Nothing makes us tear up like a genuine act of kindness when someone needs it the most. It might not always feel like it, but the world is still full of wonderful people, and these stories from real Redditors prove it. From life-changing gifts to something as simple as a hug when you need it most, these people have restored our faith in humanity.
1. I Tawt I Taw Real Kindness
When I was six, my parents and I were at the local bar and grill. I was looking at a very specific doll in a claw machine. It was Tweety Bird in a spacesuit and I was OBSESSED. I was so zoned out; I didn't even know someone walked up until the claw came down, picked it up, and dropped it in the chute in one fell swoop. I turned and saw a man.
He looked transient and was taking the Tweety Bird out of the chute and immediately bending down then handing it to me. Neither of us said anything. We just smiled at each other, and then he turned and walked out of the restaurant.
Shutterstock
2. Worth The Drive
I had worked a shift at the hospital on Christmas Eve and was trying my best to get to my family’s house about two hours away before dinner. My brakes on my car just were not working right. It was snowing like crazy, and I was losing hope. I saw the mechanic was still open, so I drove in and told him what was going on.
Half hour or so later, he came out and told me what was wrong. And that wasn't all: He had already gone ahead and fixed it. I asked him what I owed him for the work. He told me to just get home to my family safe and have a merry Christmas. I felt like I was in a Hallmark movie. It is now the only place I will take my car.
3. Norway To Wait
I was on a trip in Norway, and it was my last night in the city and the country. I lost the midnight train, but no problem, I could still take the first train in the morning. In the meantime, I went to the dock because that's where all the nightlife was. The bar closed at 2 AM, and the train was at 5 AM. I’d met a guy.
He said, "There's no way you're gonna spend three hours walking around," and took me to his house. He gave me the worst coffee ever, and we talked. Then he took me to the station and bought my ticket. Before he left, he said, "I haven't slept, so tomorrow I might not remember you, but it's been a pleasure helping you."
4. Down In The Dumps
In high school, I ate at a Mexican restaurant and threw away my car keys on my tray when I was done eating. I asked a worker if he had cleared them off the table, and he said no but that he had just taken the trash out to the dumpster. I remember going outside to call my dad to ask if there was a spare, and he said no.
So, I turned back into the restaurant feeling humiliated and was about to ask if I could look through the dumpster, only to see a heartwarming sight. This man had already gone through the dumpster on my behalf and ended up finding my keys for me. He just went above and beyond expectations, and to this day, I am so grateful for his help.
5. Only So Much Time
I was on a summer road trip with some friends from Dallas to Austin. On the way down, the battery meter on my dashboard started acting funny – jumping up then dropping down and all sorts of weird stuff. We made it to Austin, and we're supposed to watch my one friend's show, but I had to go to an Autozone for a battery.
It was 7 PM, and I assumed all the mechanics were closed. This was pre-cell phone times, so I couldn’t check. I bought a new battery and installed it in the parking lot. When I turned the car on, I realized the truth: The battery was not the issue. Something in the car was seriously busted and I needed to get it fixed, stat. I met my friends and said we should leave that night instead of the next morning.
My rationale was that if we drove at night, we wouldn't need the AC and therefore would use less battery. We piled in my car and got about twenty miles outside the city when my car stopped. While we didn't need AC, we did need headlights. We pulled over on the side of the road. My friend with the cell phone called AAA.
They told us that it’d be an hour or so before anyone would be able to make it out. While we were standing there on the side of the road, in the near pitch black, a truck pulled over in front of my car. A man got out and was walking to us. All of my friends took a step back nominating me to do all of the talking first.
The man asked us what the problem was. I explained that the car stopped working. He had a tow chain in the back of his truck and could bring us to Dallas, which was about 200 miles away. It seemed like a bad idea since I would have to ride in my car steering and braking, and it was only going to be attached by a chain.
But I was 19 years old and stupid, so after my friends and I talked it over, we agreed. He told us that he had a small trailer at his place about fifty miles away that we could use to tow my car, but until then, I was steering a bum car about three feet away from the guy's bumper. My ex-girlfriend and I were in my car.
My other two friends were in his truck. They said that the driver told them about himself on the way. A year or so earlier, he'd been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Instead of treatment, he chose to accept his fate and spend whatever time he had left driving around helping stranded people on the side of the road.
6. Tearful Holidays
I missed my train to go home for Christmas from university due to a crash near the station. I was completely broke and knew I did not have enough for another ticket. Life just got on top of me knowing I'd have to spend Christmas alone in my awful student house and not see my grandad who was in rapidly declining health.
I was bawling my eyes out on the platform when someone appeared out of a hidden stock room and brought me tissues. He found out why I was upset and said leave it to me. He brought me to the customer service desk and got them to reissue me a ticket for the next train home. I was so thankful that I started bawling again.
He went on his way, and then just before I was about to get my train, he found me on the platform and gave me some snacks and a can of Coke, and it’s just the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.
7. A Good Deal
When I was 18 or so, I worked the graveyard shift at a restaurant. Most days it was just me and the cook. Before my shift one night, I gave a friend a ride home who lived near a golf course. After backing out of the driveway I caught a glimpse of something under an evergreen tree. When I realized what it was, my blood ran cold. It was a person. I wanted to stop my car, but I was alone and scared.
Fast forward two hours into my shift. This teen walks in and orders a coffee. He stayed a few hours reading old newspapers, and we got to chatting. He told me his story. I thought about what I’d seen earlier. I said to him, "Hey. It's pretty cold out there and winter is just starting. How about this, you can come here every night if you want. The cook is usually sleeping the majority of the time, we're slower in the winter, and I'd appreciate the company."
I could tell he was giving it some thought. So I did a couple of side duties to give him some time to think. It gave me time to think as well. I came back to his table and said, "It'll work. I can see it now. It's not unusual for students to come here, drink coffee, and pull an all-nighter studying. I've seen them take a snooze on the floor in shifts with their friends. You'll blend right in!"
He nodded, "I could do that." "Yeah! And if you need a ride into town for anything, I get done between 6-7 AM. My place is in the country south of town so I have to drive through town to get home anyway." Our little deal worked out well. When we'd get hit with a bar rush, he helped bus tables for me. The cook didn't notice as some regulars would help from time to time.
He never had to pay for a meal because there were "mix-ups" on the food ticket or people making to-go orders who thankfully never drove to pick it up. I stopped seeing him around town about 15 years ago. He was a good guy and I was glad to help him out. It didn't cost a thing and he was treated the same as any of my regulars. No one was the wiser.
8. Angels In The Heavens
When I was really ill in October 2017, my father also became even more ill than I was in another country. There was nobody else around for him who actually gave a darn, so I had to fly over there to see and support him. I planned to bring him home with me after he had recovered from his surgery. I had just been through a lot of trauma, and I was in no physical or emotional state to be getting on a plane—but there was literally no other option.
The flight was only around two hours long, but even that was way too much for someone as weak and frail as I was at that time. When I was waiting in line to board the plane, I could immediately feel myself getting dizzy and panicky—but that got a lot worse when I got onto the plane and when it started to take off. I started having a full blown panic attack, hyperventilating and crying in my seat.
I was sitting at the window, and there was a rather large man sitting in the middle with his daughter on the outer seat. The man noticed me crying, and he and his daughter switched seats. She took my hand and said something along the lines of "You’re okay, we're here. There’s no need to hold this anxiety back, we’re not going to judge you, just let it happen and everything will be alright."
She just hugged me and told me she’s so sorry while I hysterically cried. Once we landed, she and her father drove me in their car directly to the door of the hospital my dad was admitted to (over an hour away). They even offered to book me a hotel for a night or two, but thankfully I already had my accommodations sorted out. I do not know what I would have done without those people that day. We have each other on Facebook now, and she still occasionally checks in with me to this day.
9. Customer Appreciation
I was at a TJ Maxx/Marshalls type store, and the lines at the cashiers were extremely long. They must’ve had five cashiers, and as I’m standing waiting for one to open up, a younger woman with flushed cheeks and puffy eyes went to one of the unused registers. The girl next to her asked if she was okay. She said yes and proceeded to call me over to her counter.
I asked something like, “Bad day?” And she began telling me about how this customer completely ripped into her for something that wasn’t her fault and made her feel less than human. She was tearing up again as she spoke and I lent her a sympathetic ear. When she was done, I quickly asked if she liked chocolate and, confused, she said yes.
I ran down to the displays I’d been previously waiting at and grabbed a bag of fancy assorted chocolates and bought it. It was only after I told her to keep it out of the bag that you could see it dawning on her that I, a perfect stranger, was buying her something to cheer her up. She tried to decline it but I refused. Ultimately she hugged me across the counter and thanked me for being the exact opposite of her previous customer. It was awesome, but it wasn’t the best part.
I had my six-year-old daughter with me. As we left the store, she kept asking, “Is that your friend?”/“Do you know her?” and I was able to use this as a springboard to help reinforce that it’s important to be nice to people whenever you can.
10. A Free Ride
Back when I worked at the mall, I'd make sure I had extra quarters in my pocket to give to the kids that wanted to play on the merry-go-round but didn't have the means to. Seeing their faces light up when they realized they could actually ride on the rides for real and not just climb on them and pretend was always amazing.
I also kept Band-Aids on me because I'd have a lot of kids walking around with blisters on their feet; I once made a mom carrying her crying son come into my store so I could give her Band-Aids to put on his feet. I'd also have times where kids had no concept of tax and if I had the extra change/money, I'd cover the rest they owed—it was usually only a dollar, at most. I ended up making an area where I'd hide loose change we found on the floor just for this.
I spent a lot of time learning to listen to customers around me and stepping in to help whenever I could, and that kind of carried on outside of work. I learned to stop hesitating when I heard people needing help and started just doing it, and it's honestly been one of the best things I've learned to do.
