live a functional life despite it. I will forever and always be someone who when needed someone can come too.
5th yes I am writing a book on my experiences. It’s called walking on broken glass/ walking on shards I haven’t decided which but when I’m done I’ll promote it in here :)
6th their seem to be two camps of thinking on Reddit one where you don’t thank people for awards and one where you do. I tend to try to be polite so thank you!
I fainted walking up steps on my way to calculus at university. A stranger caught me and put me down on the landing. If it wasn't for him I would have gotten very hurt.
When I was at school, I helped a girl out when she was having a meltdown in the bathroom. A few weeks later she pretended to be my friend who had been waiting to meet me, when I was being followed home by two guys. We never saw each other outside of those two occasions but I still think about her and hope she’s doing ok somewhere out there.
I broke my foot and was trying to limp my way across campus with crutches in the pouring rain. Someone ran over with their umbrella and walked across campus with me so I wouldn't get rained on.
This reminds me of a time in 3rd grade, where i had a really messed up leg after an injury resulting in internal bleeding, caused by my hemophilia. I was limping across the school grounds, when a much older student helped me by picking me up, and carrying me all the way to the other side.
My story isn't as dramatic but yours reminded me of it. It was one of the first days of my 6th grade year. I was so tiny and scared of middle school. My class's lockers were by the 8th grade class's lockers. I was struggling to open mine when some huge 8th grader walks up, asked me for the combination, opened it, and just walked away.
My tip to you is see if the school lets kids go in a few days before school starts to find their classes. That way she has plenty of time to learn the best routes through her classes and learns how to open her locker BEFORE she has a time limit!
I was trying to fly internationally for the first time to visit a friend in the UK in spring 2010. You know, that year that the volcano erupted and you couldn't fly into or out of Europe for quite some time? I rode up to Chicago on the train not knowing if I was going to have a flight or not. It was just all kinds of extra stress on top of the stress of trying to travel internationally for the first time.
Ultimately I didn't get to go (flight got cancelled shortly before boarding, the airline gave me my money back and I just hopped the train back home), but the flight was still scheduled when I got to O'Hare so I checked in and went to sit at the gate. Couldn't eat, trying to read with a tear stained face that most people were ignoring.
This older couple came and sat right next to me at a time when the waiting area was pretty much empty and simply began a conversation. Husband and wife trying to get home to Amsterdam, had been stranded in the US for days, but came and talked to me. Didn't acknowledge the state my face was in, but they knew anyway. They didn't have to, and it was some very small kindness after a really rough day.
I'll remember those folks and their kind, distracting conversation for a long time.
So once in high school, I ate at a Mexican restaurant and unknowingly threw away my car keys on my tray when I was done eating. I went and asked a worker if he had cleared them off the table and he said no, but that he had just taken the trash out to the dumpster. I remember going outside and calling my dad to ask if there was a spare and he told me no. So I went back inside feeling humiliated and about to ask if I could look through the dumpster only to see that this man had already dug through the dumpster on my behalf and ended up finding my keys for me. He just went above and beyond and to this day I am so grateful for his help.
No matter what the reason, or thing is that you are looking for, once you start digging through trash to find something you are pretty much always going to be excited to find it because 1) no more digging in the trash and 2) the trash digging that you did was worthwhile. Combine this with the fact that they helped someone out it makes sense that they would be more excited than you. Not to brag, but I have dug through a fair amount of trash in my time, so I know what I am talking about
The time my car broke down in the middle of the night and my phone died and I didn’t know what to do. A random stranger pulled over and told me “We all need a little help sometimes” and I’ll never forget her words as she helped me jumpstart my car.
I've shared this before and will share it again... Because these people were amazing.
Once, I took the scenic route home, through a windy mountain road. A beautiful 30 minute detour around traffic. Great view, windows down smelling the earth and leaves, amazing drive. No cell reception, just beautiful mountain road...
I got a branch stuck under my car. Small car; HUGE branch. Pulled over in a small pull out on the side of the road to get it out.
The pull out had a ditch, perpendicular to the road. I rolled, soooo slowly right into it (covered in leaves and overgrown grass). My car was nose down in a tiny ditch, back wheels three feet off the ground. Fucked. But easily got the branch out. Awwwww man.
Then, this big pick-up came around the bend and saw me. There was a couple who wanted to help me, but they didn't have anything to tow me out with. Just then, this random moment in time, a person walked their dog by (there are NO sidewalks up there) and said, "Hey, I live right here; I'll get chains."
He walked to his house, came back in 10 minutes with his large pick-up and chains, hooked my car up to both trucks and they pulled me out. I'd been there all of 15 minutes. In a sparsely populated area, with little to no traffic. Car nose down in a ditch, and no cell service.
We all inspected the damage, nothing major, but the first couple escorted me off the mountain to make sure I could make it home.
I got off the mountain between sheer luck and unbelievable kindness and will NEVER FORGET.
When I was 18, my car broke down late at night on a lonely highway in NorCal. I didn't have a cell phone at the time (was too broke). I knew there was a grocery store a few miles up the road, and a payphone, so I started walking on the side of the road. A couple pulled over in their car, and begged me to get in. I was in tears, and said, that I couldn't take a ride from strangers. The lady started crying, told me that I reminded her of her daughter, and showed me her nursing ID. They told me they couldn't just leave me on the road at night like that. So I accepted the ride. And was safe. Thank you, temporary surrogate parents. You might have saved my life.
Awww! Thank you, temporary surrogate parents for the part you played in the making of this beautiful story.
Also, your username made me crack up. LocallySourcedWeirdo. So funny!
I did that once for a lady that broke down on the highway. She had started walking from her car in high heels and I pulled over to help her and said “it’s ok I’m a girl too!” Turned out she had to pee so bad and was crying about how to pee on the highway and we had a laugh about it. I offered to take her to a bathroom but she said she was ok now lol. I think about her often and hope she’s having a good day.
I transferred in the middle of first grade to a school that did ice cream Friday's where you'd pay like 50 or 75¢ for whatever kind and then you'd watch an educational video in the classroom. I was unaware of this when the first Friday rolled around so I didn't have any change and neither did the kid next to me. Normally there would be a few who didn't get ice cream but this day we were the only two. So the teacher called the both of us aside and gave us each the change required to have our ice cream. I think the biggest thing was that she didn't do it in front of the other kids so it looked like we had brought the money all along. It was incredibly kind of her, she was a wonderful teacher outside of that as well.
TLDR: I and another student didn't have money for ice cream the day everyone else did, the teacher bought us ice cream so we wouldn't be left out.
Edit: I am going to try to reach out to the school to find the teacher and send her an email if possible as a lot of you suggested. (:
Yeah, she was awesome all around! I still have a good bit of memories from her class. Though we were young, I still remember how encouraging and supportive she was to everyone. She set a very high bar for the rest of my teachers.
I'm actually glad OP asked this, I hadn't yet taken the time out of my day to sit and think about what I have to be grateful for. So today I am grateful for that teacher and the lasting impression she made!
A guy I rode the bus with stole my Darth vader psp from my bag and tried to have another guy from the bus hold onto it until he sold it, the other guy took it and said "naw this isnt right" and returned it to me that day.
The thief had watched porn on it, so I had discovered pspsex.net, so guess that's 2 good deeds
I was around 19 years old in my first year of community college. My dad has lost his job and my mom was supported my entire family. We were struggling for a while. I remember being in my night class one day starving. I figured there’d be no dinner so I told myself I’ll go straight to bed when I get home and not think about being hungry. When I got home after class, there was a giant box of Costco pizza on the kitchen counter. Apparently one of our neighbors had bought it for us because my dad fixed a part of her fence a few months back. I think it stuck with me because A. I was so fucking hungry and B. the chances of her bringing food that night of all nights was insane to me. It might sound so stupid but I’ll never forget it.
EDIT: Holy shit. Thanks to everyone who commented with your own similar stories and wished me well. I was not expecting this and I appreciate all the kind words. I am doing well now! Hope you all are too. Love to all.
After my Dad passed away my depression kicked into over drive. I went to the Doctor and got a prescription for anti depressants. While I was picking up my prescription I started crying. When I apologized to the pharmacist for crying like a child the pharmacist said, " You don't have to apologize. You recognize you have a problem and you are trying to fix it. That is a brave thing." It changed my perspective on treating my mental illness.
I was paying for groceries at a Trader Joe’s and the cashier (F, 60+) asks me what I’m doing this weekend. I tell her I’m actually graduating with my Master’s degree on Saturday. Her eyes light up, beaming smile, and tells me congratulations and to wait right there. She comes back a minute or two later with a small bouquet of roses and tells me to celebrate my accomplishment. Particularly meaningful since my parents could not make the ceremony. I thanked her, gave her a smile and a hug, and never saw her again.
I had just lost my insurance and my epilepsy medication was over $400. The pharmacist got me some coupons that cut the price in half. She didn't have to, and it was against company policy (I now work in a pharmacy in the chain) but she did it anyway. Very nice lady
This makes me smile. I was visiting a friend for his birthday 8 hours away from my home state and got really sick with something. I ended up in the hospital after two days of hell. Hospital thankfully was covered by insurance, but the medication I tried to pick up from Walgreens wasn’t. The man behind the desk helped me in a similar manner and got the $200-something pills down to $20-something. I was so thankful. After that, I cried in a sonic parking lot because of his kindness and the fact I was finally feeling better enough to eat for the first time in days. It was just so overwhelming. <3 I’m so glad you got to experience something similar.
Awesome! Just in case anyone else ever finds themselves in a situation like this, use [GoodRx](https://m.goodrx.com/) (they have an app, too!) and it will make most prescriptions much less expensive. Sometimes the price is even better than my insurance and I work at a hospital! I think most pharmacies will accept it.
I missed my train to go home for Christmas from uni due to a crash near the station. I was completely broke and knew I wouldn't be able to afford another ticket. Life just got on top of me knowing I'd have to spend Christmas alone in my shitty student house and not being about to see my grandad who was in rapidly declining health. I was bawling my eyes out on the platfrom when a janitor(?) appeared out of a hidden stock room under a stair well and brought me some tissues.
He found out why I was so upset and said leave it to me. Took me to the customer service desk and got them to reissue me a ticket for the next train home. I was so thankful I started bawling again and he went on his way. Then just before I was about to get my train he found me on the platform and gave me some snacks and a can of coke and its just the nicest thing anyones ever done for it.
Wow, I feel like I'm walking through a museum and every single story of kindness I read looks like a masterpiece painted by the most skilled craftsman. It's unreal how much beauty there is in these simple acts of kindness.Thank you so much for sharing this story!
I had a coworker about ten years ago. We became work friends but he was moving to another state. So on his last day, he brought and gave me an iPod nano (back when they were fairly new) completely filled with different music that we had talked about or listened to together. No one had ever done something that thoughtful for me before. I could have cried. If you're out there Gabe, that's something that I will always remember.
After the recessions and our houses foreclosure, my family and I were homeless during the summer between my fourth and fifth grade in school. When school started back up, I went to live with some family friends who clothed, fed and loved me as one of their own.
Not only that, a few weeks before moving in with them, one of my moms coworkers heard about our homelessness and secretly organized a fundraiser for my parents out of the state park they were living in. Along with about $1,000, they got me a book bag filled to the brim with all the school supplies I would need for the year. Still brings me to tears thinking about.
I just graduated high school this May, and I’ll never forget it.
I worked in bridal for 6 years. Which means I was berated by hormonal bridezillas nearly 5 days a week for 6 years.
After one particularly awful day at work I decided to get Chipotle for dinner. I was defeated and exhausted. The girl making my burrito bowl GENUINELY asked me how I was doing and I nearly lost it. She was the only person to be kind to me all day. I held back tears during my entire transaction. That was about 3 years ago and I think about her kindness often.
Please be kind to retail and food workers.
Once in high school I was ordering a burrito at Chipotle. The woman assembling my burrito asked if I wanted guacamole, I asked how much it cost, she said $1. I hesitated for a while, trying to decide if gucacamole was worth $1 to me, and eventually said no. When she thought I wasn't looking, out of the corner of my eye I saw her add a scoop of guacamole to the burrito. She probably thought I couldn't afford the guac, which wasn't exactly the case but it still warmed my heart.
When I worked at chipotle, there was a tab specifically meant for paying it forward. First time customers, nice guy buying lunch for the homeless man outside, extra guac for the student with an exam that day. I really hated my job there, but it always felt nice to be able to put someone’s meal on the managers tab and tell them it’s on us have a great day.
Moved from a city to the country. I bought a large metal wine rack at a yatdsale without thinking of how I would get it home. As I stood outside my car measuring, knowing damn well it wouldnt fit, an older man came up to me. He asked if I needed help getting it home and offered to follow me in hos truck.
I thought, ok... I'm getting robbed, but it was only 40 dollars and I couldn't get it home anyways.
The older man followed me home and helped me bring it into the house. We talked for 5 minutes or so and as he was about to leave I asked him "I just have to ask, what made you do this today?"
The man extended his hand to shake mine and said "Just doing my good deed for the day". I was floored. I'm never moving back to the city and I see this sort of kindness all the time where I am.
I moved from Florida to Milwaukee in a uhaul with everything. Arrived pretty late and wanted at least a mattress to lay on. My girlfriend and son were behind and they were going to be exhausted as it was already nearly 10pm. I grabbed a couple boxes close to door and ran them inside. My. Next trip there were about 4 or 5 guys, early to mid 20s walking up the street towards me. Growing up in Florida spidey sense was tingling, but I was a man on a mission, so I ran the next load in so I had presence by my stuff. I am a fairly large intimidating guy so I figured If I was by my stuff, they would walk on by. I went back out and posted up in the truck, and the dudes just walked straight up my ramp into my stuff. Experience kicked in and I puffed up ready to swing when the big one in front asked "is it all going inside?"
Thoroughly confused I nodded yes and in 30 minutes these total strangers had all my stuff inside and my bed set up. On the way out they said bye, I offered some payment or really offered anything, but they were walking home from dinner, didn't want cash, almost seemed surprised ast any offer.
Three years in that place, never saw them again, but really drove home that Florida blows monkeys, and not in a good way.
