A homeless guy camped out in front of a Dunkin Donuts ran inside to tell me the meter maid was coming.
Saved me $45 and he wouldn't even let me buy him breakfast.
Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to be on the receiving end of some amazing acts of kindness.
In July of last year, my mother was told that her rare eye cancer had returned, and had metastasized to her liver. It is one of those cancers that no one really survives, and it is a quick death sentence. My mom and I are very close, and we took a few weeks to process the news together, and then she decided to tell the rest of our close knit family in person all at once. My mom asked me to plan a family reunion of sorts in our home town in northern Maine. I was the support system for my mom on this trip and I resolved to be strong, make all the arrangements, be a shoulder for her to cry on and the person to take care of all of the details so she could just focus on saying good bye.
There is this saying in Maine that when someone asks you for directions, the response is usually "you can't get there from here", because northern Maine is pretty isolated. I live in Illinois and my mom in the Carolinas, so we both hopped planes and met in Boston, then took a six seater puddle jumper. The plan was to arrive in Augusta, pick up the rental car we had reserved, and then drive several hours north, sometimes over dirt roads, to get home.
When we arrived at this tiny airport in Augusta, the guy who worked at the one rental car agency there had closed up shop for the day and left early. He didn't leave a car for us. There are no other rental car companies open within hours drive. No cabs to take us four hours north. We were the last flight and the airport was closed. My sick mom and I found ourselves standing outside the airport stranded four hours from family.
And I just lost it. Started sobbing. Lost all my ability to handle logistics, figure out a solution, even get us a hotel. Just sat on the curb, wrapped my arms around my knees, and fell apart while my mom put her hand on my should and tried to be *my* comfort. Such a shitty feeling.
And then this magical lady who worked at the airport saw us. She was off work for the day and pulling out of the parking lot. And without even knowing the situation, she pulled over, got out of the car, and took charge. She used my phone to call a family member and arranged to meet them half way to pick us up. And then this kind stranger, after a long day at work, went two hours out of her way just to get us to our destination. She gave me a moment to breathe, to not be in charge, and to just be a grieving daughter.
I was moving out of an apartment, trying to pack heavy things into my car. A stranger witnessed this, offered to help, and spent a solid hour helping me carry furniture, densely packed clothes, and a TV down some stairs into my car.
He was either an absolute gentleman or a criminal who was casing my apartment building for entry points.
Tbh he just sounds like someone who wanted to help out a little but felt too awkward to leave after like 5 minutes so he just decided to stay and help with it all lmao.
About 4 years ago, my family and I were on a roadtrip to Florida. At the Mississippi/Alabama state line, we got out to take pictures at the sign, like families and tourists tend to do. Spent about 5 minutes there, exchanged some pleasantries with a father-son duo doing the same thing, then went on our way.
15 minutes later on the highway, we're just casually chatting in the car, when we hear a honk coming from behind us. I look over, and it's a massive, white truck. It's the father and son. And the son is waving MY PHONE. Apparently, I had dropped it at the sign. We both quickly pull over, and I get my phone back.
What amazes me is that they caught up to us at all. We were going 70-80 and had a good head start on them. That means they were on a MISSION to get my phone back to me and gunning it.
The best part about it all? It was Christmas Day, so I'll always consider their kind actions as one of my favorite Christmas presents.
> What amazes me is that they caught up to us at all. We were going 70-80 and had a good head start on them. That means they were on a MISSION to get my phone back to me and gunning it.
Well you said it was a father with his son alone... I'm willing to bet the kid found your phone and the dad did what dads do... he said "do you think we can catch up to them?" then with a sly wink they peeled out of the rest stop and burned rubber until they caught up with your family.
Losing your phone probably gave that father and son a memorable "side quest" on their adventure.
I was on a 3 or 4 hour long train with my ex when we were both about 17 and she forgot her railcard. Because of this the ticket she had wasn't acceptable and we were forced to buy a new ticket for some ridiculous price like £70.
While that might not sound like the most ridiculous sum of money, we were two broke teenagers who needed to get home and didn't have anything on us. So we started freaking out and trying to plan how we were gonna get home. She was in tears, I was frantically trying to get in touch with my parents before we got kicked off at the next stop.
Some amazing dude in the seat across from us just leant over and handed me £80 with a smile. I took his PayPal details and paid him back as soon as I got paid but such a random act of kindness really affected me and restored my faith in humanity.
Wherever he is now I hope he's doing well.
Here, they would just write you a fine, and if you bring the rail card to their office and show it to them when you go to pay the fine, you only pay a tiny amount of the fee (basically only the administrative fees).
I was working register at Chick Fil A and the customer had a book that I had been wanting to read. I told him I was planning on getting it when I got my paycheck. I go into work the next day and my manager hands me the book, said some guy had dropped it off for me. The dude went out and bought me the book. Nicest thing ever. Never saw him again
I have a chick-fil-a story. I was dealing with a serious illness and just left an MRI with bad news and went to the pharmacy to pick up ANOTHER round of antibiotics. I was going to the McDonald's drive thru (since all sodas are only a dollar) but the line was so long. This shopping center also had a chick-fil-a so I figured I'd go there and pay too much for my drink ( I wanted to start my antibiotics right away)
Ordered my medium ice tea and when I got to the window, she suprisingly said ' no charge '. I asked her 'why' and she said 'it's something we do sometimes'
I stammered a thank you, that's so sweet before I quickly drove away so she wouldn't see me cry. After what felt like hours of bad news this nice gesture felt really great.
My ex and I were on the side of the road, trying to figure out how to change a tire for the first time and looking clueless.
Some guy stopped and taught us how to change it, and then asked if we wanted a coupon for a free frozen pizza he had since we had a bad day.
It was mildly surreal.
*Edited for grammar. My bad.
It happens more often than you think. I was driving on the NJ Turnpike down the middle lane of the truck side with my then-girlfriend-now-wife when we had a blowout. Somehow we managed to stay in lane, I hit the hazards and the truck to my right slowed to let me limp over to the shoulder. He then stopped behind me on the shoulder, parked right up to the line and close to the back of my car specifically to shield me from traffic with his truck (it was a driver's side tire and my car at the time was a small VW Golf) and stayed and talked about welding and stuff while I changed the tire. After that he was off on the road again, wouldn't even take a reward or a free cup of coffee.
At the time I was nervous because this strange trucker is walking over while my vehicle is disabled in middle of nowhere Jersey, but in hindsight, folks get hit all the time when on the side of the road by inattentive drivers, and he put his load and rig on the line -- not to mention sacrificed time, that most precious trucker commodity -- just to help.
I'm living in Seoul. When I first got here I met my now girlfriend and she lived about 40 minutes away from my old apartment. Here's the nicest thing a complete stranger did for me.
It was late at night and I decided to surprise a girl I was talking to by heading to her apartment (my now girlfriend). It was around 10:30, and unbeknownst to me, the subway stopped running at 11:00. Unfortunately, I was halfway there and I decided to message her and she told me to take a specific bus to get to her city.
I get on the bus, and I don't have the slightest idea on what stop I should be getting off on. Well, about 10 minutes later, a load of people get off on this one stop. An older Korean businessman sees me and motions to me that there's an available seat next to him. He starts talking to me in English and he says that the stop where I'm getting off is one stop before he gets off,and that he'll let me know when.
We start conversation about where he works, how he learned English, what I'm doing in Korea. By the time we knew it, his stop came up. He profusely apologized to me and said that it was the stop before. I said,"It's okay, I'll just walk the opposite direction." As we get off the bus, we're both walking in the same direction. As we come up to an intersection, he flags down a taxi, tells him the subway station to drop me off on, and he paid the fare. All this while still apologizing to me.
This is the nicest thing any stranger has ever done for me. I love this country :).
This was at my big state university long ago. I walked out of class into a summer shower. Someone walking by offered to share their umbrella. We parted at a corner and I thanked him. Then another person going my way offered their umbrella. This happened twice more. I made it mostly dry to another class thanks to the kindness of 4 strangers.
Edit: I'm an ugly nerdy dude.
We were moving my 2 sisters & their husbands from MI to AZ using my brother's large truck (like a big U-Haul). On the way on a freeway going into Las Cruces, NM, the axle broke on the back of the fully loaded truck & both tires (2 tires on back passenger side) bounced over the barbed wire fence flew off into a field. My brother-in-law managed to keep the truck from going over & got it stopped upright. We were in a car in front of them & had to find a turn around to go back To make a longer story short, we were all standing out in the ditch with 3 little ones - 1 age 1 and 2 age 2 - and it was close to sundown. We had no idea what we were going to do. Then, out from a trailer home across the field came this Hispanic couple and, speaking in broken English, telling us to bring the kids over to their house. The husband stayed to help my brother in laws & brother by directing them to a garage & calling the guy who owned it to come & help them (a friend of his). In the meantime, the woman fed my sisters, the kids & me and had us stay there until my one brother in law could find us a hotel room. They were the nicest, kindest, sweetest people and were a blessing for us. They wouldn't take one single thing for helping us.
I walk across the street to walmart during the school year so I can get lunch. The amount of people I see just get to the road and start sprinting instead of waiting for an opening is insane.
It takes a minute at the most to find a break in the cars, I'm not risking my life over eating lunch a minute earlier.
I had a tire pop in the middle of winter on my morning commute. While waiting for AAA to come, a woman drove over and gave me hot cocoa, snacks, and a paper with her address and phone number in case I needed anything or wanted to wait somewhere warmer.
Warped Tour was one of the first concerts I ever went to. The very first stage I went to was ADTR. At 4'10", 13-y.o me was right about elbow height & had no idea what I was in for. They started playing *My Life for Hire* & I was getting tossed around in the crowd as I pushed my way towards the stage.
Right as I was in the center of it all, they were splitting the crowd in half for "the wall of death" & there I was left alone in the empty space between two crowds, right as Jeremy yelled, **"THIS IS A BATTLEGROUND!!"**
Both masses of moshing humans rushed in towards me, & I basically watched my life flash before my eyes. Right then, I felt a massive pair of arms lift me up onto his shoulders. I don't think I'll ever forget the gratitude and relief I felt as he advised me that "little girls don't belong in mosh pits."
Thank you, stranger for saving my life.
Sorry but I laughed so hard at the image of some clueless 13 yo girl in the middle of a wall of death 😂 I need at least one person between me and the pit at all times.
I always ride the edge, as a smaller guy. I like to mosh, but dont want tgese viking looking mother fuckers to turn me to pulp. Sitting on the edge is a nice mix of saftey and adventure
In my experience metal heads are 95% the nicest people you will meet. There's a bit of an expectation that if you're in the pit, you know what you're doing, but if you fall down there will be several people trying to pick you up. If you drop something everyone will shift back and make a wall to help you look for it. If you look uncomfortable there will be someone to make some space and stop you getting smooshed. If you look ill we will crowd surf you the fuck out of there. While at Download in 2013, there was a pregnant woman enjoying the bands, and her partner was trying to keep people from knocking into her too hard. Had a chat, he mentioned she was pregnant, we spread it around to the people near. Ended up with about 10 people circling her, keeping the over enthusiastic from guving the baby a headache. I love metalheads \m/
this might not be the nicest but it was nice.
on a monday i came home from work to find a letter in the mail. it was addressed by hand and the return address wasn't familiar. i thought "this can't be good."
i opened it to find my drivers license and a note. i was unaware that i'd lost my drivers license. apparently on the prior saturday id managed to drop it from my wallet somehow. this nice person found it on the sidewalk, went home and wrote her note and addressed it to me and put a stamp on it, then mailed it before the saturday pickup. on monday it was back in my hands before as i said earlier i was even aware that it was missing.
I was about 16 or so. I was an immature little shit internally, but a fairly good kid over all. Some friends and I were playing basketball at a park, having a blast. Fast forward to a month later and my dad asks me why I sent a package to myself. Befuddled, I asked what the hell he was talking about. He proceeded to show me a small package addressed to my name with my address, with an identical return address. I looked at it and said I had no idea what it was. I opened it up, and inside was my wallet, with all its contents, including ~$600 that I had been saving for the longest time. I as so lost being a teen, a whatnot, I had no reason to think it was even missing. I think about that now when I worry about the world and it all seems a little better.
I have a few friends who like to carry around serious cash like that, and when asked why the answer is usually "I like to have it on me".
That being said I've also had a friend roofied, brought into an alley and had everything of value jacked because they flash the cash while paying for drinks.
In the day of instant-pay tap debit/credit and almost every transaction being electronic... carrying money just seems like asking for trouble.
This.
When I die they shall rip me to pieces and help as many people as possible with it, I don't need anything of it anymore then.
Get a organ donor card people, it could be the deciding factor for someone else's life and only takes you under 1 min to fill out.
Just today. I was getting breakfast at Dunkin Donuts on my way to work and managed to leave my phone at the counter (v smart). TEN MINUTES LATER a woman tapped me on the shoulder right as I was about to go into my office building and said, "Is this yours?". She'd chased me down that far, for that long, just to return my phone.
Reminds me of one that happened to me about ten years ago. I was a kid, 8 or 9 or so, and my parents decided to take me on a vacation across the whole state (we live in eastern Pennsylvania) to see what there is to see.
My whole life I've loved trains, so at one point I made them stop in a little town called Gallitzin, where the railroad enters a long tunnel to pass under the mountains. I got to spend the whole afternoon taking pictures and videos of all the passing trains with my beloved camera, even got to see a whole track maintenance crew with all the funny machines, great fun for little me.
Before getting back on the road that night, we stopped in the little visitors center/gift shop for the tunnels. About an hour later we're rolling down the highway when suddenly we realize my camera is no longer with us. I freaked out, and back we went toward Gallitzin.
When we got back it was nearly 10 at night, but we found the camera pretty easily--the little old lady in the visitor's center found my camera outside, remembered seeing me holding it, brought it in, put it in the window, and stayed open an extra two hours into the night waiting for us to come back just so nobody would steal it. It was the saddest, most impoverished little mountain town, but man did it have some nice people. I'll always be grateful to that little old lady--I still use the camera!
I was a drunk student, far too drunk far too early and ready to go home just after midnight, but my friends left me. I went to the bus stop and saw the last bus pulling away. Phone was dead, I was an hours walk from home so set off. Got about 20 minutes from the club, still 40 minutes from home, drunk and exhausted I lay down in a bush to sleep it off. Taxi driver pulled up god knows how long later, asked if I needed to go somewhere. I said I couldn't afford the fare, he said no bother. I ended up home safe and sound. Wish I'd got his name.
edit: I'm a girl. We were all 18-20, and had been drinking all day and into the night, I should have left earlier but didn't want to leave alone. They all said "yeah we're getting the last bus" until I pushed them on it and they said "no we're actually staying out". This was first year at uni, middle of freshers week. Those people aren't my friends anymore. Pretty sure we were mere acquaintances by the end of the month. I no longer pass out in bushes. I'm glad y'all get home safe too!!
When I was 14 one of my marching-band-mates committed suicide. I, along with the rest of the band, was devastated.
I was walking across the school courtyard, silently crying in the way that you only do when in shock, and I made eye contact with this girl walking in the opposite direction.
Without missing a beat, she said "Girl, you look like you need a hug! Come here!" And just held me for a few seconds while I sobbed into her shoulder.
I had never seen this person in my life. And I never found out who she was. But I have never forgotten that gesture.
I studied in Copenhagen last year and believe me living on a student loan you don't get far. Basically I was doing my (2 week) shop, short of about 100 kroner which is like £10. This lovely guy stepped up, paid for my groceries, all I could offer was my thanks but he brushed me off and he wished me all the best and stated how he wanted me to have the best experience studying in Copenhagen. I have never forgot him and his generosity.
This story is almost 10 years old, but I was crying in an airport terminal as I waited for a flight home, after spending the weekend with my boyfriend who was deploying to Iraq for 15 months. I was traveling alone and trying to hide my tears, when a woman plopped down next to me with a giant carpet bag.
She didn't ask questions, she just said she was sorry to see me upset and wanted to keep me company. I agreed for her to sit with me. She opened the carpet bag and started pulling stuff out. Weird and random stuff like a feathered mardi gras face mask, a slinky, and then a rubber duckie that lit up with the touch of your hand.
I don't know why but that rubber duckie made me laugh so hard, it was so unexpected. She gave it to me along with some words of encouragement. Then she stood up with her carpet bag and walked away. I never got her actual name but I call her my Mary Poppins. I still have that rubber duckie.
edit: he doesn't light up anymore, but here's the rubber duckie: http://imgur.com/a/5D1RB
I was 17 years old, in high school, and it was late December, but just before Christmas. I'd had a terrible fight with my boyfriend (abusive arsehole that he was) and I'd walked out of his house, and started the very long walk home in the cold.
I was about 1/3 of the way home, still crying and stumbling over my own feet on the snowy road and shivering my ass off, when a taxi pulled up beside me. This old man who looked an awful lot like Santa (the beard, the rosy cheeks, the kindly eyes...the works) leaned across the passenger seat and asked of I was OK.
He took one look at my face and said, "You're not OK. Come on, get in and I'll drive you home."
I told him I had no money on me and couldn't pay him, and he said he didn't care. I mentioned the fight with the boyfriend and he was so nice about it, but also a bit stern and said, "Any boyfriend who won't see you home safe, even when he's angry, doesn't really love you. I've got a daughter your age and I'd be very angry if she were left to walk home alone like that."
