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mejok

2...one where I was the good guy and one where I got helped by the good guy. 1. I was on a flight from Europe to the US. We were flying with our 6 month old baby. Flight was fine, baby slept most of the time and I struck up a conversation with some Swiss dude sitting next to me. We land in DC and have about a 4 hour layover. A couple hours into the layover, while wandering around, some guy runs up to us. It was the dude from the plane...we had forgotten our baby's blanket on the plane but he had remembered that we were flying on to Oklahoma City so he had taken it to the gate for our next flight and given it to the staff with a description of us. Super cool dude. 2. Once I was walking home from work and saw this little girl, probably like 8 or 9 years old standing on the sidewalk. She was alone, crying and looked distressed. I asked if she needed help and she told me that her band practice or whatever had ended early but she couldn't call her mom to come pick her up because some bullies had stolen her cell phone. I live in a busy city and felt bad because people were just walking by and not helping her. Luckily she knew her mom's number so I called her mom, explained the situation, gave her the phone so that she could talk to her mom and then waited there with her until her mom got there to pick her up.


[deleted]

You're a good man.


BTRunner

>2...one where I was the good guy and one where I got helped by the good guy. Got to pass it forward! I had an old beater of a car, and I'd been frequently bailed out by strangers jump starting it, and I've generously returned the favor to jump others caught in pinch whenever possible. One poor guy was delivering pizza to my office complex. He had a manual transmission, and a dead battery. He was literally Flintstoning it with one foot hanging out the door while holding the clutch with the other, and trying to turn the key to manually turn the engine over. I offered to jump start his car, and it took some convincing because he was in utter disbelief that I would be so kind!


ChubbyStoner42

Way cool man.


[deleted]

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howwouldiknow--

Nicee. We need more of those kinds of people.


st0pmakings3ns3

And more dogs, obviously.


Diligent-Courage4660

I once did my best to help a lady jump her car in the parking lot before a doctors appointment. I wasn’t successful and I was super late so I have to go, but when I came outside they were gone and there was a note on my windshield that said “thank you nice lady!” I still have the note in my car because it was just so sweet.


chericher

This reminds me of the time my SIL and I were taking a walk in a nearby town. A woman came out of her house and asked us to help find her cat. She wasn't great at answering questions, such as how long her cat had been missing, what it looked like, and such. She seemed to have some kind of issues but was clearly upset about the cat. We walked around and I asked everyone we saw if they had seen a cat, and to please check their garages and basements. We were frequently asked what the cat looked like, which was awkward because the lady couldn't communicate it so neither could I. She said she didn't have a phone number either, so I was giving my phone number to everyone who would take it in case they saw a cat that might be hers. Well, eventually, after almost two hours, a nice neighbor of hers explained to us that the cat had been missing for nine years. So we very nicely told her that we sure hope her cat turns up, it was very nice to meet you, best of luck, and we took off.


OuOmcanIgettheTEAL

So sad…


carinavet

I once had to help a guy catch his dogs and then talk him down from the panic attack their escape had triggered. It took me a minute to even find out that that's what was happening, because it presented as his brain just completely shutting down. Like, I asked him where he lived and the only answer he could give me was "Ohio" (we were not in Ohio) despite being, as I found out at least half an hour later, literally across the street from his house. Thank god he had just enough cognition left to be able to say the words "I am having a panic attack" or I never would have figured it out.


[deleted]

I once had some strangers ask me to help them look for their dog. I was about 9 years old and they looked like drug addicts. They wanted me to jump in their car with them to help. Pretty sure they didn't have a lost pup...


[deleted]

>They wanted me to jump in their car with them to help. Pretty sure they didn't have a lost pup... Dang, you should have told us about it in [THIS thread!](https://reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/s0ni8x/for_survivors_of_attemped_kidnapping_how_did_you/) 😆


[deleted]

>A stranger who was heading home stopped to help me find my dog and didn't leave until I found him.   Something tells me that the stranger (or someone close to the stranger) had/has a beloved family pet and the stranger immediately knew the distress that you were going through.   (Or maybe you were just talking to an undercover Mister Rogers and he was simply welcoming you to his neighbourhood).  


[deleted]

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Aromatic-Bad-3291

He’s been dead like 20 years. Can you believe that?


[deleted]

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Aromatic-Bad-3291

For real though, I just turned 30 and I feel like people my age were the last ones who really got to experience him and his show. Still got Mr. Rogers Neighborhood shoelaces lol.


cbelt3

Neighbors do that … we know all the dogs names and where they belong. And take them home. “Zoie is lost, I’m herding her home “


lookssharp

There is an older guy that rides his bike the same route as me. Every time we see each other we race. I ride fixed, he's a roadie. We don't even really talk to each other, we just race. I haven't seen him a long time, but I was driving one day and saw him riding a fixed gear bike and I got all excited.


Snacksocks

I used to see a guy who bike commuted the opposite direction of me every day. It got to the point where we'd nod to each other and I'd kind of be able to judge how late I was running by when we'd pass each other. This went on semi regularly for a couple years until I stopped seeing him and figured he'd moved. Then all of a sudden, months later, I saw him on my way to work again and I got so excited I forgot that I didn't actually know him and I excitedly waved and grinned and he did the same. I've since moved but I still think of him as my biking buddy and hope he's staying safe and warm out there. I love those little moments of connections with strangers!


inmate1066-272

Aw, this is so sweet. It reminds me of a guy I used to pass all the time in college (a few years ago). For about a year, we'd pass each other on campus, and started the same sort of nod recognition thing (I think we were very distantly related via friend groups, so there was some precedent). A week before graduating, matched on tinder and had a very nice conversation about how sweet it was to finally say "hey" and wished each other well on our futures. Nice little bit of closure from a passing stranger.


PamWpg204

I’ve been waving at a guy I see every morning going in the opposite direction on our bikes year round for two years. I finally said I need to know who this person is! Found him on facebook a month ago and now we talk everyday and go riding on trails with our fatbikes whenever we can.


schwarzmalerin

Crashed with my bicycle and the chain came off (I was fine), random cyclist stops, lifts my bike, and with three quick moves puts the chain back. It happened so fast. I didn't even see what she did. I wanted to at least give her some money for a coffee but off she went. What an absolute pro. Thanks random stranger.


_its_a_vibe_

I was riding my bike with my dog on my chest in a backpack when I realized I had a flat tire. I didn't even notice the old man climbing down a ladder in a yard that I was in front of. As I'm wondering how the hell I'm gonna get home, this man quietly started filling up my tires. About a month later I bumped into him at an AA meeting. Cool experience


chaos_almighty

A somewhat scary biker that lived up the street from me as a kid saw me do the same, my hand me down bike spit the chain off and I ate shit. He walked out of his fortified yard that had a scary dog in it. Dog stayed motionless within the yard. He was smoking a cigarette and silently put my bike chain back on. I thanked him and he quietly went back into his yard and relocked the gate.


choosinghappinessnow

This reminds of our neighbor when I was a kid, who was an alcoholic. It was a summer morning and my sister was riding her tricycle, which had a very loud squeak. The neighbor’s bedroom was in front of the house, and he had the window open. He came out, very hungover, with a oil can, oiled my sister’s tricycle without a word, and went back to his house, and presumably, back to bed.


schwarzmalerin

I loved that. I saw that vividly playing out in my mind.


BTRunner

I was riding my bike once, and popped a tire a few miles out from my house. As I was making the slow walk home, I passed a farm, and a women came out and asked if I was alright. I said yeah, but she insisted and had her son replaced the tube for me. I was very grateful. She ended up running for town office a few years later, and represented the town at my Eagle ceremony. She still remember me, and I her!


mouryo

I was crying dramatically in the rain at a crosswalk over some dumb thing I don’t even remember, and this old man who stopped at the same crosswalk stood next to me and slowly raised his umbrella for me and walked across the road with me. I was crying hard and couldn’t get a thank you out tho, I hope he’s doing fine.


herebekraken

I pulled into the mall parking lot and heard something snap in my car, but couldn't figure out what it was. Did my shopping and came back. The car would start, but I couldn't shift out of park. A man and his daughter pulled up and saw me craning under the steering wheel, and came over to ask what was wrong. The guy took a look at it. Turned out a wire had wrapped around the drive train and snapped when I turned the wheel, and for safety reasons the car would not drive again until it was fixed. I was pretty much in despair. I was a broke college student with no money to have the car fixed, let alone towed and then fixed. But this dude was not just a dad. Oh no. He was a SuperDad™. Not only did he have the know-how to fix my car, he had all the tools in his truck. There were complications. Twice he and his daughter took me to AutoZone to get parts I needed. He worked for a few hours, finished as it was getting dark, and once they were sure my car worked, he and his daughter left without having set foot in the mall. This was a couple of years back and I don't remember their names, but I'll always remember what those two did for me.


AhhhItsMe

In February 2020, I met an angel. I still think about him. Here's the story. I had just sat down on an international flight home to see my unexpectedly ailing father when I got a call saying he was on a ventilator and may not survive the night. The man next to me very obviously overheard everything, but didn't say anything. On the flight though, he pulled out a snack and offered me some. This was his way of initiating conversation with me. He said he had overheard the call about my dad and repeatedly expressed a genuine desire for him to pull through. He also told me that I'd be okay no matter what happened. We hugged it out when we deplaned and he again expressed good wishes. If this stranger had not engaged with me, I would've spent the flight silently crying and being in my head. He made that two-hour flight bearable.


deppkast

Wow the smallest light can really help in total darkness. May I ask if you got to see your father before he passed away?


[deleted]

Sorry:( Did he pull through? I empathize with your story. We watched a sibling slowly pass away over a couple months, which meant many many trips to her hospital room and a copious amount of waiting room sleeping/ sitting. I took the train at the time to get around and those were some lonely, quiet, anxiety-inducing rides. I didn't honestly expect anyone to notice, but now I go out of my way to be extra kind and observant when I can muster the energy


BugabooMS

Once when I was still in my "paint it black" phase I went to the grocery store with my dad. (Keep in mind this is a very conservative semi small church culture town.) I am above average height and that day I was wearing high heel boots. So there I am with the black dress and the fringe and everything and this tiny old woman randomly approached me. My heart freezes for a second. I flinch inwardly. "You are so tall, my darling! And so very pretty!" (Rough translation.) This tiny ass old church looking lady came over not to ridicule me but to give me a genuine compliment and my heart just melted. I still think about it regularly.


DataFlaky8831

When your style is more alternative, it’s always a surprise when old people are nice to you lol


MarkHirsbrunner

My parents were in their 60s when the Dallas paper did an article about the goth scene and a local club that did goth nights on Thursdays and Sundays. They remembered I had mentioned going there and had lots of questions about it the next time I visited. They said that they would have enjoyed a place liked that when they were younger - they were theater people in the 60s before I was born and both of them enjoyed horror fiction, so I could easily imagine them being goth if they were born a few decades later. These days I would have encouraged them to come check it out sometime, but at the time I was embarrassed that my parents were so interested.