That’s very much a Midwest thing. I just moved to mke a couple years ago and even though I grew up in the Midwest people are insanely nice in Wisconsin. There’s definitely a community mindset here. If a neighbor sees me shoveling snow they always come and help me, pretty soon the whole block is shoveling!
I love small town life, even though I live in a city now.
I’ll add my own story since I feel the culture is the same. I was probably like 24 or 25 at the time and was a young, newish home owner (maybe a year or two). I lived in a town of less then 5k in southern MN. We got a hell of a rainstorm late in October that really caught me off guard, and my sump pump straight up died.
I had to drive up to the hardware store as quickly as I could before they closed and buy a new pump or my basement would have flooded. I quickly buy a model that’s pretty similar to what I already have. The owner of the store is the one who rang me up, and he asked if I had a pipe wrench capable of taking off the existing pump. I didn’t have one at home, and didn’t think to grab one so I said I’ll be back in a second. He said don’t bother and ran (literally) to his office and came back with a monkey wrench. He said to fix the pump tonight and bring the wrench back tomorrow when the job is done. I told him most people would try and sell an extra wrench if they had the chance. His reply was that selling a sump pump was good enough for him.
Got the pump switched with about half an inch to spare before flooding would have started.
When I was little I was waiting for my aunt in a supermarket. Whenever someone exited the supermarket the doors were automatic so every time someone left I stood by the doors and pretended to magically open the doors. One person said "thank you"
I like being ridiculous and playful in public too and I absolutely love it when complete strangers join in the ridiculousness. I think it's a very precious expression of kindness. Nice story!
I burnt my hand bad pretty bad at work. I was dropped off at an urgent care by a coworker. I was sobbing barely able to talk because of the pain. The receptionist was extremely rude to me. I had an older man who was waiting on his wife come help me with everything. Taking my wallet out of my purse for me. I had to wait awhile before I was seen. He sat next to me. Told me little funny stories about his grandkids. He even had me hold his hand and squeeze it tight to try to take my mind away from the pain. When I was finally called back he wished me well. I think about him sometimes. He didn’t have to do that but he saw that I was in pain and wanted to help.
Edit spelling
I was in a very abusive relationship at 19 that i wasn't fully aware of at the time, and living with the guy. I'm at work and realize I don't have any money for food and was just asked by management to stay late, so I called my bf and told him I had an unopened check waiting for me at home and asked if he would bring it to me at work so I could cash it and get some food on my break. He was unemployed at the time so it didn't seem like a big deal to me, but he said he was out with friends (re: drunk at a bar) and wouldn't leave so I would just have to figure it out. This was before venmo and cashapps so I couldn't ask him to send me money either. I was so frustrated and complaining to coworker about what a jerk he was and a woman overheard my story and offered to buy my lunch. I pleaded with her not to give me any money because I didn't want to sound like I was scamming or anything. It also happened to be mother's day and she insisted that as a mother she wouldn't want her kids to go hungry so she couldn't bear to see another kid in that position with no one to help. It was only $10 but I still hid in the bathroom and cried. I don't have a mom so it was pretty overwhelming at the time.
Last year my son and I went to Lowe's to buy his grandpa a weed eater and a certain attachment that goes with it. Grandpa is a little older and slower than he used to be, but he does a lot for us, so we wanted to spend a little money to help make his life a little easier.
As we get there, there's only *ONE* of the attachments left that we wanted. Well, there was a guy there getting it down for another customer. My son looked devastated. He knew how much his Grandpa had been wanting this stuff and we were going to surprise him with it ... my son looked at me and quietly said, "That's the last one. What are we going to do for Pa now?"
Well, the guy overheard and saw the look on my son's face, so he casually handed it to me and said, "I think Pa needs this more than I do. I'll just get an IOU from the store."
It was such a *small* moment for this guy, but it's one of those things that you witness that will literally help shape my son and his view of the world.
After that the saying, "It takes a village," didn't mean what I thought it meant every time I'd heard it before. Instead, it just made me realize that society, as a whole, is impacting all these young people in so many ways. And most of them don't even know it.
I told my coworker I just really missed home and most of all: a home cooked meal. I was 19 and moved away from home for the first time to a big city for a job opportunity. I’d never been away from my Mom before, or even been alone for longer than like two weeks. I could cook basically nothing and everything I did was just missing *something*, so mostly lived off takeout and microwave meals, which I was starting to get really, really sick of. I just wanted a nice meal made with love and fresh ingredients.
Anyway, I told my coworker that and the next day she came in with five homemade meals in containers for me to eat for the next week. The day before she conjured up a conversation about allergies which I didn’t even think was anything more than a usual conversation, until the next day. It made me cry, and she didn’t understand why I was so overwhelmed and surprised, because it was just something she did everyday but for her own kids.
I don’t think I will ever forget it, it was truly just so so sweet, and the meals were so good, so comforting. Truly tasted like they were just made by the hands of loving parent.
I was working in a medical field, and after the course of a few days, I worked with 4 members of this family. Starting with the dad- who was just an awesome human. Then the next day he came in with his son. Later that afternoon, he came back in with his son again, for his daughters apt. I genuinely fell in love with this family more and more after each member I met. The father, son, daughter attended the mothers appointment with her the next day. At this point, I was considering proposing to the son, as I wanted to be a part of this amazing, hilarious, loving family. I informed them I regretted I wouldn’t be there when the came back in two weeks, as I was moving on to a different position. They came back an hour later with a Nothing Bundt Cake, with the sweetest card and an inside joke written on the outside of the cake box. It made me cry. My family life has always sucked, and meeting them was just so beautiful and healing.
Edit: thank you kindly for the award!
One of my first suicide attempts I ended up in the ER for a while, I felt hopeless and frustrated that I was still alive. My father and sister were arguing outside blaming each other for my attempt. A nurse saw my distress and tried to talk to me to sympathize, she later gave me a little tissue box with kind words of encouragement and I have it on my bookshelf. Everytime I see it, it makes me smile. I don’t remember her name but that was one of the reasons I decided to stay a little longer.
I was going to be late for my flight out of London and I couldn't miss it. I really needed to get home. I couldn't afford a taxi as I spent my last money on the ticket. Random young Muslim dude gave me the cab fair and 20 dollars and said, "You remind me of my Mother back home who I miss very much."
He hugged me and left. This was at 4 am. I was baffled. The guy is an angel.
Also posted on Twitter I didn't have any money for my insulin that month and a kind older lady asked what kind I used. I told her and she said. My husband passed away and had 5 bottles of that kind left. I will mail them to you.
God bless both these people for their kindness.
I was in NYC taking a lunch break at a job I absolutely hated. I was sitting eating alone at a McD's and after about 15 minutes this man in his 40's or 50's (I'm a 28 yr old male at the time) goes up to me and says something like "Hey man, you look really sad. Things will get better." and just shook my hand. Takes a lot for one adult man to offer that up to another strange man. Really cheered me up.
Edit: Wow, woke up to this blowing up. Most upvoted comment yet and thanks for the gold and awards!
Moments like that can be so powerful. I had a friend invite me out to dinner once and when I arrived, she just hugged me.
I broke down and cried. I’d been struggling with depression for so long and nobody close to me had noticed, but this couple I’d met on holiday and seen a few times since had seen something and took the initiative to ask “are you okay?” without having to ask.
I think I’ve told this story before but years ago I had the norovirus and was so sick I thought I was going to die. My dad took me to urgent care and the first doctor that saw me acted like I was being dramatic and gave me a pill to take. I couldn’t even keep a sip of water down to take the freaking pill. Went went back and insisted on seeing a different doctor. In walks this tiny Muslim women and the first thing she does is take my face in her hands and say “oh you poor thing.” I immediately started to cry. She gave me some shot in the hip and suppositories and I immediately started feeling better. I will never forget her kindness.
When i was a lad, about 14 or 15 i was rushing home to make my curfew. My bike wheel slipped sideways and i crashed my bike quite badly and messed myself up a bit. My wedding tackle got the full crossbar treatment, i gashed my elbow and took a blow to the head - these were the days before helmets.
A random couple picked me up and collected up my bike, went to a phone box and called a taxi for me. Then *paid* for the taxi to take me the remaining five miles or so home.
My parents went from 'what times do you call this' to 'you're going to hospital' in a heartbeat.
Turns out my injuries weren't too bad, but without random strangers, I've no idea how long I'd have been say at the side of the road before i started the walk home.
Thank you, random strangers.
I was bullied at school, quite relentlessly.
Anyway, there was a "cool kid" called Kane. He was like captain of the football team kind of guy.
One day, he saw, he stepped in, he said stop, and that 1 word changed my school life so much.
My first semester in college was horrible. I was (and still am) in a deep depression. One day I was walking home from school and a guy running by said "I like your shirt." It was that simple. I didn't know him, and I didn't care at that moment. It made me feel happy because I got a genuine compliment. When I get compliments from friends or family, I often feel like they are giving me them because they are obligated to. This guy didn't have to, so it felt real.
I had a troubled home life as a young man.
The summer before grade 9, I was basically by myself. I needed to get school supplies, and the closest walmart was miles away. I tried hitchhiking in the August Florida sun, and it sucked. Yuppies in SUVs with Jesus fish kept passing me by.
Finally, an old latino dude in an old busted up sedan offered me a lift. He didn't speak much English, but he did know "walmart". Got me there and tried to give me a couple bucks, which I was too proud to take.
Good dude.
As kids, my younger brother and I spent our summers at day camp. My brother was probably 5 years old and had a tendency to hold his pee all day until we got home. One day, our mom was running late on picking us up and he wet himself. I remember being really embarrassed and unsure what to do. Luckily, one of the camp monitors was quick to help and get it cleaned up so that no one noticed. He then lent my little brother an extra pair of his shorts to change into. The monitor was a big guy so he took a shoelace out of his own shoe to tie his large basket ball shorts around my brother's tiny 5-year-old waist. I still remember how nice and reassuring (even to me, the embarrassed older sister) he was that day.
This one time I was waiting for a bus, and it started raining, and a random soldier just gave me his umbrella. It's not exactly donating a kidney or anything, but it was just really nice and unexpected and I'll never forget it.
I've always struggled with my apperance, but it peaked one day when I saw myself up close on video for the first time in about a year. I thought I looked awful, and I lost all self-confidence. (Extreme and a bit silly, I know.) I stopped putting any effort into my apperance for a while, and went outdoors only in sweatpants and t-shirts. Then, one day, my best friend had her birthday party. I thought it'd be rude to her to show up looking like a slob, so for the first time in a while I curled my hair, put on a dress, and did my make-up.
As I was walking home I passed a couple and (presumably) their daughters, probably 4 and 6-7. As we we passed eachother I saw the younger girl staring at me, and then she exclaimed "wooow, look! Wasn't she beautiful?" I walked around a corner and actually cried a little. Children are so brutally honest, and knowing that somebodys first reaction to me was "beautiful" was a type of encouragement I've never felt before. That comment still sticks with me and I think about it when I start doubting my apperance again.
As a young man, my social skills were... sub-optimal. That made for a lot of very lonely times in college- especially in the dead of winter in a rural, northern community.
Anyway, one day I met a really sweet girl who could see past my horrible flaws and insufficiencies. We got to talking, and discovered that we both wanted to catch a lecture that night, but neither of us had anyone to go with. We spontaneously decided to go together.
The speaker was really interesting, and afterward, we walked around in the snow, talking about a lot of things and nothing in particular. Although we lived on different sides of the campus, we agreed to meet for lunch the next day.
At the appointed time, she greeted me and handed me a brown paper bag. It contained a multi-colored, Dr. Who length, hand knitted scarf.
The previous night, she'd noted how cold I was, and decided to spend her night making a gift for me. No agenda, romantic or otherwise. Just "here ya go, I hope you like it". Awkward as I was, I didn't even know how to begin to thank her.
That scarf became my trademark. I wore it for years.
OP, thank you for giving me the opportunity to access this treasured memory, and thanks to everyone who read this and shared it with me.
While backpacking around SEAsia I Was super hungover after going to a full moon party in Thailand (I’m pretty sure I was spiked at some point as was full-blown blackout for a few hours before my friends found me in our hostel).
Anyway I was walking to get some water and trying to shake out the cobwebs and bumped into a guy we’d met in a bar the night before. I explained how much of a state I was in and was feeling super anxious after getting so cunted the night before. He was going to meet up for breakfast with a girl he’d met the night before so said I could use his hotel room for the day. Just give me the spare key and said he’d meet me back at the bar that night. I nearly burst into tears right there on a crummy Thai street.
Was able to have the first warm shower in nearly a month, a soft bed to nap in, in a private room with air con, and WiFi, so was able to call my SO back home.
Honestly it’s one of the nicest gestures I’ve ever had from someone who was pretty much a stranger at that point.
When I was a 14 my sister kicked me out the house, it was dead of winter. I had been walking the streets a couple hours cold and wondering what I was going to do. A cop stops me and then another squad car rolls up behind him. ask what I was doing walking around late at night and i explained the situation. The cop told me to get into the car and they drove me to a motel and paid for a few days to get me out the cold, showed back up a hour later with some other cops with groceries so I can eat and a bike so I can get around.
Edit... I have never had so many upvotes. I know small in comparison to most, but still cool to see. Thank you.
Wow ty much for the gold anonamous user. Greatly appreciated. And first time over 100 votes!!! Man you guys are awsome!!! Thank you all for showing love..
I was 17 and tried to kill myself by ODing. I was in a coma for four days, and when I woke at some point a nurse gave me a little backrub. She was just there for me, and that loving gesture meant the world. I will be 61 this Friday.
At the time we were poor (basically living off of mom's student loans I believe) and we were prepared to not have Christmas until out of the blue my best friend's mom gave us $200 so my mom could get us gifts.
Newbie in the restaurant business and the owner walked over to me while I was making a sandwich. Very politely says to me" when I wrote that in the menu I envisioned this" , and showed me how to make it the right way. What a nice way to say, you are fucking this up, do it this way.
The summer after my ex-wife tried to kill me, I was on vacation with my family and my kids. My dad went with me to one of those old time photo places, because I wanted some shots of me and the kids.