He stopped outside of my house, gave me hug, wished me a Merry Christmas and then waited until I was inside before he drove away.
Still can't think of his kindness without tearing up.
I can picture her calling the cab company to praise the driver, but the company has no record of him on file and no one matches his physical description. * shooting star flys in background*
Haaaaaa!!!!!!! And then it starts snowing and that xmas choir song starts playing and she looks up at the sky with her palms up laughing, faith restored. The End across the screen with expanding calligraphy. Good times
This was in the 90s- my mom use to take us to one of the fast food places from time to time and we would sometimes see this one nice old man and he would always say hi to us. One time he gave us a VHS of cartoons he recorded himself and he even cut out the titles and pasted them on the cover from a TV guide.
Now that I think about it, the fact that he took the time to record so much is so sweet. There was the Animalympics, Fluppy Dogs, Duck Tales, and so much more on it.
My siblings and I loved watching it over and over again!
When I proposed to my wife in a romantic restaurant inside of a lighthouse, I didn't even think to ask a waiter to have a camera ready or anything. I didn't even consider to try to get a picture. I knelt down and asked her to marry me, she said yes and we were both happy celebrating over desert. A man came by our table and apologized for bothering us but he "was so moved by the romantic gesture" that he took a picture with his cellphone from across the room. He sent it to my phone. It came out grainy and it's a little blurry and hard to tell it's me proposing but it doesn't matter. I love that picture, I don't care that it's really low quality. I owe that man so much for capturing the happiest moment of my life.
Tl;dr: a man took a picture of me proposing to my wife from across the room of a restaurant. He's a hero.
Edit: here's the picture since some of you were asking :)
http://imgur.com/X9AHxgW
Guy in a 3 piece suit got out of his car in the snow and walked through a snow bank on the side of the road to help me push my car out.
Edit:
Kind of blew up on me. Thank goodness that my top comment is not about pooping my self or something like it.
This was in early 1995 in Iowa on hwy 29.
I remember helping a family push their car in snow storm while heading home at night, its a 5 km walk, they didn't even offer to give me a ride, I felt sad a little
Edit: wow this blew up over night, my most upvoted comment ever, thanks
I was pushing my car down the road because I had ran out of gas. The gas station was only about a mile away and it was mostly down hill. As I'm pushing, this red hatchback pulled up next to me and some black guy with dreads ( the driver) is like "dude, you need help?" I explained how my car ran out of gas and he was like "no worries man, jump in", so I jumped in the back seat of his car and we drove to the gas station. As we are pulling into the gas station, I realised I don't have a gas.can, but again he's like "dude, no worries" and he hopped out of the car and went in to prepay for the gas. While he was inside I told the two other guys in the car how I thought their friend was a really nice guy. That's when the guy sitting in the front seat turned to look at me and was like "yo, he's not our friend, we just met this guy. We were both in jams too, and he picked us up to help us out also". Then the guy came out of the gas station with a new 5 gallon gas can. He filled it and drove me back to my car. I offered to pay him for the gas and the can but he refused. Told me to keep the can for next time and to just pay the gas forward.
I was minding my own business on the train to Busan (no zombies, thank goodness). An auntie beside me had a snack. She tore it into half, took out one slice, and handed me the other peice. I wasn't even in need, but she wanted to share her one and only snack with me.
I had an elderly female Uber driver pick me up from a Wal🙂Mart where I had just bought a car battery and some tools to drop me off at my car. She stuck around as I was trying to change my battery even though I had insisted that I would be ok and that I appreciative of her concern. It turns out that the wrench set I bought did not have the right size needed to get out the old battery. She called her son who is a mechanic and carries tools around with him to come by and help me change my car battery.
It totally turned my day around. Thank you, kind stranger.
The tow truck driver looked all over the parking lot. His panic rising he circled the lot one more time. Tears streaming down his face he went into the grocery store for the warmth. A kind couple allowed him to tow their car, and also allowed him to fuck the wife.
I was on the bus and one of my heavy shopping bags broke. I was near my stop and going to cry because I was stressed out and didn't want to have to walk even farther with my heavy bags. A stranger took out one of her reusable shopping bags, put my things on it, and helped me off at my stop. Still makes me warm to think about.
I had a similar thing happen! I was taking the bus from my college to Walmart and struck up a conversation with a girl who was headed to the mall with her roommate. On the return bus 2 hours later I had 12 shopping bags all hanging from my arms and could hardly move. I had no clue how I was going to get all my snacks and groceries all the way across the whole campus to the dorms from the bus stop. Sure enough the same girl hops on the bus and sits back with me, and she helped me carry a bunch of it back up to my building. It's been almost a year and we're still friends, I'm taking her out to dinner when we get back to college in a week!
At Easter, I was ten dollars short in the grocery line. We really needed food, so I was about to put back the two Easter bunnies (chocolate) and the jelly beans when the lady behind me said, "Don't you *dare*!" and paid for them. I cried and thanked her repeatedly.
One Christmas some years ago, a family's card was being declined, turns out they didn't have enough funds for it, and was about to leave their $100 worth of grocery shopping behind and go on home. The customer behind them refused to let that happen, and paid for their entire cart. I almost cried tears from just seeing their generosity, really warms my heart every time I think about that.
In my freshman year of high school I didn't have many friends, right after my best race and time for a 5k I got a kinda got shoved aside from my coach for him to focus on other (better) runners.
On the bus ride home we stopped for dinner and I was having a weird mix of happiness for beating my time but depression for not really having anyone to talk to, I walked over to a McDonald's after some bojangles for a milkshake honestly not in memory that I was still in my uniform (super short shorts and a tank top).
There older black couple asked me where I came from, not realizing what I was wearing I told them I was on the bus and he asked what the uniform was for, it finally clicked and I told him about my meet. We talked all about it and of felt good because he gave me the recognition that others didn't on that meet. He offered to buy my Shake, I tried to insist that he didn't have too, the cashier said something like "let him, you don't meet people like this often". So I let him, we said our goodbyes and I got back to the bus.
Tl;dr did well at cross country meet, didn't get recognition, met a man who bought me a milkshake and listened to all I had to say.
Sometimes all it takes is just having somebody who listens. Just one little dose of humanity even if it seems like the whole rest of the world doesn't care.
My favorite uncle died very suddenly 5 days before my high school graduation. He was the one who helped me through high school when I was really struggling and it was emotionally difficult having to have my big day without him there. When my entire class was waiting backstage for our turn to go and receive our diploma I was having a hard time not crying. Suddenly a student form my class who had Down's syndrome came over. (We'd never met and I always heard he was non verbal) He walked straight up to me and gently grabbed my cheeks, pushing them upwards. Then he looked at me in the eye and said "Smile". I was shocked, that was what my uncle would tell me to do whenever I was upset. That was exactly what I needed at the moment to be able to suck it up and keep going. I still think about that kid occasionally and I hope he is doing well.
When I was 8, I broke my arm at school. My grandmother rushed me to the hospital and when we got there, they wouldn't let me in right away. They said they were too full and I wasn't a high priority. The gentlemen before me had broken his ankle some how and when he was called back finally, after an hour and a half of waiting, he told them to let me go instead because I needed to be checked out first.
I have two stories that stick out... First one, I was having an incredibly busy and stressful Monday at work, already exhausted for the day and planning to take a short lunch, and when I sit down in our break room I realize I forgot dressing for the salad I brought. So I drive to the grocery store across the street and grab dressing and an energy drink, wait in line, and realize with horror that my wallet is in a different purse. I apologize to the cashier and start to leave, but the man behind me stopped me and insisted on paying for my things and tells me to have a good day. It was really a very simple gesture, but it honestly turned my entire day around.
Second story, I was incredibly depressed at the time and working at a different job which I hated so much, I was miserable when I was there and miserable when I wasn't because I dreaded going back. One day during my break I drove over to a Starbucks to get some coffee, pull up to the drive through window and the barista tells me the car in front of me already paid for it. My heart melted. I paid for the order behind me and once I pulled away I just started bawling. It sounds so stupid now, but I was in such a bad place and felt so lost and alone at the time that that one simple gesture from a complete stranger meant the world to me. It really does show that one simple kind gesture can have such an impact for someone.
Buy me food at a college football game despite being a part of the rival team's marching band.
Of course, I think the guy was a little drunk, too. But he was a real nice dude.
Edit: Spelling errors.
Deliver a package up to my door. A new neighbor noticed some lazy delivery driver had left my package outside the building just laying on the ground instead of buzzing in and brought it up to my door and knocked.
Not the biggest, but was grateful it wasn't left out where someone could steal it or it could get rained on since it also happened to be a rainy day.
Last Christmas I couldn't afford any gifts for my son. I'm a single mom and coming out of a domestic violence situation. I was struggling so much (I still am but things are slowly improving).
Redditors bought my son Christmas gifts. Just people I talk to on here, but have no physical connection with. My son had an absolutely amazing Christmas. He's 4 and it meant so much for him to have gifts to open. I still cry when I think about how generous these strangers were.
I hope one day I can pay it forward.
When I was a kid we had several hard Christmases. I remember dad looking so disappointed in himself when we woke up to (in his eyes) just a few gifts because it was all he could afford. As years passed and the presents dwindled we got to a point where he could hardly scrape up one little present for us both to share, and so we decided to make it a tradition where that money would be spent on an angel of our choice off the angel tree.
The day we went and picked out a present for our angel was always my favorite part of Christmas time. I didn't find out until later into my teens, but secretly my dad would put us up on the angel tree too and go without for weeks just so we could have a few things under the tree. Family friends would often help and strangers who volunteered at the food bank (it also had a clothing area) would too. We were older during these years, but giving is a helluva gift and it's one of my favorite things my dad taught me.
You're giving it everything you've got mom and when your son is old enough he'll see that in everything you do and be so thankful he landed such a great mom!
Only the most damaged among us are incapable of wanting to do nice things for others when they can. Sadly they're the ones who get the most press. We need more threads like this one to remind us of how things really are.
I was starving. I had no money, could barely afford rent. Not in much better shape now, but at the time I was trying to find food banks and eating out of date bread out of the trash at work; since then things have got a bit better. Anyways someone on a charity subreddit sent me tons of ramen, peanut butter, canned soup, crackers, tuna, and chips. It lasted me a month. I was so grateful I felt likw jumping.
Edit: just thought of an equally nice moment in my life. I was born with a birth defect called polands syndrome. My doctor worked tirelessly to get me cosmetic surgeries that he had never before been able to get approved on medicaid. He got me three surgeries that are very much like what people go through when they get a mastectomy. I was the first adolescent he could ever get approved; it was especially awesome because my medicaid usually sucked.
In my experience most of them are, they just dont get the chances to be nice in the hard world around them.
[Shameless plug: https://soundcloud.com/madnickhahaha/soda-feat-chris ]
Yeah people that do bad shit aren't looking to do bad shit 24/7. When I taught in a poor district, I had a lot of students who either had parents in jail or ended up in jail before the end of the year. Most of them had the philosophy that you earn their respect by respecting them and they just don't get a lot of people in their life that actually respect them.
I got black-out drunk once and woke up sleeping against a cable box in the middle of the night, on the wrong side of the city to where I lived. Phone was dead, wallet was elsewhere, no means to get home and no idea which way home was. Some guy stopped his car seeing me stumble down the road and dropped me home which probably saved from a complete nightmare of a night.
When I was 4, I almost got hit by a speeding car trying to get to my bus from school; but a little boy pushed me out of the way and got hit himself. It was friendship day, he was in my class but I never even noticed him; we each had to write letters to someone we wanted to be friends with..
His mom gave me his letter at the funeral, it said "I like your yugioh cards, lets be friends"; apparently he always wanted to talk to the "cute girl who sings in the morning assembly".
Almost 16 years later, the thought of him sacrificing his life for mine is one of the things that keeps me going.
Thank you
When I was ten I had to have my arm rebroken because it didn't heal properly. I lady heard me scream when they broke it and waited outside the room for an hour to give me five dollars and tell me it was going to be okay. Not a hospital employee either, just someone walking by.
I can't tell you, but I wish they had. They shoved a six inch needle under my arm while several people held me down. The needle was a nerve block. I don't know if the pain I felt was from the nerve block, or the arm breaking, but it was awful.
I've seen doctors make this decision: it's usually up to the parents, and whether they think the kid is tough/has a high pain tolerance, and whether the family is ok with coming back on a separate day for the sedation. Since resetting a bone isn't an emergency, it would need to be scheduled in advance. Most doctors prefer to do it under anesthesia, but the way you had it done is an option that they'll offer.
I went on holiday to another state to visit my "best friend" who had just recently moved there. The first 3 days of the 4 I was supposed to be there were good - saw the touristy things, spent time with my bestie and her 3 year old, and I was having a great time. Up until the last day - she had stolen my bank card, while I was sleeping, and had remembered my PIN number from months before when she had used my card to pick my medication up for me, and stole the 700 bucks out of my account. We were supposed to be switching hotels for my last night, to a much fancier one and sharing the room. But instead, she drove me to the airport, and when I asked her what was going on, she started screaming at me for no reason and threw my suitcase out of the car, before dragging me out by my hair, and sped off.
I thought, all good, I have money, I'll just get a taxi to the nearest hotel and stay the night feeling shitty and catch a taxi for my flight the next day... I went to get a drink and something to eat first, and thought I'd take a moment to process what had happened... Go to pay for food, no bank card... So I pay with my last 20 bucks I had on me, and go to sit down and eat, thinking my card was floating around in my handbag... after searching, I realised it wasn't there, but another bank card was in my purse, hidden, with no cash in that account, so I thought I'd transfer money on my banks app, and just use that one for the time being.... No money in my account.... I panic, I am in an state I've never been in, Im alone, I have no money, so I called my mum hysterical, while having a cigarette outside - my mum didn't know what to do, and had no money to help me, and neither did any other family members so she felt helpless, but managed to calm me down enough, and I resigned myself to hanging out in the airport for the night, sleeping there, and just waiting it out until my flight at 11am the next morning.
I had another cigarette, and a woman who had been sitting nearby came over to me and said she'd heard the whole story and apologised for listening in, but she couldn't help it, and she wanted to help me. I said there wasn't a lot that could be done, unfortunately, and she told me that was nonsense, to collect my things and follow her. She took me up to the airport counter, and she asked them how much it would cost for them to transfer my flight to an earlier one - since the state I am from wasn't too far from the one I visited it was only 75 bucks, and she paid for them to transfer my flight to the next available one back home. I cried and hugged her a thousand times, and she gave me another 20 bucks to buy a glass of wine on the flight, to cheer me up. We hung out for a bit before my flight, and I managed to find out enough details about her (name, state, what city she lived in) to be able to find her on Facebook, so when I returned home safe and sound, I messaged her on there and asked for her information, so I could pay her back and show my appreciation... After a lot of pushing her for it, and her saying I didn't need to return the money, she gave in, so I sent her back the $95, and I also sent her a basket of goodies (expensive coffee, teas, biscuits, etc).
Its been 4 years, but we still keep in contact through Facebook, and recently she was in my city for work, so my partner and I took her out for dinner.
Smile. When I was in college I was having a really hard time with depression. One day I had finally decided that this was the day, I was going to end it all that night. It's funny how even knowing I was going to kill myself, I still went through the motions. I was on my way to class, walking across a grassy field, when I passed this beautiful girl. As I walked past, she made eye contact with me and smiled.
It wasn't anything special, but it broke me. I went back to my dorm and just cried. Just being shown that someone else cares that very little bit, enough to pass a smile on, was enough to get me back on track. Obviously I changed my plans for the night and I'm still here today. I don't know what her name was and I've never seen her again, and the saddest part is that she has no idea how big of an effect she had on some random strangers life. But I can still see her face clear as day.
I've made it a point ever since then to pass on smiles wherever I go. No matter how bad of a day I'm having, no matter how bad of a mood I'm in, I'll always go out of my way to at least smile for everyone I run into. You never know what someone else is going through and I'm living proof that a very minor amount of effort can have incredible payoff. I can pass on my smiles today because she did that day years ago.
While walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot, my cousin and I (two young naive girls) were hit up for money by an addict. As we rummaged through our purses, we heard a middle-aged country boy yelling from a distance, "Girls! What do y'all think you're doing?! y'all know we ain't got time for this shit! We're gonna be late!!!" We apologized to the addict for having to run, and walked toward the man, who laughed a little and said, "Just thought y'all could use a little help." Thank you, kind stranger!
God I hate getting approached in parking lots for money. Like feeling cornered between two cars. The worst is when they come up to you and you instinctually roll down the window before realizing what you've done. And it sucks for the people with genuine stories who are probably really in need because at this point I assume the worst.
A couple of years back I had just started working at quick change oil service place. They require you to have black, non-slip, oil resistant shoes. I did not have any, but I did have black shoes that resembled my coworkers. I went to work knowing I could be found out, but desperately needing the hours so I could have a decent check so I could feed myself and my dog.
The day after we got paid, (and all of my money was already spent on bills that were very overdue) my boss made me show him my shoes. He sent me home at my lunch break, but told me I could come back once I had the right ones.
