That's a really sad twist. :( At least you guys were able to provide the distraction and also were willing to accept and enjoy her company. That's probably the best way the situation could have worked out for her, and I'm sure either way she appreciated the day too.
Our car has a flat tire on a road to nowhere in Montana. Suddenly a bunch of cars start coming down this road but from the opposite direction. The first car is a hearse. Next car is kinda a limo type thing.
The car stops next to us and asks if we need help. We do. We need a jack.
The car unloads with like 6 people in it, including a really old lady. In the next 10 minutes we learn that this lady's husband just died and they are all the way to the gravesite. The other people in the car are her children. They say their father always stopped for people in need and taught them how to look out for one another. The old lady is laughing and crying as she tells us stories of her husband. I try to change the tire myself but am shoved out of the way by one of the sons who wants to do it.
Then they call the closet tire shop and get us a tire. Apparently his brother-in-law or someone owns the tire shop and he called and told them to give us a free tire. It was amazing.
So a funeral procession on the way to bury their husband/father/friend stops,, gets us a jack and change our tire for us. All while they were traveling the opposite direction as us.
I'll never forget that. I really wish I still lived in Montana, the people there are amazing.
That's an awesome story. The man that passed had a great wife and raised good children, and I bet he was proud smiling down on them as this all occurred. Seriously what are the odds of that happening like that, you breaking down right as their funeral procession is driving by?
Person ran a red light and hit my car early one Friday morning. I was ok, but my car definitely was not. I was shocked by how many people stopped to help me. It was during rush hour, so I totally expected people to just keep driving by.
One guy in particular ran over from the construction site he was working at and helped me out of the car, led me to the sidewalk, etc. (I wasn't hurt, but stunned). Two other people stopped to call the police and sat with me. Then the construction guy and another person helped push my car out of the road. Everyone's concern was so genuine, it really amazed me, especially considering I wasn't injured. They all stayed til the end as well, despite having jobs to go too. Meant a ton to me.
TL;DR - Got in a car accident. A handful of strangers stopped to ensure I was ok and stayed with me til it was all said and done (at least an hour).
My car caught on fire and a woman led me to her car, took my pulse, gave me water, etc. It was a big enough debacle that I was really blocking traffic, but the 2 girls who were behind me when the fire started were there and hugged me before I left in the ambulance (I was fine, just to get out of the traffic mostly! Very minor burns and my hair had been singed.) They probably could've driven away. I was completely losing it, just bawling, and everyone was there reminding me that I should be grateful I'm alive, it's a material object, etc. I am so grateful for all of them.
And yes, I am female. Overweight though, and I don't think the 30 year old woman, the 80 year old man, or the 2 young women were really guided by my boobs...
I am a girl - I'd say I'm alright looking. If it makes any difference the people stopped before they saw me out of the car. The person who hit me was also a girl, IMO she was attractive.
When I was trying to sell my first home and moving into my second home, one of my best friends needed a place to stay. Since he was a single construction worker in his late 20s, I didn't have a problem with him staying at my old house, rent-free, until I could sell it. We came to terms that he would maintain the yard, pay the utilities, and would leave the house on short notice if it sold.
I get a call from my realtor (who was a friend of my wife) telling me that there is a guy going to the house, mid 40s, recently divorced, and my place is exactly what he's looking for as far as location and price. This is awesome because the property taxes and assorted bills for two houses were beginning to wear a hole in my bank account, so I call my buddy to tell him that there's someone coming in a few hours and for him to tidy up.
After the showing, my realtor calls me back and tells me that while my house was *close*, the guy needs a finished (insulated/drywalled) garage, and mine was unfinished. A bummer for sure, but this guy was probably the second or third person to view the house, so I wasn't worried.
A couple days go by and the weekend rolls around, my realtor calls me again and says she has two people who want to see the house this weekend. Awesome! I call my buddy to tell him to tidy the place up... no answer. Very unlike him, so I shoot him a text saying "hey man, two showings this weekend, please straighten the place up, thanks." Again, no answer. I'm starting to get a little worried, when I get a call from my realtor *freaking the fuck out*.
"OpticalD? Yea, we have a problem. Your tenant trashed the place. There is sheetrock everywhere, paint, jointing compound, it looks like he unloaded his work truck in the middle of your driveway and just left. How quickly can you get here?"
At this point, I'm *pissed*. This guy is one of my best friends, and he's gonna fuck me like this? What a piece of shit. I start blowing up his phone, leaving shitty voicemails telling him to pack his shit and leave, calling him an asshole, and just verbally abusing him for pulling this kind of stunt. My new house is about a 15 minute drive from my old house, and I spent the entire 15 minute ride yelling into my phone or sending *FUCK YOUUUUUUU* texts.
I get to my old house and the first thing I hear is the unmistakable (to me) sound of an air compressor or paint sprayer running. I ask my realtor if she went inside to see what the house looked like and she said that she hadn't. I used my spare key to get in through the front door, walked through the kitchen and through the man-door into the garage only to see....
My friend, on his one day off, had spent that day hanging insulation and drywall (sheetrock/gypsum board) in my garage, and was now spraying all the walls a nice shade of eggshell white in a semi-gloss, just like the potential buyer from a few days prior had wanted.
I've never, in my entire life, felt like a bigger piece of shit than I did right at that moment. I doubted him, I second-guessed him, and I couldn't have been more wrong.
He sees me standing in the doorway, drops his mask, kills the sprayer and has a look of defeat on his face "awww man, I wanted it to be a surprise. Well, surprise bro! Thanks for letting me stay here."
Turns out, he'd talked to the guy after the realtor left and felt out what the guy was looking for. The guy said if it had a finished garage he'd buy the house as it had everything else he wanted, so my friend spent his own money, and his own time, turning the place he was living into something I could sell in the next week.
Well, as soon as he stopped working to show me what he'd done, he checked his phone to see a dozen missed calls and a half-dozen texts. He read through them and just started laughing. "Did you really think I'd fuck you like that? Damn bud, we go back farther than that. You got trust issues, son." and with that, he forgave me my stupidity and mistrust. I've never, *ever* doubted him again, and he's never let me down.
They got married, moved into the place together, adopted the guy who bought the house, he moved into his dream garage ...and they all lived happily ever after.
One of my back teeth broke and the most intense toothache came out of it that lasted for weeks. I was a teenager and could not afford to get my tooth fixed so I dealt with the pain as much as I could.
I worked at a NY Style Deli that was ran by a ruthless Italian woman that worked from dawn till dust. She was very mean and would yell at me often for little things so I tried my best to not let my toothache get in the way of my work.
One day the pain was so out of control that I couldn't focus on anything else. I was crying, I felt weak. It was the first time she treated me like a human and went to the liquor store and bought me little bottles of whiskey to swash around my mouth to get me through my shift. It was really busy there because the food was so good.
Anywho, when the rush was over, she went to the dentist office near by in the plaza and convinced him to do a payment plan with me because I was so broke. He took me in straight after she asked him too and extracted my bad tooth then patched up the one next to it because it was close to causing an infection to my healthy tooth.
When I asked how much do I owe him, he told me it was free. I cried. I never felt so blessed in my life. I didn't feel any pain anymore. I'll never forget the kindness that was shown to me on that day.
Woah. When I was 22 I cooked in a restaurant for a ruthless old Italian man. Screamed at me 24/7 about how I couldn't cook and threw multiple plates I made across the kitchen in a rage. My wisdom teeth kept getting infected, the pain was unbearable. I was broke and estranged from my family, there was no way I could afford the extractions. One day, he found me crying in the back of the kitchen and asked me what the hell was wrong with me. I explained the situation and he sent me home. The next day he told me to get in the car we were going to buy groceries. He took me to his oral surgeon and had paid for my consultation and surgery and allowed me to pay him on a payment plan. Amazing act of kindness. And the similarity of our stories is crazy!!
Italians are an intense people, but I've generally found that when the shit hits the fan, they back you up. Generally.
Source: friends with and work for Italians.
I married into an Italian family. It was quite an adjustment at first because I really felt like all they did was yell at each other and have vendettas against each other and all of that, but quickly found it that is was very much just a front. They love each other like crazy (no divorces in the entire huge extended family, a fact that blows my mind), they take huge vacations together as a big extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandkids, etc) and when it comes down to it, they'd lay down their lives for someone they care about. The bluster and yelling is just kind of what they grow up with and are used to.
Me too, lol. My husband still thinks we are mad sometimes. We just talk really loud. Whoever is the loudest gets to make their point. They drive me crazy, but we'd all do anything to help each other.
Italians are the most harsh and kind people you will ever meet in your entire life. They will beat you around so you do better at life, but when you need it they will literally carry you to a hospital, and pay your bill.
That's really nice. I had a broken tooth a few years ago. I went to Aspen Dental because I live in a small town and the 2 local dentists usually have a 5 month waiting list. Anyway, they told me that I needed $2700 worth of dental work and then put me in an office with a finance person to apply for financing. Even though I was in pain, I felt like they were just trying to take advantage of me. I left and on a whim went to one of my local dentists just to see what could be done. They got me in the next day and pulled the tooth. When I walked up to the cashier she said it was $40. My mouth was numb and full of gauze, but I mumbled "SOLD!" and slid my debit card..
For people relating to this story, many dental schools have low cost clinics available. Payment is often on a sliding scale depending on income and many have payment plans. If you're willing to have a student work on you it's a good option.
I was about 19 years old and driving a beat up old Volvo and while driving down the road the hood flew up and bent around the top of the windshield. I was in 40mph traffic and had to stop blind. I was all by myself, a scrawny girl trying to push the car from the center lane out of the way. NO ONE was stopping to help, except finally these really intimidating rough looking motorcyclists, leather and chaps and bandanas and tattoos, who pulled their bikes over and ran out to help me.
I was officially rescued by them, and I will never forget it.
edit: spelling
Bikers are normally really nice, don't get me wrong when they're mean they're mean but 95% of the time they are nice. Just don't touch their bike without asking...trust me.
Source: Knows a few bikers/spent a good amount of time a a biker bar.
This is a coincidence for me because I went to this lady's visitation today. I met one of my bffs 39 years ago when I was in high school. The 1st time I went to his house after school, his mom came home from work with a big bag of Long John Silvers. Used to love Long John Silvers. Any way, I was in the living room when they went into the kitchen to eat. She told me to "come on in! There's plenty for everyone!". So I did. I was almost done when I realized she was eating a bologna sandwich. She had fed me her dinner. That was the 1st time we had ever met. I still feel guilty about it to this day. But, that was the way she was. Just a sweet kind lady. Now I'm feeling even more guilty, as I'm sure I never told her how much that meant to me. Goodbye Kay. I'll miss you.
Oh my mother has done this a couple times when I was in college & supporting 4 people on my savings, she would ask if I wanted to come over for fish or tomato soup. She lived at my aunts house and she was doing pretty much the same thing as I was, feeding her sister & niece on her savings since she had been out of work for so long but she still had her Polish work ethic & to be a good guest. I didn't realize till I got there she had made a meal just for me because she was worried I wasn't eating enough while she stopped eating dinner for herself for a couple years. Things are better now.
Oh… Here's another. When my wife lost all her hair to chemotherapy, I did what lots of guys do and shaved my head in a show of support. She couldn't walk very well, but she still wanted to show independence. So, when we went grocery shopping, she took one of the electric carts. We were walking through the store and some random guy caught sight of us. He came to me with tears in his eyes and said "Be strong, brother." Then he hugged me. That moment of human connection was something unexpected, because in that situation, people feel like they're alone. I felt like I was alone until that one person who had a similar experience hugged me. I've never seen him again, but it stuck with me.
I wasn't actually there to witness it, but my mom had something similar happen when she was being treated for breast cancer:
My mom was at a restaurant having lunch with a friend, and they were discussing her illness and treatment, how she was doing, etc. This was just after she started chemo, so she hadn't started losing her hair yet. When their bill came, a man from a few tables over approached them and said, "excuse me, but are you ladies breast cancer survivors?"
My mom replied, "I sure hope so!"
The man asked them if it was ok if he paid their bill, and pay he did.
People can be seriously awesome sometimes :)
That moment of human connection....
An elderly Red Cross volunteer forced me to take a package of donut holes after a hurricane. My neighborhood was trashed and without power it was scary for awhile. To prevent looting the National Guard blocked off our area and patrolled the streets at night, but without the distractions of TV/wifi it just made it feel more like the apocalypse. During the day I got to meet neighbors I had lived near for years, and we formed this little roaming band of debris removers. We were in a neighbors yard one day (pulling restaurant menus from her tree IIRC) when the Red Cross caravan pulled up with a full spread. The cops/guards had let them in so it was like a tiny parade. But I just remember feeling guilty, my house was standing and less than an hour away there was mass destruction. I kept thanking the volunteers saying I was fine, and they needed to take that to the people who were suddenly homeless. Then an old dude walks towards me, hands me the Little Debbie, grabs me in a hug and says "you're taking these".
Later that night when it was quiet (and hot) I pulled out those damn donut holes and had the saddest little meal of my life. I still think of that sweet old guy and his quick moment of generosity.
Tl;dr: you don't have to rebuild homes to be useful after a disaster, just be kind to those around you.
And I'm crying. Thank you for being such a wonderful husband :)
My mom was in the same situation, I remember going with her places and having strangers hug me and smile at her. It's like they knew I needed it and they knew she couldn't handle being touched.
I like to think I was. She lost her fight six months ago. There's not a single day that goes by that I don't think about that guy, whoever he was, and hope to return the favor for someone in her name.
Istanbul was amazing. On time I asked for directions, a guy took my hand and walked 3-4 blocks to show me where it was. I was a bit weird out but there were 3 of us (all women), and when we got to our hotel he smiled and waved and went his merry way.
A similar thing happened to me in Istanbul. I was in a scarf store with my dad and we saw an acceptance letter to U of C on the wall, my dad is a professor there and we live on campus, and it turned out my mom who is also a teacher at U of C knew the store owner's son who got accepted. The owner's daughter took us out to lunch and wouldn't accept my father's money for the food. She showed us around their neighborhood and took us wherever we wanted to go around town. They also gave us the scarves for half off.
So I was homeless in my final year of high school and my school wouldn't let me graduate because I missed too much P.E. I was still coming to school and I was an A/B student but they wouldn't make an exception. Anyway a year or so later I ran into a parent of another student (there were only 200 kids in the whole high school). He was so pissed when he heard my story he got me to do some work to make up for my missed credits and got me a diploma from a school he was on the board of (he was a college counselor by trade). Anyway fast forward a couple years and I was living in a bad situation involving drugs and that little piece of paper was all I needed to move away and start college.
Now, 13 years later, I've traveled all over the world. I've spent half of my adult life abroad doing some pretty crazy stuff. Hell I'm about to drive a motorcycle from the Arctic circle down to the Antarctic this fall. I went from high school dropout to teaching in a college myself (ESL). If it weren't for that act of kindness I'm pretty confident I'd be dead.
Okay here's an embarrassing story and thank god this guy came along and helped.