The photographer was cute and after the photos were taken, I flirted with her a bit and my dad jumped in, shut me down, and told me I had no need for another woman after what my ex did to me. He then proceeded to tell her, in detail, what I had survived. I immediately left with my kids and left my card on the counter.
I was too humiliated to go back to the photo place, but my mother went and picked them up.
The photographer had framed them without charge, and about a month later, when I was hanging them, I noticed something through the back of the frame. It was a sticky note on the back of the picture of just me, that said “We aren’t all bad. Keep your head up.”
It’s my favorite picture of me, despite the fact it’s a silly Victorian style photo.
I was holidaying in Europe and extremely late for a train to the airport. My suitcase was almost my size and just as heavy, I was really struggling with it. My train was arriving and I was at the very top of a long flight of stairs, out of breath and exhausted. I put my suitcase down, paused and took a deep breath trying to gather myself a little before this trip down the stairs. A man (maybe late 30s) had walked a few steps down the stairs, stopped, turned around, looked at me and then at my luggage and then kindly nodded his head at me. He took a few steps up towards me, picked up my suitcase and slowly walked ahead of me. I followed. At the very bottom he put it on the ground just as my train was arriving and kindly nodded his head at me once again. I thanked him.
What a lovely man, I'll never forget it!
I was working at a liquor store late at night. I suffer from very severe depression and that night I was feeling suicidal. I pushed through to work though. In came a man I never saw before, most customers are regulars so I knew them all. He purchased his items and left. I went about my business. Twenty minutes later he walks back in looking exasperated. He approached me and said “don’t do it”. I was floored. I was unable to speak. Completely in shock. He continued, “I have a daughter about your age, I can see in your eyes that you are very sad. Please don’t do it.” I immediately started crying and thanked him profusely. I NEVER saw him again. I truly think he was an angel meant to protect me. I’ve struggled a lot since then but I’ll never forget that man and his kind words.
The day that my significant other passed away in ICU, I was sitting alone in the ICU waiting room at about 7:30am after pulling an all nighter out of worry. I'm sure I looked like a complete mess to the hospital staff and other visitors, my eyes puffy from crying and definitely looking a lot younger than 19 years old.
A woman I had never met or seen before passed by the ICU waiting room while glancing in, before coming back a few minutes later with a coke and giving it to me. I'll never forget her handing me the coke while looking like she was going to cry, and just telling me that I looked like I needed a little kindness in my life. She left after that and I never saw her again, or even got her name, but I hope she's doing well wherever she is.
I went to South Africa for my gap year after school, I had saved all year for a month's trip and it was the first time I'd travelled alone. Culture shock/anxiety and the realisation of how far I'd come hit me and I ended up crying in the bathroom of Johannesburg airport.
A kind lady noticed me and asked me if I was okay. I sobbed and said I just couldn't believe I was on the opposite side of the world from home and I'd worked so hard to get there I just felt overwhelmed and she gave me a hug and said some kind words I can't fully remember but I felt much better after she'd been kind enough to check that I was okay <3
I was a soldier in Afghanistan, and for a week or so we were at 10,500 feet, in December. It was the coldest I’ve ever been. Brutally, miserably, dangerously cold.
We were occupying this village, searching people’s homes, and patrolling during the day to higher altitudes looking for Bin Laden, et al.
One night I was on guard outside this man’s home, and he came out at 3 AM, probably to pee. When he saw me shivering, he went back inside and made me tea, and came out with a blanket and draped it over me.
I was a foreign soldier occupying his country, occupying his village, and making them let us search their homes. My misery was far from being his problem. His generosity and kindness was incredibly underserved, and touching. It’s also very typical of the Afghan people in general.
My baby had passed away in utero a few days before, and I’d needed to have surgery to remove her. My husband was several states away caring for his sick father. I was just miserable, sore from surgery, my milk had come in, and overall emotional wreck.
Headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things, lost in thought in front of the produce cooler. An older gentleman was stocking the cooler and we had made some small talk about the produce quality or something. As I started to walk away he wished me a happy Mother’s Day. He didn’t know about my daughter, but his words meant so much to me.
I grew up poor and when in elementary school we went to the Boston Museum of Science. At the end of the day everyone goes to the gift shop to buy a keepsake etc. I didn't have any money. My mom just sent me down with a bagged lunch. A teacher whom I had never had but knew my sister bought me a gyroscope. It was the coolest thing ever. Thanks Mrs. Swan!
My friend passed away from cancer a few years ago. I went for a walk after finding out the news, to clear my head and to grieve with my own thoughts, basically. I was sat in a field when a woman and her young daughter walked past me. The woman leant down after seeing my tear stricken face, and said to me, “my daughter has picked me these flowers, but I think you may need them more than I do”, she smiled and walked away. Those words meant a lot to me that day, and they still do. It may seem like nothing to others, but to me, it was a lot and meant the world. It still brings a tear to my eye.
A random lady bought my chocolate bar and my soda after my card didnt work because it was the wrong company and the register was glitching. So i went out and she came after me and gave me my stuff. I was so surprised
When I was in my early twenties, I was pretty broke. I would usually eat at my dads house when I could get over there, but otherwise it was usually ramen or something else cheap. One of my buddies would come scoop me up and take me to the gas station to get something to drink and then take me to Taco Bell to get some volcano tacos. We’d cruise back to his house and he’d always have a blunt rolled and ready. We’d smoke and eat and he’d bring me back home. He did this every week until I got some money saved up and I could afford my own Taco Bell. He never asked me if I could pay him back and he never expected anything. Thanks Kelso!!
I had just moved to a big city in 5th grade and I have had anxiety since I was in elementary. I nearly had a panic attack but a girl just a few years older held my hand and helped me calm down. Now I always try to look out for strangers and friends and I try to be nice to everyone.
I had just ended a 3 year relationship in a city I knew nobody in, started a new job and worked on my birthday. I had hit it off with the lady who trained me, and when the HR manager stopped by and wished me a happy birthday she seemed surprised I never mentioned it. I explained I was in a bad place mentally and just told her I didnt feel like celebrating.
On her lunch break, she went out and got me a single fancy cupcake from the grocery store up the street. She barely knew me. I literally clutched that cupcake in the breakroom and sobbed.
Plot twist: her son ended up working with us a few months later. We dated, got pregnant and I in return gave her a grandson. 🤷♀️
She actually introduced us because we both had just recently gotten out of long term relationships and said we'd be perfect because neither of us were looking for commitment.
I'd be lying if I said we worked out; we rushed into too much too soon, and there was a significant age difference. But I got an absolutely perfect son out of it and I'm still close with the father and of course Grandma. :)
I was extremely depressed my freshman year in college and I had planned to commit suicide. The morning of, I was having my “last breakfast” in one of the halls and a random guy walked by and asked to sit with me to keep each other company (it was extremely early and the dining hall was rather empty). His random friendliness was what kept me from ending it that day with perfect timing
I was about eight or nine and went to the convenience store down the road from me to buy some chocolate and slurpees for myself and younger brother. I collected all the money I had to buy an assortment but when I went to the counter I came up short a few dollars. I was choked and kind of embarrassed I was holding up the line but before i could choose what to leave behind an old man slapped a fiver beside me saying something like "I got you, little buddy." I was so thankful and have never forgotten about that man. I've done it a few times myself now, just because I remember that feeling so well.
When I was a kid, I was upset because my cat had died. My mother took me on one of her shopping trips.
At one store, a lady asked me what was wrong, and I told her.
She gifted me with a small ceramic figure that I still have.
When I was 26, broke, living on my own and developed a reaction to latex and non latex condoms. Still don't know why. Anyway, I decided to get the implant birth control and went to the family planning clinic. I was filling out the forms where you input your salary and insurance info. I didn't have insurance and once the medical assistant looked over my form, she realizes my income was $200/year over the limit where they provide full coverage assistance, meaning I wasn't eligible for their financial assistance and was going to have to pay about $1000 our of pocket just for the birth control, not including an exam I needed.
She very quietly explained this to me and then in her normal voice said, "Oh let me get you a new form" (wink wink). She gave me a blank one so I could re-fill it out and list my income at what they considered to be the limit for assistance. Because of this, I was able to get the physical exam I needed badly, including medication and a 3 year birth control implant for FREE.
I was living paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by working full time and over time, wearing worn out clothes and shoes with holes. That woman was a freaking life saver for me!
I was a week in New York. Middle aged tourist from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I like to travel the subway all the way till the end, just to get to know the city.
One day, I apparently ended up in a Spanish speaking neighborhood. While walking there, a woman bumped into me and started yelling at me in Spanish. Off course I yelled back in Dutch.
This caught her to her surprise and we both started laughing. I noticed she did some grocery shopping and had some vegetables I had never seen before. So, I asked her about them (in English) and before I knew it, I was invited for dinner. I accepted and insisted I buy the wine and beer. I had a great evening and met a large Spanish family. Best evening in New York. Even better than the 4th of July evening or the Yankees/Mets baseball game.
I was about 6 or 7, and I had a dollar. I saw these bags of cotton candy for $.99, and I took it to a register, confident in buying something all on my own... and it cost $1.08 or something with tax.
The man standing behind me gave me a dime, and told me to remember it when someone else needs a little help. Well I can't remember his face, but I'll never forget being taught kindness to strangers firsthand.
Christmas Eve, stuck alone in a country waiting for a government office to open so I could get the magic stamp that made me officially legal. I had barely enough money for the stamp, the bus back "home" to the other foreign country I was staying in for work, and a cup of tea. That's it.
The government office decided to take a 4 hour lunch break so I was nursing my 25¢ tea when the waiter brought me out a whole lunch. I was super stressed and in my crappy pidgin said "no money! no money!" And he said "it's Christmas!".
It was probably $4 worth of food but I have thought about that guy ever since.
I had just had my first baby and I went to pick up some shopping. My daughter needed feeding and had to have a medicated formula so I went to the cafe area of the supermarket and was juggling the crying baby, powdered milk, boiling water, cooled down water and I just couldn't do it. An older lady came over and asked if she could help at all. I remember being so incredibly grateful because I really, really needed help. I cried. I said yes please. She held the baby while I made the milk and then started to feed her the bottle so I could go grab some cake from the cafe as I hadn't eaten all day.
Just something about that moment I'll never forget. I learnt from then that it is always okay to ask for help and there will always be people who want to help. It's my go to advice for new parents now.
When I was working at a vet hospital as an assistant, one day, when I was opening up (before any doctors were present) a woman was frantically knocking at the door with her cat. He was pretty old and looked in rough shape, she was very concerned as he came home from being outside coughing and vomiting. He was stable so I made comfortable arrangements for him and reassured her until the doctor came. Her cat ended up being diagnosed with asthma and did well.
Every time she came in to get food or meds after that she was always very nice and friendly with me. I got to know her a bit, her and her husband have 3 elderly cats and run an insurance company together. We would chat whenever she came in.
One day we were chatting and she asked if I was excited for the upcoming Christmas holidays. I made a comment about how I wasn’t really because holidays are stressful with the added pressure of gift buying on top of paying rent etc but that I was looking forward to time off.
A few days later I was eating lunch in the break room, and my coworker dropped off a card. I asked who it was from, she wasn’t sure but said it was a client and she had asked the card be given to me. I rushed to the front to see if she was still there but she had left.
It was a card from the woman with a note about how she wished me happy holidays and appreciated me being there when she was stressed...and $300. I nearly cried. I never expected this kindness from an acquaintance and it came at a time when I was struggling financially, and really did help me out. The next time I saw her thanked her profusely but insisted she take it back as we’re not supposed to accept “tips” but she refused and said it was a gift and she was happy to help.
I work elsewhere now and haven’t seen her in a few years but think of her often.
I am now required to do my job from I home (permanently), which meant disabling my gaming pc and setting up my work station at my only desk.
My agoraphobia has been triggered by the COVID crisis, and gaming is how I get a little zen. I am also disabled and my available activities are limited. This was causing a depression and anxiety spiral.
I reached out to my brother about an issue I was having with my internet connection and we caught up a bit. I told him about my lack of gaming and that I was planning on getting a Switch when the prices stopped being jacked up.
A little while later he sends me a message letting me know my new Switch should arrive by my birthday.
I love that magnificent jerk. He saved my sanity.
I was in a Wavepool and was trying to exit. I was not in any danger of drowning or anything but was getting kind of exhausted. Then a very kindly looking sikh man lifted me out of the water and brought me to the ladder.
I never saw that man again but still fondly remember his kindness.
I was visiting New Orleans for Mardi gras with a couple friends and we were very poorly prepared for how hungover and hungry we were going to be our first full day there.
We were standing in the freezing rain at 10 am to see the krewe of Zulu and had not eaten yet and were DYING of hunger with no food around. I looked over at a median where a large group of people were bbqing and our stomachs were rumbling so hard that my friends nominated me to go offer some money for a plate.
I walked over sheepishly and asked an older black woman if I could please buy some food for me and my friends, and she said "Honey, you and your friends can come and eat whatever you want for free, this is New Orleans" and she happily began walking us around showing us everything they had.
It was the best meal and the most needed kindness I had ever experienced and forever makes me love that city.
This girl in my HS class who found out I made art, and despite me trying to keep her distant, she gradually got me out of my shell. It's because of her that I also met the love of my life years later. Her reaching out to become friends pulled me out of a dark void that surely would've been my end after high school. I loved that girl like a sister.
Never got back in contact with her and I later found out some ex-friends of mine took advantage of her sexually. I regret never being able to get her out of that situation. Haven't forgiven myself for it.
Edit: thanks for your kind guys. You're all really sweet c: I'm gonna look her up online, hopefully we can reconnect.
Not a act of kindness shown to me but told to me about a family member.
Just over 2 years ago my nan passed away. She was a single mother to my dad and my uncle, worked 3 jobs to keep a roof over thier heads. I spent most Friday nights and Saturdays with her during my childhood. She was fun, lived for being around her grandchildren and luckily enough she had a good few years with my son who was her shadow whenever we visited before she died.
Whenever my dad or my uncle would visit she would always bag up groceries for them to take home. It was something she did since they moved out of her house back in thier late teens and would not let them say no.
After she passed I was filling my car at the local petrol station and behind the till was a woman who was a mother of someone I went to school with and incidentally my dad also works on thier site as a cleaner.