11. Waffle Time
My students will go out of the way for each other in ways that I never saw growing up. For example, I had a student crying at lunch today because her home lunch was moldy. As she was telling me this, four others (who I thought were from different cliques) started offering up whole waffles (one of just two served with hot lunch), all of their sausage links, and even half of a seemingly-gourmet, homemade sandwich.
Also, the majority of the kids I work with will stick up for their classmates who are being bullied, regardless of the audience. Elementary and middle school-aged young people seem to be thought of self-absorbed and social media-obsessed. However, every single day I am genuinely astounded by their insight and resilience, despite their upbringing in a political and social climate which is considerably less stable than the generations preceding them.
12. The Protectors
I worried about my son, who has mild autism, for the first 10 years of his life. I kept telling him that middle school would be hard, kids would tease him, etc. and that high school would be even harder in the same respect. 15 years ago, I would have been right. Fast forward to now, and I’m constantly amazed and grateful for how well he is treated.
Even the “jock” kids and big snotty idiot kids who would make perfect tyrants are inclusive, kind, and even sometimes protective of my son. I’ve told all of them how appreciative I am, and even got a few of them Christmas presents this year. Love those kids.
13. Holiday Heart Scare
I’m an ICU nurse in training. I did my cardiac care internship—just a couple of weeks—and I distinctly remember this one English couple that went through our hospital. They were on holiday when the wife collapsed due to a heart infarction and was successfully resuscitated by her own 15-year-old son and the paramedics. She was in the ICU only for a couple of days and was then transferred to the CCU.
She was getting better each day, and each and every day her husband profusely thanked us. He went as far as to bring stuff like donuts, cookies, chocolate etc. to the nurses on the CCU. After a while, she went to the normal ward, and the next day she was cleared to fly back to England again by our doctors. The husband came up to me (with another box of donuts) and was so thankful for the staff helping his wife, tears and all. How happy they were they could go back home and see the children again.
That's what keeps me going—to see we made a huge difference. It makes me proud of what we do.
14. Salvage Solution
I worked at a bicycle shop doing the basics: sales, bike builds, repairs. One day this homeless man comes in asking if we could help him out with his bike, but he didn't have a way to pay for any service. The store owner was out for a bit and we were unsure how he would feel about us doing free work. My co-workers and I were hesitant to get too involved or really even look at it, but it's hard to turn down a person in obvious need.
We figured we could just turn a quick wrench or make a minor adjustment and get him back on the road. It turns out that his rear cassette was busted (I don't remember what was wrong with it specifically) and needed to be completely replaced—bummer, not a quick fix. It turns out that we would often find abandoned bicycles leaning against our rear exterior wall. I ran out back to see if we'd get lucky and scavenge a used cassette. No luck that day.
However, we were right next to a popular donation station that had drop offs all the time. As luck would have it, a man was unloading a bunch of items out of his truck, including a couple of bicycles. I ran over to him before he pulled the bicycles out and asked him if I could have one for parts. He was giving them away anyway and didn't particularly care where they went, so he gladly gave me one.
I wheeled it past an unapproving donation station worker, but since the donation hadn't happened yet, he had no recourse. My co-workers and I teamed up on the swap and got the man on his way as quickly as possible. Once the man left with his now functional bicycle, we all took a second to smile at each other, feeling like we did something awesome for a fellow human being. It's amazing what a difference five minutes can make.
15. Put a Ring on it
I worked at Kay Jewelers and we had a young man who had put a ring on layaway when I had first started. He diligently came in every two weeks to pay off the ring for almost eight months. On his final payment, he brought his girlfriend in to "ring shop" and she picked the exact ring he'd placed on hold so long ago. He said, “Let's buy it!” She got so red and said, “There’s no way we can afford that.”
He went to the counter leaving her with me to look at other stuff. He came back and proposed to her right there in the store and she cried and said yes. It was so adorable and they came back about a year later to pick out a band for the wedding. The best part was the two of them had been working hard and got promoted at their jobs, and he bought the new ring outright.
16. Homeward Bound
I work physical rehab in a skilled nursing facility. I had a young, early-40s patient with a hereditary degenerative condition who had been in different hospitals and facilities for months. In addition to genuine pain and disability, she was being very self-limiting and unwilling to do pretty much anything in fear of it increasing her pain levels.
It was a long journey, but it was so worth it. Bit by bit, a coworker and I convinced her to first roll over, then sit, then stand, then spend longer and longer periods out of bed. Finally, we got to the point where we were able to do a home visit, and you could see her remembering what it was like to be in her own space. That light of desire to go home was in her eyes and she worked harder from that point on, and two weeks later she was discharged. Helping her into the car and waving it out of the parking lot was the best feeling I've had so far in my career.
17. Necessary Charity
My dad recently lost his job, and with it his health insurance. He had a heart attack last year and has to take an expensive medication as a result. A one-month supply is around $250 without the insurance to help. He went to his doctor's office yesterday to find a coupon to at least shave off some of the cost. A nurse went in the back and ended up coming back with a two-month supply of free samples for him.
Saved my parents from paying $500 out of pocket for a drug he absolutely needed.
18. First-Class Trip to Awww-ville
My mom was dying, she lived in Australia and I live in Georgia. My husband had been laid off from work and I couldn't afford to fly to Australia on a last-minute basis. A person that I only know from a message board used her frequent flyer miles and paid for my trip to Australia...not only that but she booked me first class both ways.
19. It Was Tow Problem
My wife and I saved up to buy a nice grill, but we had never thought of how to get it home. We were trying to get it in the trunk of our little car and were just about to resort to opening the box it came in to put it in piece by piece when a guy who'd been sitting in his truck eating dinner in the parking lot came up to us.
He asked if he could help us transport it to our place. We thanked him, but didn't want to say yes. After all, we lived about twenty miles away, so the round trip would take a fair bit of his time. We told him about the distance, and to our surprise, he was still more than happy to drive it to our house. He even refused any kind of payment for helping us.
20. Woman To Woman
I was an American in China and at this time, I was very pregnant. I was at the train terminal, and the hormones kicked in. I started crying for no reason, which made me only cry more. A very tiny old Chinese woman there said something (I couldn't understand her, since we spoke different languages). She then gave me a great big hug and a big smile. It was exactly what I needed.
Pexels
21. Reporting For Doody
I was shopping at Target when my baby had a blow-out diaper situation. I also had my two-year-old with me and had to use the changing station in the ladies’ room. My toddler was out of control and was just itching to do gross stuff like lick the floors or something else horrifying to everyone except for a mischievous 2-year-old.
A woman, maybe in her 40s, saw as I tried to deal with my baby on the changing table and keep my 2-year-old from eating something disgusting. This woman immediately helped me out by interacting with my toddler, so I could fix the poosplosion my tiny infant son had produced. She got my toddler to count sinks, jumped from tile to tile with him, and made him laugh with silly faces.
It probably only lasted 2-3 minutes, but it was the most helpful thing someone could have done for me in that overwhelming moment.
22. A Mother Knows
When I had no money as a student, I went to do a shop with the little money I had left. But my phone bill was due, and I was flat broke and had to leave all the stuff at the cashier while I went outside to work out if I could borrow money. This absolutely amazing, amazing woman came out and said she saw the whole thing.
She told me she had a son who was a student and found himself in similar situations. So, she gave me a hug and forced some money in my pocket. I was too flabbergasted to say anything then, but lady, if you read this, you really changed my opinion about people in general and made sure I ate for the first time in a week.
23. Food For Bought
I was flying back on leave and had a stopover in Vegas. I was really hungry but pay wasn’t great, so I figured I’d just have Burger King. Standing in line, a guy who wasn’t even in line came up and just went, “Here man, you look tired. Thank you for your service to the country. Let me get your meal.” He handed me a $20 and went away.
I thought that $20 was way too much just for Burger King. I got to the front of the line and ordered. It ended up being $18. That surprised me, and I was glad he’d given me a $20. There have been other times when people have randomly paid for meals when I was broke. So now, I’ll randomly buy the person’s meal behind me.
24. On The Table
In my first year at university, my boyfriend and I went through some pretty rough times financially. He was older than me and had a steady job, but the income still was not enough for both of us, so when I went through a period of unemployment it became hard to make ends meet. A couple weeks went without grocery money.
My boyfriend’s first bi-weekly check went to pay for rent, so when his second one came, we were excited to finally have something other than Mr. Noodles to eat. Unfortunately, his bank only had two locations and weren't in our city, so when he deposited his cheque online it would take a week before we could access any.
We tried to deposit the cheque at my bank. He signed the back, "pay to the order of (my name)" hoping that would make me eligible to deposit it. I explained the situation to the bank teller, and she told me her hands were tied and I couldn’t deposit it because it wasn't in my name. By then, there were tears in my eyes.
I thanked her and was about to walk away. She paused and then took the cheque from me and then asked me to wait for a moment to see if there was anything one of her superiors would be able to do. I stood there trying to compose my 17-year-old self, and the teller came back and said there was still nothing she could do.
She handed me back the cheque, and I went to put it in my wallet. She then slid a $50 bill across the counter and told me to go buy some groceries on her. I bawled the entire way to the grocery store.
25. Ticket To Happiness
I was in a very dark time of my life, and my doctor told me I needed a distraction away from home. I went to the arcade, bought $10 of tokens, and started to play skeeball. I'm pretty good at skeeball; I consistently hit 40s and 50s with the occasional 100. After playing through all the tokens, I had over 1,500 tickets.
I was ready to leave and saw a young kid. I went over and offered him my tickets. He looked at the person with him and asked if it was ok, and she said yes. The look on his face made my day! He thanked me, and so did she. He got whatever he wanted from the counter, and I got a smile, which I hadn't had for a long time.