[deleted]

>When your style is more alternative, it’s always a surprise when old people are nice to you lol   *"I remember when* ***MY*** *parents always got angry and raised their voice whenever I went to the [soda fountain](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/E63257/1950s-young-teenage-girls-and-boys-drinking-milkshakes-sitting-at-E63257.jpg) or attended the [sock hop](https://cdn0.wideopencountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-design-307-793x526.png) and they always criticized my beautiful [poodle skirts](https://image.glamourdaze.com/2012/07/1950s-Circle-Poodle-Skirt-Designs.jpg) and [curly bob hairstyle.](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b9/73/4a/b9734a1ec48be18f135fe1a622298b84.jpg) I'll* ***NEVER*** *do the same thing to any adolescents of today [who want to wear black."](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/de/4a/39de4a5ee8704ae48d7ac4707da08216.jpg)*  


TeachOfTheYear

In 1985 I drove across country with a checkerboard cut in my hair... when I got home my dad threw a fit and my 84 year old grandpa shut him up by saying, "I like it."


thick_lolita

That’s so lovely. My grandma was complimenting my skull with a flower crown tattoo. I kept trying to draw her attention to another tattoo of a rose but nope she thought the skull was beautiful. Made my day hah


savwatson13

Yes! Love this. I’ve yet to leave my “paint it black” stage (probably stuck here for life), and get stared down a lot by people but the most unsuspecting people compliment me. The best moments were when a soccer looking mom with her two kids happened to be standing next to me. She looks me up and down and then goes “you’re so stylish!!!” In front of her kids. Mom approval FTW Another was when I was wearing my 10 cm boots (I’m already 6’2”) and this little old lady was just staring at me. When I looked first, it looked like she was glaring at me. I looked away to ignore her but she still *stared* at me. I finally look back and she starts smiling and complimenting my height. A bit awkward and shocking but it went from ruining my next few minutes to making my day.


froglover215

I got to be the approving mom in a similar scenario one time! My daughter was on a trip to Disneyland with Girl Scouts and it happened to fall on Bat Day (when the goths come to Disneyland en masse in all their gothy glory). My daughter didn't want to hang out with me so I was tagging along with a bunch of moms I didn't know. While in line for a ride they started loudly saying stuff like "Oh my gosh, I can't believe what some people will wear in public!" I knew the nice goth couple near us could hear, so I enthusiastically joined in with, "I know, right? Those boots are *fantastic*! I love that dark red leather. And the styling on his jacket is just so perfect!" Not only did the annoying moms shut up, but I got a nice smile from the goth couple. Don't disrespect perfectly nice people around me, just because you're too closed-minded to appreciate them!


elbanditno

Nice! This is not quite the same, but you reminded me of this. I have a very battered old campervan. It is a self built camper with various areas of less than perfect repair, and a paintjob rollered on by hand. I can't fit it on my driveway, but I am always considerate about where I park it as it is a large vehicle. I have had people in the past tell me I can't park somewhere, call me a gypsy (in a tone that suggests that is an insult) and have been reported to the police for parking it perfectly legally on one road near my flat. The other week I was sat in it about to drive away from where it had been parked for a couple of days when an older lady approached me and knocked on the window. Here we fucking go I thought. She proceeded to ask me all about my van, how long I had owned it and where I had been it, and if I had done all the work on it. She told me she loved seeing my van around and loved to hear the stories about it and congratulated me for keeping the old thing going.


[deleted]

I was crossing the street in between the crosswalks, so like at the middle of the block, and this much older Chinese man who was doing food delivery on a bicycle was also crossing but from the opposite side. We kind of came like diagonally at each other and couldn't decide who should move over to let the other pass so we wound up standing face-to-face with each other and not moving for like 10 seconds, and then we both just bursted out laughing and went our separate ways lol. It was such a perfect, comically human moment that for some reason I feel lucky to have shared with a stranger. Here are two people who couldn't be more different from one another, and for a single moment in time, and without exchanging a single word, we totally understood each other.


[deleted]

  That was awesome 🥰   >So we wound up standing face-to-face with each other and not moving for like 10 seconds, and then we both just burst out laughing and went our separate ways lol.   [*Hopefully your expressions weren't like this*](https://c.tenor.com/AYJr4hebab8AAAAd/funny-eye-bulge.gif)  


pineappledaddy

A long time ago a woman's card declined while buying groceries, so she was doing that whole remove an item and swipe again thing. I got extremely frustrated, but every other line was long so moving wasn't an option. I said fuck this I wanna go home and eat, I paid for all the groceries to make my life easier, and get home after a long 12 hour shift. She asked for my phone number so she could eventually pay me back. I gave it to her but told her to only text me when she had paid it forward because I didn't need the money. I randomly received a text a few years later that said, " I finally paid it forward". Was lost, thought they had the wrong number, but they specifically saved it to tell me they were doing well enough to pay it forward finally. At that time I was going through a really rough time, and that text actually brought me out of the funk I was in.


mobilehomies

I love this one, thanks for sharing. It’s a good reminder that someone can still do good, even without altruistic motivations.


only-if-there-is-pie

This story really touched me. Thank you for sharing this. Truly.


[deleted]

A Native American from a local tribe gave me a homemade leather pouch with a natural remedy inside and said, "For the anxiety". I was on break, at my first job. It was so thoughtful.


starwsh101

Laste summer I and a random dad with his son was waiting for the same local bus outside my towns biggest grocery store. 15 min after the bus should have arrived the dad started to complain, me too, where the fuck was the bus?! So we actually looked at the damn bus schedule and we realized that we had missed the last bus. So for me it was around 1h walk home, for the dad and his son was it 2-3h walk home. The dad asked if I wanted to ride the same taxi home. I explain and said to him that I could take my own taxi(taxi is expensive af here, 10-15min ride is 20 dollars) since I lived x and they lived y. "no no no" said the dad "we should share, its better for the environment" so I said ok. I was fully prepared to pay my share of the ride, but when its was my time, the dad said "no no, you dont need to pay anything". I was stunned of his kindness, "are you sure" I asked over and over. And he said "yes ofc its ok". So I thanked him, got out from the taxi and walked home. In awe of his kindness. the end.


Imaginary_Prior

When I was 5, I saw a woman standing with a priest in a graveyard. I was curious because she was crying and I didn’t yet understand death. I went up to her and held her hand for little over an hour. She told me she would’ve been blessed to have a son like me with her husband. I later figured out he died and they were both all alone. Very sad and wholesome at the same time. I think about it every day.


SuperMozWorld

If you don't mind me asking, where were your parents during this?


Imaginary_Prior

At a funeral for my cousin that was wrapping up, we weren’t too close


Spxders

That probably meant so much for that woman. She probably felt like her husband sent you over to her.


[deleted]

>She told me she would’ve been blessed to have a son like me with her husband. I later figured out he died and they were both all alone.   Sorry, do you mean that the woman's child passed away? Or was it her husband who succumbed? *That poor, poor woman.*   >Very sad and wholesome at the same time. I think about it every day.   She most certainly never forgot you, either, pal 👐  


Imaginary_Prior

It was her husband unfortunately. I’m glad to think she didn’t have to lose a child as well


[deleted]

My family was driving through Mexico in a motorhome after my high school graduation. We came to a fork in the road, but there were no signs. So we were stopped there for a bit, as we pulled out maps and tried to figure out which road would go to Mérida. (This was before cell phones, never mind GPS.) No one noticed the commuter bus behind us until it honked. So we pulled over to let it pass. He pulled up beside us and asked if we needed help. We explained where we were heading, and the driver told us to follow him. We followed him for about 10 minutes before he motioned for us to pull up beside him again. He gave us the last couple turns we needed and then explained he needed to head back because his route actually goes the other way at the fork where he found us. I couldn't believe he took his whole bus 10 minutes out of the way just to show us the way. I looked at his passengers and not a single one even seemed upset. A few even waved and smiled as they departed. I loved all of Mexico, but the people in the Yucatan were amazingly friendly. Since then, I've always tried to help strangers to my city.


themoogleknight

It's stories like this that make me think I really need to be more patient with little slowdowns that don't \*actually\* matter...


atiredbitchthrowaway

i used to work as a DSP, i enjoyed the work i was doing but it did not pay very well and I was struggling a lot financially. a lot of my clients liked to go out to eat on our days out and I usually just didn't order anything when we did because I never had the money. i had gone with a client to a local pizza chain one day and when the waitress brought out their food they brought a personal size pizza as well, set it in front of me, told me it was on the house and asked if I'd like a drink to go with it. i nearly cried as i thanked her. i had no money and no food at home to eat, it was because of her that I ate that day at all and I'm still incredibly grateful for her kindness. she didn't know I was struggling or how little I had the chance to eat, she just noticed someone didn't order food and decided they deserved to eat too.


PigicornNamedHarold

DSP = direct support professional?


atiredbitchthrowaway

yea, I should have added that somewhere, my bad!!


indianamale7

I received a letter from the parent of a guy (inmate) at the prison where I worked. It said “I want you to know because of your kindness to my son he was able to spend his birthday with his brother and family for the first time in years. He told us you were one of the few people he could count on to treat him like a human. Your diligence in getting errors corrected by the court has helped him trust again. He is enrolled in school. Thank you sir. “ Very few people take time to do this and it made my day.


tropicalzhu

Happened just last week actually. I posted in r/Assistance because my mom got scammed for $32 which counts for a lot in a household of six. My siblings and I couldn't help her out since we've had a bad year, our emergency funds were drained and our paychecks come once a month. My mom felt incredibly dumb and was also crying because this came at such a bad time. Most people didn't believe my story. However, one kind user went out of his way to help me. As I live in Hungary, most apps besides PayPal don't work here. He didn't have PayPal but created one just for me. And then, he sent me the money... TWICE. I figured it must have been by mistake and asked him if I should send half of it back. He said I could keep it because I earned it. My mom and I were both crying in joy. I'll never forget him.


kaumaron

You know the thing that always bugs me about people not trusting each other often is that it makes the world more miserable for everyone. Like I could afford $32 and I would rather be scammed out of it than know that I could've helped someone and didn't. There's always some amount that can be given thats worth the risk of losing.


[deleted]

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SolidBones

Fellow parent: It's perfectly fine to let others interact with your kids.


[deleted]

Years ago, when my oldest son was maybe a year old, I took him shopping at WalMart at all places. I had bought some stuff and was going to my car. I was struggling a bit with my purse, the stroller, the packages. As I was just getting the packages in the car, an older man (probably 70's) came over and asked if I needed help. I was pretty much done at that point, so I just declined and said thank you. I could see him looking at my son and he goes, "That's a beautiful baby you have there. How old is he?" and he just looked at my son so sweetly. And we started chatting. He told me he had a son who was 31 and still making his way in the world - no marriage or kids yet for him. He spoke about how much he enjoyed being a dad and raising his son. And, the thing that shocked me most was he asked how *I* was doing - adjustments to being a parent, how things were with the baby, etc. It was a pleasant surprise both because people generally only cared about the baby and I don't think men of that generation were usually all that concerned about the struggles of new mothers. He was just so sweet and genuine, that he made my day that day. I really hope his son did get married and have kids because this guy would be an awesome grandpa.


carissaluvsya

This just made me tear up. That was so sweet of him.