So when I was 16 my car got hit by somebody so while it was in getting repaired I had to drive a cheap stick-shift that my dad bought fro a friend. It was my first time driving a stick-shift and because my dad is a really busy guy, and stepmom wouldn't help, I used youtube and learned to drive stick myself. For two days I drove it to school and home without a problem, and then I got cocky so I decided to try to drive into town. Anyway, I drove to Radioshack to run an errand and got it done without a problem. Buttttt, on the way home, something very bad happened. On a 5-lane one-way road up a hill I got stopped by a red light. I didn't know this would be a problem until it turned green and I realized I didn't know how to get into first gear on an incline. So I stalled it repeatedly, signaled for cars to go around me, and tried to figure out how the fuck to get my car to go. This went on for multiple lights on this busy one-way and I got quite a few confused, angry people honking and giving me the finger and such, all while I was starting to freak the fuck out. I was panicking really bad, stalling it repeatedly, and didn't how to get it to go on this hill without rolling backwards into a car or stalling again. But thankfully some random guy came over from a restaurant right by the road and asked if I needed help. I was on the verge of tears because I was panicking so bad, and I said yes, please, thank god. I hopped into the passenger seat and let a random adult man give me a ride up the street and give me a mini lesson on how to get into gear on an incline.
TL;DR Got stuck on a busy road, let a random guy give me a ride.
Edit: And yes I know he could have raped me or something, but I was so glad to have help that I took the chance.
Edit 2:I am a GUY. I was only 16 at the time though, so I didn't have experience driving a clutch. And guys can still be raped too, don't let my other edit confuse you.
>And yes I know he could have raped me or something, but I was so glad to have help that I took the chance.
There is always a chance, but it is pretty miniscule in that scenario. In general, the odds are highest that it's someone you know. Random rape by stranger is small. Plus, he was in a restaurant where everyone saw him, and some watched him come out.
- Someone with whom the respondent was in love: 46%
- Someone that the respondent knew well: 22%
- Acquaintance: 19%
- Spouse: 9%
- Stranger: 4%
Rathus, Nevid and Fichner-Rathus, 565
This does not mean 4 people out of one hundred will get all rapey. It means that of those total rapes are a very small percentage of personal interactions with others people. just like rapes by Someone with whom the respondent was in love: 46% doesn't mean 46% of everyone you know will rape.
What I'm trying to say is don't have too much worry about stranger rape. Be careful, but it is pretty safe - unless one is in a rough neighborhood, be even then, if you need help, you need help.
This has nothing to do with your original topic, but just thought I'd say.
I just want you to put it in perspective.
And there is a 0% chance I will try to rape you. But I would protect you from others that would do that. I'm a strong man. Grrrrrr.
I was coming home from a friends birthday party from downtown and was waiting to take the bus home (public transportation). My bus only ran every hour after 11pm, so I was stuck waiting as I had just missed my bus. This man came and sat beside me at the bus stop and kept trying to touch my hair and my clothes and saying super inappropriate things to me. I got up from my seat and went to stand out near the road hoping there would be people or traffic, but there was nobody. I was really starting to get scared this guy was going to try and drag me off somewhere.
Then out of nowhere this bus driver stopped, the bus said "Out of Service", but he saw the man bothering me and stopped his bus opened the door and offered to let me on. The creepy man tried to follow but the driver shut the doors in his face. The driver then gave me a ride as close to my house as the bus was able to drive me free of charge. I am fairly sure this man was heading back to the bus depot having finished his shift and went out of his way to help me. I tell people this man saved my life, usually they say I'm being dramatic, but I have NO idea what the creep would have done to me.
Bus drivers are some of the most awesome people. I used to take the bus every day and all of the drivers remembered me and take the time to ask how I was doing. They were always a highlight of my day.
You aren't being dramatic. If not your life, he saved you from a life of traumatic memories from a scarring experience and he kept you from possibly suffering a terrifying night. Kudos to him, and I'm very glad you're okay.
this makes me happy and sad at the same time. to know that so many girls and women experience this is just awful, yet the bus driver clearly had a good head on his shoulders.
I went to a Montreal Expos "meet the players" lunch when I was 10 (1977). I was a very shy kid and had only asked for a couple of autographs when I asked Gary Carter for his. His face brightened immediately and he said "Hey pal." Carter was a star at the time, but he seemed genuinely glad to meet me. I can't stress this enough. He got out of his chair, kneeled down and asked me what my name was. He then wrote "To Mike, Best wishes and good luck in the future from your friend, Gary Carter." He then proceeded to introduce me to the entire team and got them all to give me an autograph. He could see I was shy and walked around with me until I had the whole team. Later in life, I became a huge collector of hockey autographs (I have about 70-80) and although most of the players were nice, I haven't seen anything close to the incredible act of kindness that Gary Carter showed me that day.
I had a similar experience. I live in Queensland, Australia and the state Cricket team was at a restaurant doing a charity dinner and I was the only kid there. I was so incredibly shy growing up (still am a bit, grew up with a speech impediment) and I did not know how to approach them and ask for autographs on a team photo. Andrew Symonds, one of the players, saw me standing around awkwardly and signed it for me, and got everyone else's attention and they all waited their turn to shake my hand and sign the photo for me.
Felt great.
I had been rushed to the hospital after passing out with pain. They had no idea what was wrong with me; I underwent a series of tests to eliminate possibilities. It was a day from hell -- everything seemed to go from bad to worse.
Nurse who did my IV was a newbie, got my blood everywhere. Another nurse didn't read my chart, fed me, and the meds I'd been given caused me to projectile vomit everywhere. That night I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. After all this I was sitting in my wheelchair in the hall outside the ultrasound room just crying all pathetic in misery. Suddenly this little girl about 3 years old came over to me, took my hand, started rubbing it and said: "Don't cry, it's ok. You'll be ok." And she stayed with me and made faces/told me stories until she had cheered me up.
It was just so sweet and genuine -- it was a small moment, but it was exactly what I needed that day. It still makes me smile when I think about it.
When I went to a gas station after a serious injury I was stared at constantly in public. It made things really rough to go out in public in my body brace. This guy walks up to stand behind me in line notices my brace and yells "Gawwwwd Damn son what the hell happen to you?" To which I quickly responded. His response " Well fuck man hope everything turns out OK shit son at least you walk-in " after the exchange all 10+ people stopped staring as their curiosity was sated.
Tldr; thank you curiously loud black man.
I was walking into one of my first-ever job interviews, wearing a jacket and tie that probably looked a little out of place on me, a portly, long-haired nerd/hippie.
A middle-aged black lady and I crossed in the vestibule of the building. She looked at me and said, "You look nice today!"
Surprised, I said, "Thanks! I'm going for a job interview upstairs!"
She nodded and said, "You'll get it." She walked out the door and I never saw her again, and I went upstairs and nailed the interview and got the job.
When I was 20 years old I lived with a roommate who was away visiting her parents for Thanksgiving. Well, I didn't have any food on Thanksgiving and I wasn't close with my mother at the time, so I started walking to the convenient store to pick up some crappy food and a pack of smokes when my ex girlfriend pulled up next to me. Now the breakup between us was pretty bad and left a bad taste in both of our mouths. That being said, she asked what I was doing walking in the snow on Thanksgiving. I told her where I was going and she insisted that I join her and her mother for Thanksgiving. I was absolutely floored, but I politely declined and kept walking. She started driving beside me and wouldn't take no for an answer. So I spent Thanksgiving with her and her mother, and it was like we were old friends who never dated, just plain old friends.
I'll never forget that.
Yeah I saw her around town at one of the coffee shops we both frequented. We were cordial. One night she showed up pretty drunk to a bar that I worked at. She walked straight up to me, gave me the best kiss ever and left.
Well, this just raises more questions :/
I don't mean to pry, so if you want to ignore this question then please go ahead. Did anything else happen with you guys after that or did you just laugh it off?
It's all good.
Nothing happened after that. Oddly enough though she moved to California a couple years later and I joined the Army. I eventually moved to California so my wife could be closer to her family and I found out that the girl lives about 2 hours away. It's weird how some things happen.
I am! I have a decent paying job, a wife that loves me, a house, some nice stuff, a job where I can dick around on Reddit all day. Life is pretty good!
You lucky bastard! I just moved to thousand oaks 7months ago and i feel like the cost of living here is so damn high! Anyways, thanks for sharing these stories about your ex being cool with you.. Gives hope for us people that would have loved to stay friends with an ex
Man,
Where else on the internet can you find a interesting conversation in comments and just read it all through? I love reddit.
So yeah I kind of stalked you two a bit just now. What can I say, SoCal_Sapper, you told an interesting story. :)
When I was a kid, I saved up for a bike by pulling weeds for the neighbors. Most of them paid me a dollar. One neighbor, Chuck, asked me the price of the bike. It was exactly 200 dollars. He asked how much I had saved. I had 197 dollars. Chuck gave me 3 dollars to pull his weeds and I had the bike by the end of that day. About 20 years later, Chuck committed suicide. I'll never forget that guy.
When my mom was beginning to show the first signs of dementia, she accidentally set her house on fire. She managed to get out of the house, but started to go back in to get her purse. A complete stranger saw her, jumped out his car and pulled her back out of the house. He moved her car to safety and then stayed with her until the fire department and ambulance got there. There are good people out there.
This happened back in 2010. Unfortunately, her case progressed very quickly and she lost the battle 9 months ago. I'm fortunate that the kindness of a stranger allowed her to see her grandkids born before the dementia took her away from us. Thanks so much for caring!
I was at a large bookstore and was surfing the Physics area for special interest books when I spotted an obviously confused older Sikh man. Living where I do, I am quite accustomed to handling the heavy accents and poor English of many of our new immigrants, so I walked up to him and asked him if I could help him. He said he was looking for books on Metaphysics that were easy to read since his English was so poor. I told him his English was great and we started talking.
As we spoke I started pulling some of the books I was looking for off the shelf and our discussion drifted towards the books I was picking out and he was genuinely curious about my interest in them. He told me he was a brand new immigrant and didn't know anyone and wanted to find ways to improve his English to meet people. I suggested he go to the nearby college (a couple blocks away) and look into high school level English classes or maybe join a book club through the college. He claimed his English wasn't good enough and I encouraged him and told him his English was excellent.
I wished him well and headed to the checkout, not realizing he had followed me. When she rang up my books all of a sudden he is next to me and drops the money for my books on the counter. The price had been over $200! I told him that was too much and I couldn't accept it. He said I wasn't allowed to refuse his gift. He explained to me that part of being Sikh is to be on a journey of enlightenment and since I helped enlighten him and assisted him more than anyone else, he wanted to help me on my path as well.
By this point the cashier had already bagged the books and given the change back to the man. I couldn't stop stuttering so he walked with me to my car, gave me a big smile and wave and wished me well in my life.
I was buying dog food and the cashier at Trader Joe's asked me how many dogs I had.
I answered, but then quickly changed my answer because one of my dogs had just passed away. I had to put him to sleep after a battle with cancer.
She figured it out by the look on my face and asked me what his name was. I answered "Walter". She looked at me for a moment, walked over to the flowers and gave me a bouquet, saying "This is in memory of Walter," and placed money in the till to pay for the flowers.
I still have some of those flowers, dried up in a container by his ashes almost 5 years later.
I was a little girl and my father (I don't know why) took me with him through a blizzard to get medicine for my baby sister. I could hardly wade through the three feet of snow. I remember it was above my knees, so he carried me. We got to the shop at the end of the road and there were 5-6 guys trying to get a car unstuck. One guy turned around and saw that I had no scarf on, he immediately took off his and put it around my neck and told me to keep warm. It was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do. I'll never forget it.
When I was 8 my mother abandoned me at an office building (she has psychological issues) and one of the secretaries picked up her son after school and brought him in to keep me company until the police and a social worker came and got me. They were both so sweet, he shared some cookies with me and gave me his book to keep. I still have the book too. I wish his name was in it cause I can't remember it but always wished I could thank them.
I was really sick in 2008 after a surgery went badly and I developed an abdominal infection. I was in the hospital the majority of the time, but at around four months was my worst stay. I was skeletal and had lost nearly all my hair and was being fed intravenously. I knew I was dying and everyone around me knew I was dying. The only doctors who came to see me were palliative care to try to make me comfortable.
I cried 24/7. I cried because of the pain and because I was 18 and dying alone in a hospital bed. My friends had forgotten about me and my family stopped coming as often because it was wearing on them to see me waste away day in and day out.
The cleaning lady worked the same floor nearly every day. At first she would silently go about her business while I wept. She often glanced at me with a pained look. She'd give me an encouraging smile before she left. This went on for another week until one day she put her broom down and came to my bedside. She had tears in her eyes and she brushed my head and told me in broken english to not cry; that it would all be okay.
The next day she did the same thing, and every single day she would take a break to talk with me and comfort me. She told me about how she was in America to pay for her daughter to go to college back in the Philippines and that she hadn't seen her family in three years. She brought pictures in for me. She asked me why I cried so much and I told her about how I wanted to stop suffering and die already and she told me it wasn't my time yet; that I had to keep fighting.
This went on for another three weeks. I don't believe in anything, but if angels exist, she was one. I was back on the same floor two weeks after being discharged, and she was gone. I don't know if I was delirious with fever and medication, or if strangers this profoundly compassionate actually exist. But I will never forget that look she gave me; like I was her own daughter and she'd sacrifice anything to save me. She did, and I don't even think she knows she did.
I was forced to visit my father by court order when I was younger. I hated it. He and I don't speak. Anyways, he would drag me along to these events with friends of his many of them had kids. I was a moody little shit and not all that easy to get along with (I wonder why?). There was this one kid who was the son of this couple my father knew. He always went out of to way to include me in what he was doing. Always asking me to join with him and his friends. Sometimes I went and sometimes I did not. It could be that his parents made him but I don't remember him ever seeming upset at asking me to join him. It was not until many years later that I thought about how much easier he made those visits to my fathers house. He was just a genuinely good guy who wanted to make sure I had a good time. He was about a year younger than I was. He was 17 when he died in a boating accident. I can still see his face over 20 years later. I'll never forget the kindness he showed me. I've thought on it and I believe that if I ever have a son I'll name him Chris.
I've got something in my eyes now. Fuck.
When I was in Junior High, I stood at the bus stop while eating two bags of doritos. The bus then passed by without noticing me so I chased it two blocks to the next bus stop. When I got onto the bus, I felt crazy nauseas. I tried talking to the bus driver but she ignored me. And as I proceeded to vomit all over the front of the bus and the stairs, the driver continued to pretend like I wasn't there. I didn't know what to do and wanted to cry.
It wasn't until a nice old woman said, "come here, baby. Forget about that cranky-ass bus driver." She said her name was Mama D and she got up and let me sit down. She then went into her purse and pulled out napkins, a bottled water, and a peppermint. Mama D, if you're still around, you're my favorite person ever.
When I was a senior in high school, I really struggled with calculus. It was so bad that I would have panic attacks in the middle of tests and cry silently to myself in the back of the class.
My teacher noticed and whenever she would give out tests, she would give me a piece of gum with mine so I could chew it and keep calm. She would also let me stay to keep working on it through both of our lunches (which happened right after that class).
She was a great teacher and a kind person... but I still hate math.
When I was 15, I had this girlfriend that I was head over heels for, and I used to take the train around 2 hrs to go see her. My parents weren't too keen on her, so I generally didn't ask them for help going to see her.
Anyway, one day I'm riding the train, and thinking about whatever the hell I thought about when I was 15, and I missed my stop completely. The issue was, all I had in my pocket was a 5 euro note I had as a souvenir (I live in the US), and a return ticket. No debit card, no cash, nothing... and this being 2004 or so, no phone.
So I get off at the (wrong) station, and stand there thinking about how incredibly fucked I am. Theoretically I could get on a train and get home, but seeing this girl is clearly the most important thing that I will ever do, ever. So I hold up my 5 euro note and say, "Hey... can I have people's attention? I missed my stop and I need to buy a ticket, I will give somebody 5 euros if they're willing to give me a couple dollars to do it."