Flickr
26. Using Signals
I was running and dropped my MP3 player without realizing it on a busy city street A nice older man literally stopped in traffic and flagged me down. When I didn’t respond because I was spacing out, he honked and waved his hands at me. A lot of people were honking at him to keep going, but he was being very persistent.
When he had my attention, he told me that he'd seen another guy pick it up, pocket it, and try to walk away really quickly. Then as this nice older man drove off, he kept pointing and yelling, “He has it! He has it! Hurry!” I turned around, ran two blocks, and caught up with the guy who had definitely tried to steal my MP3 and got it back. Thanks, old man!
Pexels
27. Uphill Babble
My motorcycle stopped working at an intersection. This was when I was 16. It stopped while I was rolling, and I just rolled through the intersection. I pulled the bike onto the sidewalk. It was nighttime, and I was riding home to my parent’s house. The intersection was at a Meijer known locally as the "ghetto Meijer."
On the stoop of the apartments was a group of fellas just drinking, talking, and for some reason, wearing generally the same color. I was sketched out. It was dark, and I was a skinny, weak-looking kid. I was scared. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my $700 ninja and was looking over my shoulder the whole time.
Then, out of nowhere, this man walked up, and I thought to myself, "Here we go, gotta empty my pockets, I guess." The man stopped next to me and flashed me a smile. "Are you okay? Do you need any help? Do you know what's wrong? I have a flashlight." I told him I had no idea, and I just was going to push it up the hill.
He offered to help and handed me the flashlight. He helped me push my bike up the sidewalk to a carwash since it was closer and well-lit enough. I think he could tell I was sketched about the area because he talked to me the whole walk. I called my dad, and he went to the wrong place, so I waited twice as long for him.
The man was just talking about his life and growing up. I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying; I just knew that it was calming me down. My dad showed up finally. The man helped us put the bike in his van, and then he said to have a good night and just walked away. I will never forget that moment in my life.
28. Pizza Delivery
I was in my first year of community college at 19 years old, and I was going through the hardest time in my life. My dad had lost his job, and my mom supported my whole family. We were struggling for a while. I remember being in my night class one day starving. I figured there’d be no dinner, so I told myself I’d go straight to bed when I got home and not think about being hungry.
When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a giant box of Costco pizza on the kitchen counter. Apparently, one of our neighbors bought it because my dad fixed a part of her fence a few months back. I think it stuck with me because one, I was so hungry and two, the chances of her bringing food that night of all nights was insane to me.
29. All Out
My motorbike ran out of gas not long after I started riding. I didn't realize I'd go through my reserve that fast. I managed to get more miles by laying my bike on its side to get a few more drops in the carb, but, eventually, it didn't work anymore. I was about to start pushing when a guy pulled up to me and asked me, “No fuel?”
I said yes, and he told me to wait. About ten minutes later, he came back holding a can of gas and poured it in, but before I could offer him anything, he said, “No worries man, it happens to the best of us," and drove away. I assumed he was a biker too and had the same happen to him once. His kindness absolutely made my day.
30. Cover Up
I was nine years old waiting for the school bus in Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat and no hat or gloves. A woman driving past saw me and stopped. Then she gave me a blanket from the back of her car. It was a long skinny one, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her, but I also remembered being confused.
I told her I didn't know how I would give the blanket back when I was done borrowing it. She hugged me and said not to worry about it. I still have that blanket.
31. Taking The First Step
After I lost my dad, my depression went from manageable to dangerously bad. I went to the doctor for a prescription for anti-depressants. When I was picking it up, I started crying and apologized to the pharmacist for doing so. His words changed my life. He looked at me and said, “You don't have to apologize. You recognize you have a problem, and you are trying to fix it. That is a brave thing."
32. Weeding Out The Good Ones
Last year, my son and I went to Lowe's to buy his grandpa a weed eater and a certain attachment that goes with it. Grandpa was a little older and slower than before, but he did a lot for us, so we wanted to help make his life a little easier. When we got there, however, there was only one of the attachments left that we wanted.
Even worse, there was an employee getting it down for another customer. My son looked devastated. He knew how much his grandpa had been wanting the items, and we were going to surprise him with it. My son looked at me and quietly said, "that's the last one. What are we going to do for grandpa now?" The guy overheard and saw my son.
He saw the pained look on my son's face, and then he casually handed it to me and told us, "I think your grandpa needs this more than I do. I'll just get an IOU from the store." It was such a small moment for this guy, but it's one of those things that you witness that would literally help shape my son and his view of the world.
33. Home Run
I finally decided to get out of my bad home life. I went to my college’s financial aid office to see if I qualified for a dorm. Turns out, I was 50 dollars short. I looked at the ground trying not to cry. I had finally gotten the courage to leave but could not do it. The financial aid lady touched my shoulder and looked at me. Then she simply said, “I believe you" and I nearly burst into tears.
It was the first time anyone had flat out said they believed I was being hurt. She took out her credit card and paid the last fifty dollars. She went with me to sign the lease and to get the key to my dorm. I stood with my key in my hand and realized I was getting out. I was going to be free. I broke down. She hugged me and told me to pay it forward eventually.
I have no idea what her name is, but to the woman at Dixie college who took a chance on me, thank you. I pay it forward by speaking at therapy groups about choosing not to be a victim and sponsoring those who are in similar living situations as I was.
34. In Good Mountain Standard Time
Once, I’d taken the scenic route home through a windy mountain road. It was a beautiful 30-minute detour around traffic with a great view and my windows down smelling the earth and leaves. The place was so out of the way that there wasn’t any cell reception. Just a big beautiful mountain road. I was enjoying the view as I drove when I got a branch stuck under my car.
Because my car was small and the branch was big, I pulled over to deal with it. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to pull over in a deep ditch and feel as my car slowly rolled right to the bottom. It was so deep that my car's nose was at the bottom while the the back wheels were three feet off the ground on the other side. I easily got the branch out, but I was in big trouble: How the heck was I going to get out of this hole?
Then, this big pick-up drove up the road and saw me. There was a couple who had wanted to help me but had nothing to tow me. Then, at this random moment in time, a person was walking their dog where there are no sidewalks and said, "Hey, I live right here; I'll get chains." He went to his house, came back in ten minutes with his large pick-up and chains, hooked my car up to both trucks, and they pulled me out. I'd been there just 15 minutes.
I was in a sparsely populated area with little to no traffic with my car nose down in a ditch and no cell service. We inspected the damage, nothing major, but the couple escorted me off the mountain to ensure I could make it home. I got off that mountain between sheer luck and unbelievable kindness I will never forget.
35. Gut Feeling
Leaving a park with my son, I put a hard candy in my mouth and said something. The candy slipped down my throat. I immediately knew I was in trouble and couldn’t breathe any air. I threw the car into park and left my son confused. I started flagging down people on street. A guy and his girl stopped. It was getting bad and I was panicking.
I made universal choking sign. The guy understood. I could tell he wasn't sure what to do, so I guided his hands to the correct position. After four heaves, the candy was out. I gave him a big hug, and we went our separate ways. It was scariest moment I have ever experienced, especially having it happen in front of my son, and this complete stranger literally saved my life.
36. We All Scream
I transferred in the middle of first grade to a school that did ice cream Fridays where you'd pay like 75¢, get an ice cream, and then watch an educational video in the classroom. I was unaware of it on the first Friday, so I didn't have any change and neither did the kid next to me. Usually, there’d be a few who couldn't get ice cream.
But we were the only two that day. So, the teacher called the both of us aside and gave us each the change required to have our ice cream. I think the biggest thing was that she didn't do it in front of the other kids, so it looked like we’d brought the money all along. It was incredibly kind of her. She was the most wonderful teacher I ever had.
Public Domain Pictures
37. On Second Thought
Just about two or three weeks ago, I was getting home late at night after a double shift at work. I parked my car on the street and was stopped by an older guy in a run-down car. Tired, and thinking he was hitting me up for money, I said I couldn't help him and continued to walk into my house. But then, something unexpected happened. As I was rinsing my lunch dishes in the sink, I couldn't stop thinking about the guy needing help.
So, I put on my hoodie and walked back outside where he was. Turned out he needed gas and a jump-start for his car and was stranded. I helped him get the gas from the station down the street, moved my car to jump his, and bid him a good night. I went to bed much later than intended, but with a clean conscience and feeling like I put a little good in the world despite my initially dismissive behavior.
38. Easter Basket
My wife and I were driving through downtown Colorado Springs before Easter, and a homeless man was asking for money to get his daughter an Easter basket. We went to the store and bought about $100 worth of coloring books, throw blankets, a basket with a few treats, and a pack of toothbrushes. We went back and didn't see the guy, but found his bed and his daughter’s under the bridge where he was begging.
We left it all under an old blanket on the bed. We didn't get to see the reaction as no one was around, but I hope it made someone's day.
39. Let’s Do Lunch
Back in high school, we had a really good "Hot Lunch" line that was way better than the normal cafeteria food. They had loaded baked potatoes, pizza, some salads, etc. The problem is it was more expensive, so they didn't keep enough for everybody so that they wouldn't have to throw any away. It was a first-come-first-serve type thing, and the classes let out for lunch at different times. So the early classes always got first pick, and it was usually sold out before the late classes got there.
My class let out for lunch right about the time they always sold out, so we were always the ones who bought the last of everything. I would always either casually ask or eavesdrop on the people behind me to see what they were going to get, then I'd get the opposite so that they could still get the food they wanted. If what they wanted was the last item left, I'd just buy a bottle of water and then get in line for the cafeteria food.
I didn't care that much about what I ate for lunch, it seemed to be a bigger deal to everyone else.
40. The Gift Of Giving
A really good friend of mine was struggling a few years back financially. He had four kids, his wife was out of work, and they were living on one income. My girlfriend and I were doing pretty well and knew Christmas was going to be slim for their kids. So we took my kids out shopping to show them that giving was an important part of Christmas.