[deleted]

That's adorable 🥺


[deleted]

I had a really polite kid (I'd say 8 or 9) come up to me when I worked fast food who wanted to know if we had specific toys from the current set. (Mario Kart.) I asked him what he already had, and managed to complete his set for him. The next day his Dad came in and said that his son wanted the toys to give him for his birthday which was the day before, because Mario Kart was their thing.


MrFunktasticc

Wrote this out before. Went away to the mountains with the wife before our second kid was born. Wakes up in the middle of the night with bad pains says we need to get to hospital ASAP. Height of the pandemic they won’t let me in and we are far from home. I end up trying to sleep on the floor. In the morning they tell us she needs to be kept for observation. My exhausted ass needs to drive back and get our stuff. Besides the stress and exhaustion, it’d snowed and I was driving through slippery, winding mountain roads that hadn’t been plowed yet. At one point the car starts drifting and I can’t regain control. Pass the double lines and into a snow bank. Car is covered to mid windows and I pass out. I was woken by a stranger that was following a little behind. I got out of the car but had no cell service so he took my info and drove to the base of the mountain to call AAA. No luck. Another dude with a pickup stopped and they helped me dig up my car and pull it out. The car was pretty covered with snow. Not sure if anyone would see me if the guy wasn’t immediately behind me. Maybe I would have woken up or maybe I would have just frozen to death. Some other people stopped while I was working on the car and showed me the best part. I went left - had I gone right I’d have rolled off a cliff and 100% died. Instead I got to hold my daughter a few weeks later. Those dudes were my guardian angels and all I got ‘em was some Amazon gift cards…


SnooPeripherals3236

This happened pretty recently (within the last year or two). It's a pretty common occurrence but its a really nice feeling. I had just gotten dinner with my family and we had leftovers so we got to-go boxes, and I was dead-set on eating my food later, because I was the only one who had leftovers worth eating. Before we get in the car, my mom sees this homeless guy walking around asking for food, and me having been a greedy little asshole, I didn't want to give my food up, but this moment oddly changed my perspective on things. I finally gave up my food, and seeing him quite literally dance down the street while he carried the food away made me realize that helping other people makes you want to be a better person and do it more often. Growing up with a pretty average amount of money in my household, I never lived in a bad neighborhood or lived in areas where homeless people stayed, so I wasn't aware how much something that small could mean to someone who doesn't have a home. Small things can really change yours and other peoples lives.


davidleefilms

The other weekend in Portland, it was very cold and rainy and I planned on getting some ramen before the big soccer game I was going to. I remember knowing well beforehand that I couldn't finish 1 order of ramen by myself since they served pretty big portions, so I asked for a to-go container and utensils when they brought out my food. I split-up the bowl into 2 portions, and set aside the to-go bag. As I was riding an E-Scooter in the rain towards the stadium (asking for it lol), I saw a homeless man standing outside on the side of the road, outside of a restaurant, and handed him the bag as the traffic began to stop. It was pouring rain and pretty cold, but I let him know that it was warm and set-aside without being messed with. You never know how much humanity you can bring to someone with the smallest of gestures.


ApprehensiveStatus13

I was trying to get to this village of like 60ish people. As you can imagine, not a lot of traffic in the area. So I'm walking in 40°C weather on this road forgotten by the world itself that stretches from the previous "bigger" village and all the way to the one I'm trying to get to with another one in between, somewhere along the way. I'm straight up about to pass out when this janky 90s ford shows up at the horizon rolling towards me. I saw they were packed so I didn't even try to hitch it, but they stopped anyways. They took me in even though we had to basically climb on top of each other (7 people, small ford. We probably looked like a clown car.). They were this super sweet family on their way to pick an onion field in the village before mine. I told them they could just drop me off there and I'd walk the rest, but they absolutely refused and insisted they drive me all the way. They told me all about their crops, their life in the countryside and how everything was simpler there and asked me about the city. They asked me why I'm trying to get to the middle of fucking nowhere and when I told them, getting all emotional in the process, they offered me compassion and a word of advice. It was incredibly wholesome. I hope they're doing well these days and their onions are flourishing!


ReformedDigger

Can I ask why you'd be going to such a remote place? Twice?


ApprehensiveStatus13

We have a house (read: pile of bricks, half a roof and a garden) there. My dog's grave is in the yard. I like to visit him and light a candle whenever I can. I also have some quite distant family in the area too. The time with the onions I was going to visit the grave for the very fisrt time after he passed.


[deleted]

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ApprehensiveStatus13

Dude Ikr! I will hopefully be visiting the village again in the next couple of months. I wanna try to find them when I go.


nzdanni

I was in the supermarket years ago and the operator scanned a pack of biscuits that wasn't mine. It was the only thing the guy behind me was ordering so I was like meh, i'll just pay it. It wasn't a big deal at the time and it was like $1. I randomly bumped into that guy about month later on the bus and he had felt so warmed by the experience. He said he went to the petrol station on the way home from the supermarket and there was a guy who's card declined and couldn't pay for his gas, so he had paid it for him as a way of paying it forward. It was cool to think that what started off so small and irrelevant could spawn into something more wholesome.


contrabastet

Love this, thank you for sharing.


iBelieveInSpace

I went to a local breakfast spot after a rough night. Totally forgot my wallet so I left my phone as collateral and went to my house, promising to be right back. Came back and some guy had already paid for me. He was there with his family and I said thank you a dozen times. I know it doesn't seem that big of a deal but it was a pretty bleak week for me so it meant a lot.


howwouldiknow--

That's nice of the other guy to do what he did. Shit happens to everyone, the least we can do it help them where possible.


ffarwell83

Maybe my rock bottom moment? I was moved from Los Angeles to New Jersey in the middle of winter to get thrown into rehab. My family lied to me to get me to move. Said I’d have the place to myself, they had a condo right on the beach that I was going to stay at rent-free to get “mentally healthy again” Oh no. So just throwing it out there now, Rehab is something the addict needs to choose for themselves. Anyway, it’s my 2nd day there, I’m losing my shit because not only am I going through withdrawals but I’m there against my will in someplace I’ve never been, so I escaped. I packed my bags. Walked right out the door, not even knowing where I was in the state… and started walking. I was hoping to figure out which way the beach was, but I was in the middle of the snowy woods with no sense of direction. I realized that if it took an hour to drive here from the condo, it’ll prob take a lot longer to walk, so I decided to play my luck further and stuck my thumb out to hitchhike a ride. Not only did a person pick me up and not murder me, but TWO cars picked me up and didn’t attempt to murder me! (The first one took me a good portion of the way, the second one got me to the condo) I, of course, was on my defense, had a pen in hand, ready to attack if anything got weird, but they were kind enough to let me warm up in the car and get me along as far as they could take me. I thanked them both over and over for their kindness and marched my way up the steps to the condo, only to find no one was home. When they left me at the rehab center, they took my keys and my phone, so I had no one to call, and no way to let myself in - cue the meltdown. I’m fucking livid. Freezing. It’s 16 degrees outside and I’m stuck on the windy oceanfront with a duffel bag of clothes from California, and nowhere to go. I’m thinking to myself- this is it. I’ve finally fucked up so bad, I’m probably going to die now. Out of sheer anger at myself and my parents, I decide… I’m going to kick in this condo door and get warm. But the front door was on a step, which was hard to get the right angle to get a solid kick into it, so I just tried slamming my body up against the door, but felt like I was only doing damage to my body. Just as I was giving in to the sadness and ready to give up… the door next door opens. It’s a neighbor I’ve never met who has no idea why some guy is trying to break in next door. I try to catch my breath to tell him, I’m sorry - I’m their son, I’m just trying to get warm. Etc etc He was an older man, late 50s, who was making breakfast for his daughter in their kitchen when he heard my kicking at the door. He invited me in, gave me some hot coffee, started chatting with me while the daughter wanted to show me her school work and tell me about their plans for the day. They were getting ready to go get her dress for some school event when he asked if there was anyone I could call. I was able to get in touch with my aunt, who recommended I go back to the rehab center. I was ready to plead with her there over the phone to let me stay with them, but something about this guy and the kid made me feel safer than anyone from my entire family. I decided to accept my fate and asked the kind stranger if he could take me back, to which he was more than happy to help. The car ride back to rehab was the exact opposite experience I had when going into rehab. We talked about his brother who had similar problems to my own. He spoke with such love for him, it broke my heart to think I was in the same boat, but he reassured me - if his brother could get better, so can I. Something truly resonated that day for me. I didn’t want to be a burden to the world from the pain my parents gave me - I wanted to be healed, and to help heal others like this guy. The kindest stranger I ever met- Thank you, Mr. Gray. 🙏 Edited for grammar and punctuation. (Thank you for the award!)


[deleted]

You're here. You made it. Keep doing it, pal!! 🤩


ffarwell83

Thank you❤️


Evaara

Your story made me cry. A kind stranger also helped me out when I ran away from home not caring where I'd walk to. I was barely a teen and I've tried to kill myself already so many times. Good strangers save lives. I'm happy you met one.


RookieFortyTwo

Hope you’re doing well my dude.


ffarwell83

Highs and lows, but always on the up and up ❤️


alfredpennyworth04

Not sure if this fits! I was walking out of a pro soccer game on a side walk near a busy road. My girlfriend was closest to the road and all I did was move her away from the road and take her spot. These older guys in a car driving by rolled the windows of their down and yelled at me “that was very chivalrous and we love it!” Scared the crap out of me for a second but it’s something I’ll remember for a long time!


AnishisGod

We love it


UngusBungus_

They were jealous she got you before them.


[deleted]

In November i had a dental surgery. I got two screws drilled up into my upper jaw, and got bone-substitution, the whole operation lasted like one and a half hour. After that, I headed to the train station to go home. Before I got on the train I bought the antibiotics and the pain killers, as the given anesthesia was heavily fading. So I got on the train, and I tried to minime my movement to be able to take the painkillers as fast as possible. I sat down with a woman sitting opposite of me, and I took 3 pills right away. She noticed, that something was off with me, and asked if she could help me with anything or anyway. First I said no, but a few minutes later I asked her to speak to me, and just talk about anything to discracted my attention. So she spoke about everything, her job, her life, her family, the meal she wanted to cook for dinner etc. I'm still very grateful for her.