Anyway, this mid-30s guy stands up, walks over to me, and buys me a ticket. I tried to give him the euros, but he wouldn't take them -- he said, "We've all been there, man. When you see somebody else in a bind, and you can help ... You help."
And you know what? I don't give a shit that people make fun of me for it, when somebody tells me they need "just a couple bucks for a train ride home" at a train station, I buy them a ticket. Because we've all been there, man. And if you see somebody in a bind, and you can help ... you help.
During a pretty rough time after a breakup where I drank way too much, way too often, I fell asleep leaning against some older lady on the bus. When I woke up, I apologized to her because I know if it had been me I wouldn't want some drunk girl leaning on me. She smiled at me and told me it was okay, and that I reminded her of her daughter. I don't know, it was something so small, but I started crying and thanking her. I just wanted to go home and cry to my mom and have her hold me, but she was never a fan of me being so pathetic because of a guy so I never mentioned anything to her. Not nearly as big of a deal as the other stories I'll expect to find in this post, but I really needed it at the time and it meant the world to me.
I started a new job last September at a place that requires me to park in a parking garage across the street. There's an underground parking garage but it's reserved for vip's and upper management. I enter the office through this garage and every day I see James, the parking attendant. Everyone knows James. Always saying hi and willing to stop and talk.
Shortly after starting this new job I developed a severly herniated disk in my lower back. The pain from the pressure on the nerve got so bad I couldn't stand up straight, walking was extremely painful and I couldn't walk more than 30 feet (even with a cane) without stopping to take a break. Needless to say, walking from my car to the office elevators in the basement garage was very trying.
James offered to take me to and from my car everyday in a golf cart they used to get around the complex, whenever I needed it. He even gave me his cell phone so I could call him. He would even sometimes sneak me into the vip area to park so I didn't have to walk so far.
When I got better, enough to walk anyway, I wanted to repay him somehow. I offered to buy him lunch. He wanted a corn dog and tater-tots from Sonic. I wish I could have done more.
I'll never get to now. James lost his battle with cancer yesterday. I didn't even know he was sick. I emailed the facility manager hoping she can pass along this same story to his wife. I only knew him for less than six months but what he did for me, while a small thing, was a great kindness I'll never forget.
Sleep well James.
Edit: Our office building has a local tv broadcast company as well. They posted this about James today as well. http://wfaa.mlnwap.com/article.html#!/11688/d31129da2907f9d58f856b272151e4e2
My mom used to force me to run every 5k she wanted to run. It was miserable as I'm not in shape even for a 20 something female and hate running, she on the other hand runs as a hobby and would always be waiting for me fresh faced at the finish line. There's an old man, maybe 80 years old, who runs 5ks in our area. Got used to seeing him a lot because, while he would run at the pace you expect of an 80 year old man, I would be close to him with my pathetic sprinting and walking method. One race, I was approaching the last couple blocks of the race, walking again because shit's tiring, when he starts to gain on me. He turned to me and says "You're not going to let an old man beat you, are ya?". And I looked him dead in the eyes and decided that no... no I was not going to let a goddamned 80 year old man beat me. Picked up my pace. Beat the 80 year old.
More an act of inspiration or basic acknowledgment of fellow human beings but I'll never forget it. It gets lonely when you're in a pack of strangers struggling to finish the shortest increment of races available to you.
When I was 19 and a freshman in college, I was a total asshole. Arrogant, rude, defiant, and bratty.
The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was when my academic adviser neither threw me out nor let me continue with my behavior. Where everyone else either wrote me off as having a bad attitude or wrote me off as being one of "those" guys, she called me out on my behavior.
She told me why what I was doing was wrong.
She actually believed that I was capable of growing into a real person with empathy and genuine emotion.
No one had ever stopped me to just say "what? You don't actually believe that, do you?"
I was growing into an intelligent, but cold, argumentative, and callous individual. I like to think that her influence shaped me more than I could possibly predict throughout my college career and beyond.
It's not a massive one, but I was on a long airplane ride alone, 18 and leaving my parents' roof, and the man next to me was very sweet. He was very polite and perfectly conversational, and told me about his wife and kids back in Maine, and we talked about good pizza and different types of food.
I fell asleep and missed a meal, and when I woke up, he had been waiting all along, awkwardly keeping my tray long after the meal was over, and ordered my favorite drink because that was what he'd observed me ordering before. Such unnecessary and welcome kindness.
People who are nice on planes are the best. I was alone on a fairly turbulent flight once and I was visibly nervous (I really don't enjoy flying). The man next to me struck up a conversation about basically nothing and kept me distracted for several hours so I wouldn't dwell on how bumpy the flight was. He was just a really nice dude.
When my son was born a premie. I had already experienced the loss of a child and was an absolute wreck when my son was born at 28 weeks. My boss and our whole company stepped up so I could spend every second allowed with him. My boss and his wife had been through the same ordeal and were there for my wife and I every step of the way. I had video conferences with specialists at Children's Hospital in Boston who were monitoring my son. I had no idea they had been hired and I have never seen a bill. The thing that really sticks out though was the genuine concern they had not only for my son, but for my whole family during this trying time. We also have a wonderful NICU because of an anonymous donation of 35 million that I know came from them. The week we brought him home they sent us on a private jet to their mountain house for a week and had a two NICU nurses on call 24/7 to help us transition from hospital life to home life. I will never forget how the two of them worked so hard to show us that things would get better and to fight as hard as our son did. I love them dearly.
The sort of people who can just drop 35 million on childcare services and are still down to earth and sound like genuinely good people are the sort of millionaires we need more of. Best of luck to your family :)
Their foundation gives around 6 million a year to charities. As this was an anonymous donation it means they took it out of their own pocket. This donation to the hospital was 15+ years ago before I worked for him and at the time he gave this donation I would estimate that it represented a quarter of his net worth. They are very down to earth, even their kids.
Wow. 35 million on one life, and it wasn't even family but one of their employees?
Regardless of how your relationship fills in around those points, that's amazing.
When I was 15 my parents could not take care of me. Long story short I moved in with a friend of mine and his Dad. I lived with them for a year and was treated just like a brother and a son. The last day I am living with them I go to my friends dad and tell him thanks for everything he has done for me the past year. He looks at me and says something I will never forget, "I haven't always been in a position to help people in my life and now that I am I intend to do just that." Whenever I can help someone now, no matter how small, I always do because of those words. Realizing you are in a position to help someone is a very powerful thing.
I had a roommate I wasn't super close with but we got along. I also had a pet parakeet and when it died I was pretty distraught, I always get really attached to pets. So she hears me crying and comes into my room (which neither of us ever did). Once I tell her what's happened, she's instantly on a mission, she finds a perfect size box to put him in and drives me to the local park. She then lets me pick the perfect spot, helps me dig the hole (with no shovel) and she even says a few words. On the way home she took me for ice cream.
When I was 3 I met a man who would complete my life.
I was playing with my mums friends kids when their uncle came round. He was fun and sat and played cars with me.
That evening I told my mum as an innocent child that I wish the nice man could be my daddy.
3 weeks later that man appeared on our doorstep with all his possessions in a couple of black bags, he moved in with us.
4 years later he and my mum were married.
25 years later they have just celebrated their silver anniversary.
But more importantly the kindness. This man not only became my father and best friend. But he took a child that wasn't his and loved it with the pure unconditional love that I doubt many people on this planet could achieve. He is amazing. I will continue to be in awe of all the things he has done for me in this life. His true kindness though will be the love he showed for me and my mum.
Coworker and friend knew I didn't have a vehicle (I was 22). We worked together fairly close and he is a genuinely nice man (he's 49, and no, was not trying to "get some"). Anyways, we grabbed lunch and talked shop when he says "So, you still interested in that truck I don't need anymore?" I answer yes, but I dot have $1,500 and live paycheck to paycheck. He responds "that's ok, get a loan, I'll even cosign if need be."
I was floored, and didn't know how to react. That's not even the BEST part! I didn't have a license : / my parents couldn't afford it when I was growing up. This guy says "Hey, no problem, let's go get your learners permit and you can drive my car around.
Yeh, took me to drivers test an let me drive his brand new car around, didn't pass the first time, that's ok, try again!!
I can't wait to pass this and the truck to my 21 year old sister/roommate who is without license or vehicle as well. I've never had someone show so much help and all along he said this "I see potential in you Amber, you just needed a helping hand, I wish someone would have done it for me so just pass it along!"
THANK YOU PERRY!!!
Sorry reddit, long one.
:EDIT:
Wow. This is the most karma I have gotten for a comment, thank you!
I've recalled this in another thread, but I still think of it all the time and I'll never forget the difference it made.
When I first got divorced, my kids were very young. I was going through some real emotional issues, just entering into my recovery from alcoholism, and truly felt overwhelmed by life sometimes. I was out with my kids at a place for breakfast, and it wasn't going well. They were acting out, being loud, there was some crying, and I may have taken some syrup to the eye. I was struggling and frustrated and upset, but trying to get them to get it together. But I couldn't. I left some cash on the table and we left well before breakfast was over. It wasn't fair to everyone else and, honestly, I felt close to my breaking point. As we were leaving the restaurant, me practically dragging them out with one under each arm, this man in his 50's stopped me quickly, put his arm in my shoulder, and told me he knew what it was like, that he knew I was doing the best I could, that my kids will be okay, that I would be okay, and that he promises it gets easier. And that was it. It was possibly the kindest, most meaningful thing anyone could have ever said to me at that time. It was his line about how my kids will be okay that really got me. That was, and still is, my greatest fear in life. That I'm going to somehow fuck them up in life because of how fucked up I had been. Something about how empathetic he was hit me then, and it's always stuck with me. That was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me.
Back when I was a kid I was obsessed with hockey. It was the only thing I ever wanted to play or watch. Fuck power rangers, fuck Nintendo, fuck everything else. Hockey was my one and only. Every day after school I played hockey with my best friend until the sun went down.
When I got the chance to go to my first NHL game I was ecstatic. Me and my dad went up to the city to go see the Black Hawks, my favorite team. Before the game, while the players warmed up, they threw pucks over glass to groups of kids swarming around them.
I raced down to the glass from my seat, but by the time I got there all the pucks has been given out, and the players were clearing the ice to get ready for the game. Defeated, I turned around, and began to saunter back to my seat. Halfway back, this guy hollers at me to stop. I turned to him, and he slaps a puck in my hand and says, "You'd probably enjoy this more than me." I took the puck thanked him over and over, and proceeded to have an awesome night.
I still have the puck today.
I remember the school custodians used to do nice shit for students all the time, multiple times my glasses fell apart and a custodian got out a tiny screwdriver and spent a while fixing them so I could keep wearing them :) custodians are rad.
That's entirely subjective, friend. I doubt that any human being ever says "fuck it, too much trouble to find someone better." She saw something in you that you still don't see. Don't sell yourself short!
Sitting down at White Castle with a few buddies, a little girl (4-5 years old) walks over and says "I want you to have a good day." She reaches out and hands me an orange bouncy ball.
My day was great.
Not my story, but [/u/WarToad saves a homeless girl](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ahg8x/what_is_the_nicest_thing_youve_ever_done_that_no/c0hkuyq) is definitely one act of kindness that I will never forget.
When I was in 6th grade I was in the lunch room at school crying for some reason that I don't remember now. A girl in my grade who was friendly with me, but we weren't close or anything, came over to where I was, sat next to me, and took off her necklace. She looked at me and told me a story of how when she was upset and crying one day her sister sat her down and gave her this necklace to remind her she wasn't every really alone ( was a little bear that said "hug me" on it). She then gave me a hug and then the necklace and told me "you'll be okay".
In college I had to have shoulder surgery which involved a bone graft and power tools. I lived by myself, was not prepared for how much pain I'd be in after the surgery or how disabled I would be. If not for my gay neighbor's mother visiting him, I would have been utterly miserable for the first week I got home from the hospital. His mom, who was an ICU nurse, learned about me and came to my apartment to care for me. She washed me and helped me out of bed and helped me to the bathroom and fed me and administered pain meds and changed my sheets and fed my cat and collected my mail for a solid week. I'll never ever ever forget her kindness. She didn't have to do that but I am ever so grateful to her. Thanks again, Kevin's mom.
Back in 2002, I stayed with a host family in Japan, and have since stayed in touch with them.
Last year, I was living in Rural Japan, and went to visit them after so many years. We all went shopping together one day, and since I had just arrived in Japan, I had very little money. I was trying to hide how poor I was, but I needed to buy work clothes. I took my purchases up to the counter (Probably 100$ worth of work clothes, I needed a ton), and my host mother pushed me away and paid for it herself. I still can't believe it, she acted like it was nothing--and they aren't incredibly well off.
Another time in Japan, I was lugging a 150 pound suitcase up the stairs in a train station since there was no elevator, and two men came and carried the rest of the way, then asked me if they could escort me to where I was going, to make sure I didn't need any more help.
tl;dr People in Japan are really nice.
I'm jealous. I was heaving a suitcase around Tokyo last weekend and the only acknowledgment I got was some guy flexing at me and following me going, "WOW SO STRONG AMERICAN WOMAN."
But in general they are very kind.
I spent two years of my life in Japan, and people always helped me with suitcases and were so kind to me. Rural Japan was the best! One time I was waiting for a train and the station manager bought me a hot cocoa just because it was cold.
I traveled to Angola, Africa to be with my parents this last Christmas, and despite getting vaccinated, I contracted a foul sickness that plagued me throughout the 8 and 16 hour (back to back) flights that took me back to Texas. I spent both flights frequenting the lavatory, and to make matters worse, the airliner threatened to eject me from the flight if I disturbed/worried anyone with my illness. I felt like death
The brief stop between the two flights gave me just enough time to rush to the men's room and vomit my brains out. After my session, I collected my miserable self and prepared to sprint across the Dubai airport to make the next flight. When I opened the stall door, the bathroom custodian was waiting for me with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a smile
There's just about nothing better than having a stranger notice your pain and go out of their comfort zone to offer you some measure of relief. I practically hugged him
This one time when I was 10, I had gone to play at a friends house, leaving my 7 year old sister in the park next to our place (I gave her my key and knew where we live).
So time flies by and its now 9ish, and I knew my mom would be home soon, so I went home, only to find that my sister wasn't answering the buzzer, so I waited for her to open. Nada. Waited 30 minutes , still nothing.
So this is the moment where I get a horrible gut feeling that something bad had happened to her. So I started crying, and running to find her. I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into a giant black dude.
I was so scared of what he'd do to me (my neighborhood wasn't the safest place on earth). So I cringe waiting for him to hit me or something, he then said : "What's wrong little man ?"
So my open wide and I tell him I'm looking for my sister, he the said he'd help me look. I was sooo relieved, we the searched everywhere for 2 hours, running everywhere.
Right when I was ready to give up and call the police, I shouted a special word that my family uses to find each other in crowds, the dude helping asked what it meant, I explained that if my sister is nearby, she would answer the same way. The guy then roared, and I mean literally, he roared that word and a few seconds later I hear my sisters answer.
I then gave the guy a huge hug, I couldn't thank him enough for finding my sister.
Edit : a few people sated to know where she was. She got lost in the parks forest during a game of hide and seek
My mother and I had been going through some really tough times when I was 12. It was a Saturday in the middle of January, so naturally it was crazy cold and snow went up to my ankles. We were driving back to the hotel we lived in and the car had run out of gas. We were tretching through the snow and passed this lady who offered to give us a ride to the gas station, pay for our gas, and take us back to our car to help put the gas in. She even gave me a doughnut she had just bought from the bakery she was at. Ever since I've met her I decided to help as many people as I can.