After getting all of the kids enough gifts, we made sure that mom and dad also got a few things. He still is amazed that "the church" bought him Shadow of Mordor. We left it all on his porch and my kids waited down the road watching as I rang the doorbell and ran away.
41. Rocky Mountain High
I was leaving work after a bad day about a year and a half ago. The bartender asked if I would hang with a friend of hers who was drinking alone. He and I had some drinks and bonded over music, and ended up keeping in touch. I made it clear that I wasn't available in a romantic way, and he genuinely just wanted to text about music and books.
He decided to move to Denver (my hometown) for work, a while later. I introduced him to my two best friends, whom I hadn't seen in many years. Well, after a month of living there, he gave me the biggest surprise of my life. He randomly mailed me a round-trip ticket to see my friends. He didn't even want to hang out when I was there. He just wanted to do something nice for all of us. It was the best weekend ever, and all thanks to someone I hardly knew. It was lovely.
42. Setting An Example
There was this girl in my fifth-grade class who always came to school and got made fun of because of her looks. I feel bad typing that out. Fifth graders are especially mean. One day I mentioned to my mom how some girls had made fun of her. They had written a long and detailed letter telling her how ugly she was, and put it in her locker. What my mom did next left me stunned.
She gave me $100 to slip in the girl’s locker. Now looking back to that, as someone who is about to have their first baby, that's an example I want to set for my child. My brother is the same way. He is seriously the least confrontational, sweetest human being. One time he saw some kid getting beat up by a group of kids and he ran into the fight to block them from hitting him.
He came home with bite marks out of him and hair missing, and blood all over him. He got sent to an alternative school for the rest of the year. I was so proud of him, despite the stupid punishment.
43. Ticket To Ride
A while ago, I used to work overnight at a gas station. I saw a lot of the same customers, so a huge majority became regulars. There was this one woman who I always assumed was on something because she just looked like it. Anyway, one Sunday night about two years ago, she comes in and asks me a question that left me puzzled.
She asked if there was any way I could print something for her. I'm looking at her kind of skeptical, because this is a gas station, not a library. What she told me next broke my heart. She goes on to say that she is catching a bus to go to rehab in the morning, and the only way she can get on the bus was with a printed ticket. So me being me and it being after midnight on a Sunday, I had the time and the means to help her.
The only problem was she couldn't remember her email password. So we sat going back and forth trying to reset her password, with me dealing with a few customers in between. About 45 minutes later I printed out her ticket! She thanked me over and over. I just gushed I was so happy I could help her better her life. Fast forward I'd say about eight months later, the door opens. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
She came into the store and she looked so good! She'd put on weight and looked so healthy and happy. I gave her a huge hug and she thanked me again. I had tears in my eyes when she left.
44. Upper Crust Move
I did this at a pizza place I worked at. Anything that was left in the warmer at the end of the night was supposed to be thrown out, but I would take it out back to the homeless people around. Towards the end of my time there, the general manager found out what I had been doing and tore a strip off me. What he said made my blood run cold.
According to him, if you feed them, they'll always be around harassing you when you're trying to get into the building and that would be unacceptable. Well, I got my revenge on the jerk. I only worked there for a couple of months after that, but I made sure I frequently “messed up” orders and set them carefully aside to distribute instead of throwing them in the garbage like he ordered me to.
I'm pretty sure the local homeless community was devastated when I finally quit. That boss was a monster though.
45. A Good Heart
I work in law enforcement in a small town. I got a call to try and locate a woman who was on the heart transplant list. She wasn't answering her phone or pager. It was the early 90s, so she didn't have a cell phone. It was in the middle of the night and cold, in February. I knocked on the door of every neighbor on her street without success.
The last house on street told me she'd gone to a relative's out of town. I was able to get her number and contact her. She got a new heart that night. I'm retired now and still see her on occasion. She always makes a big deal and hugs me. She'd forgotten her pager and didn't go back to get it thinking, “What are the chances they'll call tonight...”
46. Survivor
I’m a doctor. I was on duty in the emergency unit in a rural hospital in a third world country when two women arrived with 60% total body surface area burns, after the gas canister in the school kitchen where they volunteered exploded. Both women were fully conscious when they were brought in. I treated them aggressively—morphine, fluids, burn dressings, intubated both to protect their airways—and made arrangements for transfer to a hospital equipped to treat them further, but this has an extremely poor prognosis due to ongoing damage and associated complications.
I was sad but not surprised to hear that the one woman passed on within hours. At that stage, I worked in a very fragmented system and since I did not hear anything about the second woman, I assumed she passed as well. For some weeks I had trouble adjusting to the idea that the last thing in their lives those two women heard was me saying, "Hi, I'm Dr So-and-So, you got very badly burnt, I gave you some strong pain stuff but I'm worried about damage to your face, so I'm going to give you something to make you sleep and then put a tube in your lungs to protect them, ok?" (paraphrased slightly)
A little over six months later I get a call from the sister on duty at the emergency unit. She told me, "There is someone here that you absolutely want to see." It was the second woman from that fire. She had been through it all—skin grafts, rehabilitation, depression—but against the odds, she had survived. She also immediately recognized me as the one who said "I'm going to give you something to make you sleep," but she remembered it more favorably than I did.
It was easily the happiest day of my entire career so far, and I’ve been practicing for 11 years now.
Pexels
47. Someone to Talk to
I'm an EMT, and I would say one of my best days at work involved a call we got for a young girl who was feeling suicidal. I have to admit, I'm not sure that she needed an ambulance, but I spent a lot of time in the back with her, talking, and she seemed a lot better and happier by the time that we got to the hospital.
It struck me because it was the first call where I felt like I had truly helped someone with their mental health problems. I still think about her sometimes, and I hope she's doing better.
48. Kindness Over Fear
Nurse here. I was a student on a cardiac unit and there was a lady there waiting for surgery. She and her husband spoke little English, although their friend was there sometimes to help translate. The night before her surgery her husband and friend left, and I helped her take a sanitizing shower to prep for the next day. My preceptor told me her surgery was extremely risky and carried only a 20% chance of success. Neither of us were sure if she understood this fully, but she knew it was necessary and she was scared.
I kept thinking it might be her last night on earth and she was here all alone. Through broken communication her last words to me that night were her thanks, because she said we were so sweet and caring in a time when she was so afraid. I didn't care whether I was allowed or not, but I gave her a strong hug before I left that night. On the eve of surgery, she was all alone and had a regular hospital meal, with little ability to communicate. I was left with a terrible sadness—but the next week, everything turned around.
I passed by a room and she called out for me. She’d survived the surgery. She demanded more hugs, and asked why I wasn't her nurse again. There are days we see someone for the last time, and sometimes we never find out. Then there are days when things go well and people remember the kindness they received instead of their fear.
49. Something to Be Thankful About
When I was in first grade, my mom was really struggling financially. She mentioned something about how hard Thanksgiving was going to be to another mom. Well, the week before Thanksgiving, there was a raffle where we could win an entire Thanksgiving dinner. My teacher gave every student two cards from a deck. When she gave me mine, she kind of said "wait" and checked them before she gave them back to me. I won the raffle.
Even if she hadn't checked the cards, I'd have suspected something. I never win anything.
50. Deductible From a Benevolent Source
When my husband was diagnosed with lung cancer in August of 1999, he was working for a small family-owned trucking company. Once they were forced to take him off their insurance, they contacted me about paying for Cobra insurance. I was a stay-at-home mom and had no money to pay for that, so I thanked them for the information and hung up.
Two days later, I got a call from the daughter-in-law of the owner. She said that I would be getting a paper in the mail that I was to sign. Paper said that I agreed to pay for our part of the Cobra and that the policy would be instated on such & such a date. I said...but I told you...I can't pay for that. She said I was not to worry about it, just do it. I did.
Someone in the family called me once a week to keep tabs on how he was doing, up until his death in January of 2000. They, obviously, thought a great deal of him. Forever grateful.
51. No Highway to Heaven for You Today
Last month, I dropped my car off to this mechanic that apparently is good with Volkswagens. I explained to him that I have NO idea what's wrong with my car and a handful of other mechanics have already looked at it and they never seem to fix it (and I always get billed). So, a month goes by, he calls me and tells me he's been doing what he can to the car, but nothing seems to work.
Therefore, it cannot pass inspection. Sigh. I go to his garage today, meet with him and talk a bit about what I can do if I want to sell the car. Finally, I ask, "What do I owe you?" He says, "Nothing, don't worry about it" I told him I can afford what he would charge for an inspection, at least let me pay that. He refused any money from me and offered to tow my car back to my place, since I cannot drive a car that is not inspected.
Nice guy.
52. Not All Gift Baskets Are Created Equal
I'm a type 1 diabetic who had run out of insulin. I had been using as little as I could to get by, but I was just about out and currently had no health insurance from my work. It's based on hours and I was a full-time college student. I was using the school clinic since I wasn't feeling well, and they were so concerned about my health that the dean of students even came to my apartment to make sure I was still alive after not returning the clinic’s calls.
I had been up all night with my husband at the hospital due to him having a heart scare. I explained to them I couldn't afford the $300 vial that I needed and left to run some errands. I got a call about half-way through my errands saying that someone had donated some medical supplies to me. Two vials of insulin, blood glucose test strips, and a few packages of syringes.
I was in tears when I got there, and when one of the nurses handed me the gift, I broke down in sobs and cried on her shoulder. It was the most meaningful gift I have ever received, and I owe my life to whoever donated it to me.
53. You Make the Best Friends Hitchhiking
When my dad was in college, his car broke down one night on the side of a road that was not very busy. The first person going by stopped and gave my dad a ride to a service station. It turned out that the guy who picked my dad up also attended the same college and they started hanging out. Now, close to 40 years later, they're still very close friends.