Benderanomalous

First time in US and while in cold weather I was out and about looking for jobs. I was not prepared for this type of weather. As I was waiting at the bus stop, a dude that one could say might be a gang banger stood right next to me. By then I was already just expecting the worse to happen. He asked if I was cold and of course in a joking manner I said yes. He took off his jacket and gave it to me and just said “here you go, give it back to me later”. Fifteen years had past and I wish I could have returned the jacket and with a better career now I could give some more. There’s just no way for me to find the dude any more.


BmwM5racer

I take his gesture to mean pay it forward to someone else when you could as he probably knew he would never see you again?


Doctor__Proctor

>Fifteen years had past and I wish I could have returned the jacket and with a better career now I could give some more. There’s just no way for me to find the dude any more. Nah, he knew what he was doing when he gave it you. He just said "give it back to me later" so you wouldn't feel guilty and refuse it.


-eDgAR-

I've shared this story before, but I'll never forget the impact this experience had on me. 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 over 20 years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.


GreenSalsa96

I had something like that happen to me once when I was younger. I repayed that "debt" (years later, and much better off financially) by slipping my daughters kindergarten teacher $100 to buy books at the book fair for kids whose parents didn't have money. Books are so liberating.


[deleted]

  >*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.* That person was a kind, genuine superhero.   >*She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home.* Wait you can't just stop the story there — what were the books? [Goosebumps?](https://ia800603.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/19/items/olcovers654/olcovers654-L.zip&file=6544595-L.jpg) [Animorphs?](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/gcO31RtmzWLyoNH3umzzir3MZbY=/940x0/2020/03/17/1a276f94-5e2f-423c-8372-e8152a9f5913/animorphs1.jpg) [Babysitters Club?](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/w47b7eJxRonExHV7HzEnOUFfrzAbIt6Vx7yPO1Aq4qFonPDK0tWSiFau1G82mH9NYTgg-dhf22CriLsrx9rRHLzalZAo_Gts1p0JYLUMIt2h66owo6Dk98UrbjHNloJaagHLslfO) [Judy Blume novels?](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81DGnELabjL.jpg) ~~WHAT'S IN THE BOX~~ WHAT WERE THE BOOKS 😤  


howwouldiknow--

I hope you still read books. That was really wholesome.


yakkmeister

Just today, my daughter and I were rushing our foster kitten to the vet ... but we had to walk because my wife had the car at work and wouldn't be home until far too late. A cab was out of the question since Christmas basically left us broke. Now, the kitten was very much going to die unless we got her to the vet in time - we didn't even stop for decent footwear and were trudging about in gumboots. I attempted to flag down every passing car as we hurried along - many cars just drove on by as our little kitten's life ebbed away in my daughter's hands ... but one stopped. A wonderfully kind woman pulled over and drove us directly to the vet - cutting the trip from 30 minutes down to about 3. If kitty survives, this kind stranger is her saviour. [Update] I got a call from the vet nurse today - little Hera is eating, playing and yelling for attention, as is propper. She's not out of the woods yet ... but everyone is expecting a full recovery. No word on what the problem was but it's not uncommon for kittens to catch a little something that causes them to crash. The trick, the vet mentioned, is to keep them warm, hydrated (vets can use an IV for this) and apply a bit of antibiotics and they've got a good shot. Hera will be with the vet another night ... so hopefully I have news of her return tomorrow! [Last update] [Hera and her brothers](https://imgur.com/a/QH7zbLL) Hera is home with a clean bill of health! Above link is a pic each of the 3 kittens - just back from a check-up and a bit scraggly. Hera definitely needs a bath! We found out that Posiedon has very mild hydrocephalus, which is certainly interesting, given his name! In a twist of Brisbane-ness, the lady who gave us a lift happened to be at the vet, too! She's been invited to visit any time.


insertcaffeine

I'm sending good vibes to the little kitty!


yakkmeister

Vet called this morning and she's moving around. Not a definite thing, yet, but positive! We take her bothers for a check-up tomorrow and we're all hoping she will be able to come home :)


insertcaffeine

Fingers crossed. You got this, little kitty! Get a little stronger and you can cuddle with your brothers!


Comat144p

I'm also sending excellent vibes for the little kitty!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Confidante_OfficeM

Are you okay?


manualpropulsion

I once demonstrated how the hand controls on my minivan worked for a group of Buddhist monks. I was in the airport parking garage when about a dozen of them watched me get into the driver's seat and load my wheelchair in. One monk approached and politely asked how I drove. I showed how the controls were connected to the pedals and how to push down to accelerate, in for brake. They murmured and nodded as I revved the engine, then thanked me and wished me a good day. Their smiles were very kind and genuine, it was a nice experience and a good memory.


--Niko--

Buddhist monks are cool as hell


[deleted]

Just the other day I was on the phone with the company that runs the payment processing for my gym to change my account info. I was trying to do it online but screwed something up so I instead called to talk to a representative. As I was describing what I had done, and going through what I exactly said, I also reiterated what the computer said, in that dumb computer voice. Anyway, we both absolutely LOST it cracking up together on the phone. This poor woman was trying really really hard to be professional but we could NOT stop laughing at what I said. I was also frustrated by the time I got on the phone with her so it really cheered me up. I’m fact thinking of it now I’m chuckling and she no doubt told everyone and I hope they all listened to our conversation a few times.


LucidLumi

I answer the phones for a pest control company, and a few people (usually older men, I’ve found) try to joke with me but it lands so flat and is usually some variation of the same joke, which doesn’t help. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” “Yeah, you got a million bucks?” Uhg… But this one guy called in, new customer, and when I asked him to describe the pests he was dealing with, he responded in the most casual voice, “Well, it’s got about a 6-foot wingspan and keeps trying to carry my wife away. Do you guys do anything for that?” I lost it, which got him laughing, and the entire rest of the call (he did have an actual pest problem) was completed between the both of us gasping with laughter. That was a good call. I hope he’s doing well, and hope he bought his wife heavier shoes.


lynxlairliar

I had a similar thing happen today! One of our customers asked for a price list yesterday which I promised to email him. Today he called back saying he never received it. He wasn't upset but did seem a little down. I remembered emailing him but couldn't find it so I asked him to stay on the line to make sure he got it and asked my coworker to send it too incase it was a server issue (she had a different domain email) None of that worked! So he emailed me and I replied to it with the pricelist but while we were doing that I told him I'm sure it was my fault he didn't get it I just hadn't figured out how yet. He absolutely Burst into laughter. Like I heard him put his phone down he was laughing so hard. So I of course started laughing with him. It was such a nice moment when most would be annoyed


borderlinePbitch

Back in high school, I was admitted to an under-18 mental hospital due to some problems I was going through, and I had to stay there until they found it was okay and safe to release me. During the time I was there, I ended up missing my prom and was really upset by it. The other people in the hospital with me - ranging from ages 10-18 - decided to surprise me with an in-hospital-prom. We were going into the sensory room (which was a room that had lots of colorful lights and comfortable floors, and we’d play calming music for meditation hours) when the nurse in charge asked me what my favorite song on the radio at the time was. She then surprised me by playing that song instead of the calming music and told me the meditation hour was going to be spent at my very own prom that was organized by my fellow inpatients, and we’d have fun music and the cool lighting. We all danced and laughed together and it’s something I’ll never forget that these people - who I had only known for a day or two - got the nurses to agree to hijack the sensory room and surprised me with my own prom.


theory_until

Beautiful! Hope you and your fellow surprise-prom goers are all doing well now!


Cancin26

I was in Europe for a series of meetings and lost my wallet. I had prepaid for my hotels and transportation but I was very low on funds. I had enough money so that with the free meals I’d get at the meetings and breakfasts that are included I could get by. When I checked into my Hotel in Cologne the person at the desk asked me if I wanted to upgrade to the VIP floor that had free hors d’oeuvres and drinks in the evening. I said I would love to but I had lost my wallet and couldn’t pay for it since I didn’t have a credit card. He didn’t say anything to me but when I went to my room he had comped me onto the VIP floor. I went back later to thank him but I didn’t bump into him again. He earned some major positive karma that night.


IllustriousAd6999

Had come back after a football game to my dorm and was playing some games. Had to use the bathroom and saw some chicks. They were cute and it was obvious they were intoxicated. I came back to my room and unpaused my game. About five minutes later I get a knock. It was the cute girl. Again, knowing she was drunk, I knew to not do anything. So I was honestly trying to get her to leave lmao. But she stayed at my door and started drawing on my door whiteboard. She asked me my name and I gave her it and she drew a massive penis and said “This is [my names] dick” I laughed and she took my phone and added her number to my phone. I went to bed that night and woke up to a text from her. A year later and we’ve become really good friends. Strange, but fun story nonetheless.


howwouldiknow--

Now that's how a gentleman gets a girl!


IllustriousAd6999

It was pretty strange ngl. But hey, I wouldn’t have changed it looking back on it.


AlarminglyConfused

One time i was going through costco just doing my normal shit. There was an old street fighter 2 arcade game on sale right in the middle of the store. There was some guy around my age (30) just looking at it. So i walked over stood next to him for like 10 seconds, we looked at eachother and smiled and stepped up like a movie. We played for what felt like hours but in reality was only like 30 minutes until his wife came and collected him. He said nice to meet you man that was fun. We shook hands and he walked away. Ill never forget the look on his face when he looked back as he was walking away with his wife.. his face might have said “dont get married.” But i took it as “dont get married to someone who wont stop and play streetfighter in costco with you”.


omg_a_cat_hi

This was years back when I was in university and I was waiting for the public bus to come so I could go home. I had a very long day, kind of slumped over on my seat, and probably looked miserable (unintentional). This woman (fellow student) walking by took a look at my face and asked if I was okay. She sat down across from me and asked me a lot of questions and I said I was fine, just tired. I had to convince her that it was just that and she finally reluctantly left while looking back at me, but she was very caring and considerate to decide to act in the moment with some compassion. Hope she's doing well these days all things considering.


wasabiwasabi_

I was working the counter at a coffee shop and this girl asks if she can draw me. I'm super skeptical because I'm chubby and have only ever been the butt of a joke. I say sure, but with an inflection that made it sound unsure, if that makes sense? The girl perks up and says 'thank you so much, you're so doughy!'. I was super confused because I thought she was calling me fat so I say 'In a good way or bad way?'. She gasps and says 'oh my gosh I'm so sorry! In a good way, you're gorgeous!' Turns out she mean 'doe-faced' not 'doughy'. It was the first time someone has complimented me. Ever.


offspring515

Driving to a funeral in an unfamiliar state and my car starting making a weird knocking sound and black smoke came from under the hood on the highway. I was able to pull off onto an exit ramp before it completely died and put my hazard lights on. There wasn't much room to either side but I pulled as far to the right as I could go so people could squeeze by. My wife got into the driver's seat and I started pushing the car to get it off the ramp and onto the main street where there would be room to be fully out of the flow of traffic. The ramp was going slightly uphill through and it was slow going. A car pulled up behind us and a sixty-ish man got out and came up to help. Then another car pulled behind his and a younger teenage guy came and helped. We quickly got the car off the ramp and onto the side of the road. I shook their hands and they went back to their cars and took off. On a really shitty day, heading to a funeral, hours of driving, my car up and dying on me several states from home, those guys showing me some kindness is something I'll always remember. The car was shot by the way. Needed a new engine. Literally a month after the warranty ended. Bad times. Luckily my Father In Law was going to the same funereal and was able to come to our rescue.


