Tweet acts of kindness
When I was 8 mos pregnant I slipped on ice, knocked out cold. When I came to, there was a crowd without coats (this was December in Saskatchewan, Canada). Their coats were all on top of me, except one under my head.
Not me, but I’ve had this saved to my phone since 2015 as a reminder to be a better stranger:
“Thank you to the man who gave me 20p in the car park at West Middlesex Hospital last Tuesday. Thanks to you I was able to see my father alive for the last time.”
My brother fought PTSD from two tours of Iraq and died by suicide in 2010. My uncle wanted to treat my parents and I to dinner, and when my dad made a reservation they asked if it was for an occasion. Overcome with grief, he shared the details.
We went through dinner, ordered up a storm, drank a lot of wine, and asked for the bill. The waiter came back with his manager, said that his brother was killed in action while serving and asked specifically if he could be our waiter that evening.
Our waiter took out the Gold Star pin the government gave him to honor his brother’s death and gave it to my mother, saying he appreciated my brother’s service and our family’s sacrifice. Then the manager told us that the restaurant was picking up our nearly $500 bill.
I was walking along the road alone in Amman, Jordan in a very LIGHT drizzle. A guy tries to give me a ride. Slightly wary, and nervous about speaking Arabic I say no, and then he wordlessly hands me an umbrella, smiles, and drives away.
My son almost didn’t survive his first 24 hours. His first week he was just covered in tubes and sensors and wires. All I could touch were his feet.
One night, a nurse named Maureen bent the rules and swaddled him in a blanket and said, “Do you want to hold your son?”
I sat with him in my arms for the first time. He’s 11 now. I will never not cry telling that story.
Landed in London (from student placement abroad) to discover trains on strike. Went to bus station, trying to get to Scotland. Chaos. Inspector closed barrier. A woman heard my Scottish accent and said, ‘That’s my daughter!’ They let me through.
When I was married to my first My mom and I took our old dog Fiona for a walk. Fiona moved very gingerly, she had cancer and did not have a lot of time left. She stopped on each patch of grass to lay down. A car full of teenage boys saw her, and got out to pet her. When they heard she was not gonna be around for much longer, they stayed with her and rubbed her belly for like ten minutes. That was the last walk she ever took. I think about those kids often. Random caring gestures inspire us
then cancelled. We ended up sitting around the gate sharing sob stories. One guy was in the army and headed home to see his little girl.
Then the announcements: a bunch of people got seats for the next flight, but not me. My tired daughter was crying; I was barely not crying. The airline rep called my name and gave me a ticket.
Army guy gave up his seat for me. I tried to insist he take it to see his family: “Any military husband would do the same for my wife.”
I was able to spend Christmas with my family. He didn’t.
I used to manage an LGBT bookstore. One night a caller says
After my 5 yr old son was hit by a car, a young woman ran down from her apartment when she heard the screams. She gave him CPR. She held him as he died. She wrote to let me know he wasn’t alone.
Wasn Wasn’t scared. #hero
W We once had a man wait outside a restaurant for god knows how long. W When we got to our ca car he told us he notic noticed our seats AND our brak brakes were visibly bad. He worked for a garage & replaced our brake system free to keep the kids safe because he knew it would be expensive. I’m sure I randomly cried over it for a week. Our dinner was a huge irresponsible treat because things were so hard and both kids were under the age of 3. He saved us hundreds of dollars, possibly our lives.
I was in middle school and I broke my digital camera. My dad had been travelling a lot and I knew my mom was stressed so I told her I wanted to go to the mall to hang out. I really wanted to see if the Sony store would fix the camera.
The guy said there was nothing they could do and I left on the verge of tears. He ran out after me and handed me a new, refurbished camera. I try to buy Sony when I can.
I was in Cairo, aged 19, with no cash, & the bank had closed for a holiday. I burst into tears outside & one of the security guards opened the door, then rang his sister who worked in a bureau de change.
One of the bank tellers & the guard (her boyfriend) finished closing up, then drove me across Cairo. The lovely sister kept her branch open until we arrived.
I’d lost my job, my laptop fried, and my car broke down, all within 2 days. I was sitting in the car shop, worrying to a friend on the phone abt the cost, then 10mins later the mechanic handed me my keys & said the lady ahead of me overheard & paid for the repair.
When I went with my sister on vacation to London in 2004, she left her handbag containing her passport/ID/etc in a taxi. We were in a panic until finally we called the Canadian consulate and it turns out the cab driver had dropped it off there.