54. Little League, Big Heart
When I was little, I did an indoor rec league of soccer with this other little girl, who was very small for her age and incredibly rich. We got along really well and had a lot of fun, but apparently, kids at her private school picked on her a lot. She had so much fun with the "fun only" rec league she wanted to go out for the competitive traveling team, but they told her she wasn't good enough.
So, her incredibly awesome mom decided to start a "B" team that was a little less competitive for others who wanted to play. She called my mom up and asked if I would try out. I did and I made the team, but the traveling league was waaaaaay more expensive. We just couldn't afford it, and it was too late to apply for a grant, so my mom told her, unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to play.
Later that day, she called my mom back and told her she had been able to secure me a late scholarship from the league, and I would be 100% covered. When I was a little older and her daughter no longer played for us (they moved), my soccer coach admitted to my mom that this woman paid for my year of soccer herself and bought my jacket.
Their entire family were the sweetest people you ever met, and it made me feel incredible (albeit a little guilty) that she cared enough about us getting to play together that she would do that for me especially despite the fact they barely knew us.
55. Putting the “Care” in Childcare
As a struggling single mom, I had trouble paying the daycare bills. This was especially hard if child support didn't come, which was often. The daycare director allowed my child to attend without me paying on time. She would delete all late fees and allow me to slowly catch up. They would stay after hours if my job ran late and meet me. They became a kind of family for my son and I.
I tried to give back when I was an elementary education student by volunteering and helping out. I ended up going to school with some of the girls working there. We are all teachers now and trade lesson ideas and job opportunities.
56. Picture Perfect
My family and I spent Christmas in Hawaii and on our trip back (we had about a 5-hour drive to get back home from the airport), we stopped at a rest area. I had been looking at photos from our trip on our digital camera, and it must have been in my lap when I got out of the car and dropped into the parking lot. When we got home, I looked high and low for the camera and couldn't find it anywhere.
A few weeks later, we got a call from a police officer who lived in our state’s capital (not where we lived) saying someone had found the camera. On it was a picture of my folks’ motorhome (from a previous trip), and you could make out the license plate number. This guy was from another state, just passing through, found our camera at the rest area and contacted the police with the plate number.
The police looked up the plate and contacted us! The guy then mailed us back our camera. It was the nicest thing a stranger had ever done for us. We mailed him back a thank you card and a gift certificate to a restaurant in their area. "Today you, tomorrow me."
57. One Stich at a Time
This is a tiny, tiny thing, but it really made me feel happy. I'm in Amsterdam right now, and on my second day of being here I ripped my Converse apart. Great. They're my only sneakers and a pair here would cost a lot more than at home. Eventually, I go to a tailor and I feel bad about handing this pair of ratty kind of smelly shoes to him.
I also came in about half an hour before he closed, but it was the only time I could. I don't know Dutch, and it seems he speaks mostly Dutch/Italian but a little English. He takes my shoes and seems to stop listening to me. Sews them up right there, comes out and gives it to me. I take out my wallet but by the time I saw how much?
He waves me off and goes back to the office in the back. From my experience, people have been so kind, friendly and helpful here.
58. Ringing up Karma
I was in college, living in an apartment, and broke. I had a bag with me containing four loaves of bread that I'd bought for about $1.10, and I didn't have any idea what I would eat after those were gone. I was at a pay phone in a classroom building, calling my mom collect because I also didn't have a phone. I knew my mom had already told me she wasn't going to give me any money anymore, but I hoped she could ask my grandmother for $20.
Before I could get that out, she yelled at me and hung up. As I was dialing my dad at work, someone came up and was waiting for the phone. I explained the situation to my dad, he needed me to call him back in a few minutes (he had a customer in his shop or something). Before I hung up, the person waiting, who'd seen me make two calls now, says, "Other people have to use the phone, too, you know."
After I hung up, I unloaded on this guy, both barrels. Screaming at him about how I was out of money and out of food, and how he's probably forced to use a pay phone because his cell phone was broken (this was when cell phones were expensive, so it was a total jab). I stepped away from the phone and wept in a corner while he made his call. After he was done, I sucked it up and apologized.
I was under a lot of stress, and I shouldn't have taken it out on him, I said, looking at my shoes. Guy puts a $5 bill in my hand, and says, "Give this to someone when they need it." I have paid that forward manifold.
59. Driven to Give
You have heard this from many people over these last few years with the economy, but I lost my job, then lost my house, then lost my car. Pretty bad situation for anyone that has had this happen. My friend was moving from MI to SC and she asked me to help her move into her apt. My other friend drove me to SC so we could both help out. I am in GA, so not too far away.
When I left from that weekend, she handed me a set of keys and said that she realized that since her and her husband work for the same company, they do not need a car. The car was paid off and they gave me their other car!!!! OMG! Who does that? Gives someone a car?
60. What Little I Have
When I was 16, I was upset with my parents and decided to leave my house in Los Angeles and secretly drive my car to San Diego with two friends. We, uh, didn't plan our escape really well, so immediately once we were in San Diego, the authorities picked us up. Our parents back in LA reported one of my friends and I missing, so they held my friend and told me I could go, but only if I went straight back home.
The department bought me a Greyhound ticket back to LA and dropped me off at the bus station in downtown San Diego. There was just one problem: Greyhound drivers were on strike so the buses were delayed. After a few hours, I decided to leave the bus station and go look for my car. At this point, it was the middle of the night.
So there I was, not knowing how to get anywhere, when this homeless man approached me asking for change. I told him that I didn’t have anything to give him. I guess I was stressed, because I went on to say that I needed to find my car to get back to LA and even if I did, I still might not even have enough gas to make it there.
The homeless man then gave me couple dollars in change and gave me directions to where my car was. I tried to decline, and he said, “You need it more than I do right now,” and insisted that I take it. Eventually, I found my car and made it back home. But only because of that homeless man. I ran out of gas and the only way I could afford enough was because of the change I found in my car, plus the change that he had given me.
61. Sharing Stories
I made a post on my Facebook page asking friends if they could donate some gently used stuffed animals for kids at my school to take home over winter break as "Reading Buddies." I thought it would be great to get fifty toys for our neediest first graders. Well, my friends were incredible and shared and spread the post.
I ended up getting over 400 mostly brand-new stuffed animals, which was enough for every single kid in my small school, plus some left over. It was unbelievable. People were dropping garbage bags of toys off at my house daily for two weeks.
62. Friender Bender
One day when I was around 19, I took my father's car without permission to go to the 7/11. It was only a block away from my house and I could have walked, but I'd just got my license and felt like going for a ride. Big. Mistake. When I got to the store, I started panicking, thinking my dad could get home and not see the car. Just as quickly as I decided to go to the store, I decided to leave.
But as I pulled out of the driveway, I hit another car! I considered running, but I decided I had to own up since I saw that everyone in the store turned their heads. The owner of the other car came out really chill to look at it. It was on the back of his car, and I kept apologizing over and over and explained that I had no license, insurance, or permission to use the car.
But I told him that I would still take the responsibility for it. Before I could even give him my information, he calmly said to me, "well, run before your dad gets home!" I was shocked. He even helped me get out of the parking spot properly. Sir, wherever you are, I hope life has repaid that act of kindness x10 times!
63. Elevator Pitch
I started my route to an interview really early to make sure I’d be on time, but the train was late anyway. So, when I got off the train, I basically had to jog my way to the company. It was a really hot day, and my face was all sweaty. When I got in the elevator, a guy who worked there asked me if I was heading to HR.
I replied yes, and then he told me where the bathroom was so I could wash up a little bit before going in for my interview. I didn't thank him then and there, but I thank you now, kind stranger!
64. How Now Brown Cow
I’d been complaining about heartburn at my work at a restaurant. I was still pretty new to the job and didn’t really have any work friends. I felt like an outsider, and my life outside of work was pretty unbearable as well. The bartender on shift overheard me and ran to a nearby coffee shop to get me a chocolate milk. I felt much better.
It was such a needlessly kind act that I’ll never forget it. Two years later, we're still friends, and she is definitely one of the kindest people I've ever met.
65. Using Rights Right
When I was 19, I lost my wallet, and somebody used my license to rack up tickets. It was pretty obvious once the courts looked at the location, the vehicle, and the signature that it wasn't me. But that didn't matter to the system. I still had to go to around three courts clearing it up. The third judge was the only one with a problem. He said I ignored the tickets.
I explained what was happening and how I’d been dealing with this and I came in as soon as I was made aware of my issue. He wanted to put me away because he didn't trust I'd be back. He wouldn't look at my paperwork because it was an arraignment. He would only look at it during the trial date. I didn't know what to do.
I had the name of the public defender memorized. I asked if I could speak to her first. He called her in and said, "This young man seems to know you." I quickly explained what was happening and showed her my evidence. She told the judge that if he didn't release me to come back, she'd pay my bail out of her own pocket.
66. That Was Wheelie Nice
My neighbors asked to borrow my truck. I told them I couldn’t trust the truck because the tires were bad. The next day, Mr. Neighbor called and said he was getting new tires for his suburban and I could have his old ones. He told me to just show up at this certain tire shop where they would switch the tires out for me. So I go to the shop, and they had installed brand new tires on my truck.
I asked what happened to the old tires I was supposed to receive. That's when the shop owner revealed the true story. He said the “old tires” was just a story to get me in the shop. Mr. Neighbor bought me a full set of new tires instead of the old tires he said I could have. I was going through a tough time financially, and his action was incredibly kind.
67. Extra Streps
I was out of a job at a time when I had to support my mother. I finally landed one, but I had to walk back and forth, and I didn't have any shoes that would hold up on the walk or the work. I went to Facebook, and mom asked around for some hand me downs that we could buy from someone. A day later, a kind man showed up.