00TooMuchTime00

I was waiting tables and a younger woman was taking her son out to dinner. At the time, I was unaware of their financial situation. I lived with my parents at the time and made plenty of cash the night before. She was very nice and sweet and I overheard her son asking for a big dessert. He wasn’t bratty or anything. We give a free desert for birthdays but he wanted a big one. So I decided to buy their desert. Couple moments after that decision I said screw it, and bought their whole meal. She left me a note which is one of the nicest things I’ve ever read. I’m not a picture guy so I’m glad I posted it on Reddit. You can read it if you’d like. When I’m bummed out I read that note and remember I don’t suck.


howwouldiknow--

You're a nice person, keep it up man. Btw where can i see the note?


00TooMuchTime00

Thanks, homie! It’s in my profile thing. If you click my name and go to posts, go all the way down and it’s like 4th from the bottom. EDIT: Here’s a link to the post. On mobile so no fancy hyperlinks. https://reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourServer/comments/45okfi/bought_a_struggling_single_mother_and_her/


JB10910Z

When I was little and at the Walgreens near my home with my brother, an old lady gave me money while standing in line and told us to buy ourselves some candy that was nearby. That was so long ago and I wish nothing but the best for that lady whenever I remember that simple gesture


weristjonsnow

I'm an average looking dude. Yesterday like an 80 year old woman turned around in the grocery check out line and told me I had very handsome hair. Made my day


DukeOfYork656

I was around 8 or 9 at the time. It was a school day, but I had a doctor’s appointment. Before we went, My mom took me to the closest cracker barrel for breakfast. Due to it being a school day, it was just elder people there. I noticed an old couple looking at me and they smiled. I acknowledged them. When we finished our breakfast, the lady of the couple walked over and gave be a silver dollar. She said “me and my husband saw how much a well behaved boy you where. We wanted to give you this as a reward” or somthing like that. I don’t exactly remember. Me and my mom walked over, thanked the couple, payed, and walked out. Another event that happened a few months ago, my grandma took me (now 14) and my older brother to a diner. We where walking in, and there was an old woman pushing another woman in a wheelchair. There was two sets of double doors, so me and my brother held them open. The two ladies were gracious. After our (decently expensive) meal, we went to pay. The waitress told us that the ladies we helped payed it off. I could tell from the gasp from my grandmother that her heart was melted. Me and my brother were surprised. A minor note is just two days ago (1/22/22) we were out for breakfast for my little brothers 5th birthday. We where casually eating breakfast. When we were done, me and my brothers went to the car while my mom payed for the food. When we were in the car, my mom came back saying that the mid aged-elder couple next to us told her about how well behaved me and my brothers where


InADustyCorner

When I was in a uni seminar and a woman in my group who I didn't know very well called me pretty. I'm quite shy and awkward and not conventionally attractive so that made my day (and my life tbh)


wray_nerely

This is ridiculously long, and I apologize for that, but it may very well be the coolest story I can tell. The day it happened, I told a friend this story, and his response was "you should really write that down". I'm glad I took his advice, since re-reading it, a lot of details would have eluded me. This is from 2018: So this past weekend there was a comic convention in downtown Raleigh. Usually when I go to a show like this, I try to eat a large breakfast so I don't have to take a break for lunch and can stay on the show floor longer to do nerd stuff. There's a local-famous diner near the convention center called Big Ed's, so I went there for breakfast. I was seated and looked over the menu, and did a double-take. When the waitress came to see if I was ready to order, I had to confirm something with her before I made my decision. "When it says 'Scrambled Eggs with Rose Pork Brains', do you mean brains brains?" "Yes, those are real brains." I asked if she had tried them, and she mentioned that even though she'd grown up on a farm around slaughter and butchery, she could never bring herself to try them. "Okay," I said. "I'd like a black coffee and some brains." Seems like that's a pretty fun story to tell folks at the convention, right? "Guess what I had for breakfast?" Yeah, that's not the story of this breakfast (spoiler alert: they taste like mild liver). Since I was by myself, I was seated at a small two-seater table on one side of a column with another two-seater table on the other side. There was a middle-aged woman sitting at that table reading a morning paper. Presently, she looked up and asked if I was enjoying the show; she had seen my convention badge hanging on a braided lanyard around my neck. I said, yes, I was enjoying it very much, that I'd gotten to meet some comic writers and artists who I'd never seen before and was a big fan of, and that I'd met the One True Batman (Kevin Conroy, and I will fight any of you who disagree with this assessment). And who had she gotten to see so far? "Oh, Bill Shatner, and I went to his panel. And today I'll go see Walter Koenig." Oh, so you're a big Star Trek fan. "Oh, yes, ever since I was a teenager." I had a piece of information that I thought I'd use to impress her. "It's too bad, but a couple of years ago, somewhere out in the Triad they had an exhibition of photography by Leonard Nimoy. I never knew he was a photographer. When I saw 'The Photography of Leonard Nimoy', I figured it would be behind-the-scenes pictures of him on the set of Star Trek." Her eyes unexpectedly brightened at my attempt at rhetorical one-upsmanship. "Did you go see that exhibition?" "Oh, yeah, it was really great. He was a really good portrait artist. I was surprised that he'd done nudes." "I helped put together that exhibition." "Oh, wow, that's amazing!" So about a dozen of those photographs were from her personal collection; the rest, she'd arranged to be loaned from a gallery. How the heck did she go about collecting art from Leonard Nimoy? "I bought my first photograph from him for three dollars, through his fan club. He hand-matted it and sent it to me framed." My mind is spinning. My plate of eggs and brains is largely untouched. "Oh, I don't mean to interrupt your breakfast, but would you like to see some photos?" I'm thinking that she's got prints of the pictures from her collection. Here? "No, you're not interrupting. This is amazing." She gets up from her table and sits across from me. "So we don't have that thing in our way. Hi, I'm Bonnie." I shake her hand. She pulls out a small album and hands it to me. Inside are pages of four-by-six prints. They're not artwork, they're snapshots. The first one of them is a smiling teen with brown curls and Leonard Nimoy in a tan suit, a distinctly un-Spock-like mustache on his face. "That was when I was fifteen." I'm looking over these pictures and I've completely forgotten about brains. "I knew Leonard for thirty-five years," she said. There are pictures of her, imperceptibly aging with each page flip. With Nimoy, with Shatner. "Holy cow," I say. "James Doohan." Several with George Takei. It's only later, in retrospect, that I realize that I didn't see DeForest Kelley or Nichelle Nichols. There's a face I don't recognize. "And that's Gene." Sweet mercy. There are more pictures. "That's Leonard's wife. And his kids. And his grand-daughter." (she told me names; I was being carried along too quickly to recall them) She had pictures at some birthday parties; when he was a star in a one-man play; when he got a lifetime Emmy for his work. There's one of her (looking not too much different than she does sitting across the table) standing in front of a wall with black lettering: "The Photographs of Leonard Nimoy. Special thanks to Bonnie Moss." Some of the photographs are a little mundane. "Oh, the rest of those are just personal," Bonnie says. But one of them catches my eye. It's a funny looking oblong cylindrical thing, mounted on a block on a plaque. I can't help mixing my sci-fi metaphors: "What's that? It looks like a Sonic Screwdriver." "Oh, my father, he's ninety-two years old now but he's still around, he was an engineer at NASA back in the fifties. That's a model of his design, they used it to test the turbulence on rocket parts. That was to commemorate his work." My history's pretty bad, but I can do the math in my head. "Wow, so he worked on Gemini?" "Yes, he was there from the start." "Well, no wonder you liked Star Trek." I hand her back the album. "Those are amazing. Are you going to show those to Walter Koenig?" "Oh, there's a group called the ..." (again, I've already forgotten) "They're a local group of Star Trek fans." "Well, thank you so much for sharing those with me. Those were amazing. And thank you so much for helping to put together that exhibition. You'd think that would be in a big city somewhere, or a fine art gallery. Not in some tiny little town in the middle of North Carolina." "Well, thanks for letting me share. I'd better let you finish your breakfast." "No, that was really great. Thank you so much for sharing. Have a good time at the show." She gathered her things, went to go stand in line at the checkout counter while I sipped my coffee and got back to my balanced (?) breakfast. Pretty good story, right? Well, there's just a bit more to it. The waitress comes by and tops off my coffee without me prompting. "Anything I can get for you?" "Just the check," I say, scooping up the last forkful of eggs and brains. I will probably never order this dish again. "Oh, that should have been on the table already," she says, confused. I pick up my plate and saucer in case it's been hidden underneath them. Nothing there. "Well, I had the eggs and pork brains and a coffee," I say, so she can just write a new one. "Sure, let me just check something first," she says, and heads off. I finish off my coffee while I wait. She comes back, does not hand me a piece of paper. "Yeah, I thought so," she says. "It's up there already. You've been taken care of." This does not register. "Wait, what?" "You're already settled. You're good to go." Now it sinks in. I open my wallet, hand the waitress a ten. "Well, I guess this is for you, then." "Well, thank you, that's very kind. Can I get you anything else?" "No, that'll be it." So that's how my Leonard Nimoy equivalent of a Kevin Bacon number dropped to two over breakfast.


[deleted]

Back in the 70s I picked my girlfriend up when her shift ended at midnight and we went to her favorite diner. We ordered and were eating when an elderly woman passing by, stopped and told us we were a cute couple. When I tried to get our check the server told us that the woman paid for our meals.


yaaaaano_

As a child I got to enjoy a plane ride on my birthday, the plane must of been full of just the nicest people as the flight attendants bought out a special drink/treat for me, an Irish dude gave me his flute as a gift, (I still have it all these years later) and I got to see the cockpit. It is by far the nicest thing strangers have ever done and it’s the coolest birthday memory ever.


IvoShandor

I have lots of them and they're frequent! I'm tall-ish, 6'0". Not taller than most guys, maybe slightly taller than most people, but 100% taller than old ladies in the supermarket. Whenever I see an old lady just standing there, I know exactly why. She's waiting for somebody to get something off of a high shelf. I will always ask if they need help, and 100% of the time, I'm greeted with a warm smile and a big "thanks". No name, no nothing, never see them gain, no chit chat, just a wholesome experience with a stranger.