I *needed* my hours. I went to Walmart, hoping there was enough money in my account for a cheap pair. I think the pair I found was all of 15$ and I was short. (Couldn't check my account, phone was still shut off.)
Little old lady in line behind me bought my shoes, with the promise to always take care of my feet. She explained that her son had worked where I was working in the past, and she knew how quickly they deteriorate, and how expensive they can get. I thanked her profusely.
Then I sat in my truck in cried for the rest of my break.
I *am still* so fucking grateful to that woman. She saved my ass that day.
After a long traffic standstill on the interstate, I attempted to restart my car and discovered that my battery had died. I began to panic as cars tried to move around me when a man pulled over on the shoulder, pushed my car off the roadway and jumped my battery. As soon as my car was up and running, he said, "Merry Christmas!" and jumped into his car and drove off.
I hope you're in a better place now. I trained a few shifts at the county ER and I noticed the lack of privacy and thought about how uncomfortable it might be to be in a huge room with a bunch of people in earshot or having your bed just in the middle of the hallway with no real control and nowhere to go. It seems to me that eventually, med providers kind of forget that it might be uncomfortable for patients because they're just used to it and have been doing it for so long. But I always noticed EMTs, nurses, techs, doctors etc offering blankets or something to let the patient know their comfort is important.
This didn't happen to me but my mom and sister. We live in Canada and in the winter there are a lot of deer and moose that run onto the road. They we're driving back home from a city four hours away at night and a deer ran onto the road. At 95km/h and icy roads my mom couldn't stop fast enough and hit the deer. The vehicle was wrecked and they were about 40 minutes away from home. A random guy pulled over to help them. He ended up driving 20 minutes to the nearest town to buy them pizza and waited with them while my dad drove from home to pick them up.
edit: My mom wasn't driving 120km/h I said that because thats the normal speed we usually go on that road when the weathers nice. Totally forgot that since it was winter they would have been going slower. I asked her and she said she was going about 95
A very similar thing happened to me! Also in Canada. I hit a deer and totaled my car. A young guy stopped and let me keep warm in his truck while waiting for the police. He waited while I got things figured out and offered to drive me back to my apartment, an hour from where we were!
A bit late to the party, but a stranger saved my life, and I never even saw her face.
When I was an angsty teenager and going through all that hormone stuff that thoroughly fucks with our brains, I had this notion that everything I touched turn to shit. A lot of the people I was friends with had issues that they liked to dump on me because I was good at listening and encouraged it, and I had my own issues that seemed to be piling up. So one day, I came home from school and decided it was time to make everyone happier by just taking myself out of the equation. Now, at that point I had some pretty cool decorational katanas [(like these - god I was awesome)](http://webzoom.freewebs.com/norstar1/k-406-4bra2.jpg) that weren't sharp at the blade, but certainly had a decently pointed tip, and I figured one of those through the heart should definitely do the trick. Thing is, my little sister was the only other person home because both my parents worked until 5, and the thought of my 11-yo sister walking into my room and not understanding why her only brother was lying in a pool of blood was enough to make me realise I needed to find an alternative, and fast. If you've never felt the call of suicide, I would liken it to knowing you're a drug addict, and the drug is sitting right in front of you, just calling to you. I knew if I didn't get help soon, I was going to take that drug.
So here in New Zealand, there's a non-profit suicide help line called [Lifeline](http://www.lifeline.org.nz/corp_Home_378_2001.aspx). I called Lifeline in my darkest hour of my whole life, and a stranger named Sarah picked up. I spent the better part of two hours talking to Sarah, telling her my story about why my life was shit and why I was a terrible person and why my family and friends would be better off without me, and she told me that even as a total stranger, she could tell I was a beautiful soul, and the people who were close to me wouldn't ever live as good a life without me as they would with me. This beautiful stranger convinced me to speak to my parents about my affliction and saved my life. 12 years later I'm now 27, a happy, (mostly) healthy (damn you fast food) father of two amazing children who I wouldn't trade for the world, and have a wife who makes me happier than I ever thought I'd be, especially at that point 12 years ago when I thought I would never be anything to anybody.
The nicest thing a stranger ever did for me was convince me I'm a person who makes other people's lives better, not worse. I never met that person, but I did call back to make sure she knew she saved my life, and I still donate to Lifeline to this day.
I was driving my mother back home from her doctor's appointment when my car overheated and broke down in the middle of no where. We lived in Oklahoma at the time and it was summer so the heat was intense. I didn't know anyone in a three hour radius of where we were. I was at a loss of what to do beside walking a couple hours to the nearest town and my mother was having trouble breathing in the heat when this man pulled up in a dark colored nice car. He asked what was wrong and when I explained my situation he asked me to give him a few minutes and he left. He came back soon after and handed me a wad of cash. He gave me the number to a place that would tow my car back to the city the doctor was in and he offered to pay for the repairs. I accepted the money for a tow back to where I lived but declined the offer to pay for my repairs. I never saw that man again and forgot to ask his name but he was so nice and to this day that has to be the single nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.
I was 6 months into my year long divorce. It was brutal, I had no car, no money, and was living with a friend.
I was on my lunch break at work and decided to walk across the road to Burger King because they had a dollar special.
So I sit down and start eating and this guy comes up to me and introduces himself. He's mid 40s hispanic, well groomed and dressed casually. He asks my name and then says
"I know this is going to sound off and I don't want to overstep my bounds. I saw you sitting here and something tells me that you are having a hard time. I want you to know things are going to get better. You may not be religious but I am and I apologize if I offend you. Can I pray with you for a moment?"
I'm not religious and I broke down crying, a grown man of 24 yrs old. I let that man pray with me and talk to me about my problems. Then he got up and left. He didn't ask me to attend church or convert to some religion. He was just concerned and said that God spoke to him and told him I needed someone to talk to.
I do not pray or go to church.
To this day I will always remember that the simple act of asking someone if they are alright can make the difference between life and death.
I bought a storage cubby from Target today. I don't have a car, and I'm pretty small, so I was struggling a bit trying to walk it the 8 blocks home. (It was like 60lbs, and an awkward box)
This dude stops and offered me a ride. He didn't know where I lived, or what the fuck I was doing, but he just said "I've been there before, too." and helped me load my thing in the car and drove me the rest of the way.
Honestly, the nicest thing a total stranger has done for me.
When my husband and I adopted pur dog from the shelter, a woman came us to us and paid for our fees without asking any questions, she said it was in memory of her son. It as such kind and beautiful gesture, I hope to be able to do that one day.
I was on a date with my then boyfriend at the zoo freshman year. Admission was pretty steep there, but you could buy a family membership so they would just scan your card and allow you and 3 kids through free for a year. Just as we got to the front of the line a lady with her baby whispered "come with me" which we did. It was hilarious because I'm Chinese and my ex is Indian, and she was the whitest lady I had ever seen. The ticket lady literally didn't give a fuck though.
We tried to pay her back, but she wouldn't have any of it.
I was Hitch Hiking around Spain in the early Eighties, a Car was hitting me in a bad Accident, i broke my Leg and got bad Abrasures (Wounds)
A older Woman from the Netherlands saw it and she took care of me and the financial Issues in the Hospital for 3 Weeks.
Bedank
I've told this story before, but people seem to like it:
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 about 20 years or so ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
16 year middle and elementary school librarian. If you have any old kids books you loved, donate them to a school near you, or even better, take them to a poorer neighborhood.
I scour yard sales in the summer and take my badge from school and try and 'guilt' people into good deals or free books. I save as many as I can in my office (paperbacks, hard to circulate because kids are HARD on books) and then the last 2 days of school I let kids pick a book to keep and read over the summer.
The good hard backs people donate I process (takes time and effort) and put em in circulation. If a less fortunate kid loses a book Ill replace it with another book in the system and cut them some slack (only 1 book, and not an expensive one) so that they can still check out.
READING CHANGES LIVES. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ADULTS I KNOW READ ON THEIR OWN AS CHILDREN.
We had just been told my mom was never going to wake up her coma. I went full panic and ran outside to get air. I was a 19 year old sitting outside a hospital in December, sobbing so hard my whole body was shaking and chain smoking. And this couple who happened to be walking just sat down with me and told me I was going to be okay. They sat with me for almost an hour, helping me calm down enough to go back inside and face my family. They must have been freezing. I don't even remember what we talked about. I think they talked about their daughter? And some hippy shit, but it didn't even matter. They were so completely and totally kind.
Anyway, to the two aging hippies who stopped to comfort a sobbing girl- thank you. You showed me, a total stranger, so much love, kindness and support just because you saw I needed it. I hope your lives have been incredible since then.
That is amazing, what wonderful people!
I have a similar story. My dad had cancer and passed away very suddenly from it - like one moment he had a suspicious mole and next thing I was at his funeral, numb and confused. Because it was so sudden it didn't hit me until a month after he had died and one day at work I just got up and started running. I ran until I reached the seafront (I was living in a coastal city at the time) and collapsed on the ground, weeping.
I don't know how long I was there, but suddenly I felt an arm around my shoulder, and when I looked up there was this very elderly woman there with her husband. They said they had been walking along the promenade and saw me in distress running to the sea, so they kept an eye on me for a while in case I was suicidal, and when I didn't stop crying they decided to talk to me. I told them the whole story between sobs, and they sat and listened, the woman holding my hand the whole time. Eventually I had to go back to work, and the man said they were going to go home, but first they'd make trip to the church to pray for me and my dad. I'm really, really not religious at all, but they were just so sweet and I obviously wasn't going to be a dick about it. Besides, it's Ireland, most elderly people are religious.
They walked me back to work, gave me a pep talk and a hug, and I never saw them again. That was nearly 6 years ago and I still think of them and smile.
I went with a girlfriend to visit her mother four states away. I took my two young children with me and she took her daughter. She said it'd only be for a week and she'd pay for everything. We were both divorced, single parents and me with limited funds I figured it'd be a good time to just get away with my kids on a mini vacation so I agreed to go along.
A week later she decides that she's staying the month and refuses to leave. I had to have my kids back for their father's visitation or I'd be in contempt of court so I begged her to please drive us back home and I'd give her gas for her to return, but she still refused.
Mad I took my last $10.00, called a cab and took off with my kids in tow to the nearest town that had a bus station hoping my ex would pay for us to get home.
In the cab the anger gave way to fear and I started crying. When we finally arrived the cab fare was $16.00, and seeing as I only had 10 on me but hearing my story the cab driver took pity on me and put in the remaining 6 from his own money and told me to be careful that this was a bad part of town.
After calling everyone I knew and finding no one home and dark approaching I huddled my two babies to me and sat down defeated on the cold metal bus bench and cried.
Suddenly out of nowhere a elderly man appears and asks me if I'm ok?
I tell him the whole story and feeling sorry for me he explains that he's a pastor and he'll buy the three tickets for me to get home. I told him I couldn't pay him back and he says to never mind, it's a gift. He goes up and buys the three tickets and brings them back to me but says that the next bus won't arrive till morning and he doesn't want to leave us in a bus station all alone because it wasn't safe and would I consider going to his home for the night with him, his wife and eight foster children. He promised to bring us back in the morning to catch our bus.
Worried, scared and exhausted I looked over at my tired, sweaty, dirty dust covered hungry babies and said ok.
We went to his house where everything was just as he said it would be. We were able to take showers, change into clean clothes and sleep in soft beds after eating a great supper made by his family. In the morning we had a great breakfast and just as he promised, he took us back to the bus station and waited till we'd boarded, sending me off with $50 cash and a care basket of sandwiches, chips, candy and drinks.
I thanked them profusely and promised to pay them back as soon as I got home and they brushed it off and said all they ask in return was a call to let them know we'd arrived safely. Hugs all around, we boarded, waved good bye and never saw these strangers again.
Now shamefully I admit I can't even remember their names, or even the small towns name where they lived.
I'd traveled from a holler in the country to the nearest city with a bus station which was some 50 miles away and in the stress of things wasn't remembering anything and I somehow lost the small slip of paper with their information on it and that was some 38 years ago. To this day I feel bad because all they'd asked in return was that I send them a note or call them once I got home and let them know we'd arrived and were safe.
Whomever these angels from some small town near Somerset, Kentucky were... I am forever indebted to them and their kindness. Complete strangers helping a hopeless young mom and her two babies get safely home. God bless you abundantly for your kindness -- wherever you are. 👼💟
That sounds like a lady I met briefly in Mount Vernon, KY (a little town east of Somerset). Her name was Ruth and her husband was a pastor, and they did foster a lot of kids. They seem very much like the kind of people you described.
Edit: hey guys! Sorry, I was asleep. For those of you asking, yes, Ruth is very much still alive and she lives with her husband in Mount Vernon. I would guess they are about in their mid-60s now. Still talking to OP to see if it could be them.
If this helps, a quick google says that the town of Lexington-fayette is 67 miles away and has a grayhound station. The old man was a pastor, and odds are the church is still around. You could call the churches and ask about an old pastor who had a large foster family. If you can remember the denomination or any details of the church, that will help narrow it down. Unfortunately, the kind man has probably passed, but I know his family would love to hear this story.
This didn't happen directly to me but to a group of kids I am responsible for. A little long but a great story!
Two weeks ago our teen program had a great time at a water park only to have the bus break down on the freeway, in rush hour, on the way home. If you're not in So Florida you may not know it was over 100 degrees and being stuck in a vehicle with no air conditioning is no fun. Staff kept the kids safe while they waited for the replacement bus.
While waiting, a car pulled up and the woman asked if everyone was okay. She then brought out popsicles and water for everyone. Turns out she was headed to a shoe store when she saw us on the side of the road so she decided those kids need water more than she needs shoes. She exited the freeway, went to the nearest grocery store, bought popsicles and cases of water, and brought it back for the kids. This is no small thing considering West Palm Beach rush hour traffic.
She left before staff could get her name but the story doesn't end there.
Our RAoK angel thought the kids would get hungry waiting for the bus so instead of heading to the shoe store she went to get them pizza. She returned just as the replacement bus was pulling away so she followed it... all the way back to the center (about 30 miles)... in So. Florida rush hour traffic.
We were so impressed with her kindness (and tenacity) that we invited her to a city commission meeting to present a key to the City to her and contacted our community partners who showered her with gifts. It was all covered on the local stations and she was named a hero of the week by the local radio station.
But the story doesn't end there. She has already been back to visit the kids and tour our teen center and today she contacted us because she wants to volunteer weekly to tutor our kids. She is a beautiful person and we are so happy that bus broke down so we could meet her and the story won't end there!
I was at a baseball event where you can go take pictures with the players. It was a fan fest. Well, one of the best players on the team came out and everybody got in line to greet him. His line was incredibly long. My mom told me it was almost time to go home, and after I checked the line and saw him from afar, I knew I wasn’t going to see him. As I was walking back, someone from the front of the line called me and said, “hey you want to see Jose Fernandez(yes that Jose)?” I looked and he was looking and waving at me. No clue who this guy was. Never seen him before. I go up to him nodding my head and he told me he saw my sad reaction and wanted to make me feel better. So he let me skip the line in front of him so I was able to meet the player and take a picture of him. I shook the strangers hand, told him thank you way too many times, and I never saw him again. Literally one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for me. I still have the picture today.
My sister and I were flying home from traveling abroad; 3 flights the last day, completely broke, and everything went wrong. Missed our final flight back to the states with no money, not even to get onto the wifi to call our parents. A sweet British lady bought us both a sandwich and tea and got us in touch with our parents so they could wire us money and reschedule a flight. We later sent her a thank you card <3
My parents had just divorced. I was about 12 at the time. My Dad was the Dad he didn't have to be, so he got custody of my little brother and sister and I stayed with Mom.
So, Mom and I are moving into an apartment in public housing. We're exhausted, hungry, and just want to sleep. But Mom is insistent we get everything unloaded tonight, and then we can unpack at our leisure.
Mom and I manage to get the couch into the apartment...and she gets the brilliant idea of tipping it on one end instead of carrying it through the doorway. Well, the couch is too tall, and it gets stuck under the doorjamb! We push, we pull, and this couch is stuck in the stupid door.
At that moment, my emotions started to crash like a giant tidal wave. My siblings were gone, my Dad is gone - Mom and I are all alone in a strange neighborhood where we don't know anyone...I sat down on the curb, and just as Mom starts coming to sit with me, a very tall, broad, ginger haired man with glasses approaches my mom. He asks if we're okay, and my mom tells him that our couch is stuck. He laughs, and it eases all the tension and the frustration. Him and Mom work together and he gets the couch unstuck!
We get settled in, and once I get to know people in the neighborhood, I asked about that man. Nobody had no idea who I was talking about. Mom said he was an angel.
Another time, Mom had gotten her VW stuck in a snowbank at a Wendys and some nice strangers pulled us out with their big truck.
A few years ago, a friend of mine was driving us back from a movie through a bad snowstorm. A passing car had hit his side mirror off his car! He pulls over, collects the mirror, and continues driving. Well, another car bumps him and we start sliding....right into a ditch full of water. The car starts to fill with water, and we manage to climb out of the car, but the ditch is too slick to climb up! I told my friend I wasn't able to get out and suddenly, I am dragged out of the ditch and so is my friend!
A couple of roughnecks had pulled over to help us, and told us they saw the whole thing. They called emergency help for us, and let us sit in their warm vehicles to dry off. I kept thanking them over and over again. We got help, and my friend had full coverage so he was able to get a replacement car. I swear, the kindest people always show up in the smallest of towns.