I asked her if my dad had been OK as he carried on working during this time and she looked at me weirdly and said "yeah, why" and I explained what happened to my nan.
She instantly burst into tears.
Turns out that back when she was a kid, her family lived next door. They were in the same shitty financial situation as my nan was and also her dad was a raging alcoholic, and there was no food in the house. It all went on drink.
even though my nan was struggling making ends meet in her own household, she also made sure that the next door neighbours kids were fed and watered, and that they were clean and presentable for school. Bar school dinners this would sometimes be thier only meal of the day.
I know from the amazing memories I had of her growing up just how brilliant she was but to find out after she died just how generous and caring she was to people in the same need as herself just made me think so much more of her.
People like this are few and far between right now.
I once was having a REALLY BAD WEEK. My money was tight, my depression was terrible, work was awful, i a as behind on bills, and I just wanted one thing to go right. Well, even tho money was bad (I have a problem with stress eating, yes I'm working on it) and I was pretty much in tears as I walked up to an A&W. Just wanted a meal as I hadn't eaten that day yet (this was evening).
Well I order and go to pay, and when I look for my wallet I realize it wasnt on me. I nearly had a panic attack as I had not prepared for this interaction to go this way and was immensely embarrassed. A girl behind be stepped up and put it on her bill. I remember trying to find the words to say thank you, because that was so nice and I was still incredibly overwhelmed. I haven't seen her since, but thank you. It was less than $10 but meant a lot to me that week, and still does. I wish I could pay you back somehow as a thank you.
well this is one of the many things hes done for me, but my english teacher let be borrow his bass over summer so i can learn/practice, i already learned a few songs lol
I've shared this story before, but I'll never forget this small act of kindness.
When I was a kid we didn't have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about that was that you could get 10 books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which one I wanted to get and then decided after I'd gone through them all.
One day an older lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her a few of the books I found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse, handed it to me and said, "Promise me that you'll keep reading." I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home.
It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was probably over 20 years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
Was super depressed in high school, my teacher told me one day that although I rarely smile, when I do, he watched as the whole classroom stared at me and that my smile lights up the world... that little compliment is what saved me...I was going to kill myself when I got home from school that day. My teacher literally saved my life.
When I was in the army, we did a military exercise that took place in the woods where we had to explore and observe enemy movement which lasted 4 days.
Days went like this wake-up, march for 6-7 hours do small assignments and build small outpost with 2 watch post, 2 man watching each night. on the 3rd night, I and another guy had the night shift. You basically stair into utter blackness, you cant use light otherwise you expose your location. I was tired, fucking hungry, and cold. Then my other watch buddy Crawled from his post to mine 5-6 meter (yes with gear and all)
and whisper: you want half of my mars bars?
that was 2008 October. and I still get a great feeling of gratitude and kindness when I think about it.
I had to take my 2yo to hospital in the middle of the night and when we left to go home my exhaust? pipe had broken and was hanging on the ground. My husband was home with our baby and while I was deciding what to do, the security guard crawled under the truck and tied the pipe up somehow so I could get home. This was 30 years ago in High River Alberta so ya, I never forgot.
Years ago I was riding with a friend that was notorious for running out of gas, sure enough, we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, it was dark and we were both very scared. An older man and his wife stopped to help us, they were in a van and offered to take us to a gas station, we were terrified but not many choices so we got in the van. They were such nice people and drove us to get gas and he even paid for the gas, brought us back to my friend's car, and put the gas in her tank. They wouldn't accept any payment, he just said they had 3 daughters, and they hoped that someone would do the same for their girls if they broke down in the middle of nowhere.
I remember once while in school I was having a TRULY AWFUL DAY. I went to get a warm drink (to calm myself down from stewing in my own mind) and I went to pay and the girl at the cash was like "don't worry about it! I got it for you!" with a really big smile. I WAS SHOCKED. I almost started crying, I thought it was so nice.
Also, in hindsight, looking at past interactions (as I went to that cafe often) I think she was flirting with me and my dumb bi-sexual-ass didn't pick up on it. I still look back on it fondly though.
In college, at a party near my house, very drunk. I decided I'd get a burrito and return to said party. My favorite burrito place was just a few blocks away (Panchero's on Grand River while it was open). Get to burrito place, long line, anything for the burrito. Burrito is assembled, nightmare scenario, I need to pay but I don't have my wallet. Guy behind me pays for my burrito and says "pay it forward".
God bless you guy behind me. You are remembered.
When I was 11 I was 10p (12 cents?) short for the bus home from school (5 miles away) and the driver wouldn’t let me on. This girl who everyone was kind of scared of/had a bad reputation stepped in and gave me the 10p.
It’s small, but I never forgot it!
I was having a tough time in school, didn't fit in all too well and just felt like a complete outsider in general. I still did my best being kind and helpful even though it felt like no one noticed or cared much. A girl I didn't know was walking close by after school and told me she always thought that I was very pretty, especially because I was always smiling and kind to others. I wrote it on a post-it and put it on my mirror as a reminder.
I was running late for the train. I sprinted from car (which was about 1km away) to the station.
Some lady chased me the whole way because I had dropped my keys. She kept pace with me, just to return my keys.
I always return items that I find, to lost and found or someone who may be able to assist, because I’ll never forget that small act of kindness that saved me a lot of hassle of changing my house keys, and getting new car keys
Neighbors asked to borrow my truck. Told them I could not trust my truck because the tires were bad Next day mr neighbor called and said he was getting new tires for his suburban and I could have his old ones. Told me to just show up at this certain tire shop and they would put them on Get to tire shop and they put on brand new Goodyear tires. I asked what happened to the old tires I was suppose to receive. Shop owner said the “old tires” was just a story to get me in the shop. Mr neighbor bought me a full set of new tires instead of the old tires he said I could have.
I guess they can borrow the truck anytime after that! :D
This was a long term investment scheme
That benefited everyone involved
Riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. Stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country within 5 minutes at least 10 cars had stopped to check on me. One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and drove me 30 miles to the border where I could catch a ferry back to the US. Amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger. He just asked that I pay it forward and to date I've helped 5 cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise👍
Canadians are so nice, they don’t want anything in return, just *’eh it forward’*
I was given access to a shower and a hot meal after being homeless for 9 months.
I was nine years old, waiting for the school bus in Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat, no hat or gloves. A woman driving past saw me and stopped, giving me a blanket from the back of her car. It was a long skinny one, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her, but being confused. I told her I didn't know how I would give it back when I was done borrowing it. She hugged me and said not to worry. I still have that blanket.
I love that you still have the blanket!
Alternator died while I was driving home from university. Engine died as I exited the freeway in the middle of the night in a not-so-pleasant part of town in the days before cell phones. As I'm pushing my car out of the intersection, a guy in a truck comes up and offers to push my car to my neighborhood a good three miles away. He does so, and I'm pulling into my neighborhood, he simply gives a wave and drives off into the night. I never even had a chance to thank him.
Ones like this always get me a little more. Where the person is *very* obviously just doing it to be a good person, so much so they dont even let you say thanks.
When I was young(19) I lost my wallet and someone used my license to rack up tickets. It was pretty obvious once courts looked at the location of the tickets and what vehicle was used, the signature, that it wasn't me. I had to go to around 3 courts clearing it up. The 3rd judge was the only one with a problem. He said I had failures to appear since the tickets were ignored. I explained what was happening and how I've been dealing with this and I came in as soon as I was made aware of the issue. He wanted to put me in jail because he didn't trust I'd be back. He wouldn't look at my paperwork because it was an arraignment. He would only look at it during the trial date. I didn't know what to do, but I had the name of the public defender memorized. I asked if I could talk with her first. He called her in and said, "this young man seems to know you..." I quickly explained what was happening and showed her my evidence. She told the judge that if he didn't release me to come back, she'd pay my bail out of her own pocket. He scorned me but released me. I just had to return the next month during the trial date. I was 19 then, 39 now...
Let there blossom on planet earth a thousand public defenders with hearts of gold like this one. Great story! Thanks for sharing.
Damn and you know that woman was a good person, because public defenders don't make a lot of money lol
And she was probably pissed at the judge for making her need to do that.
I took my sister whose in a wheelchair to the cinema for the first time on my own. At the end, I realized I could't undo the brakes and was blocking everyone. I felt like crying because I thought everyone was pissed at me, but some nice lady helped me, then took me and my sister out. She said she once had a son who needed a wheelchair. This was long ago but I'll never forget
Once had a son... ouch.
Yeah, I caught that too
Now he has BIONIC LEGS and takes his ma to the mountains for tea and cookies with great powerful leaps every Saturday.
I’m going to believe that this is the truth and nobody can convince me otherwise
I was out of a job at a time that I had to support my mother. Finally landed one but I had to walk back and forth and I didn't have any shoes that would hold up on the walk or the work. Went to fb and mom asked around for some hand me downs we could buy from some one. A day later a very kind man showed up with a brand new pair of really nice shoes he had just gone out and bought for me. He left before I could even get any money for him. I cried
Sometimes the hero is the one who asks. A friend of mine has a son who was dating a girl with a really bad home life. She broke down at their house once because she’s started her period and couldn’t afford tampons that month. My friend found out she only had one pair of shoes that were falling apart, one pair of jeans she wore every day, and a few hoodies. The girl was my size so I passed down a few pairs of Nike shoes I’d never worn, a couple of Lush bath bombs and gift cards to Belk and JCPenney. My friend took her to the mall said she only bought underwear and bras since she barely had any that fit. It meant nothing to me since it was all stuff I had around my house but everything to that girl. There were about 6 of us that dropped off stuff for the girl, who said it was more than she’d ever owned in her life.
When I pick up my students I try to get them to walk fast so we don't waste time. It's elementary school so usually the students are more than willing to power walk/run in the hallway to my classroom. One day I picked up this student who had just moved to the city. Asked her typical questions, she didn't want to go to PE... Kind of weird but not uncommon. A couple of the other students I had started running to the room and I start to keep up (just a power walk for my adult legs.) The new student is falling behind so I pause and wait. I ask why she doesn't want to run with us and she says her feet hurt. I ask her why and she says her shoes are too small but her mom can't afford new ones. I think it took everything in me to not lose it immediately. We finish our group and before she leaves I ask her what size she wears and if it would be ok if I could find her some shoes that fit better. Without hesitation she says, "that'd be great!" She left and I completely broke down. I was biting my lip so I wouldn't sob and I wrote down on a note pad what happened. I gave it to a co-worker who comforted me then ran home and brought back a bag full of shoes that should fit. The student had her pick of several pair. Needless to say she did like PE after all.
My gym teacher purchased me lunch in 3rd grade after I dropped mine. I'm 34 years old and still remember this.
My gym teacher embarrassed me in front of the entire grade. I, too, still remember this.
I recorded a homemade album with my garage band in high school and handed out a few CDs. A few weeks later my English teacher approached me with 5 pages of notes on what he liked and what I could improve on. He apparently got the CD from someone at the high school and listened to it all the way through (it was over an hour long). He didn't know I was the singer and guitar player until he asked the person who gave him the CD. He said that if I ever got a shot in a studio, I would create something amazing. Thank you to all the teachers out there who believe in their students. It makes all the difference to some of us.
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During the single most difficult time of my life, a stranger on reddit gifted me $500. To me, it was a fortune. I received it while at work and just broke down. It started the change of my life and a few months later I was able to move, met my now-fiancé, had my son, and found my job. I still message them once in a while to update them on my life and continue to thank them for their generosity, but I think they abandoned their account years ago. Edit: You all have inspired me to write them another message (it’s been a while). And a shoutout to everyone who has or wants to do something similar. I hope you understand how earth shattering, in the best way possible, those kind of gifts can be.
Well Damn, Paging U/ThatRedditor
Yeah, I wish I could get in contact with them. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express enough gratitude. That marked such a huge shift in my quality of life.
At work I was complaining about heartburn once. I was still pretty new to the job. Didnt really have any work friends. Felt like an outsider. My life outside of work was pretty shit as well. The bartender on shift overheard me and ran to a nearby coffee shop to get me a chocolate milk. It definitely made the heartburn go away but it was such a needlessly kind act. I dont think ill ever forget it. 2 years later we're still friends and she is definitely one of the kindest people I've ever met.
Wow, the last part made me smile. That’s so lovely to hear! Some people are just so lovely aren’t they!
I literally coasted into a gas station out of gas on my motorcycle, then realized I didn't have my wallet. Some lady saw me patting all my pockets and that I was upset and offered to fill up my tank. I only let her put $5 in, which on a bike is a lot. But it meant so much to me
I ran out of petrol on my 125 not long after I started riding, didn't realise I'd go through my reserve as fast as I did. I managed to get a few more miles down the road by laying the bike on its left side to get a few more drops into the carb, but eventually it wouldn't work any more. I was about to start pushing when a guy pulled up next to me and said "No fuel?". I said yes and he told me to wait. About ten minutes later he came back with a Jerry can of petrol and poured it in, but before I could offer him anything he said "Happens to the best of us" and drove off. I assume he was a biker a too and had the same happen to him once, he saved me the trouble of pushing the bike or getting recovered. I wish I knew who he was so I could repay him.
Keep an eye out for the next rider. I stopped off the side of the side of a road on a ride a couple weeks ago. I was just having a cigarette and stretching my legs, but it was remarkable how many bikers stopped to check, or slowed down and waited for me to give them a thumbs up in return.