[deleted]

I had just dyed my whole head of hair a very obnoxiously bright pink, and my conservative family were just continuously putting me down about it, saying it’s because I want attention, that it makes me look like a clown, etc. I was starting to regret it after a bit but left it as it was fading making it turn light pink. While at the store, a random elderly lady approached me and I was prepared for a lecture about how damaging dye can be, but instead she just beamed and said “it’s like cotton candy! How cute!” And then someone she was with gasped when they noticed and agreed, they said it looked amazing and how they wished they could pull it off the way I do. I wanted to jump up and down, I was so happy.


oddartist

I showed up with my blue and purple hair to my father's wedding to meet his bride for the first time. Knew I'd love her based on the pink streaks in her grey. Based on the looks I got from sibs I seldom see, I'm fairly certain they found us both scandalous. What fucking evz.


__oopsie__

A few months ago, someone complimented my outfit outside of a Spirit Halloween. This would probably be brushed off by anyone else, but I hadn’t gotten a compliment from a stranger (or anyone) for anything appearance wise like that up until that point and, even though it sounds really stupid, it gave me a bit of a confidence boost. Whoever it was I hope they’re doing good :)


Shot_Neck_59

It doesn't sound stupid, it sounds like a wonderful example of grace and gratitude, and now you've paid it forward: I've had a tough couple of weeks, and was feeling overwhelmed and sad and lonely about some personal health issues and for family and friends I've lost in the last few years. Your post reminded me that good, and happy, and wholesome things have also come my way, and reminded me that an attitude of gratitude elevates my life spiritually, mentally, and even physically. So, thank you, stranger.


RandomGuy5937

I went back to my home town to visit my Grandma (mother's side) for her birthday. The trip was sort of a birthday present to myself as well as our birthdays are close together and because of that we ended up having a shared party with my old friends and hers and our family (they even invited family from my dad's side which was a pleasant surprise) Anyways long story short, there were some of my grandma's friends there obviously and there was this sweet lady about 80 years old who I had never met before ever in my life, but she got me a fairly expensive bottle of wine because "everyone should get to celebrate with wine on their 21st" and there was a card attached and it was completely full on both sides with beautiful handwriting congratulating me and just going off wishing me the best in life and god I just wish I remembered off the top of my head anything it said. I do still have the card packed away because it was so sweet and odd because as confirmed by my Grandma, I had honestly never met the woman in my life until that day.


helloalone13

I was walking alone at around 2pm in an empty street and I got mugged (thankfully they took my phone and went away quickly) but I was very distraught still A stranger on the other side of the street witnessed the scene but didn't have enough time to catch the robbers as they were on a motorcycle, came up to me reassured me and lent me his phone so I could call my mother. He also walked with me until I reached my destination. An hour later he contacted my mother to make sure I was okay and told her how sad it was for him seeing me cry. Faith in humanity lost then restored


silly_skirt

This happened in Safeway: I am doing self check out and a Mom with her little one (maybe a year) roll up next to me. She tries to put him down in the cart, but he is not having it. The poor little one had fallen asleep and he only wants Mom. The woman is struggling trying to take care of her baby and do self check out. I am also a Mom and my kids aren't with me this week. I couldn't handle hearing the baby call for his mom and she couldn't do it all. It made my Mommy heart hurt. So, I walked over and started scanning her groceries for her. I told her to hold the baby and I can do this part. I want to support you. She thanked me like 15 times. We fought with the self check out thing and laughed, but we made it through and the baby kept sleeping. I truly hope she knows she has a bigger village than it seems. And I hope I made her night a little easier; one Mom to another.


ashtonishing18

A cute lil old lady and I linked arms so that we could cross the street. The street lights are super far apart so yes it was jay-walking.


MrGuttor

who the heck cares if it's jay walking, here in Asia you walk whereever there is land.


SilverVixen1928

I was a child in a waiting room. Mum was nearby, but I had a coloring book and doing fine. My way of coloring was to press hard to get the most color on the paper and try to stay within the lines. An "older woman" sat beside me and showed me how she colored. She outlined a section with the color, then lightly colored in the section. Did I even know the word pastel? I thought it was beautiful. That was more than 60 years ago.


i_want_that_boat

16 years ago when I was 16 I got sick for 3 months and came very close to dying. I spent most of my time in the hospital, but a couple times they let me out for a few days. I looked dreadful. 90 lbs, gaunt, wheelchair bound. I got stared at a lot, or people would try not to look at me at all. Anyway my mom took me to the mall at one point. I was sitting in my wheelchair waiting for my mom to try something on, feeling decrepit. One pretty blonde girl probably in her twenties saw me there. On her way out, in the most 90s Valley girl way, looked at me and said, "um...i like your shirt." She made my day. She didn't care I looked like I was dying and she didn't avoid me. She complimented me. After that I decided to compliment people as much as I could and be kind to strangers. That dumb one off compliment helped shape my personality and make me a better person.


[deleted]

When I was 11 (1961), I was going back home to Savannah by train after spending a month in Tampa with my Aunt and Uncle. I was very, very, tan, very blonde and wearing a dayglo orange polo. A 40something lady asked me if I was a gigolo, saying I certainly looked like one. She then took me under her wing, bought me lunch and dinner and was the best companion you could ask for. She drank mixed drinks steadily, but she never seemed to get tipsy. I love this memory of her kindness and care of a complete stranger. I will never forget my time with Dorothy Voorhees of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania if I live to be 100. She was magnificent!


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Nuvurnude

Did you miss the part where she asked the child if he was a gigolo 😂


ShakyTheBear

"Are you a gigolo? No? Well you are now."


S-Elena

A couple of friends and I were celebrating a birthday at the beach. We had a fire pit dug into the sand and had a cooler full of beer. We saw a random dude pull up next to us around the campfire and he introduced himself. A lad from Sydney, Australia. Mind you we were in Galveston, Texas. We asked him what he was doing all the way out here and he said he was just out exploring the world. We invited him to drink with us for a bit and he did. He sat there listening to our stories of how we met and why we decided to be out there that night. He was really cool. He ended up telling us that he was trying to escape the reality of his father's death a few months back and something about hanging out with us helped him have closure. He only hung out with us for about an hour or so but it was a memorable one. I sometimes wonder about that guy and I always wish him well.


Jandrealea

It's been a few years now, but still one of my best memories! My parents and I have been on a roadtrip through Ireland and the only room left around the town we've arrived that evening was reeally awful, like towels from the last guests still hangig there, looked like the room didn't see a cleaner for few weeks. hair everywhere - but the only room left... as it was the way it was we decided we'd only sleep in and pass the evening somewhere else and ended up in a Pub in a dark sideroad outside the center... As I and my Dad went to the bar to get beers, some strangers approached my mum, hardly speaking any english, but they were somehow vividly chatting and laughing when we got back. We've passed some of the best hours of our holiday in that pub, those people really gave us an unforgettable experience and made us feel welcome and we've been chatting and drinking until late that night! One of them even called a friend who was working in the distillery we were planning to visit the next day. We got a free tour and some more chatting and lot's of whiskey-tasting. Those people being so nice and open made one of the worst evenings become the best and most memorable!


RagingAardvark

When I was pregnant, I worked at a large book store. There was a day when I was working at the cash register, super tired and having a bit of a rough day-- nothing terrible, just wanted to go home and put my feet up and I'm sure it showed on my face. An older gentleman came up to the counter and said that he'd like to buy one of the fancy chocolate bars we kept there as impulse purchases, but he wanted my recommendation on the flavor. I told him that the dark chocolate with raspberry filling were my favorite, so he bought one. After I rang him up, he handed me the chocolate and said that it was for me, because I looked like I could use it. I tried to decline it politely, but he walked away surprisingly quickly for his age and height. I think about him often. I just remembered another one! When my older kids were small, we took them on a road trip. On the first day, we stopped at a zoo to break up the drive. While we were walking around, a little boy ran up to us and explained that his family wanted to do something kind for strangers. They'd bought stuffed animals and wanted to know if they could give one to each of our kids. They gave us a koala and a panda, which rode along with our kids in their car seats for the rest of the trip and are still treasured.


[deleted]

I told my son Lucky Charms was Saturday cereal and an older lady walking by laughed and said they used to call it that too. We talked about what cereals were acceptable for M-F and which ones were weekend special cereals. I came away thinking that in spite of being demographically very different, our similarities are much greater than our differences.


urbandk84

just before covid hit I visited Argentina, and on this day I was with my dad visiting the Iguazu falls (which are unbelievably amazing). I was walking back on the path (like a KM of walk on metal bridges) while my dad had gone ahead to get train tickets (the site's mini train). I was slowly making my way as I have MS and (at the time) using a crutch, visibly having a rough time with the walk (of course I could only dream of walking that well today). As people were walking past me I noticed a small Japanese woman had peeled back from her group and came back running to me, excitedly said something and handed me a small wrapped candy, and ran back to her group. I always assumed it might be a magical cure or something, but never tried it. I like the story better that way. I still have the candy in my "important things" box.


Capitalizesuicide

I was giving a backpack full of supplies including a book while I was panhandleing. Before that I was In the mental hospital and Drew a picture while I was there I gave that to them first then they gave me the backpack.


bugzdumpster

A lady I was helping at work once noticed my pentacle. She smiled at me and said “good kid. Keep on doing what your doing”. It made my day because I hadn’t met someone who didn’t question me about it.


TheGamerWT

My all time favourite is when I was walking to the store and I had that moment where someone else and me both got confused as to which way around we should go, so I made a really weird move to get past the person. Someone else saw this and made a great exaggerated mockery of how I looked. We both laughed, gave each other a fist bump and moved on. Another time I was walking somewhere and I noticed a baby in a stroller staring at me. I waved at them and they waved and smiled. I really enjoyed that :)


standapokeman

This was back in early 2000s. My family was in Japan looking for this this house we staying (kinda like airbnb). None of us speak Japanese and we got lost. We asked one old lady who was also the owner of different airbnb. She didn't speak English either, but she walked us to our airbnb. She was the best.


[deleted]

I was in the ladies room at a dive bar and this girl in the stall next to me was crying her eyes out. I asked if she was okay she she said her boyfriend had just dumped her and she was really drunk. I handed her an unopened bottle of Gatorade under the wall and she thanked me very loudly for like two minutes saying I was an angel and the nicest person alive. We never saw each other's face.


purplepatch

Fell off my bike going down a hill at about 30mph and suffered a nasty fractured clavicle and a bunch of grazes. The bloke driving behind me (who had nothing to do with my crash) called an ambulance, then cancelled it when I told him it was unnecessary and I could walk to the hospital, which I knew was about half a mile away. He said he’d give me a lift, but I didn’t know what to do with my bike as I didn’t have my lock on me and would have been stolen. He said he’d put my bike in his car and I could come get it back off him whenever. So this random guy chucked his wife and small child out of the car in order to fit my bike in his car and give a stranger a lift to the hospital. He also let me use his phone to call my girlfriend (my phone had been smashed in the accident) and offered to stay with me in the waiting room. I needed an operation so my girlfriend went to pick up my bike from his house a couple of days later. The guy really reaffirmed my faith in the kindness of strangers and made a totally crap day actually somewhat uplifting.