He had brand new pair of really nice shoes that he had just gone out and bought for me. He left before I could even get any money for him. I cried.
68. Almost Like The Musical
I recorded a homemade album with my garage band in high school and handed out a couple CDs. A few weeks later, my English teacher approached me with five pages of notes on what he enjoyed and what I could improve. He got the CD from someone at the high school and listened to it all the way through. It was over an hour long.
He didn't know I was the singer and guitar player until he asked the person who gave him the CD about who was in the band. He said that if I ever got an opportunity in a studio, I would create something amazing. His kind words broke my heart in the best way possible. Thank you to all the teachers out there who believe in their students. It makes all the difference to us.
69. Keeping Warm
When I was 17, I was going through a really terrible time in my life. One day, I was already exhausted and depressed when I had a really bad shift at work. Then my train home was over an hour late. I just started crying at the train station and was really wondering if it was all worth it. This woman must have seen me, because she came up to me and just held me for bit while I cried.
She was a complete stranger and I've never seen her since, but I needed her and I'll never forget her.
70. Good City Folk
I moved from a city to the country. I bought a large metal rack without thinking of how I would get it home. As I stood outside my car measuring, an older man came up to me. He asked if I needed help getting it home and offered to follow me in his truck. I thought, okay, I’d only lose $40 if he had some bad intentions.
Plus, I couldn't get it home anyways. The older man followed me home and helped me bring it into the house. We talked for five minutes, and when he was about to leave, I asked him, "I just have to ask. What made you do this today?" The man extended his hand to shake mine and said, "Just doing my good deed for the day."
71. Avocadont Have To Do That
Once in high school, I was ordering a burrito at Chipotle. The woman assembling my burrito asked if I wanted guacamole. I asked how much it cost. She said $1. I hesitated for a while trying to decide if guacamole was worth $1 to me and then said no. When she thought I wasn't looking, I saw her add a scoop of guacamole.
72. Warm Your Heart
I live in the deep south where winters are mild, but this one particular day it was cold. Like unnaturally cold. This guy came in at like 5 AM and all he wanted to do was warm the coffee he had in an empty water bottle. I'm pretty friendly, so I started chatting him up asking him why he was up so early in the cold. He told me he had to walk about 10 miles to work.
I felt bad. I asked about the bus, and he said he had no money. I was broke too, but I couldn't bear to see this man walk in the cold. So I went in my register and gave him two bucks for the bus. And told him he could wait in here out from the cold until it was close time for it to come. I miss working at that store and meeting all the different people.
73. Tips For A Better Life
I worked as a waiter. I had a nice table of four tourists with a bill of several hundred dollars. They paid in cash with crisp, new $100 bills and they left me a tip of exactly 20%—but there was something else. An additional $100 bill. Seeing how the new bills easily stuck together and knowing they were tourists who may have just taken money out for their trip or exchanged currency, I knew it had to be a mistake.
I ran out to the street, found them, asked how much they meant to tip me, and gave them $100 back. Could I have used that extra money? Yes! I was in my 20s, living away from home, had a tiny studio, beater car, and slanging fish and singing happy birthday multiple times a shift. But I just couldn't live with myself knowing I chose that option.
I knew it would only enable me to make excuses for other immoral decisions down the line. I never regretted it and have had an amazing life since.
74. Beautiful Burrito
I purchased a Chipotle burrito for an old homeless man who wasn't even asking for money. He was just sitting in a corner and looked sad. I went to talk to him and asked if he wanted chicken or beef, and came out of the restaurant with a beef burrito, he thanked me and started eating right away. I have no trouble accepting I'm a jerk sometimes but for some reason, that man just looked sad and lost which got to me so I bought him food.
75. Drive-thru Kindness
I was dropping my friend off at her car we had left in a parking lot by a Taco Bell. This homeless couple comes up to us and asks if we can go through the drive-thru for them as the dining room was closed and they couldn't order by walking through the drive-thru. They gave us some money, maybe like four or five dollars, and just asked us to buy what we could with it.
We went through the drive-thru and paid with our own money. We bought a good amount of food and a couple of drinks for them. We came back to them and gave them the food and their money back. Their reaction broke my heart. They thanked us profusely and as they started to walk off the woman starts crying and the man gives her a big hug.
It wasn't a lot, but the fact it had that impact on them warmed my heart.
76. A Little Help
When I was waitressing to put myself through school, I was struggling. There were some lean months. I got an amazingly large tip one December and the person had just written "Happy Holidays" on it. In the blink of an eye, I was suddenly able to afford presents for my family that year. That’s when I made myself a promise. I vowed to do the same when I could afford to.
I now leave huge tips throughout December. At least 50% (or more if they are amazing). I never even get to see their reaction, but I am hoping it brings a smile.
77. The Anti-Grinch
My wife saved Christmas! She works as a Support Coordinator for families with kids with developmental disabilities. One of her families is a single father, who we'll call Super Dad, who has three kids ranging through 10 to 20, all with moderate to high needs, and all with different specific requirements. At the time he was also caring for his terminally ill mother who was living with him, and had been on hospice for I think a year or more.
Super Dad is a fantastic parent who sometimes presents as flaky or non-committal, because trying to manage all of that is a lot, and things fall through the cracks. Super Dad's ex is, from everything I've heard, a piece of garbage, but dad continues to try and give her opportunities to be involved in her kid’s life (or did), because he's forgiving and wants his kids to have a mom!
So Super Dad saved up a little money, like $100 or $150, to do a Christmas shopping experience for the kids, and he invited the kids’ mom to come along. He even took the precaution of hiding the money, just in case. So, mom shows up, they socialize with kids for a while, and then Dad goes to the bathroom or is otherwise indisposed for a few minutes.
When he comes back, his heart sinks. Mom is nowhere to be found. He asks his kids where she is, and they indicate she went into the kitchen. He goes in, and finds the place has been rolled, and the money he'd hid is gone, and mom is nowhere to be found. She had taken her own kids’ Christmas money. So, Dad calls law enforcement, they put out a notice to pick her up, and actually they find her pretty quickly.
Wouldn't you know it—she has the missing amount of money, less some cigarettes and snacks. They call dad to let him know, but explain that, due to the investigative process and whatever all other regulations, the money is evidence, and he won't get it back immediately. He calls my wife at 2:00 on the last business day before Christmas and explains what happened. She gets off work at 4, for reference, and since it's the end of a pay period, she can't go over her allotted time.
My wife basically puts out an APB to her coworkers (half of whom are already gone), and starts calling up all of the various gift charity organizations. Problem is, most of them have already sent things out, or are about to. They don't have anything spare, if they have anything available at all, and most of them she can't even get a hold of a live person.
Finally, at 3:50, she gets a call back from a place that runs a system where basically the kids get to walk through a warehouse and pick a certain number of things as gifts for them to have. They have everything sorted and ready to go, and all their anticipated slots are full, but as she explains Super Dad's situation, the lady at the charity basically says, "Screw procedure, usually we have at least a few families that don't make it anyway, give them my number. If they can call me tonight, I'll make sure they get in tomorrow before we officially open."
And with five minutes overtime, Super Dad gets to tell his kids that the next day they get to go pick out Christmas gifts.
78. Three Lives In 20 Hours
Veterinarian technician here. We are a small, lower-cost clinic, and tend to see some very gruesome things because some people aren’t able to afford vet care until it is either too late or almost too late. There are definitely a lot of cases that pass through our doors that are extremely emotionally difficult to handle. I have hundreds of those kinds of stories, but there are also plenty of good ones too. There is one day, however, that always comes to mind!
It was almost time for the clinic to close...I’m talking 10 minutes left until we lock the doors at 6pm. Our phone rings and it’s a lady who had never been to our clinic before, and our receptionist said was sobbing on the phone and difficult to understand. Her young cat had swallowed a foreign object and had an intestinal blockage. The few clinics she had taken her cat to had given her an estimate for surgery for $3,000+ and she was told by a few of them that they needed half of the money before the surgery was done.
She was also told the cat was extremely sick and will pass on within days if not operated on—this was very true. Our doctor told her to bring the cat in ASAP and we would do surgery that night. A few minutes goes by and we get a call from one of our clients that had her husky in for a spay procedure earlier that day. Apparently, the dog had managed to slip out of her e-collar and tore open her stitches. The family was frantic so our doctor told them to come in as well.
The cat and dog both arrived around the same time. The cat was very frail and obviously sick. The dog had definitely pulled all of her stitches out and had internal organs practically hanging out of the incision. There was so much blood leading from the exam room to the surgery room. Not a pretty sight. The doctor did an exploratory on the cat and he had to go back in on the dog spay, but they both survived.
He found over 20 hair ties and part of a shoelace in the cat. It was getting close to 10pm at this point...almost 15 hours of being there. We are cleaning up and getting ready to leave when we hear someone banging on the front door. It was an older gentleman and he had a kitten. He found the kitten outside and had said that the tail and one of the rear legs looked wounded. The doctor takes a look, and sure enough it was frostbite.
We did some X-rays and other testing to figure out how severe it was. Found out that the kitten needed a partial tail amputation and the right rear leg had to be fully amputated as well. The doctor was fully booked on surgery for the next week so we prepped for the amputation that night. About 2-3 hours later, finally done with surgery and the little kitty survived.
It was somewhere around 1-2 AM and we were all insanely tired. Almost 20 hours of being there and going through a roller coaster of emotions. We kept the cat overnight and the next morning the older gentleman came back and decided he was going to keep him. He named him Tiny Tim! The family of the cat exploratory and dog spay also stopped in to thank us and bought us lunch and goodies. We received heartfelt and heartwarming cards thanking us for our help.
Yes, it was very long shift and we were all exhausted, but it was such an amazing feeling to know that we saved three lives that night. Anyone who works in the veterinarian field knows that this job is extremely stressful, but these are the moments that make us realize the difference we are making for our clients and patients.