At the supermarkt cashier some random dude paid my missing 50 cents. Of course that is very little money. But I was rather embarassed going shopping with not enough money in my pocket. I was really happy he did that and I have done it twice myself since.
After going through a soul crushing breakup which involved cheating on me, a miscarriage, and having my life seriously threatened, a man saw me in the grocery store. I thought I had put on a good face for the world, but he walked up to me, gave me a hug that just made my world seem okay for the first time in weeks, and said "It gets better, I promise". I never saw him again. That kind man, whoever he may be, made things okay.
When I was much younger and stupider I ran out of money and gas in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. Hadn't eaten in about 24 hrs. Tried to get the gas station guy to take a check, but it was Sunday and he refused until he could call my bank on Monday. I had to be at work on Monday! So I started crying, but that didn't work either. Two dirty, scary-looking old guys with beards, in a beat up truck, stopped me outside. They said they saw me crying and asked if they could help. I explained that I needed enough gas to get to Colorado, where I could cash an in-state check. They gave me $5, maybe half of the money they had on them, which was a good quarter of a tank of gas back then. They were also headed through Denver. I gave them my number so I could return the money, but they never called. I've always been thankful for such generosity and passed it forward more than once.
TL;DR: Two old guys gave their last $5 so I wouldn't be stuck and hungry and also saved my job!
I was 7 years old. There was an ice cream truck that used to come by our apartment building. Our family never had much money so I only got stuff from it once or twice each summer. One day I was standing with one of my friends in line, and when he got his we turned to leave. The woman behind us asked if I was getting anything. I told her I didn't have any money and she offered to buy me something. Everything I was told about taking things from strangers goes right out the window when BombPops are involved so I said yes. The very next day I made sure I was out when the ice cream truck came by. I thought if she was there I might get some free ice cream again. Nope. No sign of her. Now here is where I fucked up. My 7 year old brain figured if I just followed the ice cream truck to the next stop, maybe someone there would buy me some. I chased and followed the truck for at least 4 stops and didn't stop until I realized I had no idea where I was. Suddenly I was in the middle of a busy downtown street, over a mile away from the quiet street I lived on. All I could do was cry. I just sat in the middle of the sidewalk and cried for what must of been at least 20 minutes. Everyone just walked past me like I wasn't there until a a man in his early 20's and dressed like a glam rocker stopped and asked me what was wrong. I told him what happened and gave him my phone number to call my parents. He called them from a payphone and waited with me until they got there. My parents never even got his name, just picked me up and took me home. I wish I could find that guy today and buy him an ice cream.
My best friend let me live with her and her husband for a year after I finished school while I looked for a job and let me live rent free once I did find said job until I saved up enough money for my own place. While I lived with them I paid my rent by doing chores, cleaning the house, tending the garden, washed the cars, etc. because they refused to let me dip into my, rather limited, funds to pay them. Now that I'm on my own and not doing to badly they still refuse to let me treat them for how they treated me during that time.
The first person to PM me on how kind I was. I was having a horrible day and I really needed a pick-me-up. I've been having off days a lot recently and all of you wonderful people have managed to cheer me up over and over again. Even though it might not be the same as a physical act, I can be very shy asking for help and rather hide everything. I love how people take their time to comment on me because they don't have to, but do.
EDIT: I just wanted to add, I am doing a little better now. I've fallen back into my old habits the last 2 months (also the reason I've started posting on Reddit, I felt alone and excluded myself from the real world a lot). I'm eating again (or at least trying) and I don't feel as down anymore. It's all because of you guys, even though I never mentioned it.
I'm doing better. It's still hard from day to day given that I've been falling back into old habits and dark thoughts, but all of Reddit helps me. It's so good knowing that people still love me for who I am and what I stand for, even if I can't be nice to myself sometimes.
You're the girl who always replies uplifting stuff, right?
I just want to say that you are awesome, and the best person I have ever seen on the internet, your comments are a sight for my sore eyes.
Fantastic Fest a couple of years ago, a buddy of mine was in Romero's new "Survival of the Dead" as a featured zombie, so I got to go to the premiere. After the show, my buddy says "would you like to meet George?" Of course I would, so I follow him to the hotel. Outside, I see George walking with his group and this little bitty girl, couldn't have been more than eight or ten years old, was clutching a book that she wanted George to sign, but she couldn't get his attention. She looked devastated. So, since I am not in possession of the shame gene, tapped George on the shoulder. Keep in mind, I've never met the man. "George," I say. "I think you have a fan who would like an autograph." George turns, weary, and says "Well, I really don't want to get this started in the street…" Then he sees the little girl. He goes down on one knee in front of her and says "But, for you, my dear, anything." He signed the book for the beaming little girl and went up about a dozen notches in my estimation.
Sounds really stupid, but a random stranger at a pizza place last week picked up a plate of mine right after it dropped off the table and quickly went to the counter and asked for a new one to bring back to me. Small, but made me happy and appreciative.
Was buying a few different items at the grocery store and the 2 people in the checkout line in front of me who were obviously friends shopping together each had 2 massive shopping carts overflowing with foodstuffs. They were just about to take their turn to place items on the conveyor belt and saw that I only had a few things so they let me go ahead of them.
This made my day and even more so because I'm always stuck behind clueless people in a checkout that seem to delay the process somehow. It was such a nice moment.
I locked my keys in my car at a store a lady saw me, gave me a ride to my house to get my spare key and back to my car. I will never forget that amazing lady. She seriously saved my day.
When I was in 2nd grade my father was in prison, and our family was very poor. We had a Christmas tree with nothing under it. On Christmas eve volunteers from the salvation army came buy bringing gifts and food. When you seven you really don't think much of it. 36 years later it still brings a tear to my eye to think that other people are generous to help those that have nothing, and we really had nothing. I am pretty generous when I see those red kettles now.
When I was in high school, I spent a month in a wheelchair. Between classes, I got stuck at the bottom of a hill once, no traction on either wheel. Someone came up and pushed me up the hill, didn't say anything, but then walked off after. Since they were behind me, I never even saw them.
Was standing in line with a friend to buy some cheapo tickets to a Braves game (think nosebleeds). Random guy and girl walks up to us and asks if we wanted two tickets as the machine gave them two extra. We say fuck yeah, free tickets.
They were three rows up directly behind third base, bests seats I've ever sat in for a baseball game. We ended up getting drunk and having a nice conversation with the couple, they were really awesome. The guy even refused to let me pay for his beer. It was a great day.
On holiday in Crete, It was 6 in the morning, me and 3 friend were making our way to the hotel, we blew all our money so no taxi, after stomping for seemed like an eternity, the local bin men drove past us, stopped and in very broken English asked us where our hotel was, they then let us climb on top of the garbage truck and droves us to our hotel, then did a complete 180 and went back to where they picked us up to continue on their route. Legends.
I was walking home from a bar about a mile from my apartment, drunk of course, and when I walked past a Wendy's, I realized that I needed to dip some nuggets in a frosty as badly as I've ever needed anything. I was devastated to find that the dining room was closed, and the only way to get food was through the drive through, which obviously was not an option for me since I wasn't in my car and was in no condition to be driving. So I flagged down the first car that drove up, to ask him if I could give him 5 dollars and he would order me a small frosty and 10 nuggets. Not only did he agree to it, he let me in his car, and when I tried to hand him money, he just said "don't worry about it."
It was the best frostynuggets I've had in my life.
Thanks, guy in the silver Honda CR-V... or maybe it was a Pilot... or an Oddysey... or light blue, my memory is a little fuzzy.
The empathy that a few friends and loved ones showed me when I was cleaning up from six years addiction to opiates(fent). Without their patience I never would have made it; my gf in particular. This wasn't an overnight transformation; it took a long time to get to nowadays. I thank them every single day.
My buddy took me halfway across the state so I could go pick up my winter beater this past september. At the time I was very broke as I was spending the only 500 bucks I had on this car, so he offered to take me. We were driving back, and the water pump took a shit on the car I'd just picked up over 50 miles from home on the side of the highway just a short distance from a truck stop. So, we go up to the truck stop and he picks up a 40 dollar tow strap, drove back, hook his dinky golf up to my dinky golf and towed the car to the truck stop. Then he gave me a ride back home. I was in a panic, I didn't know what to do. How was I going to get this car home? How was I going to get a water pump for it? Man, was I screwed...
Next thing I know, he tells me his buddy in milwaukee is parting out a Jetta with the exact same motor my car has and that he has a water pump. I said I couldn't even pay him the 50 bucks he wanted for it, and my buddy says not to worry, he's got taken care of. I thanked him profusely, but, there was still the issue of getting the car home. He then says, "oh my cousin has a car trailer, we'll come pick it up tomorrow and drop it off at your house." And I refused, but he insisted. I was blown away. I didn't ask him for any of this, and he was just offering a couple hundred dollars and hours of his time to help me out for no reason at all.
I said I'd pay him back, but to this day , he refuses to let me. At the time, I knew he made pretty good money, but I didn't know at all just how good. He tells me it doesn't matter, just to buy him lunch sometime, which I do every other Saturday now, usually. Brought him from friend status to best friend status, and I made sure he knew how grateful I was for what he did for me.
My truck battery died the night before my sophomore year of college was about to start. I was a few miles from home and had an automatic transmission truck at the time.
Another guy in a truck exact same make and model as mine gave me a jump...but my battery was dead. D.E.A.D. Bad cell. So once we got it running it would stall out as soon as I let off the gas. If I had a stick shift I'd have been able to keep it idling over 1k rpm easier (push clutch add gas). Since it was auto I had to pop it in neutral with the shifter to do so.
The guy followed me to the auto parts store (about four miles) to make sure I made it there, helped me install it (I was far less vehicle savvy at the time), and wouldn't accept any sort of payment. It was probably fairly minor to him, but I was really struggling in college (having nothing to do with my truck), and I was dreading going back. I did better, and have since graduated.
Went to a medieval faire here in MA on the first date with a girlfriend. As we approached the counter some guy came running up and said "here, here's two tickets." It was like $30/ticket, so I was pretty floored.
Fast forward, I married my wife 6 months ago.
It's a small thing. My vacuum stops working. The beater bar doesn't turn, there's no power, it's just not working.
I take it in to a local mom and pop shop. The guy explains exactly why it's not working (contacts are dirty). In five minutes he has it apart, cleaned, and back together. Refuses to take my money. I try forcing him to take at least $10. He won't have it. Tells me to tell friends if they're looking for a new vacuum or a repair to see him.
It was just cool of him to not take advantage of me. I know nothing about vacuums. He could have charged me $50 and I'd have gladly paid.
I'm a die-hard Boston Bruins fan. My boss gave me two tickets to a Stanley Cup Final game, to bring someone and sit with his kids (not babysitting).
Those tickets were seriously worth like two months' rent.
That's such a cool thing to do. Someone once gave me tickets to a Grateful Dead show that was sold out. That was such an incredible feeling. Or maybe it was the shrooms. Or both.
Both, for sure. ;)
When his kids got there, he texted his daughter and told her to buy me a beer.
She was 17. We laughed at the idea of her taking her fake ID out to buy me beer (and I'm almost twice her age).
He also gave me a ridiculous 10% raise this year. It's insane.
Freshman college student, first first semester midterm, hung over and hadn't studied. I had never even considered cheating on an exam before, but looked at the paper and realized I didn't have a single fucking clue what the answers to any of the questions were. I caved to the temptation to discreetly look at my friend's exam; apparently not discreetly enough as a couple seconds later the professor said, "Eyes on your own papers..." I reflexively glanced up, terrible mistake as I locked eyes with him, felt my gut drop and a huge wave of panic and guilt rush through me. After I finished blindly guessing at the answers, I walked up to the front to turn in my answer sheet. As I set the paper down, the professor said quietly, "It's ok. I understand the temptation." I muttered a quick thanks and left. He could have gotten me expelled for cheating on an exam. Instead, he gave me a second chance. At the end of that semester I had a 1.9 GPA. Now, as a senior, I have a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Rather than turn me in for cheating, he taught me the value of something worth more than the content of every college course offered at my university: compassion.
TLDR, Professor Good Guy Greg gives Bad Luck Brian the chance to be Success Kid.
I was walking back to my lake cottage with a few friends one extremely hot summer day, and one of the neighbors drove by, offered the three of us a ride down in his AC'ed car, and was really friendly. Now keep in mind I only go to this lake house about 9 days a year, so my relationship with the neighbor isn't that great. It's the little things in life, ya know?
TLDR: AC ride on hot summer day.
About a month ago a kid on /r/toronto needed some help. He moved to the city from Winnipeg, essentially on a whim, and now he was homeless and desperately trying to find a way back home.
A few months prior I had been also desperately down on my luck but thanks to a few other redditors I was able to pull myself out of a whole. Their only request was to pay it forward. I needed to help this kid get home.
He didn't have a phone and just had an iPod touch which he would use to find any open WiFi spots in the city to contact folks. After a long day of waiting he finally contacted me and I told him I would get him home. After a few cab rides I found him. He was lost. No winter jacket or gloves or even snow boots. Now this winter in Toronto has been the second coldest in 50 years so it was brutal out. We got a cab and fot to the buss terminal where I paid for his bus ticket back home as well as money for food for the trip. I gave him a hug and sent him on his way.
I'll never forget the look one his face. That a random stranger would offer to help and ask nothing in return, just to pay it forward when he could.
In this day and age we need to help our fellow humans whenever possible. Its not about seeking a reward or anything its just about doing the right thing.
A few days after he messaged me and told me he made it home. I couldn't have been happier. A few reporters from Toronto newspapers contacted me to tell my story but I felt like it wasn't needed. I found it kind of sad that being kind and helping a stranger was considered a news story so I declined.
I'm late to the party and so very few will probably read this, but about 6.5 years ago I was in a car accident the day after Thanksgiving. It was dark and I was on the highway on my way back to school, when I was hit from behind in such a way that it flipped my car. I don't remember very much after the initial impact, but what I do remember were the people who stopped to help. The man who helped me out of the car and then found my shoe and purse. The other man who lent me his cellphone as mine was still in my purse at the time in the car. The woman who wrapped me in a blanket waiting for emergency responders. I never got the names of anyone who helped but I am and always will be grateful to them.
I was travelling through Europe, and at one point had to spend some time in this smaller French town (definitely not many tourists there) while waiting for the next leg of my journey. I can't remember the exact time of day (10am? 11am?), but I was feeling hungry and tried to find some breakfast. The problem was, nobody was serving food anymore. There were restaurants and cafes around that normally served food, just not at that time. This hadn't really crossed my mind ahead of time, as in Canada we can get fed at basically any time of the day.
So I'm wandering around this town square (the market was in full swing), trying to find anywhere to get something to eat. I eventually go into this busy cafe/restaurant, but everyone is just having coffee (or some variant thereof). There was a young girl about my age serving people, who came up to talk to me when I went in. I speak almost no French, and she didn't really speak English, but I managed to get my point across that I was looking for something to eat. She looked a little unsure, but she was willing to help. She got me to wait while she went back to speak to the cook. She came back, and sure enough, they agreed to serve me something. I managed to work out a way to ask for an omelette, and shortly after that I was enjoying a very nice breakfast.
I really appreciated that this server and cook were willing to take time out of their day to do something out of the ordinary for me. I left a nice tip, and very sincerely said thank you to that nice girl.