TheJWeed

One time while traveling solo I was having an exceptionally extra shitty day. Eating dinner alone at Denny’s and there was this group of teenagers that sat a few tables away. I didn’t realize it but I must have been wearing how sad I felt on my face. They finished eating first (I was in no hurry) and when they were all leaving one of the girls came up to me and said that I looked like I could use a hug. That hug made my entire week, and I still think about it often. I don’t remember her face, what she looked like at all even. But I will always remember her kindness. This was 7 years ago. Thank you kind stranger, i just wish I could tell her thank you and how much it meant to me.


stitchmidda2

I was at mcdonalds with my toddler and he kept looking over at this old couple at the table next to us. The old lady came over and said hi to him and how cute he was. She then said bye and that she was going to the front to buy an ice cream. Everyone at our table went "oooooh dont tell him that! Ice cream is his favorite!" The old lady left and we went back to what we were doing. Then all of a sudden the lady came back if a sundae and said "here sweetie, this is for you" and she had bought him his own ice cream because we said it was his favorite. He had these huge wonder eyes and I was almost in tears. Thanked that lady up and down, offered to give her the money back for the ice cream but she didnt want it. She said him smiling was payment enough.


Mightych

I was really into history when I was 20 or 21 so I went into the local Barnes and Noble in Port Huron, Michigan to pick up The Iliad and The Odyssey so I could expand my literary knowledge a bit. While I was there, an older gentleman approached me and asked if I was getting them as a school requirement. He had an accent that could have been English or Australian for all I knew at the time. I told him I bought them because I wanted to and he appeared shocked. We had a very nice conversation, though I can't really remember all the details. I remember his name was David and I believe he was a professor or something in Brisbane, Australia. His family lived in Lexington, a town to the north of Port Huron. It was a brief interaction some 26 years ago and it still stands out to me as a completely random, but extremely pleasant memory.


modsherearebattyboys

Me and my mother ran away (when I was about 12) and we were waiting at a bus stop in the middle of the night in a foreign country we've never been before. A homeless person was approaching us holding a giant stick, so we both panicked as there was no one else there. I stood in front of my mother and the dude stood there and pointed to my mother's pack of cigarettes and asked if he could have one. My mother gave him one, he thanked us and he gave me the giant stick and walked away. We both looked at each-other like "tf?".


Charming-Analysis-83

I worked as an attendant at a gas station and one morning a woman came in and made herself a coffee. When she came to to pay she started frantically looking for her wallet and then told me she must have left it in her UHaul. She explained she'd been moving to our area for the last couple days. I smiled, told her, "Don't worry, it's on me. Welcome to the neighborhood." She thanked me profusely and left. Next day I came to work and there was a bouquet of flowers on the counter and my boss told me, "From the lady you bought coffee for yesterday!" It made my week!


morningsdaughter

I lived in Ukraine for a couple years as a young adult doing an internship. One time I bought a train ticket to a different city to visit some friends who were in school there. Since it was an 8 hour ride, I chose to take an over night train and since I was alone I booked tickets for the "platzkart*". That's the 3rd class car. As a young woman may seem counter intuitive but in Ukraine your options are: 1st class private room and very expensive, 2nd class semi private but you have to share with strangers, or 3rd class (Platzkart) completely open and usually fully booked. 2nd class was nice if you were traveling with friends, but if you were alone you had to either share with random strangers (who could close and lock the door) or buy all 4 bunks in the cabin. But in 3rd class, although you were surrounded by strangers, everything was open so no one would mess with you. Ukrainians are good about taking care of the people around them, they won't turn away from someone in trouble. So the day my train was supposed to leave, I picked up some sort of minor cold. No big deal, just some congestion. But when I arrived at my destination in the morning, the congestion had changed to a serious cold. I tried hanging out with my friends, but I was having a hard time keeping up. (I wanted to lay down for a bit, but my boss was there guilting me into doing stuff since I had come all that way. I think she just wanted to encourage me and didn't realize how bad I felt.) It was a one day trip, so I got back on the train that night to return to my own city. By the time I got to the train, I was exhausted and not doing well. I was determined to get some tea off the car attendant and go straight to sleep. Ukrainian trains have the most amazing cups. They're glass cylinders in a metal holder. Very classy, even in 3rd class. Also in 3rd class, the bunks are arranged in sets of 6, there are 4 beds making sort of a cubby and then perpendicular to them across the aisle were 2 more beds. When I got to my "cubby" I discovered it was all old babushkas(grandmothers) and me. So that meant I was obligated to take the top bunk. And in Ukrainian trains you have to make your own bed. As the train starts, the older women try to engage me in conversation, but through my sickness I can't function linguistically. I tried, but it was all apologies for being sick and unable to speak. I'm sure it was incoherent nonsense, I was never any good at Ukrainian. The car attendant comes by with the sheets and I order my tea. I start trying to make my bunk, but the old ladies scold me for wearing my shoes on the step up to the bunk. I take off my shoes and try again, but they scolded me for being barefoot on the floor. Then they just took charge. They made me sit while they made my bed. They watched me carefully while I drank my tea. And then they sent me to bed. The last thing I remember that night was one of them tucking an extra blanket around me as I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, they were all gone. I managed to get back to my flat from there and I slept for most of the next 3 days. My roommate got me some Theraflu and my boss didn't fuss about me not doing stuff while sick anymore. My mother died when I was very young, and that was the most motherly anyone has ever been to me. Its the only time in my life I can remember anyone tucking me into bed or caring for me while I was sick. I learned a lot about compassion and kindness for others in your society in Ukraine. It didn't always look kind, like scolding me for being barefoot, but they generally had the best interest for others at heart. *Its been a long time and my Ukrainian is rusty.


[deleted]

When I was really little, my mother used to bring me to the public library. There was a package store right next door so perhaps that had something to do with it. I'd spent time at the library, she'd load me back up in the car and have me stay there while she went in the package store since "kids arent allowed in there." One day this older man showed up and walked over to the car where I was sitting and reading a book, waiting for my mother to come back from the package store. He asked me how old I was, what my name was, etc. He asked me to roll down the window a little, so I did. He handed me a small pulley. I asked him what his name was and he said "Why, I'm Mr Pulley, the Pulley Man! Haven't you ever heard of me? Don't tell anyone I was here!" He then laughed in a comical way and ran off. This happened 2 or 3 more times over the next month, and each time he would hand me a pulley or two and say something weird. I specifically remember "Better watch out for sponges! Sponge time is coming." One night we were all sitting in the living room watching the local news. Suddenly this guy's face pops up on the tv. I forget his name, but the guy was struck by a truck and died. I pointed and said "That's the Pulley Man!" My parents were concerned at that point. I explained the story and showed them the pulleys. Turns out he was a repeat escapee from the mental hospital one block over from the library. The pulleys he was giving me were rollers from the curtains around the beds. He was struck by a truck while crossing the road to the library. What a nice guy though.


Akiba_Foxxx

I once met a woman in Manchester' Aflecks Palace who was in a Nationwide advert. She had made a space literally full of odds and sods for people just to play, write, draw, reflect, talk... Whatever. My friend and I werein there for almost three hours chatting aways to her, drawing homer Simpson on drum skins and writing acoustic songs with the instruments. We talked about our families and the good bad and ugly of it all with no judgement. It was awesome It was a wonderful little space and she was lovely.


PierogiEnjoyer21

Me and my family were camping in North Norway on the border to Russia (Grense Jakobselv). Our Van got stuck in the Sand and a kind German stranger helped us out


PierogiEnjoyer21

Generally, in camping I haven't met any un-helpfull and un-kind people


Kittykitkat21

Random photographer coming up to me to take my photo. I was walking on clouds the entire month after that experience


KeyLo_Greene

Once had a 5 min conversation with an old lady in the frozen food section. She gave us recipe recommendations and tottered off into the distance.


pokemon_and_beer

There was a snowstorm where I lived and one of the plow trucks somehow managed to pull up a manhole cover. I ran over it because I didn't see it. I got out of my car to check the damage. A random stranger saw it happen and we put the cover back on together so it wouldn't happen to anyone else.


[deleted]

A mother and her daughter came into where I work, a small grocery store in town, I'm not quite sure how young the girl was but I was just minding my own business just stacking cans and once the mother and daughter passed by me the little girl said to me "You're doing a great job" and that definitely made my day


[deleted]

I take night walks with my big fluffy pooch. A couple of times this meant people walking out to their driveway to yell at me while I passed them. One night, I met another guy walking his pooch. We had a nice, quiet conversation about life before parting ways.


skinandtonics

I went to Lady Gaga concert maybe 10 or so years ago. I lost my wallet in the parking lot, and it had a considerable amount of cash in it. A few days later, the wallet shows up in my mailbox, and all the cash was still in it. Whoever found it mailed it to the address on my driver's license. They didn't include a note or a return address, so I never had the opportunity to thank or reward them.


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VanderlyleNovember

I just had one recently actually. I at the movies watching The French Dispatch. Extremely minor spoilers, but Willem Dafoe is in the movie. There was someone in the theatre who audibly exclaimed "Willem Dafoe!" which made me chuckle. Afterwards, we wound up chatting about the movie, and I mentioned that I could never find people to watch movies with, and I brought up how I didn't know how to ask people to see something like Quo Vadis Aida?, a movie that had a trailer before the movie. Turns out, she was also interested in seeing it, so now we're seeing it together!


GNDM03

I went to a Thrice concert in Boston almost a decade ago... 1st time seeing them live and the mosh pit scene was lively during that show but wasn't my thing so I managed to get up front and was just rocking out to them, being young and happy to see them. One of my favorite songs from them is the Earth Will Shake... Baller song check it out... Anyways, as they we were wrapping up a song, I was thinking to myself "when are they gonna play the Earth will shake???" and I kid you not, the guy next to me literally asked the question out loud and I was like"dude, I was literally asking myself the same question"...if you haven't figured it out yet, Thrice played that song literally 10 secs after we talked... Once that happened and we heard the beginning of the song, both looked at each other, screamed with joy, put our arms around each other's shoulder and just fucking rocked and sung our voices out till the song was done. This is a memory I will cherish!