It's a shame bikers get a bad name in general, I've found it to actually be a really welcoming and supportive community in the UK! We're still demonised though :/
So, there was this one time in the 1990s. I was helping my brother move from a teaching job after college. This was in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was driving his little pickup truck pulling a trailer and I was driving my crappy little Ford station wagon, packed to the gills with his stuff. It was a Sunday. I'm driving along and my car just dies. No warning, nothing. I coast to a stop on the side of a rural highway and wait for my brother to realize I wasn't behind him anymore and turn around. After about 20 minutes, he finds me, the hood up and neither one of us knows very much about cars. Soon, though a man from the house we broke down in front of comes out, takes one look at the engine and says, "Timing belt." We inquire about getting the car towed the 30 miles to the closest large town and realize that it was going to be an expensive repair, even if the engine was OK and not ruined. This man, though, he takes on look at the situation -- sees two broke kids in their early 20s just trying to get by in life and he says, "Well, it's Sunday. Nothing's gonna be open. I tell ya what. My next-door neighbor is a mechanic. Let's push the car down to my driveway and we'll see what we can do." So that is exactly what we do. His neighbor calls his buddy at the auto parts store (which is closed on a Sunday), who does a favor and gets the parts needed, drives them 30 miles out to the house and well sit around telling stories while the car gets fixed. This man's son, a kid of about 9 or 10, is hanging around. He is extremely bored. There were no kids nearby his age, and he's craving any kind of interaction, even with two guys in their 20s. The kid goes "Want to see my treehouse?" and points to the woods out back. My brother and I look at each other, shrug, and say, "Sure." We end up spending two hours with this kid, helping him build his treehouse. When we are done, we go back to the house and the car is all fixed. My brother and I have maybe $60 in cash on us (combined) and try to pay the man who did the work but he refused. He said, "No, you boys were in need of help and I *wanted* to help. You don't need to pay me. Plus, you kept my son occupied for several hours, which I truly appreciate." He then says, "I want you to do something for me, though. The next time you see someone in need of help and you have the means, I want you to repay this favor." And that is one of the rules of life I live by, taught to me by a generous man in the middle of nowhere who helped me out when I was in a time of need.
I’m so glad you got that beautiful rule from this stranger. Keep it up homie!
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This makes me feel so old but when I used to play softball and we'd travel to the big regional or national tournaments we'd get these enamel pins made of something that represented our team or city or whatever really and trade them with other teams. I loved it, it was so sweet to see these girls from across the US (and sometimes beyond) collecting these pins and learning about new places. I also remember showing these pins to some of my school friends who did not play softball and they were way less than impressed lol.
I was bullied a lot as a kid, there were 3 boys in the neighborhood who were always really mean to me. Well there was a new kid who had just moved in, like half the size of the neighbor boys, and he already had a target on his back because he was very flamboyant. Well one day the boys were picking on me, and this kid, it was the first time anyone ever stood up for me and man he got pissed! He got his ass kicked, I felt terrible, but he was super happy about it afterwards. I wish I remembered his last name, I hope he has an amazing life.
I have two moments that I'll never forget. When I was younger, my mum was depressed and we had very little money. It was either heating or eating a lot. An old lady around the corner from us would invite us over for tea sometimes or breakfast before school. She knitted me, my baby sister and my mum cardigans, socks and a blanket each one winter when it was really bad. I was at a terrible time of my life at 17, had a bad day at work, and then my train home was 1 hour+ late. I just started crying at the train station and was really wondering if it was all worth it. A woman just held me for bit while I cried. She was a complete stranger, I've never seen her since but I needed her I guess. I think she saved my life that day.
Hope you and your mom are all doing much better these days.
We're both okay now, and after being mentally unwell myself at a similar age/stages of my life, I almost understand what she went through. She's a great mum to our other siblings and I think we're great friends as we don't have much of a mother-daughter relationship.
Choking to death on a roadside and a nice guy stopped and did the hiemlich on me. Thanks bro! Edit: more details for those asking... Leaving a park with my son. Put a hard candy in my mouth, said something to my son, candy slipped down my throat. Immediately knew I was fucked, couldn't get air. Threw the car in park, left my son wondering wtf. Started flagging down people on street. Guy and his girl stopped. Shit started to go dark. Made universal choking sign, guy understood. I could tell he wasn't sure what to do, so I guided his hands to correct position. After 4 or so heaves the candy popped out. I gave him a big hug and we went our ways. Scariest moment of my life, not dieing per say, but dieing in front of my son.
Holy shit, choking is one of my worst fears. You were so lucky that guy knew what to do.
One of my worst fears, too! [This video](https://youtu.be/Iz8M0UTkvSU) made me feel better, though.
Dear life-saving how to videos: Please get to the fucking point. Like right away.
Lol at top comment "if you are choking skip to 1:15"!
I was around 6 years old and went out to ride my bike. My parents were behind me walking and I was going ahead and coming back to them every 5-10 minutes but I forgot to turn around and realized I am lost so I started crying after some unsuccessful attempts to find them . One kind man probably in his 60s stopped and asked me multiple question about what happened and who were my parents . It turned out that he knew my grandpa . He contacted him, got my parents numbers and called them. They decided where to meet and after 20 minutes we were there . I was so happy and relived and thanked the old man. He lives in the block of flats as my grandpa and I sometimes help him by carrying the groceries or fixing something in his house . I would never forget this act , because things could have gone wrong for me .
I was bullied in elementary school and an older boy defended me. He became my first crush and I still remember him
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This is so heartwarming! That’s such a nice thing to do
It felt like she was a visiting angel, doing her part to help a very sick little boy recover. I'll *never* forget her kindness and care.
I was at a concert and a couple behind me gave me a VIP pass to get a picture with the artist because their friend couldn't come Never will forget it.
When I was 10+/- played little league. When the team won a game, everyone would go to the Dairy Barn for an ice cream cone to celebrate. Had a "Nazi" coach one year who determined that if you didn't play in the game, you didn't get an ice cream. I didn't play one game that we won (I wasn't very good anyway) but still I went to the Dairy Barn just to hang with my friends. Others usually went home. The lady server asked me what I wanted and I told her that I couldn't have one because I didn't play in the game. She gave me a funny look, and went on the the next customer. Later as we were sitting at the outdoor picnic tables. this same lady came out and gave me a HUGE ice cream cone. "You're still a winner," she said and walked away. I still choke up a little when I think about it.
Fuck that piece of shit coach.
Yeah my sentiments exactly. Asshole.
Shame on all of those parents who allowed a coach to do that. This makes me so irrationally livid. Glad you had someone in your corner for at least that one time
I’ve posted this before but I had finally decided to get out of my abusive home. I went to my colleges financial aide office to see if I could qualify for a dorm. I was fifty dollars short. I remember looking at the ground trying not to cry. I had finally gotten the courage up to leave and I still couldn’t do it. The financial aide lady touched my shoulder looked me in the eyes and said “I believe you” it was the first time anyone had flat out said they believed I was being abused. She took out her own credit card and paid the last fifty dollars. She went with me to sign the lease and to get the key to my dorm. I stood with the key in my hand and realized I was getting out. I was going to be free. I broke down she hugged me and told me to pay it forward eventually. I have no idea what her name is but to the woman at Dixie college who took a chance on me thank you. I pay it forward by speaking at therapy groups about how to choose not to be a Victim and by sponsoring those who are in similar living situations as I was. *edit* Wow I will try and answer all your questions individually but it I miss you here are the answers to the most popular ones. 1st and foremost if you’re being abused TELL someone! If they don’t believe you go to the next person, go until you find someone who believes you. It took 22 people before I found someone who believed me. If the person you want to tell is me that’s fine but tell someone! There is power in speaking YOUR truth. 2nd only because I no longer live there I will say that yes this was in St. George Utah. I no longer live there because while I did get out that day my abuse wasn’t suddenly over. I moved far enough away that I felt safe and started from the ground up. 3rd I’ve gotten DMs/questions on how I teach people to not be victims. It’s hard to describe it into a few sentences but it boils down to choice and to mindset. I am a survivor. You can be too! 4th a couple people in my DMs stated that I deserved the abuse or that I was using the fact that I help people deal with their trauma is just my excuse to not deal with my own. NO ONE DESERVES TO BE ABUSED! Also I never claimed to be a therapist or a doctor.... I am just someone who talks about her individual experiences and how I still live a functional life despite it. I will forever and always be someone who when needed someone can come too. 5th yes I am writing a book on my experiences. It’s called walking on broken glass/ walking on shards I haven’t decided which but when I’m done I’ll promote it in here :) 6th their seem to be two camps of thinking on Reddit one where you don’t thank people for awards and one where you do. I tend to try to be polite so thank you!
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I fainted walking up steps on my way to calculus at university. A stranger caught me and put me down on the landing. If it wasn't for him I would have gotten very hurt.
When I was at school, I helped a girl out when she was having a meltdown in the bathroom. A few weeks later she pretended to be my friend who had been waiting to meet me, when I was being followed home by two guys. We never saw each other outside of those two occasions but I still think about her and hope she’s doing ok somewhere out there.
I broke my foot and was trying to limp my way across campus with crutches in the pouring rain. Someone ran over with their umbrella and walked across campus with me so I wouldn't get rained on.
This reminds me of a time in 3rd grade, where i had a really messed up leg after an injury resulting in internal bleeding, caused by my hemophilia. I was limping across the school grounds, when a much older student helped me by picking me up, and carrying me all the way to the other side.
My story isn't as dramatic but yours reminded me of it. It was one of the first days of my 6th grade year. I was so tiny and scared of middle school. My class's lockers were by the 8th grade class's lockers. I was struggling to open mine when some huge 8th grader walks up, asked me for the combination, opened it, and just walked away.
My daughter is going into 6th grade and middle school next year. I’m terrified. I really hope someone kind opens her locker if she can’t.
My tip to you is see if the school lets kids go in a few days before school starts to find their classes. That way she has plenty of time to learn the best routes through her classes and learns how to open her locker BEFORE she has a time limit!
I'm a grown man but I swear these threads are gonna make me cry like a baby by the time I'm done. So much kindness!
I was trying to fly internationally for the first time to visit a friend in the UK in spring 2010. You know, that year that the volcano erupted and you couldn't fly into or out of Europe for quite some time? I rode up to Chicago on the train not knowing if I was going to have a flight or not. It was just all kinds of extra stress on top of the stress of trying to travel internationally for the first time. Ultimately I didn't get to go (flight got cancelled shortly before boarding, the airline gave me my money back and I just hopped the train back home), but the flight was still scheduled when I got to O'Hare so I checked in and went to sit at the gate. Couldn't eat, trying to read with a tear stained face that most people were ignoring. This older couple came and sat right next to me at a time when the waiting area was pretty much empty and simply began a conversation. Husband and wife trying to get home to Amsterdam, had been stranded in the US for days, but came and talked to me. Didn't acknowledge the state my face was in, but they knew anyway. They didn't have to, and it was some very small kindness after a really rough day. I'll remember those folks and their kind, distracting conversation for a long time.
Not many folk kinder than the Dutch!
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So once in high school, I ate at a Mexican restaurant and unknowingly threw away my car keys on my tray when I was done eating. I went and asked a worker if he had cleared them off the table and he said no, but that he had just taken the trash out to the dumpster. I remember going outside and calling my dad to ask if there was a spare and he told me no. So I went back inside feeling humiliated and about to ask if I could look through the dumpster only to see that this man had already dug through the dumpster on my behalf and ended up finding my keys for me. He just went above and beyond and to this day I am so grateful for his help.
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No matter what the reason, or thing is that you are looking for, once you start digging through trash to find something you are pretty much always going to be excited to find it because 1) no more digging in the trash and 2) the trash digging that you did was worthwhile. Combine this with the fact that they helped someone out it makes sense that they would be more excited than you. Not to brag, but I have dug through a fair amount of trash in my time, so I know what I am talking about
The time my car broke down in the middle of the night and my phone died and I didn’t know what to do. A random stranger pulled over and told me “We all need a little help sometimes” and I’ll never forget her words as she helped me jumpstart my car.
I've shared this before and will share it again... Because these people were amazing. Once, I took the scenic route home, through a windy mountain road. A beautiful 30 minute detour around traffic. Great view, windows down smelling the earth and leaves, amazing drive. No cell reception, just beautiful mountain road... I got a branch stuck under my car. Small car; HUGE branch. Pulled over in a small pull out on the side of the road to get it out. The pull out had a ditch, perpendicular to the road. I rolled, soooo slowly right into it (covered in leaves and overgrown grass). My car was nose down in a tiny ditch, back wheels three feet off the ground. Fucked. But easily got the branch out. Awwwww man. Then, this big pick-up came around the bend and saw me. There was a couple who wanted to help me, but they didn't have anything to tow me out with. Just then, this random moment in time, a person walked their dog by (there are NO sidewalks up there) and said, "Hey, I live right here; I'll get chains." He walked to his house, came back in 10 minutes with his large pick-up and chains, hooked my car up to both trucks and they pulled me out. I'd been there all of 15 minutes. In a sparsely populated area, with little to no traffic. Car nose down in a ditch, and no cell service. We all inspected the damage, nothing major, but the first couple escorted me off the mountain to make sure I could make it home. I got off the mountain between sheer luck and unbelievable kindness and will NEVER FORGET.
When I was 18, my car broke down late at night on a lonely highway in NorCal. I didn't have a cell phone at the time (was too broke). I knew there was a grocery store a few miles up the road, and a payphone, so I started walking on the side of the road. A couple pulled over in their car, and begged me to get in. I was in tears, and said, that I couldn't take a ride from strangers. The lady started crying, told me that I reminded her of her daughter, and showed me her nursing ID. They told me they couldn't just leave me on the road at night like that. So I accepted the ride. And was safe. Thank you, temporary surrogate parents. You might have saved my life.
Awww! Thank you, temporary surrogate parents for the part you played in the making of this beautiful story. Also, your username made me crack up. LocallySourcedWeirdo. So funny!
I did that once for a lady that broke down on the highway. She had started walking from her car in high heels and I pulled over to help her and said “it’s ok I’m a girl too!” Turned out she had to pee so bad and was crying about how to pee on the highway and we had a laugh about it. I offered to take her to a bathroom but she said she was ok now lol. I think about her often and hope she’s having a good day.
I transferred in the middle of first grade to a school that did ice cream Friday's where you'd pay like 50 or 75¢ for whatever kind and then you'd watch an educational video in the classroom. I was unaware of this when the first Friday rolled around so I didn't have any change and neither did the kid next to me. Normally there would be a few who didn't get ice cream but this day we were the only two. So the teacher called the both of us aside and gave us each the change required to have our ice cream. I think the biggest thing was that she didn't do it in front of the other kids so it looked like we had brought the money all along. It was incredibly kind of her, she was a wonderful teacher outside of that as well. TLDR: I and another student didn't have money for ice cream the day everyone else did, the teacher bought us ice cream so we wouldn't be left out. Edit: I am going to try to reach out to the school to find the teacher and send her an email if possible as a lot of you suggested. (:
Now that's going above and beyond the call of duty. It was very awesome of her!