Flickr
79. Home Away From Home
At one point I lost my job and my girlfriend of two years left me so I couldn't pay for my apartment anymore. Since my name was on the lease, I was forced to figure something out. I had a chat with my landlord and told him the truth. His response? "Don't worry about it, stay until you can figure something out." I looked for a job for 2 1/2 months until I felt so bad about staying there rent free, so I packed all of my stuff and moved back into my parents’ basement.
He never asked for a dime of back rent. I have since joined the military, got married, and have a house of my own, but I will never forget that man's act of kindness.
80. Boss Lady
My roommates and I were planning to move into a new apartment in our apartment complex. Literally, a week before our move-in date, the landlord apartment manager approaches me and basically says, "Oops, I signed your lease over to someone else." My roommates and I had already signed the lease contract to that apartment, but for some reason, the apartment manager said the "current" residents had priority.
I was flustered and just told the manager that I would talk to my roommates. Apparently, the only available rooms left in that complex was in terrible, terrible condition that had maggots and mold growing in it (that the manager said he wouldn't deal with), and a townhouse (which my roommates and I really did not like). My roommates and I were really distressed, because we only had a couple of days to figure out what we were doing.
I was so distraught with the situation that I wasn't really thinking clearly. I was complaining to my boss who works in real estate. She was furious and said that what my manager did was illegal, especially since I had already signed the lease contract. So, she called up the appropriate authorities and sorted everything out. Shady landlord apartment manager got fired.
The dirty apartment was completely renovated, and we got a month of free rent. In retrospect, I should've been thinking logically and contact the appropriate authorities myself and complained, but I felt immensely grateful when my boss worked with me to help settle things, especially since she didn't really have to do anything.
81. Grass Is Always Shorter on the Other Side
When my wife and I moved into our house we didn't have a lawnmower. Before that we had lived in apartments or rental properties where a lawnmower was provided to us. We also didn't have the money to buy one at that point. So, for a month our grass sat and grew until we finally got one. I got it put together and started mowing, but it was getting fairly late in the day at that point.
As I started mowing our across-the-street neighbor was sitting in a lawn chair on his driveway with his dog, as he does every evening. He watched me mow for a while as I pushed the mower across our backyard. Finally, without a word, he put his dog back inside his fence, started up his riding mower, and did the front yard for me. When I went to thank him, he just said, "Well, I wasn't doing anything, and that’s what neighbors do."
82. My Heroine
I dated a jerk in high school and into my first two years of university. He didn't start the physical and mental abuse until three years into the relationship. He was once screaming at me in the university's common area (where all the cafeterias are, etc.) and basically spat on me. I was such a complete shell of a person at that time, all I could do was cry, because resistance would mean more of the same.
I was 21 at the time. Some girl came storming up to him, got in between us, and started freaking out on him. She took me by the hand into the girls' washroom and waited with me until I calmed down and walked me out (he scuttled off once we came out and saw she wasn't going away). She helped me regain an ounce of strength—made me see how darn weak he really was, and it snowballed.
I got my master's degree in social work and spent the next chunk of time helping mistreated women and kids. Now I'm a therapist. She really rocked my world, and she didn't have to!
83. Need a Lift?
Someone gave me a car once after my dad passed. I lived across the country from my mum and was really struggling to get to and from her. So, when they were done with their car, they just rang me up and gave it to me. No relation, not even close friends. No words spoken for about seven years prior to this, they didn't bother much afterwards either. Far and away the nicest thing that's ever happened to me.
84. Everybody Loves a Tourist
I was a tourist in Ireland (Galway, specifically). My friend and I had just done a bit of shopping and were strolling about looking for a pub with some live music. Lo and behold two gents came up and said we appeared lost. We told them what we were looking for and they insisted they knew just the place and would be happy to show us the way.
We were initially a bit nervous, but it was a very public street with people about, so we agreed. They then offered to carry our bags, even! I ignored my instinct which was "Oh no. they want to steal your bag!" and instead thought—even if they do it's all about the experience of traveling right? so I went with it. WELL! These two were just the NICEST guys ever.
They delivered us to the pub, put our things on the hooks near our spot, introduced us to both the bartender and the fiddler that was playing, told them to take good care of us, bought us our first drink, then said “Welcome to Galway, hope you have a great evening!” Didn't even let us buy them a pint to thank them—they declined politely, saying they had somewhere else to be. Didn't even ask for a number or anything. It was a really cool human experience.
85. That’s What I Call Baggage Service
I was driving home from college (12-hr drive) and I was almost home, I had a few duffel bags on my roof and at a stop sign one of them slide of the top of my car and got caught underneath the car behind me. It was at a busy intersection with tons of different roads and I couldn't pull over. I lost where the car went; I had given up and accepted the loss.
10 miles later, I saw my bag in the middle of the busy and large three-lane highway as cars were avoiding it. I pulled over quickly and was trying to devise a plan for how I was going to run in the middle of the highway and retrieve it. Just as I am about to go a big black truck comes to an abrupt halt off to the side, a man gets out and sprints, and I mean SPRINTS to this bag and grabs it. He wasn't in close danger, but cars were definitely closing in quick, he ran back to me and said "Here ya go, my man" and then peaced out.
86. Riding It Out
This is the story of how some kind strangers literally saved my life. A few years ago, I crashed my motorcycle on a back-country road. A group of bikers found me and called one of their friends to bring a truck, drove me back to my apartment, brought my bike to one of their guys’ place who lived by me, and stayed with me to monitor how I was doing.
They later had to bring me to the ER because I started repeating myself. It turned out that I had a concussion. They stored my bike for me for about a month until I could get my insurance payout and offload the wreckage.
Pexels
87. Much Needed Replenishment
I was 19 and had just moved out of my parent’s house. I was in college, working in retail, living in a shoebox apartment, and broke. I had $50 a week for food. I was hungry, tired, and living on coffee and spite, and finals were that next week. My shirt had three stains and five holes. My dirty hair was in a messy bun.
I hadn't taken time to wash it. My sweatpants looked like I’d slept under a bridge in them, and my eye bags would be checked in luggage if I was flying. I was at the local budget grocery store, standing in front of the chicken, agonizing over getting some for me to add to the 15-bean soup that I splurged for that week.
I wanted it but knew I couldn't get it. A voice behind me said, "get the chicken." I turned around and saw a woman in her 50s, tall, with dark hair that had gone pretty gray, and lots of laugh lines. She was smiling at me. I said, "pardon me?" She repeated herself, "you should get the chicken." "Oh, well, you see, I-"
"I'll buy it for you." I was shocked. I thought that I must have heard her wrong or maybe I was hallucinating the whole thing. "Ma'am, I-" She cut me off; I guess she could tell by my face that I was confused. And she said to me, "I've been where you are. This isn't charity. This is me just doing what I wish someone had done for me.”
“I was broke and hungry and too proud to ask for help once. Please, let me buy the chicken for you." She was still smiling, but she looked sad too. She was so sincere. I was hungry and broke. But I wasn't proud enough to say no. I caved in ten seconds. We started to chat. I picked out the chicken breasts that I wanted.
And then she dragged me back over to the produce section when she saw that I didn't have any fresh produce in my cart. She asked me, "when was the last time you ate a nice fresh tomato at home?" The answer was when I was still living with my parents. She walked around the store with me for an hour asking about my life.
I also asked her, and her answer was heartbreaking. She had a daughter named Amy who would have been my age if she hadn't been in a drinking and driving accident three years before. She had a son named Colin who was off at college and going to be an electrical engineer soon. She was very proud. She bought me $467.58 worth of food that day, and I cried.
I felt so guilty! She didn't even know me, and she was helping me! She would put things in the cart, and when I would protest, she would ask me if I needed it. I had no argument that would sway her. It wasn’t just food either. She bought me almost three months’ worth of toilet paper and four months’ of period supplies.
She helped me load up my car. She gave me a huge hug, told me I was going to do great, and walked away. I've never seen her again, but that was the best thing anyone's ever done for me.
88. Froyo Own Good
When I was 16, I worked at a frozen yogurt store and had to close late a lot by myself with no manager, supervisor, or co-worker. One night, five minutes before close, a woman who worked next door at the veterinary clinic walked in for her froyo. As she was paying, another man walked in but was being really suspicious.
He just sat down and looked at the machines but didn’t make an effort to buy anything. The woman asked me quietly if I was alone, and I said yes, so she nodded and just stood in front of the cash register with me. Eventually, after realizing that she was not leaving, the man left. I thanked her and locked up the store. I don't know what would have happened if she left, but to this day, I'm so grateful that she stayed.
Shutterstock
89. At A Loss
When my house burnt down, a close friend started a GoFundMe for me and my roommates. People ended up donating about $1300 to us, which made me feel bad because the Red Cross had swooped in immediately and set us up in hotel rooms and a stipend for meals and clothes until insurance kicked in, which would cover the rest.
That's when we came up with the perfect plan: We ended up taking the $1300 that was donated via GoFundMe and donated it directly back to the Red Cross.
Pexels
90. Barking Point
My wife and I were taking the three dogs to the vet when our car suddenly stalled and stopped right in the middle of an intersection. We were freaking out, but thankfully, an SUV pulled up behind us and offered to help push the car off the road. In talking, my wife mentioned that we were heading to the vet. To our surprise, the driver and his wife offered to bring our dogs to the vet for us, so that we wouldn't miss their appointment.
I waited for the tow truck. I also managed to get a hold of the in-laws to come get us, and they said yes. They brought my wife and dogs back just around when the in-laws had gotten there. To the kind strangers, thank you! We were going through a lot at the time, and this act of kindness kept us from "the final straw."