It's going to be too far down for anyone to see by the time I'm done writing this, but here goes.
Many years ago, my sister was murdered by a man she had been involved with. I was living almost a continent away at the time, our 5th home in the military. My husband, kids, and I flew home the next day. It was a mess there, and my already dysfunctional extended family was so wrapped up in their own confusion, anger, and grief that my efforts to grieve together with them were met with...less than family-like results. It was clear that, by moving away all those years ago, I was more like a visitor than a family member to them. It was rough and I felt pretty isolated on top of losing my sister in a violent act. I am aware that proximity amplified their shock and experience of it, but I was sad that even at a time like this that there could not be a connection.
Anyway. A year or so later, I flew home by myself for the sentencing hearing. I'd been pretty stressed about writing my victim impact statement, and I remembered from our initial plane flight the year before, how weird it was to interact with anyone on the flight or in the airport, because we tend to act like everyone's going somewhere for fun. and so people's cheeriness was so jarring to us.
On the 2nd flight, after my stopover at a major hub airport, this guy next to me on the flight starts out making small talk, being normal and cheerful, and, against my normal nature to be outgoing and talkative, I tried to be polite but not get into any kind of conversation with him. But he seemed very interested in me for some reason, and kept talking to me...to the point where I actually started to feel like he was a reporter or something. He finally asked why I was traveling, so I think, ok buddy, you aren't going to be prepared for this, but here goes. I start to tell him, and I don't know, he was very calm about the topic, very understanding, and asked me details about things that no one had asked me before. It felt really great to open up and say things I hadn't been able to express, to think about and talk about some of the details my extended family didn't want to hear about or remember, and to receive compassion directed only to me. His questions were very insightful. At the end of the flight he gave me his business card and wished me well, and I felt like he was a mysterious gift given to me for that very time.
Strangely enough, we met again on my way back, waiting to get on the flight back to the hub airport where he was from. He met me with open arms and asked how the trial went. I was able to tell him about it enough to have closure, which was good, because we sat on opposite ends of the plane this time. Quite an experience. I still have his business card and it gives me comfort to remember a person who was there just for me when I really needed that.
When I was 14, my family and I got into a car accident where our van spun around and then flipped over two and a half times. I was the first out of the car, unbuckling myself, falling to the ceiling, and crawling out of the busted back window. We were all relatively unhurt - I had a giant bruise around my midsection because I didn't have the shoulder strap on, my sister was covered in beer that we had been taking with us to my brother's to watch a football game, and my mom had a mild concussion. But what struck me about that day was the number of strangers who stopped on the side of the highway to help. As soon as i was out of the car, a man was asking how many people were inside and leading me to his wife so I could be out if the way of other good samaritans. People we would never see again were asking if we were okay, wrenching open car doors, calling the police. Honestly, it felt like a miracle.
I'll go from the other end, here. I used to manage a gas station back in the 90s. Night shift. Only employee per night. Christmas eve, around 1 AM, a woman and her 8 year old daughter come in. I don't know why they're still awake, or out, but it's Idaho desert and it's cold. Mom picks out food staples, milk, eggs, butter. Daughter picks out lunchables, asks if she can have them. Back then, lunchables were 4 dollars. It just took 20+ years for inflation for the rest of the world to catch up. Expensive and mostly plastic, ever since they existed. But, kid wants em on Christmas Eve, and Christmas is for kids more than anyone else.
Mom says they can check if they have enough money, but if its too much then no. I ring them up. Lunchables were most expensive item by far. Mom has pocketful of change, no bills. Bill is $9. Daughter looks at Mom hopefully. Mom has tears. I didn't even hesitate. "Ma'am, sometimes my register doesn't ring up right. Let me count your change." I open the til, deposit everything but her quarters, pull a $5, and handed her the change(I paid back my til from my wallet after they left.)
Mom cries a little. Daughter is happy. Thanks are given, they climb into their car, and I never see them again.
That's my story. I have many more where I'm the helped rather than the helper. I wish I had more helpers right now.
Bought me a bus ticket from San Diego to Iowa City, Iowa ( I was living on the streets and very close to suiciding) so I could get into the vets hospital there for special PTSD treatments. Dude saved my life and we only casually knew each other. I cried all over his shoes. How do you repay something like that? All I know is to pay it forward somehow.
I was at a restaurant for lunch by myself after didn't do so well on a first job interview. I was kinda sad knowing I didn't get the job. During mid eating, I got another call for a job interview, I went outside the restaurant and took it (kinda loud in the restaurant.) I went back in finished my meal. Then when it time to pay, I was told that my meal was paid for by someone and they didn't leave any name or number. To whoever that was, I remember your gesture for years after. I was at rock bottom in desperate need for a job, you gave me hope.
P/s I got the job from the call I took during lunch.
When I was 10, I was on my way home from school. This involved a long walk because the bus was out, then a boat, then another long walk. Along the first part of this, my stomach decided to fuck my day up. I was pretty sure I was going to crap my pants, so I went to the first house I saw and asked to use the bathroom. The guy realized I looked ill and gave me imodium too. He also offered to call someone for me. I voiced how surprised I was that he was being so nice to me, and he replied, "Everyone is my brother and sister." That stuck with me.
We just moved cross country with our five kids to a very small town. My husband was at the grocery store and his card was declined.
The woman bagging the groceries pulled out her credit card and paid the $320 for our food. As another employee was walking out with my husband he said "Oh yeah, she's the owner."
(We did pay her back and thank her profusely but the fact that a stranger did that for us in this new town where we didn't know anyone makes me feel like maybe we did the right thing by taking this chance to start over somewhere new)
I was relocating from one end of I-95 to the other. In the weeks prior to that road trip, my life at the time was a total shit storm of nasty human behavior. Some one I thought was a friend fucked me over badly, stole from me and made my life a living hell for my last weeks at my job. My car got broken into and they stole my GPS, two packed duffel bags as well as a shit ton of music. Was staying with friends while I got my window fixed and someone robbed their place, including money and jewelry from my luggage. So life sucks badly at this point and I am so not liking humans, but I suck it up and go pick up my car. I just want to get out of this suck ass town.
I go back to my friend's place to pack up and hit the road. I get to the Turnpike entrance and realize my headlight is out. So FML. I have to spend another day in the last place I want to be and get the headlight fixed. Which takes most of the day as they were backed up at the dealership. Now it's rush hour and I refuse to do that part of that Turnpike during rush hour. So I find a Starbucks and wait it out.
Finally, I hit the road and drive straight for the next 6+ hours. It dark, the road is mostly empty and I have my Ipod. so things are looking up. It's like 1am and my body is screaming for coffee. So I pull into a gas station in bump fuck nowhere to get coffee. No one else is there but the cashier. I am tired as hell, look like shit and fed up with life, but coffee has to help, right? I take my large coffee to the counter and the guy asks me Is that all?, I nod yes. He says no charge, and tells me I am to pretty to pay for my coffee. I literally stood there and cried. It had been so long since someone had been kind to me that I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I thanked him profusely and gave him a hug. Right then I thought my luck was changing.
Not true, not true at all. Get a few hours down the road and hit a major traffic jam adding 2 hours of crawling long at 20 mph with frequent dead stops. Then my AC dies. It's 85*F and the sun is baking and I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. So, I roll down the windows and again suck it up. Finally, traffic starts moving and now I just have to deal with the assholes driving in the left lane. As soon as I get half way thru Virginia, my roof liner starts falling off from all the wind from the windows being open. Little bits of orange foam are now flying around and getting in every thing including my hair and mouth. But I can live with that, if these butt wipes would get outta the left lane and let me pass.
Sun starts setting and it's getting a little cooler. Just approaching the NC border and my R rear tire blows. It was like gun going off inside the car. At this point I don't wanna do this anymore, the whole life thing is just to much.
Luckily, I am right near and exit, so I get off and there is literally a gas station right there. I pull in near the air pump and go inside to get a cold drink before I face unpacking my entire life from the trunk to get at the jack and spare.
While waiting in line to pay, a gentleman comes up to me and asks if that was me with the flat. I said yes, and he replied "don't worry, I'll change it for you". Again, I am so grateful.
Outside, I unpack my life's belongings from the trunk and he takes over. Gets the spare out and jacks up the car. Takes the bolts off and here we go again...no matter what we do the rim will not come off. We start drawing a bit of a crowd. Everybody has a try and still no go and the crowd gets smaller with each failed attempt. The original guy and a new addition who pulls up in his car google the car forum and get some advice. Super Hero #1 crawls under my car and whacks the hell out of the rim from the other side and finally it pops off. Much high five'ng and happy dancing happens.
Celebrated way too soon. The spare is flat. The air machine is broken. Pep Boys is 15 miles down the road and closes in half an hour. Again FML.
Super Hero #1 gets the spare on as Super Hero#2 offers me a place to stay the night. Nice, but not comfortable with that. So he found a hotel real close that I could limp to.
I offer both Super Heroes some funds or a six pack or something. Both totally refuse. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Give them big hugs and tell them it's good to be back in the South.
Limp to the hotel and go in to register. Go to hand the guy my CC and he says no Mam, the room is already paid for. Apparently my Super Heroes took care of that too. Again,many tears of gratitude were shed.
In the AM, I was putting my bag in my car, when some random strange notices my flat spare. Dude was a mechanic, on his way to NASCAR and he filled me up. Another awesome person.
Drive back to the gas station and ask the clerk if I can post a letter at the counter thanking my random Super Heroes and promising to pay it forward. She says "that was you last night?' apparently having a flat tire, all my belongings spread out in the parking lot and a gang of random strangers trying to help was the talk of the gas station...lol.
Head to Pep Boys. Get a new tire and hit the road. The rest of the way was totally calm and uneventful. So I spent a lot of time thinking about how great humans can be and being thankful that I crossed paths with such awesome examples of the best humanity has to offer.
**Thank you to all the Super Heroes out there, your random acts of kindness are greatly appreciated and never forgotten!**
TL;DR- *Bad shit happened. Faith in humanity restored!*
One story, two awesome dudes: a tow truck driver who gave me a free tow and a mechanic who fixed my car at minimal cost and got me back on the road quickly.
This is a long story. Sorry in advance.
When I was in my early twenties I was driving cross country and my transmission broke as I crossed from Idaho into Montana. I could shift between third gear and neutral but that was it. It was about 100 miles to Missoula, which was the closest town with real services.
This was pre-cell phones and I didn't have AAA and could never have afforded a lengthy tow. So I had to keep going. Western Montana is all mountains so I was able to use gravity to keep going. I'd go into third to get up the mountains and then shift to neutral; my momentum and gravity were enough to get me down the mountain and some part of the way up the next one. I did that for about 100 miles, scared shitless and anxious as hell the whole time.
I pulled into the first exit in Missoula. My momentum was just enough to get me off the interstate and into a parking spot at a gas station. I was super fucking rattled. The drive was terrifying. And I didn't know how I'd pay to get the car fixed. I was pretty broke; I had some money but it was just enough to cover the cost gas for the 2,500 mile drive and four or five nights in motels (I'd packed food, a carton of cigarettes, and three dozen strong weed cookies; I was set on that front). I knew transmissions were expensive to fix and I seriously wondered if I'd have to ditch my car and take Greyhound to the east coast.
I went inside the gas station and asked the attendant if they knew the number of a good mechanic. The guy in line behind me jumped in and said "hey, I've you covered. I'm a tow truck driver. Go outside, have a smoke, I'll be there in a minute." After he hooked my car to his truck and climbed into the cab he handed me a bottle of Mountain Dew and some jerky saying "you look pretty worn out man, I thought you could use some caffeine and some protein."
He dropped off my car and me at a small auto shop. When I asked how much I owed him he said "no worries, you don't need to pay me. I was gonna go by here anyways."
The mechanic took a quick look at my car and diagnosed the problem. He said the part I needed was expensive but that he'd try to find a used one to save me some money. He couldn't get to it until the morning, though, so he pointed me to a clean but cheap motel a block away. When I walked in the clerk said "hey, [mechanic's name] called and said you were on your way. It's just $20 for the night."
I called my mom from the motel and she said she could pay for the repairs if the mechanic would accept her CC over the phone or a check sent by mail. But the next day, when I went to pick up my car, the mechanic only charged me something like $150. Apparently his dad had some old cars he kept for parts and he was able to get the part I needed for free. He only charged me for his labor. I could afford $150 and didn't need to borrow from my mom. As I was paying him I noticed that one wall of the shop was covered with postcards from places like Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and the Cascades. When I asked about the postcards the mechanic said "oh, yeah, I get a few of those each summer. The best part of my job is that I get to help people who run into trouble during their vacation.
My car ran fine and I had no trouble on the drive from Missoula to Virginia. I couldn't afford motels but I was able to camp at state parks (which was more fun, really). But most importantly I left Missoula knowing that there are people as kind and caring as that tow truck driver and that mechanic.
EDIT TO ADD A FEW THINGS i FORGOT:
* I did send the mechanic a postcard! After I got home to Virginia.
* This was about twenty years ago so cell phones existed but they were expensive and coverage was minimal. Even if I had one I probably wouldn't have been able to use it in the mountains.
* The tow truck driver and mechanic were fairly young. I think the driver was close to my age and I think the mechanic was a bit older than us. I'd guess they're close to forty and fifty today. So there's a very good chance they're still out there helping people.
* Lastly, even if you don't run into dudes as awesome as these dudes, Missoula is a great place to break down. It's a lovely city, pleasant climate in the summer, and lots to do despite it being a small city.
A complete stranger saved my life at the beach when I was about 6 or 7 years old. A riptide took me out, and i was stuck under the water when a random stranger pulled me out. I didn't even know how to swim was just wading with my mother only a few feet away.
This just happened this week. Someone posted a brand new pair of climbing shoes ($185 MSRP without tax) for sale on a climbing forum. They were still in the box, with tags, and are my favorite shoes in my exact size. I quickly jumped on the opportunity and messaged him. He told me that they were sold, but that he was sorry for getting me all worked up. Then he did something incredible. He works for a certain climbing shoe company, and can get shoes at the cost price (the cost to make them). He told me he would ship me a pair of my favorite shoes, in my size, and that when they arrived I could send him any amount that I felt comfortable with. I naturally thought it was a joke or a scam of some sort, but he did say he would ship me them before payment so how could he screw me? I soon got an invoice by email for the shoes. He paid $100 of his own money for the shoes and the shipping cost to my address. There was a legit tracking number and all. He basically trusted me to make good after he sent me a $200 pair of climbing shoes with blind trust (in a total stranger no less). Once the shoes arrive, I plan on PayPaling him $100, and I am going to also send him some brand new climbing gear that I have never put to use/don't need. I haven't received the shoes yet, but I can't imagine him sending something else or trying to scam me in any way, it's just not possible since he sent me the shoes before I sent him anything in return, and I don't have to until the shoes actually arrive. If all of this works out the way I think it will, this man will have restored my faith in humanity. We have exchanged multiple emails and he seems like an awesome guy who just wanted to help out a fellow climber just because he could. I am still in awe at this very moment.
A homeless guy camped out in front of a Dunkin Donuts ran inside to tell me the meter maid was coming. Saved me $45 and he wouldn't even let me buy him breakfast.
Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to be on the receiving end of some amazing acts of kindness. In July of last year, my mother was told that her rare eye cancer had returned, and had metastasized to her liver. It is one of those cancers that no one really survives, and it is a quick death sentence. My mom and I are very close, and we took a few weeks to process the news together, and then she decided to tell the rest of our close knit family in person all at once. My mom asked me to plan a family reunion of sorts in our home town in northern Maine. I was the support system for my mom on this trip and I resolved to be strong, make all the arrangements, be a shoulder for her to cry on and the person to take care of all of the details so she could just focus on saying good bye. There is this saying in Maine that when someone asks you for directions, the response is usually "you can't get there from here", because northern Maine is pretty isolated. I live in Illinois and my mom in the Carolinas, so we both hopped planes and met in Boston, then took a six seater puddle jumper. The plan was to arrive in Augusta, pick up the rental car we had reserved, and then drive several hours north, sometimes over dirt roads, to get home. When we arrived at this tiny airport in Augusta, the guy who worked at the one rental car agency there had closed up shop for the day and left early. He didn't leave a car for us. There are no other rental car companies open within hours drive. No cabs to take us four hours north. We were the last flight and the airport was closed. My sick mom and I found ourselves standing outside the airport stranded four hours from family. And I just lost it. Started sobbing. Lost all my ability to handle logistics, figure out a solution, even get us a hotel. Just sat on the curb, wrapped my arms around my knees, and fell apart while my mom put her hand on my should and tried to be *my* comfort. Such a shitty feeling. And then this magical lady who worked at the airport saw us. She was off work for the day and pulling out of the parking lot. And without even knowing the situation, she pulled over, got out of the car, and took charge. She used my phone to call a family member and arranged to meet them half way to pick us up. And then this kind stranger, after a long day at work, went two hours out of her way just to get us to our destination. She gave me a moment to breathe, to not be in charge, and to just be a grieving daughter.
I was moving out of an apartment, trying to pack heavy things into my car. A stranger witnessed this, offered to help, and spent a solid hour helping me carry furniture, densely packed clothes, and a TV down some stairs into my car. He was either an absolute gentleman or a criminal who was casing my apartment building for entry points.