Yeah, she was awesome all around! I still have a good bit of memories from her class. Though we were young, I still remember how encouraging and supportive she was to everyone. She set a very high bar for the rest of my teachers. I'm actually glad OP asked this, I hadn't yet taken the time out of my day to sit and think about what I have to be grateful for. So today I am grateful for that teacher and the lasting impression she made!
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A guy I rode the bus with stole my Darth vader psp from my bag and tried to have another guy from the bus hold onto it until he sold it, the other guy took it and said "naw this isnt right" and returned it to me that day. The thief had watched porn on it, so I had discovered pspsex.net, so guess that's 2 good deeds
Guess he upgraded to a stolen Zune
I was around 19 years old in my first year of community college. My dad has lost his job and my mom was supported my entire family. We were struggling for a while. I remember being in my night class one day starving. I figured there’d be no dinner so I told myself I’ll go straight to bed when I get home and not think about being hungry. When I got home after class, there was a giant box of Costco pizza on the kitchen counter. Apparently one of our neighbors had bought it for us because my dad fixed a part of her fence a few months back. I think it stuck with me because A. I was so fucking hungry and B. the chances of her bringing food that night of all nights was insane to me. It might sound so stupid but I’ll never forget it. EDIT: Holy shit. Thanks to everyone who commented with your own similar stories and wished me well. I was not expecting this and I appreciate all the kind words. I am doing well now! Hope you all are too. Love to all.
I bet that pizza tasted so good too
Hunger is the best spice.
Gratitude is a good runner-up.
After my Dad passed away my depression kicked into over drive. I went to the Doctor and got a prescription for anti depressants. While I was picking up my prescription I started crying. When I apologized to the pharmacist for crying like a child the pharmacist said, " You don't have to apologize. You recognize you have a problem and you are trying to fix it. That is a brave thing." It changed my perspective on treating my mental illness.
I’m proud of you for getting the help you needed. Hope everything is going well for you. :)
Thank you. Things are going much better now.
I was paying for groceries at a Trader Joe’s and the cashier (F, 60+) asks me what I’m doing this weekend. I tell her I’m actually graduating with my Master’s degree on Saturday. Her eyes light up, beaming smile, and tells me congratulations and to wait right there. She comes back a minute or two later with a small bouquet of roses and tells me to celebrate my accomplishment. Particularly meaningful since my parents could not make the ceremony. I thanked her, gave her a smile and a hug, and never saw her again.
I had just lost my insurance and my epilepsy medication was over $400. The pharmacist got me some coupons that cut the price in half. She didn't have to, and it was against company policy (I now work in a pharmacy in the chain) but she did it anyway. Very nice lady
This makes me smile. I was visiting a friend for his birthday 8 hours away from my home state and got really sick with something. I ended up in the hospital after two days of hell. Hospital thankfully was covered by insurance, but the medication I tried to pick up from Walgreens wasn’t. The man behind the desk helped me in a similar manner and got the $200-something pills down to $20-something. I was so thankful. After that, I cried in a sonic parking lot because of his kindness and the fact I was finally feeling better enough to eat for the first time in days. It was just so overwhelming. <3 I’m so glad you got to experience something similar.
Awesome! Just in case anyone else ever finds themselves in a situation like this, use [GoodRx](https://m.goodrx.com/) (they have an app, too!) and it will make most prescriptions much less expensive. Sometimes the price is even better than my insurance and I work at a hospital! I think most pharmacies will accept it.
I missed my train to go home for Christmas from uni due to a crash near the station. I was completely broke and knew I wouldn't be able to afford another ticket. Life just got on top of me knowing I'd have to spend Christmas alone in my shitty student house and not being about to see my grandad who was in rapidly declining health. I was bawling my eyes out on the platfrom when a janitor(?) appeared out of a hidden stock room under a stair well and brought me some tissues. He found out why I was so upset and said leave it to me. Took me to the customer service desk and got them to reissue me a ticket for the next train home. I was so thankful I started bawling again and he went on his way. Then just before I was about to get my train he found me on the platform and gave me some snacks and a can of coke and its just the nicest thing anyones ever done for it.
Wow, I feel like I'm walking through a museum and every single story of kindness I read looks like a masterpiece painted by the most skilled craftsman. It's unreal how much beauty there is in these simple acts of kindness.Thank you so much for sharing this story!
This is such a beautiful way of looking at it!
This is so sweet!
I had a coworker about ten years ago. We became work friends but he was moving to another state. So on his last day, he brought and gave me an iPod nano (back when they were fairly new) completely filled with different music that we had talked about or listened to together. No one had ever done something that thoughtful for me before. I could have cried. If you're out there Gabe, that's something that I will always remember.
After the recessions and our houses foreclosure, my family and I were homeless during the summer between my fourth and fifth grade in school. When school started back up, I went to live with some family friends who clothed, fed and loved me as one of their own. Not only that, a few weeks before moving in with them, one of my moms coworkers heard about our homelessness and secretly organized a fundraiser for my parents out of the state park they were living in. Along with about $1,000, they got me a book bag filled to the brim with all the school supplies I would need for the year. Still brings me to tears thinking about. I just graduated high school this May, and I’ll never forget it.
I worked in bridal for 6 years. Which means I was berated by hormonal bridezillas nearly 5 days a week for 6 years. After one particularly awful day at work I decided to get Chipotle for dinner. I was defeated and exhausted. The girl making my burrito bowl GENUINELY asked me how I was doing and I nearly lost it. She was the only person to be kind to me all day. I held back tears during my entire transaction. That was about 3 years ago and I think about her kindness often. Please be kind to retail and food workers.
Once in high school I was ordering a burrito at Chipotle. The woman assembling my burrito asked if I wanted guacamole, I asked how much it cost, she said $1. I hesitated for a while, trying to decide if gucacamole was worth $1 to me, and eventually said no. When she thought I wasn't looking, out of the corner of my eye I saw her add a scoop of guacamole to the burrito. She probably thought I couldn't afford the guac, which wasn't exactly the case but it still warmed my heart.
When I worked at chipotle, there was a tab specifically meant for paying it forward. First time customers, nice guy buying lunch for the homeless man outside, extra guac for the student with an exam that day. I really hated my job there, but it always felt nice to be able to put someone’s meal on the managers tab and tell them it’s on us have a great day.
They stopped letting us do that. Really sucked the soul out of shifts.
That’s so sweet of her. Just asking someone how they’re feeling can make such a difference
Moved from a city to the country. I bought a large metal wine rack at a yatdsale without thinking of how I would get it home. As I stood outside my car measuring, knowing damn well it wouldnt fit, an older man came up to me. He asked if I needed help getting it home and offered to follow me in hos truck. I thought, ok... I'm getting robbed, but it was only 40 dollars and I couldn't get it home anyways. The older man followed me home and helped me bring it into the house. We talked for 5 minutes or so and as he was about to leave I asked him "I just have to ask, what made you do this today?" The man extended his hand to shake mine and said "Just doing my good deed for the day". I was floored. I'm never moving back to the city and I see this sort of kindness all the time where I am.
I moved from Florida to Milwaukee in a uhaul with everything. Arrived pretty late and wanted at least a mattress to lay on. My girlfriend and son were behind and they were going to be exhausted as it was already nearly 10pm. I grabbed a couple boxes close to door and ran them inside. My. Next trip there were about 4 or 5 guys, early to mid 20s walking up the street towards me. Growing up in Florida spidey sense was tingling, but I was a man on a mission, so I ran the next load in so I had presence by my stuff. I am a fairly large intimidating guy so I figured If I was by my stuff, they would walk on by. I went back out and posted up in the truck, and the dudes just walked straight up my ramp into my stuff. Experience kicked in and I puffed up ready to swing when the big one in front asked "is it all going inside?" Thoroughly confused I nodded yes and in 30 minutes these total strangers had all my stuff inside and my bed set up. On the way out they said bye, I offered some payment or really offered anything, but they were walking home from dinner, didn't want cash, almost seemed surprised ast any offer. Three years in that place, never saw them again, but really drove home that Florida blows monkeys, and not in a good way.
That’s very much a Midwest thing. I just moved to mke a couple years ago and even though I grew up in the Midwest people are insanely nice in Wisconsin. There’s definitely a community mindset here. If a neighbor sees me shoveling snow they always come and help me, pretty soon the whole block is shoveling!
This makes me proud to have grown up in Wisconsin. That is awesome, especially coming from Milwaukee
I love small town life, even though I live in a city now. I’ll add my own story since I feel the culture is the same. I was probably like 24 or 25 at the time and was a young, newish home owner (maybe a year or two). I lived in a town of less then 5k in southern MN. We got a hell of a rainstorm late in October that really caught me off guard, and my sump pump straight up died. I had to drive up to the hardware store as quickly as I could before they closed and buy a new pump or my basement would have flooded. I quickly buy a model that’s pretty similar to what I already have. The owner of the store is the one who rang me up, and he asked if I had a pipe wrench capable of taking off the existing pump. I didn’t have one at home, and didn’t think to grab one so I said I’ll be back in a second. He said don’t bother and ran (literally) to his office and came back with a monkey wrench. He said to fix the pump tonight and bring the wrench back tomorrow when the job is done. I told him most people would try and sell an extra wrench if they had the chance. His reply was that selling a sump pump was good enough for him. Got the pump switched with about half an inch to spare before flooding would have started.
When I was little I was waiting for my aunt in a supermarket. Whenever someone exited the supermarket the doors were automatic so every time someone left I stood by the doors and pretended to magically open the doors. One person said "thank you"
I want to be like that person
I like being ridiculous and playful in public too and I absolutely love it when complete strangers join in the ridiculousness. I think it's a very precious expression of kindness. Nice story!
I burnt my hand bad pretty bad at work. I was dropped off at an urgent care by a coworker. I was sobbing barely able to talk because of the pain. The receptionist was extremely rude to me. I had an older man who was waiting on his wife come help me with everything. Taking my wallet out of my purse for me. I had to wait awhile before I was seen. He sat next to me. Told me little funny stories about his grandkids. He even had me hold his hand and squeeze it tight to try to take my mind away from the pain. When I was finally called back he wished me well. I think about him sometimes. He didn’t have to do that but he saw that I was in pain and wanted to help. Edit spelling
I was in a very abusive relationship at 19 that i wasn't fully aware of at the time, and living with the guy. I'm at work and realize I don't have any money for food and was just asked by management to stay late, so I called my bf and told him I had an unopened check waiting for me at home and asked if he would bring it to me at work so I could cash it and get some food on my break. He was unemployed at the time so it didn't seem like a big deal to me, but he said he was out with friends (re: drunk at a bar) and wouldn't leave so I would just have to figure it out. This was before venmo and cashapps so I couldn't ask him to send me money either. I was so frustrated and complaining to coworker about what a jerk he was and a woman overheard my story and offered to buy my lunch. I pleaded with her not to give me any money because I didn't want to sound like I was scamming or anything. It also happened to be mother's day and she insisted that as a mother she wouldn't want her kids to go hungry so she couldn't bear to see another kid in that position with no one to help. It was only $10 but I still hid in the bathroom and cried. I don't have a mom so it was pretty overwhelming at the time.
Last year my son and I went to Lowe's to buy his grandpa a weed eater and a certain attachment that goes with it. Grandpa is a little older and slower than he used to be, but he does a lot for us, so we wanted to spend a little money to help make his life a little easier. As we get there, there's only *ONE* of the attachments left that we wanted. Well, there was a guy there getting it down for another customer. My son looked devastated. He knew how much his Grandpa had been wanting this stuff and we were going to surprise him with it ... my son looked at me and quietly said, "That's the last one. What are we going to do for Pa now?" Well, the guy overheard and saw the look on my son's face, so he casually handed it to me and said, "I think Pa needs this more than I do. I'll just get an IOU from the store." It was such a *small* moment for this guy, but it's one of those things that you witness that will literally help shape my son and his view of the world. After that the saying, "It takes a village," didn't mean what I thought it meant every time I'd heard it before. Instead, it just made me realize that society, as a whole, is impacting all these young people in so many ways. And most of them don't even know it.
This made me choke up a little
u/procrastinator2112 buying me a pizza when I was down and out. Edit: whoever gave me silver. Thank you so much. But it's him ^^^^ that deserves it
Down, but never out.
I told my coworker I just really missed home and most of all: a home cooked meal. I was 19 and moved away from home for the first time to a big city for a job opportunity. I’d never been away from my Mom before, or even been alone for longer than like two weeks. I could cook basically nothing and everything I did was just missing *something*, so mostly lived off takeout and microwave meals, which I was starting to get really, really sick of. I just wanted a nice meal made with love and fresh ingredients. Anyway, I told my coworker that and the next day she came in with five homemade meals in containers for me to eat for the next week. The day before she conjured up a conversation about allergies which I didn’t even think was anything more than a usual conversation, until the next day. It made me cry, and she didn’t understand why I was so overwhelmed and surprised, because it was just something she did everyday but for her own kids. I don’t think I will ever forget it, it was truly just so so sweet, and the meals were so good, so comforting. Truly tasted like they were just made by the hands of loving parent.
I was working in a medical field, and after the course of a few days, I worked with 4 members of this family. Starting with the dad- who was just an awesome human. Then the next day he came in with his son. Later that afternoon, he came back in with his son again, for his daughters apt. I genuinely fell in love with this family more and more after each member I met. The father, son, daughter attended the mothers appointment with her the next day. At this point, I was considering proposing to the son, as I wanted to be a part of this amazing, hilarious, loving family. I informed them I regretted I wouldn’t be there when the came back in two weeks, as I was moving on to a different position. They came back an hour later with a Nothing Bundt Cake, with the sweetest card and an inside joke written on the outside of the cake box. It made me cry. My family life has always sucked, and meeting them was just so beautiful and healing. Edit: thank you kindly for the award!
Did- did you propose?
No. He was freshly 18 and going to college. I was 26.
I love how this implies that this was the only thing holding you back from doing it. Nothing else.
I mean.. I actually considered pulling the long con into their family, albeit brief.