91. Been There
In 2014, I was involved in an incident in a border town. Some armed guys pulled my cousin and I over and forced us in the back. They tried to get information from us, but the car I’d been driving was the company’s, so I kept with the, “I just do my job,” line. My son had just been born a month prior, so I was praying to get out alive.
I prayed that if anything happened to me that they would drop my body somewhere where someone could find it for the insurance. After getting us to a store and emptying our debit cards, they beat us and dropped us at the US border. We managed to cross and ask for a travel permit and walked over to the first gas station.
I was asking people there to let me pay with my credit card and get cash as I didn’t know how to get money from the ATM. We finally got enough to pay a taxi to a hotel and started the process of letting family, friends, and work know what had happened, that we were okay, and we were looking into options to return home.
Then in walked a guy who I hadn’t seen in over a decade. He saw me beaten up and asked what was happening. I told him what happened, and he just pulled out his wallet and immediately gave me $500. The same thing had happened to him some months before, and another guy had given him cash to return home.
92. Paying My Dues
I was in a parking garage with no money to get out. There weren't any attendants. There was only an automated system. I was standing by the machine looking through my purse for any coins I could get but was still a dollar short, and the machine only accepted cash. A guy came over and put a dollar in the machine for me.
I thanked him profusely, and he said, "just pay it forward." I promised I would, and he made it clear that he was serious about it. A week later, I was at a NFL game and found a $10 bill on the ground. I remembered that I had made a promise, so I found a roving drink guy, gave it to him, and said, "consider this a tip."
93. We’re All In This Together
I took some acid at an EDM festival and became dehydrated. My group got up to leave the stage, and as we were walking, I just started slowing down. Step by step, I just felt weaker and weaker. My group was walking away without realizing that I was falling back. The crowd swallowed them, and I couldn’t see them anymore.
I took a few more steps, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t move. I was wobbling, and someone about 30 feet away saw me and yelled out, “are you okay?” I tried to reply, “I…can't…I can’t move…,” and wobbled when I tried to step and started to fall over. He ran over to me and grabbed my arm as I fell into a chain link fence.
Three other people ran over and started fanning me with their hands. I drank water and told them that I was okay, but they stayed for another five minutes and fanned me while I sat on the ground and drank more until I could speak clearly and seemed okay. They’d saved me that day, and I didn’t know a single one of them.
94. Like This Place Already
My wife and I had to move ourselves to a new area. We spent the previous 48 hours loading up a moving truck, driving 14 hours, unloading the moving truck, and unpacking boxes. We had a small window to work with while family watched our kid. We were exhausted, disheveled, and sleep deprived. We had no food in our house.
So, we found a place a few miles from new house to grab some lunch. We ordered our food, ate, and went to pay. That’s when we found out that someone else paid for our lunch with a note that said, "you look like you can use a hot meal." I'm not sure what they thought about us, but it was nice to have that in a new area.
95. Long Lost Family
I had been in the medical field, and over the course of a few days, I met and worked with an entire amazing family. First, I met the dad when he came in for his appointment. He was just an awesome human. Then, the next day, he came in with his son. Later that afternoon, he came back in with his son again for his daughter’s appointment. I genuinely fell in love with this family more and more.
The father, son, and daughter went to the mother’s appointment with her the next day. At that point, I was considering proposing to the son as I wanted to be a part of this awesome, hilarious, loving family. I informed them I wouldn’t be there when they came back in two weeks as I had just gotten my dream job and decided to move to a new city for a fresh start.
They came back an hour later with a bundt cake with the sweetest card. They'd also written a little inside joke written on the cake box. It made me cry. My family life has always sucked and meeting them was just so beautiful and healing.
96. Cool Treat
If my little league team won a game, everybody would go to the Dairy Barn for an ice cream cone to celebrate. I had a “strict” coach one year who said that if you didn't play in the game, you didn't get an ice cream. I didn't play once when we won, but I went to the Dairy Barn with my friends. Others usually went home.
The lady asked me what I wanted, and I told her that I couldn't have one because I didn't play. She looked at me funny and went onto the next customer. Then, while we were outside, I saw the lady came out with this big smile on her face. She gave me a huge ice cream cone and said "You're still a winner." I still choke up a little when I think about it.
97. Continue The Cycle
I was riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. I was stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country. Within just five minutes, ten cars had stopped to check on me. One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and brought me 30 miles to the border.
I caught a ferry back to the US. It was an amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger. He just asked that I pay it forward and to date, I've helped five cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise.
98. Car Fables
I was helping my brother move from a teaching job after college in the 1990s. This was in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was driving his little pickup truck pulling a trailer, and I was driving my beat-up little Ford station wagon packed to the gills with all of his stuff. It was a Sunday.
I was driving along, and my car just stopped. No warning, nothing. I coasted to a stop on the side of a rural highway and waited for my brother to realize I wasn't behind him anymore and turn around. After waiting about 20 minutes, he found me with my hood up with neither one of us knowing not all that much about cars.
Soon, a man from the house in front of where we had broken down came, took one look at the engine, and stated, "timing belt." We inquired about getting the car towed the 30 miles to the closest large town, and then we realized that it was going to be quite an expensive repair even if the engine was okay and not ruined. And then it all started to change in the best way possible.
This man took one look at the situation, two broke kids in their early 20s just trying to get by in life, and he said, "well, it's Sunday. Nothing's gonna be open. I tell ya what. My next-door neighbor is a mechanic. Let's push the car down to my driveway and we'll see what we can do." So, that was exactly what we did.
His neighbor called his buddy at the auto parts store, which was closed on a Sunday, who did a favor and got the parts needed, drove them 30 miles out, and sat around telling stories while he was fixing the car. This man's son, a kid around nine or ten years old, was hanging around. He was extremely bored with no one his age around.
He seemed like he was craving for any kind of interaction even if it was with two guys in their 20s. He asked, "want to see my treehouse?" and pointed to the woods out back. My brother and I looked at each other, shrugged, and we said, "sure." We ended up spending two hours with the kid helping him build his treehouse.
We were done and went back. the car was fixed. My brother and I had maybe $60 on us combined and tried to pay the man who did the work, but he refused. He said, "No, you boys were in need of help and I wanted to help. You don't need to pay me. Plus, you kept my son occupied for several hours, which I truly appreciate."
He then said, "I want you to do something for me, though. The next time you see someone in need of help and you have the means, I want you to repay this favor." And that is one of the rules of life I live by that a kind and generous man once taught me in the middle of nowhere and helped me when I was in a time of need.
99. A Little Something Extra
My dad is a retired junior/senior high school art teacher. Every single morning for well over a decade, he packed an extra lunch and put it in a place in his classroom where a student whose family was struggling could take it without making a big deal of it. Eventually, when the older student graduated, one of his younger siblings started taking his class.
The kid would already know he could take the extra lunch bag without having to face talking to my dad about it, or being embarrassed in front of the class. I used to ask why Dad packed two lunches while I was growing up, and he would just say, “I sometimes get extra hungry.” My mom later told me the truth. He is such a quiet, humble, and extremely generous man.
100. Can’t Put a Price on Education
On September 14th, 1986, my dad dropped me off at boarding school and gave me a five-dollar bill. I never heard from him again. He never paid my tuition bill. So, from the age of 14, I took every job I could get and worked my way through. At $4 an hour, I didn't even come close to paying off my entire bill, but the school let me stick around because I was a model student in and out of the classroom.
We get to graduation. I opened my little diploma thing expecting to see a bill in five figures. Instead there was a note: “Congratulations on your graduation. A group of us who believe in you and love you have taken care of your bill. We are proud to present you with your diploma.” I later found out that one of my friend's dad, a fairly well-off dentist, went fundraising among his golf buddies because he didn’t want to see me enter life at 18 under crushing debt.
101. Mommy Will Do It
I was in a very bad relationship at 19 but wasn’t fully aware of it at the time and living with the guy. I was at work and realized I didn't have any money for food, and management had just asked me to stay late, so I called my boyfriend and told him I had an unopened check at home and asked if he would bring it to me.
He was unemployed, and it didn't seem like a big deal, but he said he was out with friends and wouldn't leave, so I’d have to figure it out. I was so frustrated and complaining to co-worker about what a jerk he was, and a woman overheard my story and offered to buy my lunch. I pleaded with her not to give me any money. I was afraid that she'd think I was scamming her. But she just had a good heart and she insisted on helping me out.
I was already emotional, but that wasn't even the most heartbreaking part. You see, this all happened on Mother’s Day, and she insisted that as a mother she wouldn't want her kids to go hungry so she couldn't bear to see another kid in that position with no one to help. It was only $10, but I hid in the bathroom and cried. I don't have a mom, so it was pretty overwhelming.
102. Into the Mouths of Babes
Right after I had my first son, I had a ton of formula that a friend gave me and I couldn't use it because my son had stomach issues. So, I went on a website where you could give away/ask for things you needed for free. A young woman that lived in the same small town that I did at the time, messaged me and said she could desperately use the formula because her boyfriend had just left her.
She gave me her number and I called. She said she'd have to wait to pick it up from me until she could find a way to get closer to town. I could hear her holding back tears when I asked if we could bring it to her. We got her address and realized she lived in a very desolate, poor part of the town. It was in a trailer in the middle of the desert, with no public transportation ran anywhere around.
So, I decided we could do more. We went through the pantry, fridge, and freezer, trying to find anything we could give her that we couldn't use/ didn't need. We ended up with three big bags and a laundry hamper full. When we got to her house, she invited us in. She had almost nothing in her home. No TV, one couch, and the kitchen was empty.
We had to run out to the car a few times to get it all. She was shocked that we brought her food too. She hugged me and started to cry. She said, "Thank you. I didn't know how we were going to eat for the next few weeks." Then she made her son a bottle right away. It broke my heart cause I could tell they were both very hungry.
.jpg){kind=link}