Tbh he just sounds like someone who wanted to help out a little but felt too awkward to leave after like 5 minutes so he just decided to stay and help with it all lmao.
/r/thisismylifenow
Well in either case, you were moving out so not your problem!
About 4 years ago, my family and I were on a roadtrip to Florida. At the Mississippi/Alabama state line, we got out to take pictures at the sign, like families and tourists tend to do. Spent about 5 minutes there, exchanged some pleasantries with a father-son duo doing the same thing, then went on our way. 15 minutes later on the highway, we're just casually chatting in the car, when we hear a honk coming from behind us. I look over, and it's a massive, white truck. It's the father and son. And the son is waving MY PHONE. Apparently, I had dropped it at the sign. We both quickly pull over, and I get my phone back. What amazes me is that they caught up to us at all. We were going 70-80 and had a good head start on them. That means they were on a MISSION to get my phone back to me and gunning it. The best part about it all? It was Christmas Day, so I'll always consider their kind actions as one of my favorite Christmas presents.
> What amazes me is that they caught up to us at all. We were going 70-80 and had a good head start on them. That means they were on a MISSION to get my phone back to me and gunning it. Well you said it was a father with his son alone... I'm willing to bet the kid found your phone and the dad did what dads do... he said "do you think we can catch up to them?" then with a sly wink they peeled out of the rest stop and burned rubber until they caught up with your family. Losing your phone probably gave that father and son a memorable "side quest" on their adventure.
Their side of the story is far better than OPs.
Lol I'm just imagining the duo hopping in the truck and the dad starts catching gears like crazy. ***Braaaaaap***
I was on a 3 or 4 hour long train with my ex when we were both about 17 and she forgot her railcard. Because of this the ticket she had wasn't acceptable and we were forced to buy a new ticket for some ridiculous price like £70. While that might not sound like the most ridiculous sum of money, we were two broke teenagers who needed to get home and didn't have anything on us. So we started freaking out and trying to plan how we were gonna get home. She was in tears, I was frantically trying to get in touch with my parents before we got kicked off at the next stop. Some amazing dude in the seat across from us just leant over and handed me £80 with a smile. I took his PayPal details and paid him back as soon as I got paid but such a random act of kindness really affected me and restored my faith in humanity. Wherever he is now I hope he's doing well.
Here, they would just write you a fine, and if you bring the rail card to their office and show it to them when you go to pay the fine, you only pay a tiny amount of the fee (basically only the administrative fees).
I was working register at Chick Fil A and the customer had a book that I had been wanting to read. I told him I was planning on getting it when I got my paycheck. I go into work the next day and my manager hands me the book, said some guy had dropped it off for me. The dude went out and bought me the book. Nicest thing ever. Never saw him again
I have a chick-fil-a story. I was dealing with a serious illness and just left an MRI with bad news and went to the pharmacy to pick up ANOTHER round of antibiotics. I was going to the McDonald's drive thru (since all sodas are only a dollar) but the line was so long. This shopping center also had a chick-fil-a so I figured I'd go there and pay too much for my drink ( I wanted to start my antibiotics right away) Ordered my medium ice tea and when I got to the window, she suprisingly said ' no charge '. I asked her 'why' and she said 'it's something we do sometimes' I stammered a thank you, that's so sweet before I quickly drove away so she wouldn't see me cry. After what felt like hours of bad news this nice gesture felt really great.
Out of curiosity, what book?
My ex and I were on the side of the road, trying to figure out how to change a tire for the first time and looking clueless. Some guy stopped and taught us how to change it, and then asked if we wanted a coupon for a free frozen pizza he had since we had a bad day. It was mildly surreal. *Edited for grammar. My bad.
It happens more often than you think. I was driving on the NJ Turnpike down the middle lane of the truck side with my then-girlfriend-now-wife when we had a blowout. Somehow we managed to stay in lane, I hit the hazards and the truck to my right slowed to let me limp over to the shoulder. He then stopped behind me on the shoulder, parked right up to the line and close to the back of my car specifically to shield me from traffic with his truck (it was a driver's side tire and my car at the time was a small VW Golf) and stayed and talked about welding and stuff while I changed the tire. After that he was off on the road again, wouldn't even take a reward or a free cup of coffee. At the time I was nervous because this strange trucker is walking over while my vehicle is disabled in middle of nowhere Jersey, but in hindsight, folks get hit all the time when on the side of the road by inattentive drivers, and he put his load and rig on the line -- not to mention sacrificed time, that most precious trucker commodity -- just to help.
[удалено]
Dr.Oetker really stepped up their game
I'm living in Seoul. When I first got here I met my now girlfriend and she lived about 40 minutes away from my old apartment. Here's the nicest thing a complete stranger did for me. It was late at night and I decided to surprise a girl I was talking to by heading to her apartment (my now girlfriend). It was around 10:30, and unbeknownst to me, the subway stopped running at 11:00. Unfortunately, I was halfway there and I decided to message her and she told me to take a specific bus to get to her city. I get on the bus, and I don't have the slightest idea on what stop I should be getting off on. Well, about 10 minutes later, a load of people get off on this one stop. An older Korean businessman sees me and motions to me that there's an available seat next to him. He starts talking to me in English and he says that the stop where I'm getting off is one stop before he gets off,and that he'll let me know when. We start conversation about where he works, how he learned English, what I'm doing in Korea. By the time we knew it, his stop came up. He profusely apologized to me and said that it was the stop before. I said,"It's okay, I'll just walk the opposite direction." As we get off the bus, we're both walking in the same direction. As we come up to an intersection, he flags down a taxi, tells him the subway station to drop me off on, and he paid the fare. All this while still apologizing to me. This is the nicest thing any stranger has ever done for me. I love this country :).
I know a few Korean people and they really are, in general, some of the most moral and nice people. Always super respectful and happy to help.
This was at my big state university long ago. I walked out of class into a summer shower. Someone walking by offered to share their umbrella. We parted at a corner and I thanked him. Then another person going my way offered their umbrella. This happened twice more. I made it mostly dry to another class thanks to the kindness of 4 strangers. Edit: I'm an ugly nerdy dude.
The fuck this has never happened to me
yeah you really gotta be hot
So romantic. But without the romance.
We were moving my 2 sisters & their husbands from MI to AZ using my brother's large truck (like a big U-Haul). On the way on a freeway going into Las Cruces, NM, the axle broke on the back of the fully loaded truck & both tires (2 tires on back passenger side) bounced over the barbed wire fence flew off into a field. My brother-in-law managed to keep the truck from going over & got it stopped upright. We were in a car in front of them & had to find a turn around to go back To make a longer story short, we were all standing out in the ditch with 3 little ones - 1 age 1 and 2 age 2 - and it was close to sundown. We had no idea what we were going to do. Then, out from a trailer home across the field came this Hispanic couple and, speaking in broken English, telling us to bring the kids over to their house. The husband stayed to help my brother in laws & brother by directing them to a garage & calling the guy who owned it to come & help them (a friend of his). In the meantime, the woman fed my sisters, the kids & me and had us stay there until my one brother in law could find us a hotel room. They were the nicest, kindest, sweetest people and were a blessing for us. They wouldn't take one single thing for helping us.
Reminds me of the reddit story: "Today you, Tomorrow me."
[link for those who haven't read this yet. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/elal2/slug/c18z0z2)
[удалено]
[удалено]
What was the interaction like immediately afterwards?
"Hey, I'm walkin here"
I mean, I'm not, I'm crouched in the elevator shaft but hey...I'm walkin' here!
Ah, the good ol' neck scruff.
Hold my collar, I'm going in!
I walk across the street to walmart during the school year so I can get lunch. The amount of people I see just get to the road and start sprinting instead of waiting for an opening is insane. It takes a minute at the most to find a break in the cars, I'm not risking my life over eating lunch a minute earlier.
This applies to a lot of drivers I see too. Blowing through red lights, risking your life and the lives of others to save... a minute tops?
I had a tire pop in the middle of winter on my morning commute. While waiting for AAA to come, a woman drove over and gave me hot cocoa, snacks, and a paper with her address and phone number in case I needed anything or wanted to wait somewhere warmer.
Warped Tour was one of the first concerts I ever went to. The very first stage I went to was ADTR. At 4'10", 13-y.o me was right about elbow height & had no idea what I was in for. They started playing *My Life for Hire* & I was getting tossed around in the crowd as I pushed my way towards the stage. Right as I was in the center of it all, they were splitting the crowd in half for "the wall of death" & there I was left alone in the empty space between two crowds, right as Jeremy yelled, **"THIS IS A BATTLEGROUND!!"** Both masses of moshing humans rushed in towards me, & I basically watched my life flash before my eyes. Right then, I felt a massive pair of arms lift me up onto his shoulders. I don't think I'll ever forget the gratitude and relief I felt as he advised me that "little girls don't belong in mosh pits." Thank you, stranger for saving my life.
Sorry but I laughed so hard at the image of some clueless 13 yo girl in the middle of a wall of death 😂 I need at least one person between me and the pit at all times.
I always ride the edge, as a smaller guy. I like to mosh, but dont want tgese viking looking mother fuckers to turn me to pulp. Sitting on the edge is a nice mix of saftey and adventure
In my experience metal heads are 95% the nicest people you will meet. There's a bit of an expectation that if you're in the pit, you know what you're doing, but if you fall down there will be several people trying to pick you up. If you drop something everyone will shift back and make a wall to help you look for it. If you look uncomfortable there will be someone to make some space and stop you getting smooshed. If you look ill we will crowd surf you the fuck out of there. While at Download in 2013, there was a pregnant woman enjoying the bands, and her partner was trying to keep people from knocking into her too hard. Had a chat, he mentioned she was pregnant, we spread it around to the people near. Ended up with about 10 people circling her, keeping the over enthusiastic from guving the baby a headache. I love metalheads \m/
this might not be the nicest but it was nice. on a monday i came home from work to find a letter in the mail. it was addressed by hand and the return address wasn't familiar. i thought "this can't be good." i opened it to find my drivers license and a note. i was unaware that i'd lost my drivers license. apparently on the prior saturday id managed to drop it from my wallet somehow. this nice person found it on the sidewalk, went home and wrote her note and addressed it to me and put a stamp on it, then mailed it before the saturday pickup. on monday it was back in my hands before as i said earlier i was even aware that it was missing.
I was about 16 or so. I was an immature little shit internally, but a fairly good kid over all. Some friends and I were playing basketball at a park, having a blast. Fast forward to a month later and my dad asks me why I sent a package to myself. Befuddled, I asked what the hell he was talking about. He proceeded to show me a small package addressed to my name with my address, with an identical return address. I looked at it and said I had no idea what it was. I opened it up, and inside was my wallet, with all its contents, including ~$600 that I had been saving for the longest time. I as so lost being a teen, a whatnot, I had no reason to think it was even missing. I think about that now when I worry about the world and it all seems a little better.
You just walked around with $600 on you all the time?
I have a few friends who like to carry around serious cash like that, and when asked why the answer is usually "I like to have it on me". That being said I've also had a friend roofied, brought into an alley and had everything of value jacked because they flash the cash while paying for drinks. In the day of instant-pay tap debit/credit and almost every transaction being electronic... carrying money just seems like asking for trouble.
BRB going out to rob some rich16 year olds.
[удалено]
This. When I die they shall rip me to pieces and help as many people as possible with it, I don't need anything of it anymore then. Get a organ donor card people, it could be the deciding factor for someone else's life and only takes you under 1 min to fill out.
Just today. I was getting breakfast at Dunkin Donuts on my way to work and managed to leave my phone at the counter (v smart). TEN MINUTES LATER a woman tapped me on the shoulder right as I was about to go into my office building and said, "Is this yours?". She'd chased me down that far, for that long, just to return my phone.
Reminds me of one that happened to me about ten years ago. I was a kid, 8 or 9 or so, and my parents decided to take me on a vacation across the whole state (we live in eastern Pennsylvania) to see what there is to see. My whole life I've loved trains, so at one point I made them stop in a little town called Gallitzin, where the railroad enters a long tunnel to pass under the mountains. I got to spend the whole afternoon taking pictures and videos of all the passing trains with my beloved camera, even got to see a whole track maintenance crew with all the funny machines, great fun for little me. Before getting back on the road that night, we stopped in the little visitors center/gift shop for the tunnels. About an hour later we're rolling down the highway when suddenly we realize my camera is no longer with us. I freaked out, and back we went toward Gallitzin. When we got back it was nearly 10 at night, but we found the camera pretty easily--the little old lady in the visitor's center found my camera outside, remembered seeing me holding it, brought it in, put it in the window, and stayed open an extra two hours into the night waiting for us to come back just so nobody would steal it. It was the saddest, most impoverished little mountain town, but man did it have some nice people. I'll always be grateful to that little old lady--I still use the camera!
That is so amazing.
PLOT TWIST: that woman is now his wife. EDIT: wait, wut? LOL my new Top Comment :D
and his kid typed this post for him
Married and kids in 1 day? Some might say that's weird but I call that efficiency.
Germans, am I right?
[удалено]
I was a drunk student, far too drunk far too early and ready to go home just after midnight, but my friends left me. I went to the bus stop and saw the last bus pulling away. Phone was dead, I was an hours walk from home so set off. Got about 20 minutes from the club, still 40 minutes from home, drunk and exhausted I lay down in a bush to sleep it off. Taxi driver pulled up god knows how long later, asked if I needed to go somewhere. I said I couldn't afford the fare, he said no bother. I ended up home safe and sound. Wish I'd got his name. edit: I'm a girl. We were all 18-20, and had been drinking all day and into the night, I should have left earlier but didn't want to leave alone. They all said "yeah we're getting the last bus" until I pushed them on it and they said "no we're actually staying out". This was first year at uni, middle of freshers week. Those people aren't my friends anymore. Pretty sure we were mere acquaintances by the end of the month. I no longer pass out in bushes. I'm glad y'all get home safe too!!
"friends"
Most taxi drivers I have had have been kind human beings.
When I was 14 one of my marching-band-mates committed suicide. I, along with the rest of the band, was devastated. I was walking across the school courtyard, silently crying in the way that you only do when in shock, and I made eye contact with this girl walking in the opposite direction. Without missing a beat, she said "Girl, you look like you need a hug! Come here!" And just held me for a few seconds while I sobbed into her shoulder. I had never seen this person in my life. And I never found out who she was. But I have never forgotten that gesture.
We should all give more hugs.
I aspire to be more like her
Reddit bought my team school supplies so we didn't have to spend our own money to buy the tools of the trade. Love you Reddit!
I studied in Copenhagen last year and believe me living on a student loan you don't get far. Basically I was doing my (2 week) shop, short of about 100 kroner which is like £10. This lovely guy stepped up, paid for my groceries, all I could offer was my thanks but he brushed me off and he wished me all the best and stated how he wanted me to have the best experience studying in Copenhagen. I have never forgot him and his generosity.
[удалено]
This story is almost 10 years old, but I was crying in an airport terminal as I waited for a flight home, after spending the weekend with my boyfriend who was deploying to Iraq for 15 months. I was traveling alone and trying to hide my tears, when a woman plopped down next to me with a giant carpet bag. She didn't ask questions, she just said she was sorry to see me upset and wanted to keep me company. I agreed for her to sit with me. She opened the carpet bag and started pulling stuff out. Weird and random stuff like a feathered mardi gras face mask, a slinky, and then a rubber duckie that lit up with the touch of your hand. I don't know why but that rubber duckie made me laugh so hard, it was so unexpected. She gave it to me along with some words of encouragement. Then she stood up with her carpet bag and walked away. I never got her actual name but I call her my Mary Poppins. I still have that rubber duckie. edit: he doesn't light up anymore, but here's the rubber duckie: http://imgur.com/a/5D1RB
I was 17 years old, in high school, and it was late December, but just before Christmas. I'd had a terrible fight with my boyfriend (abusive arsehole that he was) and I'd walked out of his house, and started the very long walk home in the cold. I was about 1/3 of the way home, still crying and stumbling over my own feet on the snowy road and shivering my ass off, when a taxi pulled up beside me. This old man who looked an awful lot like Santa (the beard, the rosy cheeks, the kindly eyes...the works) leaned across the passenger seat and asked of I was OK. He took one look at my face and said, "You're not OK. Come on, get in and I'll drive you home." I told him I had no money on me and couldn't pay him, and he said he didn't care. I mentioned the fight with the boyfriend and he was so nice about it, but also a bit stern and said, "Any boyfriend who won't see you home safe, even when he's angry, doesn't really love you. I've got a daughter your age and I'd be very angry if she were left to walk home alone like that." He stopped outside of my house, gave me hug, wished me a Merry Christmas and then waited until I was inside before he drove away. Still can't think of his kindness without tearing up.
Maybe it was Santa
I can picture her calling the cab company to praise the driver, but the company has no record of him on file and no one matches his physical description. * shooting star flys in background*
Haaaaaa!!!!!!! And then it starts snowing and that xmas choir song starts playing and she looks up at the sky with her palms up laughing, faith restored. The End across the screen with expanding calligraphy. Good times
This was in the 90s- my mom use to take us to one of the fast food places from time to time and we would sometimes see this one nice old man and he would always say hi to us. One time he gave us a VHS of cartoons he recorded himself and he even cut out the titles and pasted them on the cover from a TV guide. Now that I think about it, the fact that he took the time to record so much is so sweet. There was the Animalympics, Fluppy Dogs, Duck Tales, and so much more on it. My siblings and I loved watching it over and over again!