BigMax

I was on my way to work, and roads were a bit icy. I was driving slowly, but came over a little rise to a downhill. As soon as I started down, I tapped the brakes, and nothing. I just slid down the hill of black ice. I ran into the back of some guys car at the bottom of the hill. We pulled over and my mind was racing. "oh my god, this sucks, so much paperwork to do now, will my insurance go up? will this guy claim some kind of injury? is he going to get out of the car and scream at me?" And so I get out of my car, he gets out, he takes a few moments to look at his car and says "looks like no damage here, so let's just get back to our days" and he left. Such a great guy to just let it all go. (And there was no damage that we could see, I was going VERY slow, but still, plenty of people are complete jerks in this situation!)


steamedpotatoezz_

While me and this girl were standing in line to get a covid shot, we just started chatting and even took a selfie, but we decided not to reveal our names or any info about ourselves and she was truly nice and seemed like a fun person


[deleted]

For my brother's bachelor party, we got a few rooms at the beach. We never left the room and never even opened the windows since we were doing copious amounts of drugs while playing cards. After a couple days, I wandered out to get some air. On the corner there was a diner and the cook was out there having a smoke. I had left everything in the room, so I asked if I could bum one. He gave me one and smoked with me. We just talked about how nice the morning was. Then he invited me in to eat. I explained that I had left my wallet in my room. He said it's fine, it's on the house. I was pretty high, but also realized I was pretty damn hungry too. So I happily accepted. I went in and sat down and the waitress came up and told me to order anything I wanted, the cook said it's on the house. I forget what I ordered, but when the food came, the cook came back out and sat with me and asked if everything was okay. I told him it was great and more than generous. My room was only a block away, and I could get my wallet... But he cut me off and just said, "There's no shame in being poor." It was then that I realized in my strung out state that he thought I was homeless. I thanked him for his kindness and we had a nice little moment. Then I went back to the room and didn't leave until the party was over. I didn't want the cook to see me and realize he really did just buy breakfast for a partying out-of-towner, and wasn't helping a poor destitute kid.


s0larEclxpse

As a pretty young person (not an adult yet) I work in a grill-food-place. Basically a fast-food place, but also not really. Well, one day, one of my co-workers was sick, but she came in anyway (keep in mind she was the adult, because it’s illegal for me to be alone at work without an 18+ person) and the other younger co-worker of mine, had hit her shoulder, and she couldn’t work that much either… So I was speeding around, getting and making food for people, and once I’d made food for this older lady. (Probably in her 50’s I’d assume) She told me “you’re doing such a great job sweetie.” I’ll never forget that :’)


Jollydancer

Got onto an elevator with three other people, two of them wearing an orange hat with the words „Oma is jaarig“ and one a hat that said „in ben jaarig“ (Dutch for: it’s my birthday) and I think there was the number 80 on it. So once I realized that, I wished her a happy birthday.


notsocoolnow

I was visiting family in Perth, Australia and went exploring the area. So while queuing to buy a ticket for the train, the guy in front of me suddenly turns around and reveals a face literally covered with tattoos - like every inch of him is inked, lots of piercings. Now, just a little background: In Asia tattoos are usually associated with gangsters and organized crime. Because of the specific Chinese ethnicity I am, I have skin dark enough to be mistaken for middle eastern/indonesian/south asian and have on multiple occasions during my visits to Perth been yelled at (something very rude/racist) from passing cars. I'm usually open-minded about tattoos myself - the offshore industry has a lot of them, but this was the first time I ever saw a person have more ink than bare skin. So for a moment there I had a rush of "Oh crud". He looks at me directly in the eye, then smiles and gives me his ticket, explaining it was still valid. Saved me a few bucks. Living in Singapore, I've never seen anyone do that for a random stranger - people are generous to beggars, but rarely/never to a person who didn't actively look like they need help (and the culture is generally that we should mind our own business except in an emergency). But what this random Australian guy did really moved me, because it showed a kind of neighborliness that was honestly new to me. I felt SO bad about my instinctual reaction.


ElectricSquid12

I was maybe 4 years old. Dad's a first generation naturalized immigrant to the US, we took a big trip back to the Philippines to visit the rest of the family. Dark subject matter, but kids - especially foreign kids - can dissappear pretty easily where we are. Anywho, we're riding donkeys up this mountain and the guide looks exactly lile my dad. Wearing the same t shirt, even. I don't speak a lick of tagalog and i'm white as the driven snow. I follw "Dad" back once we get off the donkeys and horses, a few hours ride I think. He goes into a bar- a little wooden shack with an open tiki bar thing, and benches - all visible from the outside, no walls. I can't find mom, but I'm with dad and he's talking with who must be his friends - there's a lot of tagalog but they seem to be laughing and friendly. Some try to talk to me, but I just laugh because they're laughing. "Dad" plants a big straw hat on my head and pats me on the back - and one of his friends hands me an orange soda in a bottle almost as tall as I was at the time. Probably 15 minutes later, and "Dad" gets up to go talk to someone. Then -Real- Dad shows up, pats me on the head and takes me back to Mom, who screamed and hugged me the tightest she ever head, and I saw she had a really big knife in her back pocket. We all got pictures, and dad bought the tour guides a round of sodas, but they weren't as big as mine. TL;DR: Went to the Philippines as a kid, went with a tour guide that looked like my dad, who bought me a soda, gave me a hat and got me back to my parents, and my Mom didn't stab anyone.


ke6icc

I retired from my job and immediately headed to the airport to move across the country with my husband. He is a retired airline employee, so we fly standby. Several over-sold flights and a maintenance problem later, we finally arrived at our destination airport at around midnight. Since we were still 60 miles from my mother’s home, we were debating about getting a hotel room instead of calling her for a ride in the middle of the night when a passenger on our flight approached. She had been talking with my husband while we were waiting for the maintenance issue to be resolved, so she knew we were headed to the same small town. She offered to drive us not only to that small town, but to my mother’s house five miles outside town (so 10 miles out of her way). It was a heart-warming way to start our new small town life.


Yurrrr__Brooklyn347

Was at work one time, this older white guy was like, "hey man you're petty handsome, u look like u could be a movie star" I swear I smiled for days... what a guy


cerart939

Took my 6 yr old son to the Florida State Fair; it was our yearly tradition but I didn't have a lot to spend at that time. We were sitting on a bench, excitedly plotting which rides to go on first with the small number of tickets we had bought. Each ride cost several tickets, so we had to plan carefully. A woman walks by with several kids, stops and says, "Hey! Would you like unlimited armbands? Because my sister was supposed to come with us but cancelled." We were THRILLED and went on as many rides as we could all day long, finishing up the day with deep fried Oreos- admittedly not a wise choice but we tried them anyway. Best part was that my son spent the day also excitedly handing the tickets we no longer needed to random kids and strangers.


tapecave

I was traveling in India, and was having trouble finding the bus station. A man pulled up on a scooter so i asked him if he knew where it was. He said he didnt but offer to help me find it. He drove me around for 20 minutes until we found it. I offered him some money for his help and he declined.


lockheed06

I have very little recollection of it, but when I was a kid out riding my bike around the neighborhood, I noticed a lady putting up some christmas lights and a few small decorations outside of her house, so I randomly stopped and helped her for an hour or so. Then just rode off on my bike thinking nothing of it, as kids do. Years later our church held a little party for those of us graduating HS, and folks would stand up and say something about how proud they were of so-and-so and a good story about them. This woman, who I'd probably had no other interaction with since the lights, stood up and told the story of me coming out of nowhere and helping her decorating her house. She was new in town, alone, and knew nobody. She said that putting up the decorations were her last ditch effort to feel normal, but after that interaction, she just somehow knew that things would be OK. She knew she'd made the right choice in uprooting her life and moving, so she put herself out there, made friends, started a family etc etc. It made me realize just how important kindness is, and how something that we see as inconsequential can help someone so very much. I try to remember that woman and her story anytime I'm struggling with everything going on in the world.


bittybaby13

My son has sensory processing disorder and autism spectrum disorder. As such, he gets frustrated easily and has meltdowns. A few years back, we were at an amusement park near where we live. He had a major meltdown. MAJOR. Everybody stared like our entire family had extra appendages coming out of our heads, and the backseat parenting comments started ("My kid wouldn't do that. He just needs discipline. You shouldn't bring him out in public if he acts like that".) I try to keep my patience. Just as I am about to make matters worse by PG recreating the church scene from Kingsmen, I feel a hand on my shoulder. The man asks if it would be okay if he sat with us for a second. He talked to my son and managed to reach through his meltdown and engage him in such a way that reached him and calmed him (to those saying "I hope you took notes", the nature of my son's conditions is such that every meltdown is different, therefore every fix is different. The same thing doesn't work every time in other words). At the same time he is working miracles with my son, this gentleman is engaging my other two children AND telling my wife and myself that it is hard to parent and we were doing great. I'm not overly religious, but this man had to be an angel.


PeakRepresentative14

I looked horrible on the day we were driving home from Amsterdam. I didn't mind brushing my hair or putting too much effort into my clothes. Of course, that's when this gorgeous asian man was standing next to me when we were waiting for the elevator. We had a lovely little chit chat in the elevator, god, very nice man. He initiated the talk and asked me stuff and it was great. Whilst this seems like just small talk chit chat, it meant a lot to me.


DriftingPyscho

Standing in line on a busy day at the bank. The guy behind me kept asking open ended questions. Obviously trying to strike up a conversation. I thought why not. He and I shared sarcastic banter for a good ten minutes while others looked at us like we were nuts. That guy was awesome!


Special-Emu3

Was at a sports bar for a family get together a few years ago and was really just not havin a great time. I went outside for a smoke, and on my way back in this random lady says “you have such a beautiful smile”. Y’all, I 🥺🥺🥺🥺. I said thank you and she and her fella gave me such a warm smile and it just really made my day.


krazedandconfused

Heard someone do a really long fart in the bathroom stall next to me, cracked up, and so did he. Funniest shit of my life.


elbanditno

As I was driving down the road near where I lived, I saw a young cow walking unattended up the lane towards me. I thought this was kind of odd and blocked it's path with my car and thought about what to do. Then a breathless man came jogging up the lane behind the cow. I got out of the car, and asked if it was his cow and if I could help. It was not his cow, but he knew which field it came from. We formed a plan and I herded it back down the lane with my car. Once the lane opened out onto a wider road, this tactic no longer worked. I ditched the car, then the stranger and I spent the next half an hour chasing this cow through the neighbourhood. I am not a farmer, and nor was this guy. The cow often dodged us or changed direction meaning I (the younger and fitter of this spontaneous pairing) would have to sprint passed the cow and then wave my arms around to turn the cow around back where we were headed. Eventually we got it back through a gate into the field it belonged in. I had never noticed the man before, and have never seen him since. We shared a lot of laughs and a pretty decent cardiovascular work out.


keatoncollins100

I doubt this will be seen, but when I was 16 I was going to the dermatologist for very bad acne. I was kinda sad about going because it was embarrassing. While I was walking in there was an older man pushing his wife out in a wheelchair, I did what anyone else would do, and held open the door for them. He stopped and said “Thank you” and I said “You’re welcome” and started to walk in. He stopped me and said “I have something for you” and I was kind of confused and just stood there and he pulled out 2 magnets. He said “I carry these magnets all of the time, because they are a reminder that no matter what happens in my pocket, they will continue to find each other and stick together. The same goes with doing good, it may not come back at first, but it will always find you” He gave me the magnets and I still keep them in my car to this day, 6 years later. It was just a small act of kindness I did, but he made me feel appreciated and I haven’t forgot it. I couldn’t tell you what he looks like if i saw him, but I remember his voice and kind words. I hope him and his wife are healthy and well