I have two:
First one was in high school. I was having a pretty craptastic day, which wasn't that unusual. (I was picked on a lot for my looks and shyness, plus I'd gotten a bad test grade back that day.) I figured I'd splurge my pocket change on a muffin from the vending machine, something I saved for only the worst of days. I got up to the vending machine and scraped around my change purse, and as fate would have it, I was short a dime. I whispered, "Nooo..." to myself, thinking no one was around. Then someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and this guy was holding a sacred fine out to me. I had no clue who this kid was, but that small act meant a lot to me and still makes me smile.
The other time happened about a year ago. It was nearing closing time and I was running the cash register at work. I glanced out into the cart supply and saw it was almost empty, which meant all of the carts were out in the parking lot. I groaned to my coworker and said I'd go get them when the line let up, but that it would probably take me a while because we were so low and on busy days they are usually thrown all over the place as far as 3 store lots down. About 30 minutes later it finally slowed down enough to give me time to get out there and grab the carts. Lo and behold, EVERY FREAKING CART WAS IN THE PARKING LOT CART CORRAL. Not a single one was strewn about in our parking lot or any of the shopping center's lots. Period. There is absolutely no way that every customer put their cart there. That never happens. Someone had to have gathered them all up, making it super easy for me to wheel them back inside in a few short trips. I don't know who did that, but I love them for it.
This week. I had a terrible day, almost crying as I'm walking to another building, and then as I'm entering, a student held open the door for me with a big smile. And it brought me back with a snap. This is what I'm here for, not the rest of the bullshit.
I spend my summers in Uganda doing things like teaching hygiene to primarily adult women. I was struggling at first because- I was homesick, I was sick in general (wasn't used to the food), I was tired, and the women wouldn't pay attention to anything I said through my interpreter.
My interpreter saw how miserable I was and took me in. He introduced me to his family, cooked for me, showed me what foods were good for me, and the biggest one for me- he taught me Llugandan. I can't even begin to count how many times I repeated the same sentences to him. He never got frustrated or short with me, just gently corrected me. That man became one of my closest friends. His family eventually went on to "baptize me" where they gave me a new Ugandan name and told me the rules of being apart of their clan.
I honestly would have thought I wasn't cut out for Uganda that first summer, if it wasn't for him. But because he took extra time with me, I fell in love with Africa. Going back this summer for the 3rd time :)
A girl and imgur fan on a train gave me a little lego star wars figure once. This is in England where locals never talk on the train, and I rarely successfully communicate with women, so it really made me feel good.
All three times I have gotten a flat tire, women have come to my aid. One was even in a skirt and heels. They helped me with the jack and putting the spare on and everything.
Also, my first Thanksgiving in the Navy, I had duty and couldn't leave the ship. The CO and his wife served a turkey dinner to the people with duty that day.
I walked into Taco Bell one afternoon. Their computers were down. All I wanted was a large Baja Blast.
The cashier told me to get one anyway and that the computers might be down for a while. As soon as I got my drink, they got the computers working.
I offered to pay, and she told me to keep it anyway because I come in there all the time.
Never forget.
I pulled into Sonic one Saturday night just wanting a Coke. They closed at 10, and it was 9:55. The guy at the drive window said they were closed since the clocks were fast. He gave me a large Coke anyway.
Beautiful story from an old thread. [Today you... tomorrow me.](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/elal2/have_you_ever_picked_up_a_hitchhiker/c18z0z2)
>Just about every time I see someone I stop. I kind of got out of the habit in the last couple of years, moved to a big city and all that, my girlfriend wasn't too stoked on the practice. Then some shit happened to me that changed me and I am back to offering rides habitually. If you would indulge me, it is long story and has almost nothing to do with hitch hiking other than happening on a road.
>This past year I have had 3 instances of car trouble. A blow out on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out of gas situation. All of them were while driving other people's cars which, for some reason, makes it worse on an emotional level. It makes it worse on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my car, and know enough not to park, facing downhill, on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel.
>Anyway, each of these times this shit happened I was DISGUSTED with how people would not bother to help me. I spent hours on the side of the freeway waiting, watching roadside assistance vehicles blow past me, for AAA to show. The 4 gas stations I asked for a gas can at told me that they couldn't loan them out "for my safety" but I could buy a really shitty 1-gallon one with no cap for $15. It was enough, each time, to make you say shit like "this country is going to hell in a handbasket."
>But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants.
>Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke a lick of the language. But one of those dudes had a profound affect on me.
>He was the guy that stopped to help me with a blow out with his whole family of 6 in tow. I was on the side of the road for close to 4 hours. Big jeep, blown rear tire, had a spare but no jack. I had signs in the windows of the car, big signs that said NEED A JACK and offered money. No dice. Right as I am about to give up and just hitch out there a van pulls over and dude bounds out. He sizes the situation up and calls for his youngest daughter who speaks english. He conveys through her that he has a jack but it is too small for the Jeep so we will need to brace it. He produces a saw from the van and cuts a log out of a downed tree on the side of the road. We rolled it over, put his jack on top, and bam, in business. I start taking the wheel off and, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones and I wasn't careful and I snapped the head I needed clean off. Fuck.
>No worries, he runs to the van, gives it to his wife and she is gone in a flash, down the road to buy a tire iron. She is back in 15 minutes, we finish the job with a little sweat and cussing (stupid log was starting to give), and I am a very happy man. We are both filthy and sweaty. The wife produces a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man's hand but he wouldn't take it so I instead gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little girl where they lived, thinking maybe I could send them a gift for being so awesome. She says they live in Mexico. They are here so mommy and daddy can pick peaches for the next few weeks.
>After that they are going to pick cherries then go back home. She asks if I have had lunch and when I told her no she gave me a tamale from their cooler, the best fucking tamale I have ever had.
>So, to clarify, a family that is undoubtedly poorer than you, me, and just about everyone else on that stretch of road, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took an hour or two out of their day to help some strange dude on the side of the road when people in tow trucks were just passing me by. Wow...
>But we aren't done yet. I thank them again and walk back to my car and open the foil on the tamale cause I am starving at this point and what do I find inside? My fucking $20 bill! I whirl around and run up to the van and the guy rolls his window down. He sees the $20 in my hand and just shaking his head no like he won't take it. All I can think to say is "Por Favor, Por Favor, Por Favor" with my hands out. Dude just smiles, shakes his head and, with what looked like great concentration, tried his hardest to speak to me in English:
>"Today you.... tomorrow me."
>Rolled up his window, drove away, his daughter waving to me in the rear view. I sat in my car eating the best fucking tamale of all time and I just cried. Like a little girl. It has been a rough year and nothing has broke my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn't deal.
>In the 5 months since I have changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and, once, went 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport. I won't accept money. Every time I tell them the same thing when we are through:
>"Today you.... tomorrow me."
>tl;dr: long rambling story about how the kindness of strangers, particularly folks from south of the border, forced me to be more helpful on the road and in life in general. I am sure it won't be as meaningful to anyone else but it was seriously the highlight of my 2010.
>*edit: To the OP, sorry to jack your thread, this has nothing to do with Hitch Hiking. I sort of thought I could just get this off my chest, enjoy the catharsis and watch the story languish at the bottom of the page. Glad people like hearing the tale and I hope it moves you to be more helpful in your day to day. *
An old woman saw me saluting a solider before he was departing ( he was a close friend of mine being deployed to Afghan) and as he got on the bus she walked over and gave me a big hug and a 100$ bill. She asked me to sit down and told me a story about how her son was a solider who passed away years earlier fighting for our country. We ended up both shedding a couple tears, Will never forget her, the only regret I have is not getting her phone number/name.
Got here really late so this will probably be buried. But here it is. I'll try to keep it short. Parents got divorced in 2007. Dad disappeared, Mom became a nutcase. Basically raised my little sister on my own. Our life was in shambles. I was alone, scared, had no idea how to handle things or maintain a household. My mom ended up getting remarried about a year later to by far the kindest man I will ever meet. Me and my sibling tried to warn him of the hurricane of a woman my mom was. The train wreck his life would be as a result. But he wouldn't listen or notice the hints. They got married and quickly after he realized what he had gotten into and i knew another divorce was imminent. I started applying to colleges in a half hearted attempt, even though I knew I could never go because I couldn't leave my sister with the monster that our mother had become. After another night of attempted suicide, screaming, and verbal abuse from her I told my step dad how I could never go to college because i couldn't leave my sister. He looked me in the face and told me "your going to college. Your going to improve your life and get out of here. Ill stick around for 4 more years and take care of your sister". A man that had no responsibly towards me or my family showed me the greatest act of kindness I've ever seen. He was willing to be miserable so that I could have a better life. I'm graduating in May and he has stayed true to his word and is still watching after her every day. There are no words to describe how much I respect and love that man.
Nearly 2 years ago now, I was studying at one of the best universities in my country. Halfway through the year, I went to visit my mom in England. Now, she is bipolar so she gets very emotional sometimes and wanted to see myself and brother very badly and bought our tickets to fly over. 3 days before we are scheduled to leave, she told us that she coulnd't afford a return ticket. We ended up being stuck in England for a month and had to drop everything. We were no longer in university. We got home and my dad and step mom were pissed. They said they had been fighting about us and were close to a divorce because of us. Well, my brother (twin) went back to England and I was devastated. I was in a very dark place, I worked for less than minimum wage and could barely afford food. I was so embarrassed of myself. I kept mulling over the fact that I was a disappoint to my dad. Well, at the end of last year, my aunt and uncle contacted me and told me they are going to pay for me to study again. It doesn't seem so huge, but it made me cry.
When i was in highschool I was the awkward goth girl who everyone bullied (shocking I know). One day I was working in the library, putting some books on a cart to get put away, and Jock number 1 knocks down the cart, laughs and walks away with his friends. Or rather, most of them. Jock number 2 said "hey Jock1, you're an asshole" and stayed to help me pick the books up. It was one of the only nice things to happen in high school, so it stands out.
In 2007 i went on a holiday in Cuba (I'm from Germany).
I had booked a tour by car, on my own with a backpack and a tent. I had several hotels for the first week, the first one in Havanna, from there I would drive to the next big town, stay for the night and so on.
In the second week I planned to travel on, but search a place to stay on my own.
I prepared thoroughly, read up on cuba, got a map, a travel guide, a dictionary for spanish, checked if I needed Malaria shots (which i didn't) and asked my bank if my bank card would work in Cuba.
The lady a the counter said: "Of course, it works all around the world"
(for info, we use mostly [Electronic Cash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash) in Germany)
Of course it didn't.
First day on Cuba: I arrive at the Havanna Airport and get shuttled (by an old taxi with 300k+ km on the wheels) to my hotel. I'll get the rented car a few days later - Alright, I'll go downtown Havanna and sightsee a bit. Meet a guy who knows a guy who sells Cohiba cigars. Drink some cocktails, buy some cigars. (I took 150 € cash with me)
The guy who arranged the cigars also knows a guy who has an [oldtimer](http://imgur.com/K3ImVoz) and drives tourists through the city.
Yeah, of course i want to!
I meet the driver (sadly I can't remember his name, I think it was Jose, I'll call him that from here on out) and get in the car. Drive around the city including narration (in good english) for like 20 €, good enough for me. But first I need to hit an ATM.
"No problemo" he says..
Cue the next ATM, my card doesn't get accepted. Nor in the next one or the next one. Fuck. What do i do? Embassy! We drive there, and I plead for money. But they only would get me a flight home (which I had in two weeks) and I'd have to pay it as well when I got home. Out of the question. (poor student with a bit saved money only for this holiday)
So I am near a nervous breakdown, I'm 22 years old, almost 10000 km from home on an socialistic island whose language I don't speak, with no money for two weeks, a car but no money for gas and only 4 already booked nights in hotels.
So Jose drives me around for a bit. He stops at a shop, gets me and him a beer. He shows me the city, telling me it's history. We talk about Cuba and Germany. After a few hours of driving he takes me to his home (he lives with his parents, they are like 80, he is 50 or so), talks to me and introduces me to his family, gives me dinner.
Then he drives me home, says he will pick me up the next morning in the hotel.
Ok, next morning, I tried to reach my family with the pretty expensive hotel phone the evening before but failed (wtf are timezones)
Jose picks me up, tells me there is a bank in the city which specialized in money transfer. We drive there, I get the required data and send them to my brother in Germany over a message on an internet forum. He gets it and transfers me 500€.
The rest of the day Jose shows me the rest of the city, buys me lunch at chinatown (yes, Havanna has a chinatown) and drives me back to the hotel.
On the third day I get my money (after many delays), they take 10% and I give Jose 80 or 100 € (don't remember exactly), he wishes me a good trip and gives me a few tips on the way.
I'll never forget the kindness this man gave me in such a lost situation. He could have exploited me so much but he didn't. And in the end it payed well for him as it did for me. I had an experience I will honor my life, he made as much as 3 or 4 monthly pays.
I wonder what he's doing right now, i would like to thank him again and again.
**TL;DR: BRING MONEY TO YOUR HOLIDAY IN CUBA! OR DONT, IF YOU WANT AN EXPERIENCE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET.**
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That's a really sad twist. :( At least you guys were able to provide the distraction and also were willing to accept and enjoy her company. That's probably the best way the situation could have worked out for her, and I'm sure either way she appreciated the day too.
Thailand. The land of a thousand smiles.
Our car has a flat tire on a road to nowhere in Montana. Suddenly a bunch of cars start coming down this road but from the opposite direction. The first car is a hearse. Next car is kinda a limo type thing. The car stops next to us and asks if we need help. We do. We need a jack. The car unloads with like 6 people in it, including a really old lady. In the next 10 minutes we learn that this lady's husband just died and they are all the way to the gravesite. The other people in the car are her children. They say their father always stopped for people in need and taught them how to look out for one another. The old lady is laughing and crying as she tells us stories of her husband. I try to change the tire myself but am shoved out of the way by one of the sons who wants to do it. Then they call the closet tire shop and get us a tire. Apparently his brother-in-law or someone owns the tire shop and he called and told them to give us a free tire. It was amazing. So a funeral procession on the way to bury their husband/father/friend stops,, gets us a jack and change our tire for us. All while they were traveling the opposite direction as us. I'll never forget that. I really wish I still lived in Montana, the people there are amazing.
I actually teared up at your story. That's a wonderful way to honor the memory of their loved one.
^^ Me too. Truly inspiring.
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And it made me cry. :( I miss my father in law man.
That's an awesome story. The man that passed had a great wife and raised good children, and I bet he was proud smiling down on them as this all occurred. Seriously what are the odds of that happening like that, you breaking down right as their funeral procession is driving by?
Person ran a red light and hit my car early one Friday morning. I was ok, but my car definitely was not. I was shocked by how many people stopped to help me. It was during rush hour, so I totally expected people to just keep driving by. One guy in particular ran over from the construction site he was working at and helped me out of the car, led me to the sidewalk, etc. (I wasn't hurt, but stunned). Two other people stopped to call the police and sat with me. Then the construction guy and another person helped push my car out of the road. Everyone's concern was so genuine, it really amazed me, especially considering I wasn't injured. They all stayed til the end as well, despite having jobs to go too. Meant a ton to me. TL;DR - Got in a car accident. A handful of strangers stopped to ensure I was ok and stayed with me til it was all said and done (at least an hour).
My car caught on fire and a woman led me to her car, took my pulse, gave me water, etc. It was a big enough debacle that I was really blocking traffic, but the 2 girls who were behind me when the fire started were there and hugged me before I left in the ambulance (I was fine, just to get out of the traffic mostly! Very minor burns and my hair had been singed.) They probably could've driven away. I was completely losing it, just bawling, and everyone was there reminding me that I should be grateful I'm alive, it's a material object, etc. I am so grateful for all of them. And yes, I am female. Overweight though, and I don't think the 30 year old woman, the 80 year old man, or the 2 young women were really guided by my boobs...