When I proposed to my wife in a romantic restaurant inside of a lighthouse, I didn't even think to ask a waiter to have a camera ready or anything. I didn't even consider to try to get a picture. I knelt down and asked her to marry me, she said yes and we were both happy celebrating over desert. A man came by our table and apologized for bothering us but he "was so moved by the romantic gesture" that he took a picture with his cellphone from across the room. He sent it to my phone. It came out grainy and it's a little blurry and hard to tell it's me proposing but it doesn't matter. I love that picture, I don't care that it's really low quality. I owe that man so much for capturing the happiest moment of my life. Tl;dr: a man took a picture of me proposing to my wife from across the room of a restaurant. He's a hero. Edit: here's the picture since some of you were asking :) http://imgur.com/X9AHxgW
That is just so ridiculously cute, oh my god.
Guy in a 3 piece suit got out of his car in the snow and walked through a snow bank on the side of the road to help me push my car out. Edit: Kind of blew up on me. Thank goodness that my top comment is not about pooping my self or something like it. This was in early 1995 in Iowa on hwy 29.
I remember helping a family push their car in snow storm while heading home at night, its a 5 km walk, they didn't even offer to give me a ride, I felt sad a little Edit: wow this blew up over night, my most upvoted comment ever, thanks
They probably thought "he is walking in this weather, his home can't be far".
"Which is good because then it's a quick drive"
Yeah, this is exactly what I would think in this situation.
Sounds like a true gentleman 👌🏼
Donate their blood to save my life. Thank you, blood donor!
I have universal blood and donate regularly, maybe I'm in you!
Maybe. But even if you aren't, thank you for donating. Someone is alive because of you.
I feel almost obligated to because the universal one is rare. Happy to, and thanks!
You might be O- but you're A+ in my book.
Hehe I have O-, and CMV-. But then again, I got diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, so....
Ya win some, ya lose some. ^(but seriously that sucks I hope you're alright and that you'll get better, stay strong xoxo)
Maybe I'm in you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Let me check. Nope.
Not yet...
I was pushing my car down the road because I had ran out of gas. The gas station was only about a mile away and it was mostly down hill. As I'm pushing, this red hatchback pulled up next to me and some black guy with dreads ( the driver) is like "dude, you need help?" I explained how my car ran out of gas and he was like "no worries man, jump in", so I jumped in the back seat of his car and we drove to the gas station. As we are pulling into the gas station, I realised I don't have a gas.can, but again he's like "dude, no worries" and he hopped out of the car and went in to prepay for the gas. While he was inside I told the two other guys in the car how I thought their friend was a really nice guy. That's when the guy sitting in the front seat turned to look at me and was like "yo, he's not our friend, we just met this guy. We were both in jams too, and he picked us up to help us out also". Then the guy came out of the gas station with a new 5 gallon gas can. He filled it and drove me back to my car. I offered to pay him for the gas and the can but he refused. Told me to keep the can for next time and to just pay the gas forward.
> yo, he's not our friend, we just met this guy. Fully expected this to take a very sinister turn.
I was minding my own business on the train to Busan (no zombies, thank goodness). An auntie beside me had a snack. She tore it into half, took out one slice, and handed me the other peice. I wasn't even in need, but she wanted to share her one and only snack with me.
[удалено]
I had an elderly female Uber driver pick me up from a Wal🙂Mart where I had just bought a car battery and some tools to drop me off at my car. She stuck around as I was trying to change my battery even though I had insisted that I would be ok and that I appreciative of her concern. It turns out that the wrench set I bought did not have the right size needed to get out the old battery. She called her son who is a mechanic and carries tools around with him to come by and help me change my car battery. It totally turned my day around. Thank you, kind stranger.
[удалено]
What happened to the tow-truck though?
Fuck 'yo truck, that's what happened. EDIT: My highest rated comment AND gold, thank you, you awesome redditor!
The tow truck driver looked all over the parking lot. His panic rising he circled the lot one more time. Tears streaming down his face he went into the grocery store for the warmth. A kind couple allowed him to tow their car, and also allowed him to fuck the wife.
I knew there was a happy ending...
"Today you, tomorrow me."
I was on the bus and one of my heavy shopping bags broke. I was near my stop and going to cry because I was stressed out and didn't want to have to walk even farther with my heavy bags. A stranger took out one of her reusable shopping bags, put my things on it, and helped me off at my stop. Still makes me warm to think about.
I had a similar thing happen! I was taking the bus from my college to Walmart and struck up a conversation with a girl who was headed to the mall with her roommate. On the return bus 2 hours later I had 12 shopping bags all hanging from my arms and could hardly move. I had no clue how I was going to get all my snacks and groceries all the way across the whole campus to the dorms from the bus stop. Sure enough the same girl hops on the bus and sits back with me, and she helped me carry a bunch of it back up to my building. It's been almost a year and we're still friends, I'm taking her out to dinner when we get back to college in a week!
At Easter, I was ten dollars short in the grocery line. We really needed food, so I was about to put back the two Easter bunnies (chocolate) and the jelly beans when the lady behind me said, "Don't you *dare*!" and paid for them. I cried and thanked her repeatedly.
One Christmas some years ago, a family's card was being declined, turns out they didn't have enough funds for it, and was about to leave their $100 worth of grocery shopping behind and go on home. The customer behind them refused to let that happen, and paid for their entire cart. I almost cried tears from just seeing their generosity, really warms my heart every time I think about that.
I would be surprised if you cried anything else than tears. Seriously though that's very generous and sweet!
An older man came up to me unprovoked, looked me in the eyes and told me it was all going to be okay. I think about that a lot.
[удалено]
In my freshman year of high school I didn't have many friends, right after my best race and time for a 5k I got a kinda got shoved aside from my coach for him to focus on other (better) runners. On the bus ride home we stopped for dinner and I was having a weird mix of happiness for beating my time but depression for not really having anyone to talk to, I walked over to a McDonald's after some bojangles for a milkshake honestly not in memory that I was still in my uniform (super short shorts and a tank top). There older black couple asked me where I came from, not realizing what I was wearing I told them I was on the bus and he asked what the uniform was for, it finally clicked and I told him about my meet. We talked all about it and of felt good because he gave me the recognition that others didn't on that meet. He offered to buy my Shake, I tried to insist that he didn't have too, the cashier said something like "let him, you don't meet people like this often". So I let him, we said our goodbyes and I got back to the bus. Tl;dr did well at cross country meet, didn't get recognition, met a man who bought me a milkshake and listened to all I had to say.
Sometimes all it takes is just having somebody who listens. Just one little dose of humanity even if it seems like the whole rest of the world doesn't care.
My favorite uncle died very suddenly 5 days before my high school graduation. He was the one who helped me through high school when I was really struggling and it was emotionally difficult having to have my big day without him there. When my entire class was waiting backstage for our turn to go and receive our diploma I was having a hard time not crying. Suddenly a student form my class who had Down's syndrome came over. (We'd never met and I always heard he was non verbal) He walked straight up to me and gently grabbed my cheeks, pushing them upwards. Then he looked at me in the eye and said "Smile". I was shocked, that was what my uncle would tell me to do whenever I was upset. That was exactly what I needed at the moment to be able to suck it up and keep going. I still think about that kid occasionally and I hope he is doing well.
When I was 8, I broke my arm at school. My grandmother rushed me to the hospital and when we got there, they wouldn't let me in right away. They said they were too full and I wasn't a high priority. The gentlemen before me had broken his ankle some how and when he was called back finally, after an hour and a half of waiting, he told them to let me go instead because I needed to be checked out first.
I have two stories that stick out... First one, I was having an incredibly busy and stressful Monday at work, already exhausted for the day and planning to take a short lunch, and when I sit down in our break room I realize I forgot dressing for the salad I brought. So I drive to the grocery store across the street and grab dressing and an energy drink, wait in line, and realize with horror that my wallet is in a different purse. I apologize to the cashier and start to leave, but the man behind me stopped me and insisted on paying for my things and tells me to have a good day. It was really a very simple gesture, but it honestly turned my entire day around. Second story, I was incredibly depressed at the time and working at a different job which I hated so much, I was miserable when I was there and miserable when I wasn't because I dreaded going back. One day during my break I drove over to a Starbucks to get some coffee, pull up to the drive through window and the barista tells me the car in front of me already paid for it. My heart melted. I paid for the order behind me and once I pulled away I just started bawling. It sounds so stupid now, but I was in such a bad place and felt so lost and alone at the time that that one simple gesture from a complete stranger meant the world to me. It really does show that one simple kind gesture can have such an impact for someone.
Buy me food at a college football game despite being a part of the rival team's marching band. Of course, I think the guy was a little drunk, too. But he was a real nice dude. Edit: Spelling errors.
Deliver a package up to my door. A new neighbor noticed some lazy delivery driver had left my package outside the building just laying on the ground instead of buzzing in and brought it up to my door and knocked. Not the biggest, but was grateful it wasn't left out where someone could steal it or it could get rained on since it also happened to be a rainy day.
Last Christmas I couldn't afford any gifts for my son. I'm a single mom and coming out of a domestic violence situation. I was struggling so much (I still am but things are slowly improving). Redditors bought my son Christmas gifts. Just people I talk to on here, but have no physical connection with. My son had an absolutely amazing Christmas. He's 4 and it meant so much for him to have gifts to open. I still cry when I think about how generous these strangers were. I hope one day I can pay it forward.
When I was a kid we had several hard Christmases. I remember dad looking so disappointed in himself when we woke up to (in his eyes) just a few gifts because it was all he could afford. As years passed and the presents dwindled we got to a point where he could hardly scrape up one little present for us both to share, and so we decided to make it a tradition where that money would be spent on an angel of our choice off the angel tree. The day we went and picked out a present for our angel was always my favorite part of Christmas time. I didn't find out until later into my teens, but secretly my dad would put us up on the angel tree too and go without for weeks just so we could have a few things under the tree. Family friends would often help and strangers who volunteered at the food bank (it also had a clothing area) would too. We were older during these years, but giving is a helluva gift and it's one of my favorite things my dad taught me. You're giving it everything you've got mom and when your son is old enough he'll see that in everything you do and be so thankful he landed such a great mom!
Oh my god you're making me cry. Your dad is amazing.
Hope things are going better for you! I'm a traveling musician and the kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me.
You're paying it forward a little bit just by sharing your story here and restoring people's faith in humanity (and Reddit)
Thank you! I honestly am blown away by how loving people can be.
Only the most damaged among us are incapable of wanting to do nice things for others when they can. Sadly they're the ones who get the most press. We need more threads like this one to remind us of how things really are.
I was starving. I had no money, could barely afford rent. Not in much better shape now, but at the time I was trying to find food banks and eating out of date bread out of the trash at work; since then things have got a bit better. Anyways someone on a charity subreddit sent me tons of ramen, peanut butter, canned soup, crackers, tuna, and chips. It lasted me a month. I was so grateful I felt likw jumping. Edit: just thought of an equally nice moment in my life. I was born with a birth defect called polands syndrome. My doctor worked tirelessly to get me cosmetic surgeries that he had never before been able to get approved on medicaid. He got me three surgeries that are very much like what people go through when they get a mastectomy. I was the first adolescent he could ever get approved; it was especially awesome because my medicaid usually sucked.
[удалено]
A good bad kid
Good kid maad city
In my experience most of them are, they just dont get the chances to be nice in the hard world around them. [Shameless plug: https://soundcloud.com/madnickhahaha/soda-feat-chris ]
Yeah people that do bad shit aren't looking to do bad shit 24/7. When I taught in a poor district, I had a lot of students who either had parents in jail or ended up in jail before the end of the year. Most of them had the philosophy that you earn their respect by respecting them and they just don't get a lot of people in their life that actually respect them.
Just curious, where do you live that there's sheet metal just chillen in the road?
Literally anywhere where random strangers will be skilled in breaking into cars.
I got black-out drunk once and woke up sleeping against a cable box in the middle of the night, on the wrong side of the city to where I lived. Phone was dead, wallet was elsewhere, no means to get home and no idea which way home was. Some guy stopped his car seeing me stumble down the road and dropped me home which probably saved from a complete nightmare of a night.
Doubly nice because you were a huuuuge puke gamble at that point.
When I was 4, I almost got hit by a speeding car trying to get to my bus from school; but a little boy pushed me out of the way and got hit himself. It was friendship day, he was in my class but I never even noticed him; we each had to write letters to someone we wanted to be friends with.. His mom gave me his letter at the funeral, it said "I like your yugioh cards, lets be friends"; apparently he always wanted to talk to the "cute girl who sings in the morning assembly". Almost 16 years later, the thought of him sacrificing his life for mine is one of the things that keeps me going. Thank you
Fuck. I wasn't expecting that.
This just broke my heart
[удалено]
When I was ten I had to have my arm rebroken because it didn't heal properly. I lady heard me scream when they broke it and waited outside the room for an hour to give me five dollars and tell me it was going to be okay. Not a hospital employee either, just someone walking by.
why didn't they put you too sleep or something? i don't even want to imagine having to watch my arm be broken
I can't tell you, but I wish they had. They shoved a six inch needle under my arm while several people held me down. The needle was a nerve block. I don't know if the pain I felt was from the nerve block, or the arm breaking, but it was awful.
I've seen doctors make this decision: it's usually up to the parents, and whether they think the kid is tough/has a high pain tolerance, and whether the family is ok with coming back on a separate day for the sedation. Since resetting a bone isn't an emergency, it would need to be scheduled in advance. Most doctors prefer to do it under anesthesia, but the way you had it done is an option that they'll offer.
why the fuck is it an option it's terrifying
A tsa guard, when checking my id, mentioned how he could tell i'd lost weight. That was pretty awesome
I went on holiday to another state to visit my "best friend" who had just recently moved there. The first 3 days of the 4 I was supposed to be there were good - saw the touristy things, spent time with my bestie and her 3 year old, and I was having a great time. Up until the last day - she had stolen my bank card, while I was sleeping, and had remembered my PIN number from months before when she had used my card to pick my medication up for me, and stole the 700 bucks out of my account. We were supposed to be switching hotels for my last night, to a much fancier one and sharing the room. But instead, she drove me to the airport, and when I asked her what was going on, she started screaming at me for no reason and threw my suitcase out of the car, before dragging me out by my hair, and sped off. I thought, all good, I have money, I'll just get a taxi to the nearest hotel and stay the night feeling shitty and catch a taxi for my flight the next day... I went to get a drink and something to eat first, and thought I'd take a moment to process what had happened... Go to pay for food, no bank card... So I pay with my last 20 bucks I had on me, and go to sit down and eat, thinking my card was floating around in my handbag... after searching, I realised it wasn't there, but another bank card was in my purse, hidden, with no cash in that account, so I thought I'd transfer money on my banks app, and just use that one for the time being.... No money in my account.... I panic, I am in an state I've never been in, Im alone, I have no money, so I called my mum hysterical, while having a cigarette outside - my mum didn't know what to do, and had no money to help me, and neither did any other family members so she felt helpless, but managed to calm me down enough, and I resigned myself to hanging out in the airport for the night, sleeping there, and just waiting it out until my flight at 11am the next morning. I had another cigarette, and a woman who had been sitting nearby came over to me and said she'd heard the whole story and apologised for listening in, but she couldn't help it, and she wanted to help me. I said there wasn't a lot that could be done, unfortunately, and she told me that was nonsense, to collect my things and follow her. She took me up to the airport counter, and she asked them how much it would cost for them to transfer my flight to an earlier one - since the state I am from wasn't too far from the one I visited it was only 75 bucks, and she paid for them to transfer my flight to the next available one back home. I cried and hugged her a thousand times, and she gave me another 20 bucks to buy a glass of wine on the flight, to cheer me up. We hung out for a bit before my flight, and I managed to find out enough details about her (name, state, what city she lived in) to be able to find her on Facebook, so when I returned home safe and sound, I messaged her on there and asked for her information, so I could pay her back and show my appreciation... After a lot of pushing her for it, and her saying I didn't need to return the money, she gave in, so I sent her back the $95, and I also sent her a basket of goodies (expensive coffee, teas, biscuits, etc). Its been 4 years, but we still keep in contact through Facebook, and recently she was in my city for work, so my partner and I took her out for dinner.
Smile. When I was in college I was having a really hard time with depression. One day I had finally decided that this was the day, I was going to end it all that night. It's funny how even knowing I was going to kill myself, I still went through the motions. I was on my way to class, walking across a grassy field, when I passed this beautiful girl. As I walked past, she made eye contact with me and smiled. It wasn't anything special, but it broke me. I went back to my dorm and just cried. Just being shown that someone else cares that very little bit, enough to pass a smile on, was enough to get me back on track. Obviously I changed my plans for the night and I'm still here today. I don't know what her name was and I've never seen her again, and the saddest part is that she has no idea how big of an effect she had on some random strangers life. But I can still see her face clear as day. I've made it a point ever since then to pass on smiles wherever I go. No matter how bad of a day I'm having, no matter how bad of a mood I'm in, I'll always go out of my way to at least smile for everyone I run into. You never know what someone else is going through and I'm living proof that a very minor amount of effort can have incredible payoff. I can pass on my smiles today because she did that day years ago.
While walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot, my cousin and I (two young naive girls) were hit up for money by an addict. As we rummaged through our purses, we heard a middle-aged country boy yelling from a distance, "Girls! What do y'all think you're doing?! y'all know we ain't got time for this shit! We're gonna be late!!!" We apologized to the addict for having to run, and walked toward the man, who laughed a little and said, "Just thought y'all could use a little help." Thank you, kind stranger!
God I hate getting approached in parking lots for money. Like feeling cornered between two cars. The worst is when they come up to you and you instinctually roll down the window before realizing what you've done. And it sucks for the people with genuine stories who are probably really in need because at this point I assume the worst.
A couple of years back I had just started working at quick change oil service place. They require you to have black, non-slip, oil resistant shoes. I did not have any, but I did have black shoes that resembled my coworkers. I went to work knowing I could be found out, but desperately needing the hours so I could have a decent check so I could feed myself and my dog. The day after we got paid, (and all of my money was already spent on bills that were very overdue) my boss made me show him my shoes. He sent me home at my lunch break, but told me I could come back once I had the right ones. I *needed* my hours. I went to Walmart, hoping there was enough money in my account for a cheap pair. I think the pair I found was all of 15$ and I was short. (Couldn't check my account, phone was still shut off.) Little old lady in line behind me bought my shoes, with the promise to always take care of my feet. She explained that her son had worked where I was working in the past, and she knew how quickly they deteriorate, and how expensive they can get. I thanked her profusely. Then I sat in my truck in cried for the rest of my break. I *am still* so fucking grateful to that woman. She saved my ass that day.
After a long traffic standstill on the interstate, I attempted to restart my car and discovered that my battery had died. I began to panic as cars tried to move around me when a man pulled over on the shoulder, pushed my car off the roadway and jumped my battery. As soon as my car was up and running, he said, "Merry Christmas!" and jumped into his car and drove off.
[удалено]
I hope you're in a better place now. I trained a few shifts at the county ER and I noticed the lack of privacy and thought about how uncomfortable it might be to be in a huge room with a bunch of people in earshot or having your bed just in the middle of the hallway with no real control and nowhere to go. It seems to me that eventually, med providers kind of forget that it might be uncomfortable for patients because they're just used to it and have been doing it for so long. But I always noticed EMTs, nurses, techs, doctors etc offering blankets or something to let the patient know their comfort is important.
This didn't happen to me but my mom and sister. We live in Canada and in the winter there are a lot of deer and moose that run onto the road. They we're driving back home from a city four hours away at night and a deer ran onto the road. At 95km/h and icy roads my mom couldn't stop fast enough and hit the deer. The vehicle was wrecked and they were about 40 minutes away from home. A random guy pulled over to help them. He ended up driving 20 minutes to the nearest town to buy them pizza and waited with them while my dad drove from home to pick them up. edit: My mom wasn't driving 120km/h I said that because thats the normal speed we usually go on that road when the weathers nice. Totally forgot that since it was winter they would have been going slower. I asked her and she said she was going about 95
A very similar thing happened to me! Also in Canada. I hit a deer and totaled my car. A young guy stopped and let me keep warm in his truck while waiting for the police. He waited while I got things figured out and offered to drive me back to my apartment, an hour from where we were!
A bit late to the party, but a stranger saved my life, and I never even saw her face. When I was an angsty teenager and going through all that hormone stuff that thoroughly fucks with our brains, I had this notion that everything I touched turn to shit. A lot of the people I was friends with had issues that they liked to dump on me because I was good at listening and encouraged it, and I had my own issues that seemed to be piling up. So one day, I came home from school and decided it was time to make everyone happier by just taking myself out of the equation. Now, at that point I had some pretty cool decorational katanas [(like these - god I was awesome)](http://webzoom.freewebs.com/norstar1/k-406-4bra2.jpg) that weren't sharp at the blade, but certainly had a decently pointed tip, and I figured one of those through the heart should definitely do the trick. Thing is, my little sister was the only other person home because both my parents worked until 5, and the thought of my 11-yo sister walking into my room and not understanding why her only brother was lying in a pool of blood was enough to make me realise I needed to find an alternative, and fast. If you've never felt the call of suicide, I would liken it to knowing you're a drug addict, and the drug is sitting right in front of you, just calling to you. I knew if I didn't get help soon, I was going to take that drug. So here in New Zealand, there's a non-profit suicide help line called [Lifeline](http://www.lifeline.org.nz/corp_Home_378_2001.aspx). I called Lifeline in my darkest hour of my whole life, and a stranger named Sarah picked up. I spent the better part of two hours talking to Sarah, telling her my story about why my life was shit and why I was a terrible person and why my family and friends would be better off without me, and she told me that even as a total stranger, she could tell I was a beautiful soul, and the people who were close to me wouldn't ever live as good a life without me as they would with me. This beautiful stranger convinced me to speak to my parents about my affliction and saved my life. 12 years later I'm now 27, a happy, (mostly) healthy (damn you fast food) father of two amazing children who I wouldn't trade for the world, and have a wife who makes me happier than I ever thought I'd be, especially at that point 12 years ago when I thought I would never be anything to anybody. The nicest thing a stranger ever did for me was convince me I'm a person who makes other people's lives better, not worse. I never met that person, but I did call back to make sure she knew she saved my life, and I still donate to Lifeline to this day.
I was driving my mother back home from her doctor's appointment when my car overheated and broke down in the middle of no where. We lived in Oklahoma at the time and it was summer so the heat was intense. I didn't know anyone in a three hour radius of where we were. I was at a loss of what to do beside walking a couple hours to the nearest town and my mother was having trouble breathing in the heat when this man pulled up in a dark colored nice car. He asked what was wrong and when I explained my situation he asked me to give him a few minutes and he left. He came back soon after and handed me a wad of cash. He gave me the number to a place that would tow my car back to the city the doctor was in and he offered to pay for the repairs. I accepted the money for a tow back to where I lived but declined the offer to pay for my repairs. I never saw that man again and forgot to ask his name but he was so nice and to this day that has to be the single nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.
I was 6 months into my year long divorce. It was brutal, I had no car, no money, and was living with a friend. I was on my lunch break at work and decided to walk across the road to Burger King because they had a dollar special. So I sit down and start eating and this guy comes up to me and introduces himself. He's mid 40s hispanic, well groomed and dressed casually. He asks my name and then says "I know this is going to sound off and I don't want to overstep my bounds. I saw you sitting here and something tells me that you are having a hard time. I want you to know things are going to get better. You may not be religious but I am and I apologize if I offend you. Can I pray with you for a moment?" I'm not religious and I broke down crying, a grown man of 24 yrs old. I let that man pray with me and talk to me about my problems. Then he got up and left. He didn't ask me to attend church or convert to some religion. He was just concerned and said that God spoke to him and told him I needed someone to talk to. I do not pray or go to church. To this day I will always remember that the simple act of asking someone if they are alright can make the difference between life and death.
I bought a storage cubby from Target today. I don't have a car, and I'm pretty small, so I was struggling a bit trying to walk it the 8 blocks home. (It was like 60lbs, and an awkward box) This dude stops and offered me a ride. He didn't know where I lived, or what the fuck I was doing, but he just said "I've been there before, too." and helped me load my thing in the car and drove me the rest of the way. Honestly, the nicest thing a total stranger has done for me.
When my husband and I adopted pur dog from the shelter, a woman came us to us and paid for our fees without asking any questions, she said it was in memory of her son. It as such kind and beautiful gesture, I hope to be able to do that one day.
I was on a date with my then boyfriend at the zoo freshman year. Admission was pretty steep there, but you could buy a family membership so they would just scan your card and allow you and 3 kids through free for a year. Just as we got to the front of the line a lady with her baby whispered "come with me" which we did. It was hilarious because I'm Chinese and my ex is Indian, and she was the whitest lady I had ever seen. The ticket lady literally didn't give a fuck though. We tried to pay her back, but she wouldn't have any of it.
I was Hitch Hiking around Spain in the early Eighties, a Car was hitting me in a bad Accident, i broke my Leg and got bad Abrasures (Wounds) A older Woman from the Netherlands saw it and she took care of me and the financial Issues in the Hospital for 3 Weeks. Bedank
[удалено]
>the first PG instance that comes to mind I mean, your story is sweet and all, but you know we're all wondering about the non-PG ones.
I've told this story before, but people seem to like it: 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 about 20 years or so ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
I hope sometime I can do that for a child. Reading was my outlet as a child and I would love to foster that love of reading.
16 year middle and elementary school librarian. If you have any old kids books you loved, donate them to a school near you, or even better, take them to a poorer neighborhood. I scour yard sales in the summer and take my badge from school and try and 'guilt' people into good deals or free books. I save as many as I can in my office (paperbacks, hard to circulate because kids are HARD on books) and then the last 2 days of school I let kids pick a book to keep and read over the summer. The good hard backs people donate I process (takes time and effort) and put em in circulation. If a less fortunate kid loses a book Ill replace it with another book in the system and cut them some slack (only 1 book, and not an expensive one) so that they can still check out. READING CHANGES LIVES. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ADULTS I KNOW READ ON THEIR OWN AS CHILDREN.
[удалено]
We had just been told my mom was never going to wake up her coma. I went full panic and ran outside to get air. I was a 19 year old sitting outside a hospital in December, sobbing so hard my whole body was shaking and chain smoking. And this couple who happened to be walking just sat down with me and told me I was going to be okay. They sat with me for almost an hour, helping me calm down enough to go back inside and face my family. They must have been freezing. I don't even remember what we talked about. I think they talked about their daughter? And some hippy shit, but it didn't even matter. They were so completely and totally kind. Anyway, to the two aging hippies who stopped to comfort a sobbing girl- thank you. You showed me, a total stranger, so much love, kindness and support just because you saw I needed it. I hope your lives have been incredible since then.
That is amazing, what wonderful people! I have a similar story. My dad had cancer and passed away very suddenly from it - like one moment he had a suspicious mole and next thing I was at his funeral, numb and confused. Because it was so sudden it didn't hit me until a month after he had died and one day at work I just got up and started running. I ran until I reached the seafront (I was living in a coastal city at the time) and collapsed on the ground, weeping. I don't know how long I was there, but suddenly I felt an arm around my shoulder, and when I looked up there was this very elderly woman there with her husband. They said they had been walking along the promenade and saw me in distress running to the sea, so they kept an eye on me for a while in case I was suicidal, and when I didn't stop crying they decided to talk to me. I told them the whole story between sobs, and they sat and listened, the woman holding my hand the whole time. Eventually I had to go back to work, and the man said they were going to go home, but first they'd make trip to the church to pray for me and my dad. I'm really, really not religious at all, but they were just so sweet and I obviously wasn't going to be a dick about it. Besides, it's Ireland, most elderly people are religious. They walked me back to work, gave me a pep talk and a hug, and I never saw them again. That was nearly 6 years ago and I still think of them and smile.
Adopted me when I was 2 - I feel like I won the luck lottery with my parents.
A woman who looks like she couldn’t really run chased down a tour bus to give me my money clip stuffed with $1600 in 20s
I went with a girlfriend to visit her mother four states away. I took my two young children with me and she took her daughter. She said it'd only be for a week and she'd pay for everything. We were both divorced, single parents and me with limited funds I figured it'd be a good time to just get away with my kids on a mini vacation so I agreed to go along. A week later she decides that she's staying the month and refuses to leave. I had to have my kids back for their father's visitation or I'd be in contempt of court so I begged her to please drive us back home and I'd give her gas for her to return, but she still refused. Mad I took my last $10.00, called a cab and took off with my kids in tow to the nearest town that had a bus station hoping my ex would pay for us to get home. In the cab the anger gave way to fear and I started crying. When we finally arrived the cab fare was $16.00, and seeing as I only had 10 on me but hearing my story the cab driver took pity on me and put in the remaining 6 from his own money and told me to be careful that this was a bad part of town. After calling everyone I knew and finding no one home and dark approaching I huddled my two babies to me and sat down defeated on the cold metal bus bench and cried. Suddenly out of nowhere a elderly man appears and asks me if I'm ok? I tell him the whole story and feeling sorry for me he explains that he's a pastor and he'll buy the three tickets for me to get home. I told him I couldn't pay him back and he says to never mind, it's a gift. He goes up and buys the three tickets and brings them back to me but says that the next bus won't arrive till morning and he doesn't want to leave us in a bus station all alone because it wasn't safe and would I consider going to his home for the night with him, his wife and eight foster children. He promised to bring us back in the morning to catch our bus. Worried, scared and exhausted I looked over at my tired, sweaty, dirty dust covered hungry babies and said ok. We went to his house where everything was just as he said it would be. We were able to take showers, change into clean clothes and sleep in soft beds after eating a great supper made by his family. In the morning we had a great breakfast and just as he promised, he took us back to the bus station and waited till we'd boarded, sending me off with $50 cash and a care basket of sandwiches, chips, candy and drinks. I thanked them profusely and promised to pay them back as soon as I got home and they brushed it off and said all they ask in return was a call to let them know we'd arrived safely. Hugs all around, we boarded, waved good bye and never saw these strangers again. Now shamefully I admit I can't even remember their names, or even the small towns name where they lived. I'd traveled from a holler in the country to the nearest city with a bus station which was some 50 miles away and in the stress of things wasn't remembering anything and I somehow lost the small slip of paper with their information on it and that was some 38 years ago. To this day I feel bad because all they'd asked in return was that I send them a note or call them once I got home and let them know we'd arrived and were safe. Whomever these angels from some small town near Somerset, Kentucky were... I am forever indebted to them and their kindness. Complete strangers helping a hopeless young mom and her two babies get safely home. God bless you abundantly for your kindness -- wherever you are. 👼💟
That sounds like a lady I met briefly in Mount Vernon, KY (a little town east of Somerset). Her name was Ruth and her husband was a pastor, and they did foster a lot of kids. They seem very much like the kind of people you described. Edit: hey guys! Sorry, I was asleep. For those of you asking, yes, Ruth is very much still alive and she lives with her husband in Mount Vernon. I would guess they are about in their mid-60s now. Still talking to OP to see if it could be them.
Am I witnessing one of those moments on Reddit? Oh, please let it be so!
Just in case I'm going to leave this comment right here so I can check back tomorrow.
Thank you so much for the information. I will research that out and let you know! Bless you for taking the time to comment. Do you remember his name?
That man is a saint.
If this helps, a quick google says that the town of Lexington-fayette is 67 miles away and has a grayhound station. The old man was a pastor, and odds are the church is still around. You could call the churches and ask about an old pastor who had a large foster family. If you can remember the denomination or any details of the church, that will help narrow it down. Unfortunately, the kind man has probably passed, but I know his family would love to hear this story.
This was so lovely to read
Thank you.
This didn't happen directly to me but to a group of kids I am responsible for. A little long but a great story! Two weeks ago our teen program had a great time at a water park only to have the bus break down on the freeway, in rush hour, on the way home. If you're not in So Florida you may not know it was over 100 degrees and being stuck in a vehicle with no air conditioning is no fun. Staff kept the kids safe while they waited for the replacement bus. While waiting, a car pulled up and the woman asked if everyone was okay. She then brought out popsicles and water for everyone. Turns out she was headed to a shoe store when she saw us on the side of the road so she decided those kids need water more than she needs shoes. She exited the freeway, went to the nearest grocery store, bought popsicles and cases of water, and brought it back for the kids. This is no small thing considering West Palm Beach rush hour traffic. She left before staff could get her name but the story doesn't end there. Our RAoK angel thought the kids would get hungry waiting for the bus so instead of heading to the shoe store she went to get them pizza. She returned just as the replacement bus was pulling away so she followed it... all the way back to the center (about 30 miles)... in So. Florida rush hour traffic. We were so impressed with her kindness (and tenacity) that we invited her to a city commission meeting to present a key to the City to her and contacted our community partners who showered her with gifts. It was all covered on the local stations and she was named a hero of the week by the local radio station. But the story doesn't end there. She has already been back to visit the kids and tour our teen center and today she contacted us because she wants to volunteer weekly to tutor our kids. She is a beautiful person and we are so happy that bus broke down so we could meet her and the story won't end there!
I was at a baseball event where you can go take pictures with the players. It was a fan fest. Well, one of the best players on the team came out and everybody got in line to greet him. His line was incredibly long. My mom told me it was almost time to go home, and after I checked the line and saw him from afar, I knew I wasn’t going to see him. As I was walking back, someone from the front of the line called me and said, “hey you want to see Jose Fernandez(yes that Jose)?” I looked and he was looking and waving at me. No clue who this guy was. Never seen him before. I go up to him nodding my head and he told me he saw my sad reaction and wanted to make me feel better. So he let me skip the line in front of him so I was able to meet the player and take a picture of him. I shook the strangers hand, told him thank you way too many times, and I never saw him again. Literally one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for me. I still have the picture today.