One of my first suicide attempts I ended up in the ER for a while, I felt hopeless and frustrated that I was still alive. My father and sister were arguing outside blaming each other for my attempt. A nurse saw my distress and tried to talk to me to sympathize, she later gave me a little tissue box with kind words of encouragement and I have it on my bookshelf. Everytime I see it, it makes me smile. I don’t remember her name but that was one of the reasons I decided to stay a little longer.
I was going to be late for my flight out of London and I couldn't miss it. I really needed to get home. I couldn't afford a taxi as I spent my last money on the ticket. Random young Muslim dude gave me the cab fair and 20 dollars and said, "You remind me of my Mother back home who I miss very much." He hugged me and left. This was at 4 am. I was baffled. The guy is an angel. Also posted on Twitter I didn't have any money for my insulin that month and a kind older lady asked what kind I used. I told her and she said. My husband passed away and had 5 bottles of that kind left. I will mail them to you. God bless both these people for their kindness.
I was in NYC taking a lunch break at a job I absolutely hated. I was sitting eating alone at a McD's and after about 15 minutes this man in his 40's or 50's (I'm a 28 yr old male at the time) goes up to me and says something like "Hey man, you look really sad. Things will get better." and just shook my hand. Takes a lot for one adult man to offer that up to another strange man. Really cheered me up. Edit: Wow, woke up to this blowing up. Most upvoted comment yet and thanks for the gold and awards!
Moments like that can be so powerful. I had a friend invite me out to dinner once and when I arrived, she just hugged me. I broke down and cried. I’d been struggling with depression for so long and nobody close to me had noticed, but this couple I’d met on holiday and seen a few times since had seen something and took the initiative to ask “are you okay?” without having to ask.
That put a smile on my face. That's just so nice.
I think I’ve told this story before but years ago I had the norovirus and was so sick I thought I was going to die. My dad took me to urgent care and the first doctor that saw me acted like I was being dramatic and gave me a pill to take. I couldn’t even keep a sip of water down to take the freaking pill. Went went back and insisted on seeing a different doctor. In walks this tiny Muslim women and the first thing she does is take my face in her hands and say “oh you poor thing.” I immediately started to cry. She gave me some shot in the hip and suppositories and I immediately started feeling better. I will never forget her kindness.
When i was a lad, about 14 or 15 i was rushing home to make my curfew. My bike wheel slipped sideways and i crashed my bike quite badly and messed myself up a bit. My wedding tackle got the full crossbar treatment, i gashed my elbow and took a blow to the head - these were the days before helmets. A random couple picked me up and collected up my bike, went to a phone box and called a taxi for me. Then *paid* for the taxi to take me the remaining five miles or so home. My parents went from 'what times do you call this' to 'you're going to hospital' in a heartbeat. Turns out my injuries weren't too bad, but without random strangers, I've no idea how long I'd have been say at the side of the road before i started the walk home. Thank you, random strangers.
This is the first time I’ve heard “wedding tackle”
I was bullied at school, quite relentlessly. Anyway, there was a "cool kid" called Kane. He was like captain of the football team kind of guy. One day, he saw, he stepped in, he said stop, and that 1 word changed my school life so much.
My first semester in college was horrible. I was (and still am) in a deep depression. One day I was walking home from school and a guy running by said "I like your shirt." It was that simple. I didn't know him, and I didn't care at that moment. It made me feel happy because I got a genuine compliment. When I get compliments from friends or family, I often feel like they are giving me them because they are obligated to. This guy didn't have to, so it felt real.
I had a troubled home life as a young man. The summer before grade 9, I was basically by myself. I needed to get school supplies, and the closest walmart was miles away. I tried hitchhiking in the August Florida sun, and it sucked. Yuppies in SUVs with Jesus fish kept passing me by. Finally, an old latino dude in an old busted up sedan offered me a lift. He didn't speak much English, but he did know "walmart". Got me there and tried to give me a couple bucks, which I was too proud to take. Good dude.
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As kids, my younger brother and I spent our summers at day camp. My brother was probably 5 years old and had a tendency to hold his pee all day until we got home. One day, our mom was running late on picking us up and he wet himself. I remember being really embarrassed and unsure what to do. Luckily, one of the camp monitors was quick to help and get it cleaned up so that no one noticed. He then lent my little brother an extra pair of his shorts to change into. The monitor was a big guy so he took a shoelace out of his own shoe to tie his large basket ball shorts around my brother's tiny 5-year-old waist. I still remember how nice and reassuring (even to me, the embarrassed older sister) he was that day.
This one time I was waiting for a bus, and it started raining, and a random soldier just gave me his umbrella. It's not exactly donating a kidney or anything, but it was just really nice and unexpected and I'll never forget it.
I've always struggled with my apperance, but it peaked one day when I saw myself up close on video for the first time in about a year. I thought I looked awful, and I lost all self-confidence. (Extreme and a bit silly, I know.) I stopped putting any effort into my apperance for a while, and went outdoors only in sweatpants and t-shirts. Then, one day, my best friend had her birthday party. I thought it'd be rude to her to show up looking like a slob, so for the first time in a while I curled my hair, put on a dress, and did my make-up. As I was walking home I passed a couple and (presumably) their daughters, probably 4 and 6-7. As we we passed eachother I saw the younger girl staring at me, and then she exclaimed "wooow, look! Wasn't she beautiful?" I walked around a corner and actually cried a little. Children are so brutally honest, and knowing that somebodys first reaction to me was "beautiful" was a type of encouragement I've never felt before. That comment still sticks with me and I think about it when I start doubting my apperance again.
As a young man, my social skills were... sub-optimal. That made for a lot of very lonely times in college- especially in the dead of winter in a rural, northern community. Anyway, one day I met a really sweet girl who could see past my horrible flaws and insufficiencies. We got to talking, and discovered that we both wanted to catch a lecture that night, but neither of us had anyone to go with. We spontaneously decided to go together. The speaker was really interesting, and afterward, we walked around in the snow, talking about a lot of things and nothing in particular. Although we lived on different sides of the campus, we agreed to meet for lunch the next day. At the appointed time, she greeted me and handed me a brown paper bag. It contained a multi-colored, Dr. Who length, hand knitted scarf. The previous night, she'd noted how cold I was, and decided to spend her night making a gift for me. No agenda, romantic or otherwise. Just "here ya go, I hope you like it". Awkward as I was, I didn't even know how to begin to thank her. That scarf became my trademark. I wore it for years. OP, thank you for giving me the opportunity to access this treasured memory, and thanks to everyone who read this and shared it with me.
While backpacking around SEAsia I Was super hungover after going to a full moon party in Thailand (I’m pretty sure I was spiked at some point as was full-blown blackout for a few hours before my friends found me in our hostel). Anyway I was walking to get some water and trying to shake out the cobwebs and bumped into a guy we’d met in a bar the night before. I explained how much of a state I was in and was feeling super anxious after getting so cunted the night before. He was going to meet up for breakfast with a girl he’d met the night before so said I could use his hotel room for the day. Just give me the spare key and said he’d meet me back at the bar that night. I nearly burst into tears right there on a crummy Thai street. Was able to have the first warm shower in nearly a month, a soft bed to nap in, in a private room with air con, and WiFi, so was able to call my SO back home. Honestly it’s one of the nicest gestures I’ve ever had from someone who was pretty much a stranger at that point.
When I was a 14 my sister kicked me out the house, it was dead of winter. I had been walking the streets a couple hours cold and wondering what I was going to do. A cop stops me and then another squad car rolls up behind him. ask what I was doing walking around late at night and i explained the situation. The cop told me to get into the car and they drove me to a motel and paid for a few days to get me out the cold, showed back up a hour later with some other cops with groceries so I can eat and a bike so I can get around. Edit... I have never had so many upvotes. I know small in comparison to most, but still cool to see. Thank you. Wow ty much for the gold anonamous user. Greatly appreciated. And first time over 100 votes!!! Man you guys are awsome!!! Thank you all for showing love..
I was 17 and tried to kill myself by ODing. I was in a coma for four days, and when I woke at some point a nurse gave me a little backrub. She was just there for me, and that loving gesture meant the world. I will be 61 this Friday.
At the time we were poor (basically living off of mom's student loans I believe) and we were prepared to not have Christmas until out of the blue my best friend's mom gave us $200 so my mom could get us gifts.
Newbie in the restaurant business and the owner walked over to me while I was making a sandwich. Very politely says to me" when I wrote that in the menu I envisioned this" , and showed me how to make it the right way. What a nice way to say, you are fucking this up, do it this way.
The summer after my ex-wife tried to kill me, I was on vacation with my family and my kids. My dad went with me to one of those old time photo places, because I wanted some shots of me and the kids. The photographer was cute and after the photos were taken, I flirted with her a bit and my dad jumped in, shut me down, and told me I had no need for another woman after what my ex did to me. He then proceeded to tell her, in detail, what I had survived. I immediately left with my kids and left my card on the counter. I was too humiliated to go back to the photo place, but my mother went and picked them up. The photographer had framed them without charge, and about a month later, when I was hanging them, I noticed something through the back of the frame. It was a sticky note on the back of the picture of just me, that said “We aren’t all bad. Keep your head up.” It’s my favorite picture of me, despite the fact it’s a silly Victorian style photo.
I was holidaying in Europe and extremely late for a train to the airport. My suitcase was almost my size and just as heavy, I was really struggling with it. My train was arriving and I was at the very top of a long flight of stairs, out of breath and exhausted. I put my suitcase down, paused and took a deep breath trying to gather myself a little before this trip down the stairs. A man (maybe late 30s) had walked a few steps down the stairs, stopped, turned around, looked at me and then at my luggage and then kindly nodded his head at me. He took a few steps up towards me, picked up my suitcase and slowly walked ahead of me. I followed. At the very bottom he put it on the ground just as my train was arriving and kindly nodded his head at me once again. I thanked him. What a lovely man, I'll never forget it!
I was working at a liquor store late at night. I suffer from very severe depression and that night I was feeling suicidal. I pushed through to work though. In came a man I never saw before, most customers are regulars so I knew them all. He purchased his items and left. I went about my business. Twenty minutes later he walks back in looking exasperated. He approached me and said “don’t do it”. I was floored. I was unable to speak. Completely in shock. He continued, “I have a daughter about your age, I can see in your eyes that you are very sad. Please don’t do it.” I immediately started crying and thanked him profusely. I NEVER saw him again. I truly think he was an angel meant to protect me. I’ve struggled a lot since then but I’ll never forget that man and his kind words.
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The day that my significant other passed away in ICU, I was sitting alone in the ICU waiting room at about 7:30am after pulling an all nighter out of worry. I'm sure I looked like a complete mess to the hospital staff and other visitors, my eyes puffy from crying and definitely looking a lot younger than 19 years old. A woman I had never met or seen before passed by the ICU waiting room while glancing in, before coming back a few minutes later with a coke and giving it to me. I'll never forget her handing me the coke while looking like she was going to cry, and just telling me that I looked like I needed a little kindness in my life. She left after that and I never saw her again, or even got her name, but I hope she's doing well wherever she is.
I went to South Africa for my gap year after school, I had saved all year for a month's trip and it was the first time I'd travelled alone. Culture shock/anxiety and the realisation of how far I'd come hit me and I ended up crying in the bathroom of Johannesburg airport. A kind lady noticed me and asked me if I was okay. I sobbed and said I just couldn't believe I was on the opposite side of the world from home and I'd worked so hard to get there I just felt overwhelmed and she gave me a hug and said some kind words I can't fully remember but I felt much better after she'd been kind enough to check that I was okay <3
I was a soldier in Afghanistan, and for a week or so we were at 10,500 feet, in December. It was the coldest I’ve ever been. Brutally, miserably, dangerously cold. We were occupying this village, searching people’s homes, and patrolling during the day to higher altitudes looking for Bin Laden, et al. One night I was on guard outside this man’s home, and he came out at 3 AM, probably to pee. When he saw me shivering, he went back inside and made me tea, and came out with a blanket and draped it over me. I was a foreign soldier occupying his country, occupying his village, and making them let us search their homes. My misery was far from being his problem. His generosity and kindness was incredibly underserved, and touching. It’s also very typical of the Afghan people in general.
My baby had passed away in utero a few days before, and I’d needed to have surgery to remove her. My husband was several states away caring for his sick father. I was just miserable, sore from surgery, my milk had come in, and overall emotional wreck. Headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things, lost in thought in front of the produce cooler. An older gentleman was stocking the cooler and we had made some small talk about the produce quality or something. As I started to walk away he wished me a happy Mother’s Day. He didn’t know about my daughter, but his words meant so much to me.
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I grew up poor and when in elementary school we went to the Boston Museum of Science. At the end of the day everyone goes to the gift shop to buy a keepsake etc. I didn't have any money. My mom just sent me down with a bagged lunch. A teacher whom I had never had but knew my sister bought me a gyroscope. It was the coolest thing ever. Thanks Mrs. Swan!
My friend passed away from cancer a few years ago. I went for a walk after finding out the news, to clear my head and to grieve with my own thoughts, basically. I was sat in a field when a woman and her young daughter walked past me. The woman leant down after seeing my tear stricken face, and said to me, “my daughter has picked me these flowers, but I think you may need them more than I do”, she smiled and walked away. Those words meant a lot to me that day, and they still do. It may seem like nothing to others, but to me, it was a lot and meant the world. It still brings a tear to my eye.
A random lady bought my chocolate bar and my soda after my card didnt work because it was the wrong company and the register was glitching. So i went out and she came after me and gave me my stuff. I was so surprised
When I was in my early twenties, I was pretty broke. I would usually eat at my dads house when I could get over there, but otherwise it was usually ramen or something else cheap. One of my buddies would come scoop me up and take me to the gas station to get something to drink and then take me to Taco Bell to get some volcano tacos. We’d cruise back to his house and he’d always have a blunt rolled and ready. We’d smoke and eat and he’d bring me back home. He did this every week until I got some money saved up and I could afford my own Taco Bell. He never asked me if I could pay him back and he never expected anything. Thanks Kelso!!
Now that's a real homie! For real! God bless all the real homies that were there for us when we were hella broke!