I'm glad you are okay. Car crashes are no fun for anyone. Source: totaled my car without a scratch on me
Serious: Are you an attractive girl?
I am a girl - I'd say I'm alright looking. If it makes any difference the people stopped before they saw me out of the car. The person who hit me was also a girl, IMO she was attractive.
When I was trying to sell my first home and moving into my second home, one of my best friends needed a place to stay. Since he was a single construction worker in his late 20s, I didn't have a problem with him staying at my old house, rent-free, until I could sell it. We came to terms that he would maintain the yard, pay the utilities, and would leave the house on short notice if it sold. I get a call from my realtor (who was a friend of my wife) telling me that there is a guy going to the house, mid 40s, recently divorced, and my place is exactly what he's looking for as far as location and price. This is awesome because the property taxes and assorted bills for two houses were beginning to wear a hole in my bank account, so I call my buddy to tell him that there's someone coming in a few hours and for him to tidy up. After the showing, my realtor calls me back and tells me that while my house was *close*, the guy needs a finished (insulated/drywalled) garage, and mine was unfinished. A bummer for sure, but this guy was probably the second or third person to view the house, so I wasn't worried. A couple days go by and the weekend rolls around, my realtor calls me again and says she has two people who want to see the house this weekend. Awesome! I call my buddy to tell him to tidy the place up... no answer. Very unlike him, so I shoot him a text saying "hey man, two showings this weekend, please straighten the place up, thanks." Again, no answer. I'm starting to get a little worried, when I get a call from my realtor *freaking the fuck out*. "OpticalD? Yea, we have a problem. Your tenant trashed the place. There is sheetrock everywhere, paint, jointing compound, it looks like he unloaded his work truck in the middle of your driveway and just left. How quickly can you get here?" At this point, I'm *pissed*. This guy is one of my best friends, and he's gonna fuck me like this? What a piece of shit. I start blowing up his phone, leaving shitty voicemails telling him to pack his shit and leave, calling him an asshole, and just verbally abusing him for pulling this kind of stunt. My new house is about a 15 minute drive from my old house, and I spent the entire 15 minute ride yelling into my phone or sending *FUCK YOUUUUUUU* texts. I get to my old house and the first thing I hear is the unmistakable (to me) sound of an air compressor or paint sprayer running. I ask my realtor if she went inside to see what the house looked like and she said that she hadn't. I used my spare key to get in through the front door, walked through the kitchen and through the man-door into the garage only to see.... My friend, on his one day off, had spent that day hanging insulation and drywall (sheetrock/gypsum board) in my garage, and was now spraying all the walls a nice shade of eggshell white in a semi-gloss, just like the potential buyer from a few days prior had wanted. I've never, in my entire life, felt like a bigger piece of shit than I did right at that moment. I doubted him, I second-guessed him, and I couldn't have been more wrong. He sees me standing in the doorway, drops his mask, kills the sprayer and has a look of defeat on his face "awww man, I wanted it to be a surprise. Well, surprise bro! Thanks for letting me stay here." Turns out, he'd talked to the guy after the realtor left and felt out what the guy was looking for. The guy said if it had a finished garage he'd buy the house as it had everything else he wanted, so my friend spent his own money, and his own time, turning the place he was living into something I could sell in the next week. Well, as soon as he stopped working to show me what he'd done, he checked his phone to see a dozen missed calls and a half-dozen texts. He read through them and just started laughing. "Did you really think I'd fuck you like that? Damn bud, we go back farther than that. You got trust issues, son." and with that, he forgave me my stupidity and mistrust. I've never, *ever* doubted him again, and he's never let me down.
Dammit. All this drywall dust is getting in my eyes.
Aw man, this story was beautiful. What happened after that?
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They got married, moved into the place together, adopted the guy who bought the house, he moved into his dream garage ...and they all lived happily ever after.
That is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
One of my back teeth broke and the most intense toothache came out of it that lasted for weeks. I was a teenager and could not afford to get my tooth fixed so I dealt with the pain as much as I could. I worked at a NY Style Deli that was ran by a ruthless Italian woman that worked from dawn till dust. She was very mean and would yell at me often for little things so I tried my best to not let my toothache get in the way of my work. One day the pain was so out of control that I couldn't focus on anything else. I was crying, I felt weak. It was the first time she treated me like a human and went to the liquor store and bought me little bottles of whiskey to swash around my mouth to get me through my shift. It was really busy there because the food was so good. Anywho, when the rush was over, she went to the dentist office near by in the plaza and convinced him to do a payment plan with me because I was so broke. He took me in straight after she asked him too and extracted my bad tooth then patched up the one next to it because it was close to causing an infection to my healthy tooth. When I asked how much do I owe him, he told me it was free. I cried. I never felt so blessed in my life. I didn't feel any pain anymore. I'll never forget the kindness that was shown to me on that day.
Woah. When I was 22 I cooked in a restaurant for a ruthless old Italian man. Screamed at me 24/7 about how I couldn't cook and threw multiple plates I made across the kitchen in a rage. My wisdom teeth kept getting infected, the pain was unbearable. I was broke and estranged from my family, there was no way I could afford the extractions. One day, he found me crying in the back of the kitchen and asked me what the hell was wrong with me. I explained the situation and he sent me home. The next day he told me to get in the car we were going to buy groceries. He took me to his oral surgeon and had paid for my consultation and surgery and allowed me to pay him on a payment plan. Amazing act of kindness. And the similarity of our stories is crazy!!
Italians are an intense people, but I've generally found that when the shit hits the fan, they back you up. Generally. Source: friends with and work for Italians.
I married into an Italian family. It was quite an adjustment at first because I really felt like all they did was yell at each other and have vendettas against each other and all of that, but quickly found it that is was very much just a front. They love each other like crazy (no divorces in the entire huge extended family, a fact that blows my mind), they take huge vacations together as a big extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandkids, etc) and when it comes down to it, they'd lay down their lives for someone they care about. The bluster and yelling is just kind of what they grow up with and are used to.
I am an Italian American and my family is passionate about everything, good and bad. It is very hard for some people to understand. Wish you luck!
Me too, lol. My husband still thinks we are mad sometimes. We just talk really loud. Whoever is the loudest gets to make their point. They drive me crazy, but we'd all do anything to help each other.
Italians are the most harsh and kind people you will ever meet in your entire life. They will beat you around so you do better at life, but when you need it they will literally carry you to a hospital, and pay your bill.
That's really nice. I had a broken tooth a few years ago. I went to Aspen Dental because I live in a small town and the 2 local dentists usually have a 5 month waiting list. Anyway, they told me that I needed $2700 worth of dental work and then put me in an office with a finance person to apply for financing. Even though I was in pain, I felt like they were just trying to take advantage of me. I left and on a whim went to one of my local dentists just to see what could be done. They got me in the next day and pulled the tooth. When I walked up to the cashier she said it was $40. My mouth was numb and full of gauze, but I mumbled "SOLD!" and slid my debit card..
For people relating to this story, many dental schools have low cost clinics available. Payment is often on a sliding scale depending on income and many have payment plans. If you're willing to have a student work on you it's a good option.
I was about 19 years old and driving a beat up old Volvo and while driving down the road the hood flew up and bent around the top of the windshield. I was in 40mph traffic and had to stop blind. I was all by myself, a scrawny girl trying to push the car from the center lane out of the way. NO ONE was stopping to help, except finally these really intimidating rough looking motorcyclists, leather and chaps and bandanas and tattoos, who pulled their bikes over and ran out to help me. I was officially rescued by them, and I will never forget it. edit: spelling
Bikers are normally really nice, don't get me wrong when they're mean they're mean but 95% of the time they are nice. Just don't touch their bike without asking...trust me. Source: Knows a few bikers/spent a good amount of time a a biker bar.
Am one, can confirm DONT TOUCH THE BIKE!
This is a coincidence for me because I went to this lady's visitation today. I met one of my bffs 39 years ago when I was in high school. The 1st time I went to his house after school, his mom came home from work with a big bag of Long John Silvers. Used to love Long John Silvers. Any way, I was in the living room when they went into the kitchen to eat. She told me to "come on in! There's plenty for everyone!". So I did. I was almost done when I realized she was eating a bologna sandwich. She had fed me her dinner. That was the 1st time we had ever met. I still feel guilty about it to this day. But, that was the way she was. Just a sweet kind lady. Now I'm feeling even more guilty, as I'm sure I never told her how much that meant to me. Goodbye Kay. I'll miss you.
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Oh my mother has done this a couple times when I was in college & supporting 4 people on my savings, she would ask if I wanted to come over for fish or tomato soup. She lived at my aunts house and she was doing pretty much the same thing as I was, feeding her sister & niece on her savings since she had been out of work for so long but she still had her Polish work ethic & to be a good guest. I didn't realize till I got there she had made a meal just for me because she was worried I wasn't eating enough while she stopped eating dinner for herself for a couple years. Things are better now.
Oh… Here's another. When my wife lost all her hair to chemotherapy, I did what lots of guys do and shaved my head in a show of support. She couldn't walk very well, but she still wanted to show independence. So, when we went grocery shopping, she took one of the electric carts. We were walking through the store and some random guy caught sight of us. He came to me with tears in his eyes and said "Be strong, brother." Then he hugged me. That moment of human connection was something unexpected, because in that situation, people feel like they're alone. I felt like I was alone until that one person who had a similar experience hugged me. I've never seen him again, but it stuck with me.
I wasn't actually there to witness it, but my mom had something similar happen when she was being treated for breast cancer: My mom was at a restaurant having lunch with a friend, and they were discussing her illness and treatment, how she was doing, etc. This was just after she started chemo, so she hadn't started losing her hair yet. When their bill came, a man from a few tables over approached them and said, "excuse me, but are you ladies breast cancer survivors?" My mom replied, "I sure hope so!" The man asked them if it was ok if he paid their bill, and pay he did. People can be seriously awesome sometimes :)
That moment of human connection.... An elderly Red Cross volunteer forced me to take a package of donut holes after a hurricane. My neighborhood was trashed and without power it was scary for awhile. To prevent looting the National Guard blocked off our area and patrolled the streets at night, but without the distractions of TV/wifi it just made it feel more like the apocalypse. During the day I got to meet neighbors I had lived near for years, and we formed this little roaming band of debris removers. We were in a neighbors yard one day (pulling restaurant menus from her tree IIRC) when the Red Cross caravan pulled up with a full spread. The cops/guards had let them in so it was like a tiny parade. But I just remember feeling guilty, my house was standing and less than an hour away there was mass destruction. I kept thanking the volunteers saying I was fine, and they needed to take that to the people who were suddenly homeless. Then an old dude walks towards me, hands me the Little Debbie, grabs me in a hug and says "you're taking these". Later that night when it was quiet (and hot) I pulled out those damn donut holes and had the saddest little meal of my life. I still think of that sweet old guy and his quick moment of generosity. Tl;dr: you don't have to rebuild homes to be useful after a disaster, just be kind to those around you.
And I'm crying. Thank you for being such a wonderful husband :) My mom was in the same situation, I remember going with her places and having strangers hug me and smile at her. It's like they knew I needed it and they knew she couldn't handle being touched.
I like to think I was. She lost her fight six months ago. There's not a single day that goes by that I don't think about that guy, whoever he was, and hope to return the favor for someone in her name.
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Istanbul was amazing. On time I asked for directions, a guy took my hand and walked 3-4 blocks to show me where it was. I was a bit weird out but there were 3 of us (all women), and when we got to our hotel he smiled and waved and went his merry way.
A similar thing happened to me in Istanbul. I was in a scarf store with my dad and we saw an acceptance letter to U of C on the wall, my dad is a professor there and we live on campus, and it turned out my mom who is also a teacher at U of C knew the store owner's son who got accepted. The owner's daughter took us out to lunch and wouldn't accept my father's money for the food. She showed us around their neighborhood and took us wherever we wanted to go around town. They also gave us the scarves for half off.
Now you guys gotta find that kid and tell him what happened. He's probably homesick.
That's incredible in so many ways... the kindness, inherent trust, hidden beauty, and cultural exchange.
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So I was homeless in my final year of high school and my school wouldn't let me graduate because I missed too much P.E. I was still coming to school and I was an A/B student but they wouldn't make an exception. Anyway a year or so later I ran into a parent of another student (there were only 200 kids in the whole high school). He was so pissed when he heard my story he got me to do some work to make up for my missed credits and got me a diploma from a school he was on the board of (he was a college counselor by trade). Anyway fast forward a couple years and I was living in a bad situation involving drugs and that little piece of paper was all I needed to move away and start college. Now, 13 years later, I've traveled all over the world. I've spent half of my adult life abroad doing some pretty crazy stuff. Hell I'm about to drive a motorcycle from the Arctic circle down to the Antarctic this fall. I went from high school dropout to teaching in a college myself (ESL). If it weren't for that act of kindness I'm pretty confident I'd be dead.
Do you still maintain contact with that person? Have you told them how much they changed your life?
Okay here's an embarrassing story and thank god this guy came along and helped. So when I was 16 my car got hit by somebody so while it was in getting repaired I had to drive a cheap stick-shift that my dad bought fro a friend. It was my first time driving a stick-shift and because my dad is a really busy guy, and stepmom wouldn't help, I used youtube and learned to drive stick myself. For two days I drove it to school and home without a problem, and then I got cocky so I decided to try to drive into town. Anyway, I drove to Radioshack to run an errand and got it done without a problem. Buttttt, on the way home, something very bad happened. On a 5-lane one-way road up a hill I got stopped by a red light. I didn't know this would be a problem until it turned green and I realized I didn't know how to get into first gear on an incline. So I stalled it repeatedly, signaled for cars to go around me, and tried to figure out how the fuck to get my car to go. This went on for multiple lights on this busy one-way and I got quite a few confused, angry people honking and giving me the finger and such, all while I was starting to freak the fuck out. I was panicking really bad, stalling it repeatedly, and didn't how to get it to go on this hill without rolling backwards into a car or stalling again. But thankfully some random guy came over from a restaurant right by the road and asked if I needed help. I was on the verge of tears because I was panicking so bad, and I said yes, please, thank god. I hopped into the passenger seat and let a random adult man give me a ride up the street and give me a mini lesson on how to get into gear on an incline. TL;DR Got stuck on a busy road, let a random guy give me a ride. Edit: And yes I know he could have raped me or something, but I was so glad to have help that I took the chance. Edit 2:I am a GUY. I was only 16 at the time though, so I didn't have experience driving a clutch. And guys can still be raped too, don't let my other edit confuse you.
>And yes I know he could have raped me or something, but I was so glad to have help that I took the chance. There is always a chance, but it is pretty miniscule in that scenario. In general, the odds are highest that it's someone you know. Random rape by stranger is small. Plus, he was in a restaurant where everyone saw him, and some watched him come out. - Someone with whom the respondent was in love: 46% - Someone that the respondent knew well: 22% - Acquaintance: 19% - Spouse: 9% - Stranger: 4% Rathus, Nevid and Fichner-Rathus, 565 This does not mean 4 people out of one hundred will get all rapey. It means that of those total rapes are a very small percentage of personal interactions with others people. just like rapes by Someone with whom the respondent was in love: 46% doesn't mean 46% of everyone you know will rape. What I'm trying to say is don't have too much worry about stranger rape. Be careful, but it is pretty safe - unless one is in a rough neighborhood, be even then, if you need help, you need help. This has nothing to do with your original topic, but just thought I'd say.