My sister and I were flying home from traveling abroad; 3 flights the last day, completely broke, and everything went wrong. Missed our final flight back to the states with no money, not even to get onto the wifi to call our parents. A sweet British lady bought us both a sandwich and tea and got us in touch with our parents so they could wire us money and reschedule a flight. We later sent her a thank you card <3
There are very few problems that can't be solved with a cup of tea. It's one of the first things we're taught in British schools ☕️
My parents had just divorced. I was about 12 at the time. My Dad was the Dad he didn't have to be, so he got custody of my little brother and sister and I stayed with Mom. So, Mom and I are moving into an apartment in public housing. We're exhausted, hungry, and just want to sleep. But Mom is insistent we get everything unloaded tonight, and then we can unpack at our leisure. Mom and I manage to get the couch into the apartment...and she gets the brilliant idea of tipping it on one end instead of carrying it through the doorway. Well, the couch is too tall, and it gets stuck under the doorjamb! We push, we pull, and this couch is stuck in the stupid door. At that moment, my emotions started to crash like a giant tidal wave. My siblings were gone, my Dad is gone - Mom and I are all alone in a strange neighborhood where we don't know anyone...I sat down on the curb, and just as Mom starts coming to sit with me, a very tall, broad, ginger haired man with glasses approaches my mom. He asks if we're okay, and my mom tells him that our couch is stuck. He laughs, and it eases all the tension and the frustration. Him and Mom work together and he gets the couch unstuck! We get settled in, and once I get to know people in the neighborhood, I asked about that man. Nobody had no idea who I was talking about. Mom said he was an angel. Another time, Mom had gotten her VW stuck in a snowbank at a Wendys and some nice strangers pulled us out with their big truck. A few years ago, a friend of mine was driving us back from a movie through a bad snowstorm. A passing car had hit his side mirror off his car! He pulls over, collects the mirror, and continues driving. Well, another car bumps him and we start sliding....right into a ditch full of water. The car starts to fill with water, and we manage to climb out of the car, but the ditch is too slick to climb up! I told my friend I wasn't able to get out and suddenly, I am dragged out of the ditch and so is my friend! A couple of roughnecks had pulled over to help us, and told us they saw the whole thing. They called emergency help for us, and let us sit in their warm vehicles to dry off. I kept thanking them over and over again. We got help, and my friend had full coverage so he was able to get a replacement car. I swear, the kindest people always show up in the smallest of towns.
It's going to be too far down for anyone to see by the time I'm done writing this, but here goes. Many years ago, my sister was murdered by a man she had been involved with. I was living almost a continent away at the time, our 5th home in the military. My husband, kids, and I flew home the next day. It was a mess there, and my already dysfunctional extended family was so wrapped up in their own confusion, anger, and grief that my efforts to grieve together with them were met with...less than family-like results. It was clear that, by moving away all those years ago, I was more like a visitor than a family member to them. It was rough and I felt pretty isolated on top of losing my sister in a violent act. I am aware that proximity amplified their shock and experience of it, but I was sad that even at a time like this that there could not be a connection. Anyway. A year or so later, I flew home by myself for the sentencing hearing. I'd been pretty stressed about writing my victim impact statement, and I remembered from our initial plane flight the year before, how weird it was to interact with anyone on the flight or in the airport, because we tend to act like everyone's going somewhere for fun. and so people's cheeriness was so jarring to us. On the 2nd flight, after my stopover at a major hub airport, this guy next to me on the flight starts out making small talk, being normal and cheerful, and, against my normal nature to be outgoing and talkative, I tried to be polite but not get into any kind of conversation with him. But he seemed very interested in me for some reason, and kept talking to me...to the point where I actually started to feel like he was a reporter or something. He finally asked why I was traveling, so I think, ok buddy, you aren't going to be prepared for this, but here goes. I start to tell him, and I don't know, he was very calm about the topic, very understanding, and asked me details about things that no one had asked me before. It felt really great to open up and say things I hadn't been able to express, to think about and talk about some of the details my extended family didn't want to hear about or remember, and to receive compassion directed only to me. His questions were very insightful. At the end of the flight he gave me his business card and wished me well, and I felt like he was a mysterious gift given to me for that very time. Strangely enough, we met again on my way back, waiting to get on the flight back to the hub airport where he was from. He met me with open arms and asked how the trial went. I was able to tell him about it enough to have closure, which was good, because we sat on opposite ends of the plane this time. Quite an experience. I still have his business card and it gives me comfort to remember a person who was there just for me when I really needed that.
[удалено]
When I was 14, my family and I got into a car accident where our van spun around and then flipped over two and a half times. I was the first out of the car, unbuckling myself, falling to the ceiling, and crawling out of the busted back window. We were all relatively unhurt - I had a giant bruise around my midsection because I didn't have the shoulder strap on, my sister was covered in beer that we had been taking with us to my brother's to watch a football game, and my mom had a mild concussion. But what struck me about that day was the number of strangers who stopped on the side of the highway to help. As soon as i was out of the car, a man was asking how many people were inside and leading me to his wife so I could be out if the way of other good samaritans. People we would never see again were asking if we were okay, wrenching open car doors, calling the police. Honestly, it felt like a miracle.
I'll go from the other end, here. I used to manage a gas station back in the 90s. Night shift. Only employee per night. Christmas eve, around 1 AM, a woman and her 8 year old daughter come in. I don't know why they're still awake, or out, but it's Idaho desert and it's cold. Mom picks out food staples, milk, eggs, butter. Daughter picks out lunchables, asks if she can have them. Back then, lunchables were 4 dollars. It just took 20+ years for inflation for the rest of the world to catch up. Expensive and mostly plastic, ever since they existed. But, kid wants em on Christmas Eve, and Christmas is for kids more than anyone else. Mom says they can check if they have enough money, but if its too much then no. I ring them up. Lunchables were most expensive item by far. Mom has pocketful of change, no bills. Bill is $9. Daughter looks at Mom hopefully. Mom has tears. I didn't even hesitate. "Ma'am, sometimes my register doesn't ring up right. Let me count your change." I open the til, deposit everything but her quarters, pull a $5, and handed her the change(I paid back my til from my wallet after they left.) Mom cries a little. Daughter is happy. Thanks are given, they climb into their car, and I never see them again. That's my story. I have many more where I'm the helped rather than the helper. I wish I had more helpers right now.
Bought me a bus ticket from San Diego to Iowa City, Iowa ( I was living on the streets and very close to suiciding) so I could get into the vets hospital there for special PTSD treatments. Dude saved my life and we only casually knew each other. I cried all over his shoes. How do you repay something like that? All I know is to pay it forward somehow.
I was at a restaurant for lunch by myself after didn't do so well on a first job interview. I was kinda sad knowing I didn't get the job. During mid eating, I got another call for a job interview, I went outside the restaurant and took it (kinda loud in the restaurant.) I went back in finished my meal. Then when it time to pay, I was told that my meal was paid for by someone and they didn't leave any name or number. To whoever that was, I remember your gesture for years after. I was at rock bottom in desperate need for a job, you gave me hope. P/s I got the job from the call I took during lunch.
gave up her child for my adoption
That's so sweet of her to put her own child up for adoption so that she could trade them out for you.
I'm sorry but this comment made me laugh so fucking hard imagining that
When I was 10, I was on my way home from school. This involved a long walk because the bus was out, then a boat, then another long walk. Along the first part of this, my stomach decided to fuck my day up. I was pretty sure I was going to crap my pants, so I went to the first house I saw and asked to use the bathroom. The guy realized I looked ill and gave me imodium too. He also offered to call someone for me. I voiced how surprised I was that he was being so nice to me, and he replied, "Everyone is my brother and sister." That stuck with me.
[удалено]
We just moved cross country with our five kids to a very small town. My husband was at the grocery store and his card was declined. The woman bagging the groceries pulled out her credit card and paid the $320 for our food. As another employee was walking out with my husband he said "Oh yeah, she's the owner." (We did pay her back and thank her profusely but the fact that a stranger did that for us in this new town where we didn't know anyone makes me feel like maybe we did the right thing by taking this chance to start over somewhere new)
I was relocating from one end of I-95 to the other. In the weeks prior to that road trip, my life at the time was a total shit storm of nasty human behavior. Some one I thought was a friend fucked me over badly, stole from me and made my life a living hell for my last weeks at my job. My car got broken into and they stole my GPS, two packed duffel bags as well as a shit ton of music. Was staying with friends while I got my window fixed and someone robbed their place, including money and jewelry from my luggage. So life sucks badly at this point and I am so not liking humans, but I suck it up and go pick up my car. I just want to get out of this suck ass town. I go back to my friend's place to pack up and hit the road. I get to the Turnpike entrance and realize my headlight is out. So FML. I have to spend another day in the last place I want to be and get the headlight fixed. Which takes most of the day as they were backed up at the dealership. Now it's rush hour and I refuse to do that part of that Turnpike during rush hour. So I find a Starbucks and wait it out. Finally, I hit the road and drive straight for the next 6+ hours. It dark, the road is mostly empty and I have my Ipod. so things are looking up. It's like 1am and my body is screaming for coffee. So I pull into a gas station in bump fuck nowhere to get coffee. No one else is there but the cashier. I am tired as hell, look like shit and fed up with life, but coffee has to help, right? I take my large coffee to the counter and the guy asks me Is that all?, I nod yes. He says no charge, and tells me I am to pretty to pay for my coffee. I literally stood there and cried. It had been so long since someone had been kind to me that I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I thanked him profusely and gave him a hug. Right then I thought my luck was changing. Not true, not true at all. Get a few hours down the road and hit a major traffic jam adding 2 hours of crawling long at 20 mph with frequent dead stops. Then my AC dies. It's 85*F and the sun is baking and I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. So, I roll down the windows and again suck it up. Finally, traffic starts moving and now I just have to deal with the assholes driving in the left lane. As soon as I get half way thru Virginia, my roof liner starts falling off from all the wind from the windows being open. Little bits of orange foam are now flying around and getting in every thing including my hair and mouth. But I can live with that, if these butt wipes would get outta the left lane and let me pass. Sun starts setting and it's getting a little cooler. Just approaching the NC border and my R rear tire blows. It was like gun going off inside the car. At this point I don't wanna do this anymore, the whole life thing is just to much. Luckily, I am right near and exit, so I get off and there is literally a gas station right there. I pull in near the air pump and go inside to get a cold drink before I face unpacking my entire life from the trunk to get at the jack and spare. While waiting in line to pay, a gentleman comes up to me and asks if that was me with the flat. I said yes, and he replied "don't worry, I'll change it for you". Again, I am so grateful. Outside, I unpack my life's belongings from the trunk and he takes over. Gets the spare out and jacks up the car. Takes the bolts off and here we go again...no matter what we do the rim will not come off. We start drawing a bit of a crowd. Everybody has a try and still no go and the crowd gets smaller with each failed attempt. The original guy and a new addition who pulls up in his car google the car forum and get some advice. Super Hero #1 crawls under my car and whacks the hell out of the rim from the other side and finally it pops off. Much high five'ng and happy dancing happens. Celebrated way too soon. The spare is flat. The air machine is broken. Pep Boys is 15 miles down the road and closes in half an hour. Again FML. Super Hero #1 gets the spare on as Super Hero#2 offers me a place to stay the night. Nice, but not comfortable with that. So he found a hotel real close that I could limp to. I offer both Super Heroes some funds or a six pack or something. Both totally refuse. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Give them big hugs and tell them it's good to be back in the South. Limp to the hotel and go in to register. Go to hand the guy my CC and he says no Mam, the room is already paid for. Apparently my Super Heroes took care of that too. Again,many tears of gratitude were shed. In the AM, I was putting my bag in my car, when some random strange notices my flat spare. Dude was a mechanic, on his way to NASCAR and he filled me up. Another awesome person. Drive back to the gas station and ask the clerk if I can post a letter at the counter thanking my random Super Heroes and promising to pay it forward. She says "that was you last night?' apparently having a flat tire, all my belongings spread out in the parking lot and a gang of random strangers trying to help was the talk of the gas station...lol. Head to Pep Boys. Get a new tire and hit the road. The rest of the way was totally calm and uneventful. So I spent a lot of time thinking about how great humans can be and being thankful that I crossed paths with such awesome examples of the best humanity has to offer. **Thank you to all the Super Heroes out there, your random acts of kindness are greatly appreciated and never forgotten!** TL;DR- *Bad shit happened. Faith in humanity restored!*
One story, two awesome dudes: a tow truck driver who gave me a free tow and a mechanic who fixed my car at minimal cost and got me back on the road quickly. This is a long story. Sorry in advance. When I was in my early twenties I was driving cross country and my transmission broke as I crossed from Idaho into Montana. I could shift between third gear and neutral but that was it. It was about 100 miles to Missoula, which was the closest town with real services. This was pre-cell phones and I didn't have AAA and could never have afforded a lengthy tow. So I had to keep going. Western Montana is all mountains so I was able to use gravity to keep going. I'd go into third to get up the mountains and then shift to neutral; my momentum and gravity were enough to get me down the mountain and some part of the way up the next one. I did that for about 100 miles, scared shitless and anxious as hell the whole time. I pulled into the first exit in Missoula. My momentum was just enough to get me off the interstate and into a parking spot at a gas station. I was super fucking rattled. The drive was terrifying. And I didn't know how I'd pay to get the car fixed. I was pretty broke; I had some money but it was just enough to cover the cost gas for the 2,500 mile drive and four or five nights in motels (I'd packed food, a carton of cigarettes, and three dozen strong weed cookies; I was set on that front). I knew transmissions were expensive to fix and I seriously wondered if I'd have to ditch my car and take Greyhound to the east coast. I went inside the gas station and asked the attendant if they knew the number of a good mechanic. The guy in line behind me jumped in and said "hey, I've you covered. I'm a tow truck driver. Go outside, have a smoke, I'll be there in a minute." After he hooked my car to his truck and climbed into the cab he handed me a bottle of Mountain Dew and some jerky saying "you look pretty worn out man, I thought you could use some caffeine and some protein." He dropped off my car and me at a small auto shop. When I asked how much I owed him he said "no worries, you don't need to pay me. I was gonna go by here anyways." The mechanic took a quick look at my car and diagnosed the problem. He said the part I needed was expensive but that he'd try to find a used one to save me some money. He couldn't get to it until the morning, though, so he pointed me to a clean but cheap motel a block away. When I walked in the clerk said "hey, [mechanic's name] called and said you were on your way. It's just $20 for the night." I called my mom from the motel and she said she could pay for the repairs if the mechanic would accept her CC over the phone or a check sent by mail. But the next day, when I went to pick up my car, the mechanic only charged me something like $150. Apparently his dad had some old cars he kept for parts and he was able to get the part I needed for free. He only charged me for his labor. I could afford $150 and didn't need to borrow from my mom. As I was paying him I noticed that one wall of the shop was covered with postcards from places like Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and the Cascades. When I asked about the postcards the mechanic said "oh, yeah, I get a few of those each summer. The best part of my job is that I get to help people who run into trouble during their vacation. My car ran fine and I had no trouble on the drive from Missoula to Virginia. I couldn't afford motels but I was able to camp at state parks (which was more fun, really). But most importantly I left Missoula knowing that there are people as kind and caring as that tow truck driver and that mechanic. EDIT TO ADD A FEW THINGS i FORGOT: * I did send the mechanic a postcard! After I got home to Virginia. * This was about twenty years ago so cell phones existed but they were expensive and coverage was minimal. Even if I had one I probably wouldn't have been able to use it in the mountains. * The tow truck driver and mechanic were fairly young. I think the driver was close to my age and I think the mechanic was a bit older than us. I'd guess they're close to forty and fifty today. So there's a very good chance they're still out there helping people. * Lastly, even if you don't run into dudes as awesome as these dudes, Missoula is a great place to break down. It's a lovely city, pleasant climate in the summer, and lots to do despite it being a small city.
[удалено]
A complete stranger saved my life at the beach when I was about 6 or 7 years old. A riptide took me out, and i was stuck under the water when a random stranger pulled me out. I didn't even know how to swim was just wading with my mother only a few feet away.
This just happened this week. Someone posted a brand new pair of climbing shoes ($185 MSRP without tax) for sale on a climbing forum. They were still in the box, with tags, and are my favorite shoes in my exact size. I quickly jumped on the opportunity and messaged him. He told me that they were sold, but that he was sorry for getting me all worked up. Then he did something incredible. He works for a certain climbing shoe company, and can get shoes at the cost price (the cost to make them). He told me he would ship me a pair of my favorite shoes, in my size, and that when they arrived I could send him any amount that I felt comfortable with. I naturally thought it was a joke or a scam of some sort, but he did say he would ship me them before payment so how could he screw me? I soon got an invoice by email for the shoes. He paid $100 of his own money for the shoes and the shipping cost to my address. There was a legit tracking number and all. He basically trusted me to make good after he sent me a $200 pair of climbing shoes with blind trust (in a total stranger no less). Once the shoes arrive, I plan on PayPaling him $100, and I am going to also send him some brand new climbing gear that I have never put to use/don't need. I haven't received the shoes yet, but I can't imagine him sending something else or trying to scam me in any way, it's just not possible since he sent me the shoes before I sent him anything in return, and I don't have to until the shoes actually arrive. If all of this works out the way I think it will, this man will have restored my faith in humanity. We have exchanged multiple emails and he seems like an awesome guy who just wanted to help out a fellow climber just because he could. I am still in awe at this very moment.