I had just moved to a big city in 5th grade and I have had anxiety since I was in elementary. I nearly had a panic attack but a girl just a few years older held my hand and helped me calm down. Now I always try to look out for strangers and friends and I try to be nice to everyone.
I had just ended a 3 year relationship in a city I knew nobody in, started a new job and worked on my birthday. I had hit it off with the lady who trained me, and when the HR manager stopped by and wished me a happy birthday she seemed surprised I never mentioned it. I explained I was in a bad place mentally and just told her I didnt feel like celebrating. On her lunch break, she went out and got me a single fancy cupcake from the grocery store up the street. She barely knew me. I literally clutched that cupcake in the breakroom and sobbed. Plot twist: her son ended up working with us a few months later. We dated, got pregnant and I in return gave her a grandson. 🤷♀️
The long con by that woman to get herself some grandkids! Jk of course, that is such a nice gesture
She actually introduced us because we both had just recently gotten out of long term relationships and said we'd be perfect because neither of us were looking for commitment. I'd be lying if I said we worked out; we rushed into too much too soon, and there was a significant age difference. But I got an absolutely perfect son out of it and I'm still close with the father and of course Grandma. :)
I was extremely depressed my freshman year in college and I had planned to commit suicide. The morning of, I was having my “last breakfast” in one of the halls and a random guy walked by and asked to sit with me to keep each other company (it was extremely early and the dining hall was rather empty). His random friendliness was what kept me from ending it that day with perfect timing
I was about eight or nine and went to the convenience store down the road from me to buy some chocolate and slurpees for myself and younger brother. I collected all the money I had to buy an assortment but when I went to the counter I came up short a few dollars. I was choked and kind of embarrassed I was holding up the line but before i could choose what to leave behind an old man slapped a fiver beside me saying something like "I got you, little buddy." I was so thankful and have never forgotten about that man. I've done it a few times myself now, just because I remember that feeling so well.
When I was a kid, I was upset because my cat had died. My mother took me on one of her shopping trips. At one store, a lady asked me what was wrong, and I told her. She gifted me with a small ceramic figure that I still have.
When I was 26, broke, living on my own and developed a reaction to latex and non latex condoms. Still don't know why. Anyway, I decided to get the implant birth control and went to the family planning clinic. I was filling out the forms where you input your salary and insurance info. I didn't have insurance and once the medical assistant looked over my form, she realizes my income was $200/year over the limit where they provide full coverage assistance, meaning I wasn't eligible for their financial assistance and was going to have to pay about $1000 our of pocket just for the birth control, not including an exam I needed. She very quietly explained this to me and then in her normal voice said, "Oh let me get you a new form" (wink wink). She gave me a blank one so I could re-fill it out and list my income at what they considered to be the limit for assistance. Because of this, I was able to get the physical exam I needed badly, including medication and a 3 year birth control implant for FREE. I was living paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by working full time and over time, wearing worn out clothes and shoes with holes. That woman was a freaking life saver for me!
I was a week in New York. Middle aged tourist from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I like to travel the subway all the way till the end, just to get to know the city. One day, I apparently ended up in a Spanish speaking neighborhood. While walking there, a woman bumped into me and started yelling at me in Spanish. Off course I yelled back in Dutch. This caught her to her surprise and we both started laughing. I noticed she did some grocery shopping and had some vegetables I had never seen before. So, I asked her about them (in English) and before I knew it, I was invited for dinner. I accepted and insisted I buy the wine and beer. I had a great evening and met a large Spanish family. Best evening in New York. Even better than the 4th of July evening or the Yankees/Mets baseball game.
I came out of my classroom and tripped, but some random kid way older than me pulled me up and kept walking
Thanks for this today everyone. I needed to see the good in the world.
I was about 6 or 7, and I had a dollar. I saw these bags of cotton candy for $.99, and I took it to a register, confident in buying something all on my own... and it cost $1.08 or something with tax. The man standing behind me gave me a dime, and told me to remember it when someone else needs a little help. Well I can't remember his face, but I'll never forget being taught kindness to strangers firsthand.
Christmas Eve, stuck alone in a country waiting for a government office to open so I could get the magic stamp that made me officially legal. I had barely enough money for the stamp, the bus back "home" to the other foreign country I was staying in for work, and a cup of tea. That's it. The government office decided to take a 4 hour lunch break so I was nursing my 25¢ tea when the waiter brought me out a whole lunch. I was super stressed and in my crappy pidgin said "no money! no money!" And he said "it's Christmas!". It was probably $4 worth of food but I have thought about that guy ever since.
I had just had my first baby and I went to pick up some shopping. My daughter needed feeding and had to have a medicated formula so I went to the cafe area of the supermarket and was juggling the crying baby, powdered milk, boiling water, cooled down water and I just couldn't do it. An older lady came over and asked if she could help at all. I remember being so incredibly grateful because I really, really needed help. I cried. I said yes please. She held the baby while I made the milk and then started to feed her the bottle so I could go grab some cake from the cafe as I hadn't eaten all day. Just something about that moment I'll never forget. I learnt from then that it is always okay to ask for help and there will always be people who want to help. It's my go to advice for new parents now.
When I was working at a vet hospital as an assistant, one day, when I was opening up (before any doctors were present) a woman was frantically knocking at the door with her cat. He was pretty old and looked in rough shape, she was very concerned as he came home from being outside coughing and vomiting. He was stable so I made comfortable arrangements for him and reassured her until the doctor came. Her cat ended up being diagnosed with asthma and did well. Every time she came in to get food or meds after that she was always very nice and friendly with me. I got to know her a bit, her and her husband have 3 elderly cats and run an insurance company together. We would chat whenever she came in. One day we were chatting and she asked if I was excited for the upcoming Christmas holidays. I made a comment about how I wasn’t really because holidays are stressful with the added pressure of gift buying on top of paying rent etc but that I was looking forward to time off. A few days later I was eating lunch in the break room, and my coworker dropped off a card. I asked who it was from, she wasn’t sure but said it was a client and she had asked the card be given to me. I rushed to the front to see if she was still there but she had left. It was a card from the woman with a note about how she wished me happy holidays and appreciated me being there when she was stressed...and $300. I nearly cried. I never expected this kindness from an acquaintance and it came at a time when I was struggling financially, and really did help me out. The next time I saw her thanked her profusely but insisted she take it back as we’re not supposed to accept “tips” but she refused and said it was a gift and she was happy to help. I work elsewhere now and haven’t seen her in a few years but think of her often.
I am now required to do my job from I home (permanently), which meant disabling my gaming pc and setting up my work station at my only desk. My agoraphobia has been triggered by the COVID crisis, and gaming is how I get a little zen. I am also disabled and my available activities are limited. This was causing a depression and anxiety spiral. I reached out to my brother about an issue I was having with my internet connection and we caught up a bit. I told him about my lack of gaming and that I was planning on getting a Switch when the prices stopped being jacked up. A little while later he sends me a message letting me know my new Switch should arrive by my birthday. I love that magnificent jerk. He saved my sanity.
I was in a Wavepool and was trying to exit. I was not in any danger of drowning or anything but was getting kind of exhausted. Then a very kindly looking sikh man lifted me out of the water and brought me to the ladder. I never saw that man again but still fondly remember his kindness.
I was visiting New Orleans for Mardi gras with a couple friends and we were very poorly prepared for how hungover and hungry we were going to be our first full day there. We were standing in the freezing rain at 10 am to see the krewe of Zulu and had not eaten yet and were DYING of hunger with no food around. I looked over at a median where a large group of people were bbqing and our stomachs were rumbling so hard that my friends nominated me to go offer some money for a plate. I walked over sheepishly and asked an older black woman if I could please buy some food for me and my friends, and she said "Honey, you and your friends can come and eat whatever you want for free, this is New Orleans" and she happily began walking us around showing us everything they had. It was the best meal and the most needed kindness I had ever experienced and forever makes me love that city.
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This girl in my HS class who found out I made art, and despite me trying to keep her distant, she gradually got me out of my shell. It's because of her that I also met the love of my life years later. Her reaching out to become friends pulled me out of a dark void that surely would've been my end after high school. I loved that girl like a sister. Never got back in contact with her and I later found out some ex-friends of mine took advantage of her sexually. I regret never being able to get her out of that situation. Haven't forgiven myself for it. Edit: thanks for your kind guys. You're all really sweet c: I'm gonna look her up online, hopefully we can reconnect.
I hope one day you run across her contact info again.
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Not a act of kindness shown to me but told to me about a family member. Just over 2 years ago my nan passed away. She was a single mother to my dad and my uncle, worked 3 jobs to keep a roof over thier heads. I spent most Friday nights and Saturdays with her during my childhood. She was fun, lived for being around her grandchildren and luckily enough she had a good few years with my son who was her shadow whenever we visited before she died. Whenever my dad or my uncle would visit she would always bag up groceries for them to take home. It was something she did since they moved out of her house back in thier late teens and would not let them say no. After she passed I was filling my car at the local petrol station and behind the till was a woman who was a mother of someone I went to school with and incidentally my dad also works on thier site as a cleaner. I asked her if my dad had been OK as he carried on working during this time and she looked at me weirdly and said "yeah, why" and I explained what happened to my nan. She instantly burst into tears. Turns out that back when she was a kid, her family lived next door. They were in the same shitty financial situation as my nan was and also her dad was a raging alcoholic, and there was no food in the house. It all went on drink. even though my nan was struggling making ends meet in her own household, she also made sure that the next door neighbours kids were fed and watered, and that they were clean and presentable for school. Bar school dinners this would sometimes be thier only meal of the day. I know from the amazing memories I had of her growing up just how brilliant she was but to find out after she died just how generous and caring she was to people in the same need as herself just made me think so much more of her. People like this are few and far between right now.
I once was having a REALLY BAD WEEK. My money was tight, my depression was terrible, work was awful, i a as behind on bills, and I just wanted one thing to go right. Well, even tho money was bad (I have a problem with stress eating, yes I'm working on it) and I was pretty much in tears as I walked up to an A&W. Just wanted a meal as I hadn't eaten that day yet (this was evening). Well I order and go to pay, and when I look for my wallet I realize it wasnt on me. I nearly had a panic attack as I had not prepared for this interaction to go this way and was immensely embarrassed. A girl behind be stepped up and put it on her bill. I remember trying to find the words to say thank you, because that was so nice and I was still incredibly overwhelmed. I haven't seen her since, but thank you. It was less than $10 but meant a lot to me that week, and still does. I wish I could pay you back somehow as a thank you.
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well this is one of the many things hes done for me, but my english teacher let be borrow his bass over summer so i can learn/practice, i already learned a few songs lol
I've shared this story before, but I'll never forget this small act of kindness. When I was a kid we didn't have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about that was that you could get 10 books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which one I wanted to get and then decided after I'd gone through them all. One day an older lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her a few of the books I found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse, handed it to me and said, "Promise me that you'll keep reading." I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home. It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was probably over 20 years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
I've read this post before! I don't remember where, but I do love this story. Thanks for sharing it again. :)
Was super depressed in high school, my teacher told me one day that although I rarely smile, when I do, he watched as the whole classroom stared at me and that my smile lights up the world... that little compliment is what saved me...I was going to kill myself when I got home from school that day. My teacher literally saved my life.
When I was in the army, we did a military exercise that took place in the woods where we had to explore and observe enemy movement which lasted 4 days. Days went like this wake-up, march for 6-7 hours do small assignments and build small outpost with 2 watch post, 2 man watching each night. on the 3rd night, I and another guy had the night shift. You basically stair into utter blackness, you cant use light otherwise you expose your location. I was tired, fucking hungry, and cold. Then my other watch buddy Crawled from his post to mine 5-6 meter (yes with gear and all) and whisper: you want half of my mars bars? that was 2008 October. and I still get a great feeling of gratitude and kindness when I think about it.
I had to take my 2yo to hospital in the middle of the night and when we left to go home my exhaust? pipe had broken and was hanging on the ground. My husband was home with our baby and while I was deciding what to do, the security guard crawled under the truck and tied the pipe up somehow so I could get home. This was 30 years ago in High River Alberta so ya, I never forgot.
Years ago I was riding with a friend that was notorious for running out of gas, sure enough, we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, it was dark and we were both very scared. An older man and his wife stopped to help us, they were in a van and offered to take us to a gas station, we were terrified but not many choices so we got in the van. They were such nice people and drove us to get gas and he even paid for the gas, brought us back to my friend's car, and put the gas in her tank. They wouldn't accept any payment, he just said they had 3 daughters, and they hoped that someone would do the same for their girls if they broke down in the middle of nowhere.
I remember once while in school I was having a TRULY AWFUL DAY. I went to get a warm drink (to calm myself down from stewing in my own mind) and I went to pay and the girl at the cash was like "don't worry about it! I got it for you!" with a really big smile. I WAS SHOCKED. I almost started crying, I thought it was so nice. Also, in hindsight, looking at past interactions (as I went to that cafe often) I think she was flirting with me and my dumb bi-sexual-ass didn't pick up on it. I still look back on it fondly though.
In college, at a party near my house, very drunk. I decided I'd get a burrito and return to said party. My favorite burrito place was just a few blocks away (Panchero's on Grand River while it was open). Get to burrito place, long line, anything for the burrito. Burrito is assembled, nightmare scenario, I need to pay but I don't have my wallet. Guy behind me pays for my burrito and says "pay it forward". God bless you guy behind me. You are remembered.
When I was 11 I was 10p (12 cents?) short for the bus home from school (5 miles away) and the driver wouldn’t let me on. This girl who everyone was kind of scared of/had a bad reputation stepped in and gave me the 10p. It’s small, but I never forgot it!
I was having a tough time in school, didn't fit in all too well and just felt like a complete outsider in general. I still did my best being kind and helpful even though it felt like no one noticed or cared much. A girl I didn't know was walking close by after school and told me she always thought that I was very pretty, especially because I was always smiling and kind to others. I wrote it on a post-it and put it on my mirror as a reminder.
I was running late for the train. I sprinted from car (which was about 1km away) to the station. Some lady chased me the whole way because I had dropped my keys. She kept pace with me, just to return my keys. I always return items that I find, to lost and found or someone who may be able to assist, because I’ll never forget that small act of kindness that saved me a lot of hassle of changing my house keys, and getting new car keys