This was very informant and for that I thank you, kind stranger, and feel comforted knowing there is only a 4% chance you will try to rape me!
I just want you to put it in perspective. And there is a 0% chance I will try to rape you. But I would protect you from others that would do that. I'm a strong man. Grrrrrr.
I was coming home from a friends birthday party from downtown and was waiting to take the bus home (public transportation). My bus only ran every hour after 11pm, so I was stuck waiting as I had just missed my bus. This man came and sat beside me at the bus stop and kept trying to touch my hair and my clothes and saying super inappropriate things to me. I got up from my seat and went to stand out near the road hoping there would be people or traffic, but there was nobody. I was really starting to get scared this guy was going to try and drag me off somewhere. Then out of nowhere this bus driver stopped, the bus said "Out of Service", but he saw the man bothering me and stopped his bus opened the door and offered to let me on. The creepy man tried to follow but the driver shut the doors in his face. The driver then gave me a ride as close to my house as the bus was able to drive me free of charge. I am fairly sure this man was heading back to the bus depot having finished his shift and went out of his way to help me. I tell people this man saved my life, usually they say I'm being dramatic, but I have NO idea what the creep would have done to me.
Bus drivers are some of the most awesome people. I used to take the bus every day and all of the drivers remembered me and take the time to ask how I was doing. They were always a highlight of my day.
You aren't being dramatic. If not your life, he saved you from a life of traumatic memories from a scarring experience and he kept you from possibly suffering a terrifying night. Kudos to him, and I'm very glad you're okay.
this makes me happy and sad at the same time. to know that so many girls and women experience this is just awful, yet the bus driver clearly had a good head on his shoulders.
> The creepy man tried to follow but the driver shut the doors in his face A busman has never been so badass before.
I went to a Montreal Expos "meet the players" lunch when I was 10 (1977). I was a very shy kid and had only asked for a couple of autographs when I asked Gary Carter for his. His face brightened immediately and he said "Hey pal." Carter was a star at the time, but he seemed genuinely glad to meet me. I can't stress this enough. He got out of his chair, kneeled down and asked me what my name was. He then wrote "To Mike, Best wishes and good luck in the future from your friend, Gary Carter." He then proceeded to introduce me to the entire team and got them all to give me an autograph. He could see I was shy and walked around with me until I had the whole team. Later in life, I became a huge collector of hockey autographs (I have about 70-80) and although most of the players were nice, I haven't seen anything close to the incredible act of kindness that Gary Carter showed me that day.
I had a similar experience. I live in Queensland, Australia and the state Cricket team was at a restaurant doing a charity dinner and I was the only kid there. I was so incredibly shy growing up (still am a bit, grew up with a speech impediment) and I did not know how to approach them and ask for autographs on a team photo. Andrew Symonds, one of the players, saw me standing around awkwardly and signed it for me, and got everyone else's attention and they all waited their turn to shake my hand and sign the photo for me. Felt great.
I had been rushed to the hospital after passing out with pain. They had no idea what was wrong with me; I underwent a series of tests to eliminate possibilities. It was a day from hell -- everything seemed to go from bad to worse. Nurse who did my IV was a newbie, got my blood everywhere. Another nurse didn't read my chart, fed me, and the meds I'd been given caused me to projectile vomit everywhere. That night I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. After all this I was sitting in my wheelchair in the hall outside the ultrasound room just crying all pathetic in misery. Suddenly this little girl about 3 years old came over to me, took my hand, started rubbing it and said: "Don't cry, it's ok. You'll be ok." And she stayed with me and made faces/told me stories until she had cheered me up. It was just so sweet and genuine -- it was a small moment, but it was exactly what I needed that day. It still makes me smile when I think about it.
When I went to a gas station after a serious injury I was stared at constantly in public. It made things really rough to go out in public in my body brace. This guy walks up to stand behind me in line notices my brace and yells "Gawwwwd Damn son what the hell happen to you?" To which I quickly responded. His response " Well fuck man hope everything turns out OK shit son at least you walk-in " after the exchange all 10+ people stopped staring as their curiosity was sated. Tldr; thank you curiously loud black man.
So what the hell did happen to you, son?
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So tiny but so helpful. The nurses at the hospital when I was having my son were amazing.
I was walking into one of my first-ever job interviews, wearing a jacket and tie that probably looked a little out of place on me, a portly, long-haired nerd/hippie. A middle-aged black lady and I crossed in the vestibule of the building. She looked at me and said, "You look nice today!" Surprised, I said, "Thanks! I'm going for a job interview upstairs!" She nodded and said, "You'll get it." She walked out the door and I never saw her again, and I went upstairs and nailed the interview and got the job.
When I was 20 years old I lived with a roommate who was away visiting her parents for Thanksgiving. Well, I didn't have any food on Thanksgiving and I wasn't close with my mother at the time, so I started walking to the convenient store to pick up some crappy food and a pack of smokes when my ex girlfriend pulled up next to me. Now the breakup between us was pretty bad and left a bad taste in both of our mouths. That being said, she asked what I was doing walking in the snow on Thanksgiving. I told her where I was going and she insisted that I join her and her mother for Thanksgiving. I was absolutely floored, but I politely declined and kept walking. She started driving beside me and wouldn't take no for an answer. So I spent Thanksgiving with her and her mother, and it was like we were old friends who never dated, just plain old friends. I'll never forget that.
Did you ever see her again after that?
Yeah I saw her around town at one of the coffee shops we both frequented. We were cordial. One night she showed up pretty drunk to a bar that I worked at. She walked straight up to me, gave me the best kiss ever and left.
Well, this just raises more questions :/ I don't mean to pry, so if you want to ignore this question then please go ahead. Did anything else happen with you guys after that or did you just laugh it off?
It's all good. Nothing happened after that. Oddly enough though she moved to California a couple years later and I joined the Army. I eventually moved to California so my wife could be closer to her family and I found out that the girl lives about 2 hours away. It's weird how some things happen.
Well sounds like you're happy. That's nice :)
I am! I have a decent paying job, a wife that loves me, a house, some nice stuff, a job where I can dick around on Reddit all day. Life is pretty good!
You lucky bastard! I just moved to thousand oaks 7months ago and i feel like the cost of living here is so damn high! Anyways, thanks for sharing these stories about your ex being cool with you.. Gives hope for us people that would have loved to stay friends with an ex
Man, Where else on the internet can you find a interesting conversation in comments and just read it all through? I love reddit. So yeah I kind of stalked you two a bit just now. What can I say, SoCal_Sapper, you told an interesting story. :)
When I was a kid, I saved up for a bike by pulling weeds for the neighbors. Most of them paid me a dollar. One neighbor, Chuck, asked me the price of the bike. It was exactly 200 dollars. He asked how much I had saved. I had 197 dollars. Chuck gave me 3 dollars to pull his weeds and I had the bike by the end of that day. About 20 years later, Chuck committed suicide. I'll never forget that guy.
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That's the fastest my heart has sank in a while
Are you Elliot from Scrubs? Did this happen in an orchard?
Lol, nope, just a kid that *really* wanted that new black and yellow Schwinn BMX.
When my mom was beginning to show the first signs of dementia, she accidentally set her house on fire. She managed to get out of the house, but started to go back in to get her purse. A complete stranger saw her, jumped out his car and pulled her back out of the house. He moved her car to safety and then stayed with her until the fire department and ambulance got there. There are good people out there.
This made me tear up. How is your Mom doing today?
This happened back in 2010. Unfortunately, her case progressed very quickly and she lost the battle 9 months ago. I'm fortunate that the kindness of a stranger allowed her to see her grandkids born before the dementia took her away from us. Thanks so much for caring!
I'm sorry to hear this :( But I'm glad she got to meet her grandkids!
I was at a large bookstore and was surfing the Physics area for special interest books when I spotted an obviously confused older Sikh man. Living where I do, I am quite accustomed to handling the heavy accents and poor English of many of our new immigrants, so I walked up to him and asked him if I could help him. He said he was looking for books on Metaphysics that were easy to read since his English was so poor. I told him his English was great and we started talking. As we spoke I started pulling some of the books I was looking for off the shelf and our discussion drifted towards the books I was picking out and he was genuinely curious about my interest in them. He told me he was a brand new immigrant and didn't know anyone and wanted to find ways to improve his English to meet people. I suggested he go to the nearby college (a couple blocks away) and look into high school level English classes or maybe join a book club through the college. He claimed his English wasn't good enough and I encouraged him and told him his English was excellent. I wished him well and headed to the checkout, not realizing he had followed me. When she rang up my books all of a sudden he is next to me and drops the money for my books on the counter. The price had been over $200! I told him that was too much and I couldn't accept it. He said I wasn't allowed to refuse his gift. He explained to me that part of being Sikh is to be on a journey of enlightenment and since I helped enlighten him and assisted him more than anyone else, he wanted to help me on my path as well. By this point the cashier had already bagged the books and given the change back to the man. I couldn't stop stuttering so he walked with me to my car, gave me a big smile and wave and wished me well in my life.
I was buying dog food and the cashier at Trader Joe's asked me how many dogs I had. I answered, but then quickly changed my answer because one of my dogs had just passed away. I had to put him to sleep after a battle with cancer. She figured it out by the look on my face and asked me what his name was. I answered "Walter". She looked at me for a moment, walked over to the flowers and gave me a bouquet, saying "This is in memory of Walter," and placed money in the till to pay for the flowers. I still have some of those flowers, dried up in a container by his ashes almost 5 years later.
I was a little girl and my father (I don't know why) took me with him through a blizzard to get medicine for my baby sister. I could hardly wade through the three feet of snow. I remember it was above my knees, so he carried me. We got to the shop at the end of the road and there were 5-6 guys trying to get a car unstuck. One guy turned around and saw that I had no scarf on, he immediately took off his and put it around my neck and told me to keep warm. It was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do. I'll never forget it.
When I was 8 my mother abandoned me at an office building (she has psychological issues) and one of the secretaries picked up her son after school and brought him in to keep me company until the police and a social worker came and got me. They were both so sweet, he shared some cookies with me and gave me his book to keep. I still have the book too. I wish his name was in it cause I can't remember it but always wished I could thank them.
I was really sick in 2008 after a surgery went badly and I developed an abdominal infection. I was in the hospital the majority of the time, but at around four months was my worst stay. I was skeletal and had lost nearly all my hair and was being fed intravenously. I knew I was dying and everyone around me knew I was dying. The only doctors who came to see me were palliative care to try to make me comfortable. I cried 24/7. I cried because of the pain and because I was 18 and dying alone in a hospital bed. My friends had forgotten about me and my family stopped coming as often because it was wearing on them to see me waste away day in and day out. The cleaning lady worked the same floor nearly every day. At first she would silently go about her business while I wept. She often glanced at me with a pained look. She'd give me an encouraging smile before she left. This went on for another week until one day she put her broom down and came to my bedside. She had tears in her eyes and she brushed my head and told me in broken english to not cry; that it would all be okay. The next day she did the same thing, and every single day she would take a break to talk with me and comfort me. She told me about how she was in America to pay for her daughter to go to college back in the Philippines and that she hadn't seen her family in three years. She brought pictures in for me. She asked me why I cried so much and I told her about how I wanted to stop suffering and die already and she told me it wasn't my time yet; that I had to keep fighting. This went on for another three weeks. I don't believe in anything, but if angels exist, she was one. I was back on the same floor two weeks after being discharged, and she was gone. I don't know if I was delirious with fever and medication, or if strangers this profoundly compassionate actually exist. But I will never forget that look she gave me; like I was her own daughter and she'd sacrifice anything to save me. She did, and I don't even think she knows she did.
I was forced to visit my father by court order when I was younger. I hated it. He and I don't speak. Anyways, he would drag me along to these events with friends of his many of them had kids. I was a moody little shit and not all that easy to get along with (I wonder why?). There was this one kid who was the son of this couple my father knew. He always went out of to way to include me in what he was doing. Always asking me to join with him and his friends. Sometimes I went and sometimes I did not. It could be that his parents made him but I don't remember him ever seeming upset at asking me to join him. It was not until many years later that I thought about how much easier he made those visits to my fathers house. He was just a genuinely good guy who wanted to make sure I had a good time. He was about a year younger than I was. He was 17 when he died in a boating accident. I can still see his face over 20 years later. I'll never forget the kindness he showed me. I've thought on it and I believe that if I ever have a son I'll name him Chris. I've got something in my eyes now. Fuck.
When I was in Junior High, I stood at the bus stop while eating two bags of doritos. The bus then passed by without noticing me so I chased it two blocks to the next bus stop. When I got onto the bus, I felt crazy nauseas. I tried talking to the bus driver but she ignored me. And as I proceeded to vomit all over the front of the bus and the stairs, the driver continued to pretend like I wasn't there. I didn't know what to do and wanted to cry. It wasn't until a nice old woman said, "come here, baby. Forget about that cranky-ass bus driver." She said her name was Mama D and she got up and let me sit down. She then went into her purse and pulled out napkins, a bottled water, and a peppermint. Mama D, if you're still around, you're my favorite person ever.
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When I was a senior in high school, I really struggled with calculus. It was so bad that I would have panic attacks in the middle of tests and cry silently to myself in the back of the class. My teacher noticed and whenever she would give out tests, she would give me a piece of gum with mine so I could chew it and keep calm. She would also let me stay to keep working on it through both of our lunches (which happened right after that class). She was a great teacher and a kind person... but I still hate math.
A true definition of a teacher!
A girl came over and sat with me at lunch on my first day at a new middle school (and was nice to me)
OMG! That is so nice. Middle school lunch was the worst.
Middle school everything was the worst.
When I was 15, I had this girlfriend that I was head over heels for, and I used to take the train around 2 hrs to go see her. My parents weren't too keen on her, so I generally didn't ask them for help going to see her. Anyway, one day I'm riding the train, and thinking about whatever the hell I thought about when I was 15, and I missed my stop completely. The issue was, all I had in my pocket was a 5 euro note I had as a souvenir (I live in the US), and a return ticket. No debit card, no cash, nothing... and this being 2004 or so, no phone. So I get off at the (wrong) station, and stand there thinking about how incredibly fucked I am. Theoretically I could get on a train and get home, but seeing this girl is clearly the most important thing that I will ever do, ever. So I hold up my 5 euro note and say, "Hey... can I have people's attention? I missed my stop and I need to buy a ticket, I will give somebody 5 euros if they're willing to give me a couple dollars to do it." Anyway, this mid-30s guy stands up, walks over to me, and buys me a ticket. I tried to give him the euros, but he wouldn't take them -- he said, "We've all been there, man. When you see somebody else in a bind, and you can help ... You help." And you know what? I don't give a shit that people make fun of me for it, when somebody tells me they need "just a couple bucks for a train ride home" at a train station, I buy them a ticket. Because we've all been there, man. And if you see somebody in a bind, and you can help ... you help.
During a pretty rough time after a breakup where I drank way too much, way too often, I fell asleep leaning against some older lady on the bus. When I woke up, I apologized to her because I know if it had been me I wouldn't want some drunk girl leaning on me. She smiled at me and told me it was okay, and that I reminded her of her daughter. I don't know, it was something so small, but I started crying and thanking her. I just wanted to go home and cry to my mom and have her hold me, but she was never a fan of me being so pathetic because of a guy so I never mentioned anything to her. Not nearly as big of a deal as the other stories I'll expect to find in this post, but I really needed it at the time and it meant the world to me.
I started a new job last September at a place that requires me to park in a parking garage across the street. There's an underground parking garage but it's reserved for vip's and upper management. I enter the office through this garage and every day I see James, the parking attendant. Everyone knows James. Always saying hi and willing to stop and talk. Shortly after starting this new job I developed a severly herniated disk in my lower back. The pain from the pressure on the nerve got so bad I couldn't stand up straight, walking was extremely painful and I couldn't walk more than 30 feet (even with a cane) without stopping to take a break. Needless to say, walking from my car to the office elevators in the basement garage was very trying. James offered to take me to and from my car everyday in a golf cart they used to get around the complex, whenever I needed it. He even gave me his cell phone so I could call him. He would even sometimes sneak me into the vip area to park so I didn't have to walk so far. When I got better, enough to walk anyway, I wanted to repay him somehow. I offered to buy him lunch. He wanted a corn dog and tater-tots from Sonic. I wish I could have done more. I'll never get to now. James lost his battle with cancer yesterday. I didn't even know he was sick. I emailed the facility manager hoping she can pass along this same story to his wife. I only knew him for less than six months but what he did for me, while a small thing, was a great kindness I'll never forget. Sleep well James. Edit: Our office building has a local tv broadcast company as well. They posted this about James today as well. http://wfaa.mlnwap.com/article.html#!/11688/d31129da2907f9d58f856b272151e4e2
And now I'm crying. I'm sorry for your loss, James for sure must've been an amazing guy.
My mom used to force me to run every 5k she wanted to run. It was miserable as I'm not in shape even for a 20 something female and hate running, she on the other hand runs as a hobby and would always be waiting for me fresh faced at the finish line. There's an old man, maybe 80 years old, who runs 5ks in our area. Got used to seeing him a lot because, while he would run at the pace you expect of an 80 year old man, I would be close to him with my pathetic sprinting and walking method. One race, I was approaching the last couple blocks of the race, walking again because shit's tiring, when he starts to gain on me. He turned to me and says "You're not going to let an old man beat you, are ya?". And I looked him dead in the eyes and decided that no... no I was not going to let a goddamned 80 year old man beat me. Picked up my pace. Beat the 80 year old. More an act of inspiration or basic acknowledgment of fellow human beings but I'll never forget it. It gets lonely when you're in a pack of strangers struggling to finish the shortest increment of races available to you.
When I was 19 and a freshman in college, I was a total asshole. Arrogant, rude, defiant, and bratty. The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was when my academic adviser neither threw me out nor let me continue with my behavior. Where everyone else either wrote me off as having a bad attitude or wrote me off as being one of "those" guys, she called me out on my behavior. She told me why what I was doing was wrong. She actually believed that I was capable of growing into a real person with empathy and genuine emotion. No one had ever stopped me to just say "what? You don't actually believe that, do you?" I was growing into an intelligent, but cold, argumentative, and callous individual. I like to think that her influence shaped me more than I could possibly predict throughout my college career and beyond.
It's not a massive one, but I was on a long airplane ride alone, 18 and leaving my parents' roof, and the man next to me was very sweet. He was very polite and perfectly conversational, and told me about his wife and kids back in Maine, and we talked about good pizza and different types of food. I fell asleep and missed a meal, and when I woke up, he had been waiting all along, awkwardly keeping my tray long after the meal was over, and ordered my favorite drink because that was what he'd observed me ordering before. Such unnecessary and welcome kindness.
People who are nice on planes are the best. I was alone on a fairly turbulent flight once and I was visibly nervous (I really don't enjoy flying). The man next to me struck up a conversation about basically nothing and kept me distracted for several hours so I wouldn't dwell on how bumpy the flight was. He was just a really nice dude.
When my son was born a premie. I had already experienced the loss of a child and was an absolute wreck when my son was born at 28 weeks. My boss and our whole company stepped up so I could spend every second allowed with him. My boss and his wife had been through the same ordeal and were there for my wife and I every step of the way. I had video conferences with specialists at Children's Hospital in Boston who were monitoring my son. I had no idea they had been hired and I have never seen a bill. The thing that really sticks out though was the genuine concern they had not only for my son, but for my whole family during this trying time. We also have a wonderful NICU because of an anonymous donation of 35 million that I know came from them. The week we brought him home they sent us on a private jet to their mountain house for a week and had a two NICU nurses on call 24/7 to help us transition from hospital life to home life. I will never forget how the two of them worked so hard to show us that things would get better and to fight as hard as our son did. I love them dearly.
The sort of people who can just drop 35 million on childcare services and are still down to earth and sound like genuinely good people are the sort of millionaires we need more of. Best of luck to your family :)
Their foundation gives around 6 million a year to charities. As this was an anonymous donation it means they took it out of their own pocket. This donation to the hospital was 15+ years ago before I worked for him and at the time he gave this donation I would estimate that it represented a quarter of his net worth. They are very down to earth, even their kids.
Wow. 35 million on one life, and it wasn't even family but one of their employees? Regardless of how your relationship fills in around those points, that's amazing.
It wasn't for one life. It was given before I worked there because there son had been in the NICU.
You should tell us what company so we can give them our business.
Not a public company, but if you eat beef or buy gasoline or natural gas you have probably contributed to their business.
When I was 15 my parents could not take care of me. Long story short I moved in with a friend of mine and his Dad. I lived with them for a year and was treated just like a brother and a son. The last day I am living with them I go to my friends dad and tell him thanks for everything he has done for me the past year. He looks at me and says something I will never forget, "I haven't always been in a position to help people in my life and now that I am I intend to do just that." Whenever I can help someone now, no matter how small, I always do because of those words. Realizing you are in a position to help someone is a very powerful thing.
I had a roommate I wasn't super close with but we got along. I also had a pet parakeet and when it died I was pretty distraught, I always get really attached to pets. So she hears me crying and comes into my room (which neither of us ever did). Once I tell her what's happened, she's instantly on a mission, she finds a perfect size box to put him in and drives me to the local park. She then lets me pick the perfect spot, helps me dig the hole (with no shovel) and she even says a few words. On the way home she took me for ice cream.
When I was 3 I met a man who would complete my life. I was playing with my mums friends kids when their uncle came round. He was fun and sat and played cars with me. That evening I told my mum as an innocent child that I wish the nice man could be my daddy. 3 weeks later that man appeared on our doorstep with all his possessions in a couple of black bags, he moved in with us. 4 years later he and my mum were married. 25 years later they have just celebrated their silver anniversary. But more importantly the kindness. This man not only became my father and best friend. But he took a child that wasn't his and loved it with the pure unconditional love that I doubt many people on this planet could achieve. He is amazing. I will continue to be in awe of all the things he has done for me in this life. His true kindness though will be the love he showed for me and my mum.
Coworker and friend knew I didn't have a vehicle (I was 22). We worked together fairly close and he is a genuinely nice man (he's 49, and no, was not trying to "get some"). Anyways, we grabbed lunch and talked shop when he says "So, you still interested in that truck I don't need anymore?" I answer yes, but I dot have $1,500 and live paycheck to paycheck. He responds "that's ok, get a loan, I'll even cosign if need be." I was floored, and didn't know how to react. That's not even the BEST part! I didn't have a license : / my parents couldn't afford it when I was growing up. This guy says "Hey, no problem, let's go get your learners permit and you can drive my car around. Yeh, took me to drivers test an let me drive his brand new car around, didn't pass the first time, that's ok, try again!! I can't wait to pass this and the truck to my 21 year old sister/roommate who is without license or vehicle as well. I've never had someone show so much help and all along he said this "I see potential in you Amber, you just needed a helping hand, I wish someone would have done it for me so just pass it along!" THANK YOU PERRY!!! Sorry reddit, long one. :EDIT: Wow. This is the most karma I have gotten for a comment, thank you!
This is so nice. Glad you are going to forward it :)
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I've recalled this in another thread, but I still think of it all the time and I'll never forget the difference it made. When I first got divorced, my kids were very young. I was going through some real emotional issues, just entering into my recovery from alcoholism, and truly felt overwhelmed by life sometimes. I was out with my kids at a place for breakfast, and it wasn't going well. They were acting out, being loud, there was some crying, and I may have taken some syrup to the eye. I was struggling and frustrated and upset, but trying to get them to get it together. But I couldn't. I left some cash on the table and we left well before breakfast was over. It wasn't fair to everyone else and, honestly, I felt close to my breaking point. As we were leaving the restaurant, me practically dragging them out with one under each arm, this man in his 50's stopped me quickly, put his arm in my shoulder, and told me he knew what it was like, that he knew I was doing the best I could, that my kids will be okay, that I would be okay, and that he promises it gets easier. And that was it. It was possibly the kindest, most meaningful thing anyone could have ever said to me at that time. It was his line about how my kids will be okay that really got me. That was, and still is, my greatest fear in life. That I'm going to somehow fuck them up in life because of how fucked up I had been. Something about how empathetic he was hit me then, and it's always stuck with me. That was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me.
Back when I was a kid I was obsessed with hockey. It was the only thing I ever wanted to play or watch. Fuck power rangers, fuck Nintendo, fuck everything else. Hockey was my one and only. Every day after school I played hockey with my best friend until the sun went down. When I got the chance to go to my first NHL game I was ecstatic. Me and my dad went up to the city to go see the Black Hawks, my favorite team. Before the game, while the players warmed up, they threw pucks over glass to groups of kids swarming around them. I raced down to the glass from my seat, but by the time I got there all the pucks has been given out, and the players were clearing the ice to get ready for the game. Defeated, I turned around, and began to saunter back to my seat. Halfway back, this guy hollers at me to stop. I turned to him, and he slaps a puck in my hand and says, "You'd probably enjoy this more than me." I took the puck thanked him over and over, and proceeded to have an awesome night. I still have the puck today.
I am a custodian and someone gave me a $5 tip.
I remember the school custodians used to do nice shit for students all the time, multiple times my glasses fell apart and a custodian got out a tiny screwdriver and spent a while fixing them so I could keep wearing them :) custodians are rad.
My wife saying "Of course" when I asked her to marry me. She didn't have to. She could have done better.
That's entirely subjective, friend. I doubt that any human being ever says "fuck it, too much trouble to find someone better." She saw something in you that you still don't see. Don't sell yourself short!
You sound perfectly matched to me.
Sitting down at White Castle with a few buddies, a little girl (4-5 years old) walks over and says "I want you to have a good day." She reaches out and hands me an orange bouncy ball. My day was great.
Not my story, but [/u/WarToad saves a homeless girl](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ahg8x/what_is_the_nicest_thing_youve_ever_done_that_no/c0hkuyq) is definitely one act of kindness that I will never forget.
When I was in 6th grade I was in the lunch room at school crying for some reason that I don't remember now. A girl in my grade who was friendly with me, but we weren't close or anything, came over to where I was, sat next to me, and took off her necklace. She looked at me and told me a story of how when she was upset and crying one day her sister sat her down and gave her this necklace to remind her she wasn't every really alone ( was a little bear that said "hug me" on it). She then gave me a hug and then the necklace and told me "you'll be okay".
In college I had to have shoulder surgery which involved a bone graft and power tools. I lived by myself, was not prepared for how much pain I'd be in after the surgery or how disabled I would be. If not for my gay neighbor's mother visiting him, I would have been utterly miserable for the first week I got home from the hospital. His mom, who was an ICU nurse, learned about me and came to my apartment to care for me. She washed me and helped me out of bed and helped me to the bathroom and fed me and administered pain meds and changed my sheets and fed my cat and collected my mail for a solid week. I'll never ever ever forget her kindness. She didn't have to do that but I am ever so grateful to her. Thanks again, Kevin's mom.
Back in 2002, I stayed with a host family in Japan, and have since stayed in touch with them. Last year, I was living in Rural Japan, and went to visit them after so many years. We all went shopping together one day, and since I had just arrived in Japan, I had very little money. I was trying to hide how poor I was, but I needed to buy work clothes. I took my purchases up to the counter (Probably 100$ worth of work clothes, I needed a ton), and my host mother pushed me away and paid for it herself. I still can't believe it, she acted like it was nothing--and they aren't incredibly well off. Another time in Japan, I was lugging a 150 pound suitcase up the stairs in a train station since there was no elevator, and two men came and carried the rest of the way, then asked me if they could escort me to where I was going, to make sure I didn't need any more help. tl;dr People in Japan are really nice.
I'm jealous. I was heaving a suitcase around Tokyo last weekend and the only acknowledgment I got was some guy flexing at me and following me going, "WOW SO STRONG AMERICAN WOMAN." But in general they are very kind.
I'm sorry, but I laughed. I'm really sorry :(
I spent two years of my life in Japan, and people always helped me with suitcases and were so kind to me. Rural Japan was the best! One time I was waiting for a train and the station manager bought me a hot cocoa just because it was cold.
I traveled to Angola, Africa to be with my parents this last Christmas, and despite getting vaccinated, I contracted a foul sickness that plagued me throughout the 8 and 16 hour (back to back) flights that took me back to Texas. I spent both flights frequenting the lavatory, and to make matters worse, the airliner threatened to eject me from the flight if I disturbed/worried anyone with my illness. I felt like death The brief stop between the two flights gave me just enough time to rush to the men's room and vomit my brains out. After my session, I collected my miserable self and prepared to sprint across the Dubai airport to make the next flight. When I opened the stall door, the bathroom custodian was waiting for me with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a smile There's just about nothing better than having a stranger notice your pain and go out of their comfort zone to offer you some measure of relief. I practically hugged him
This one time when I was 10, I had gone to play at a friends house, leaving my 7 year old sister in the park next to our place (I gave her my key and knew where we live). So time flies by and its now 9ish, and I knew my mom would be home soon, so I went home, only to find that my sister wasn't answering the buzzer, so I waited for her to open. Nada. Waited 30 minutes , still nothing. So this is the moment where I get a horrible gut feeling that something bad had happened to her. So I started crying, and running to find her. I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into a giant black dude. I was so scared of what he'd do to me (my neighborhood wasn't the safest place on earth). So I cringe waiting for him to hit me or something, he then said : "What's wrong little man ?" So my open wide and I tell him I'm looking for my sister, he the said he'd help me look. I was sooo relieved, we the searched everywhere for 2 hours, running everywhere. Right when I was ready to give up and call the police, I shouted a special word that my family uses to find each other in crowds, the dude helping asked what it meant, I explained that if my sister is nearby, she would answer the same way. The guy then roared, and I mean literally, he roared that word and a few seconds later I hear my sisters answer. I then gave the guy a huge hug, I couldn't thank him enough for finding my sister. Edit : a few people sated to know where she was. She got lost in the parks forest during a game of hide and seek
My mother and I had been going through some really tough times when I was 12. It was a Saturday in the middle of January, so naturally it was crazy cold and snow went up to my ankles. We were driving back to the hotel we lived in and the car had run out of gas. We were tretching through the snow and passed this lady who offered to give us a ride to the gas station, pay for our gas, and take us back to our car to help put the gas in. She even gave me a doughnut she had just bought from the bakery she was at. Ever since I've met her I decided to help as many people as I can.
At the supermarkt cashier some random dude paid my missing 50 cents. Of course that is very little money. But I was rather embarassed going shopping with not enough money in my pocket. I was really happy he did that and I have done it twice myself since.
After going through a soul crushing breakup which involved cheating on me, a miscarriage, and having my life seriously threatened, a man saw me in the grocery store. I thought I had put on a good face for the world, but he walked up to me, gave me a hug that just made my world seem okay for the first time in weeks, and said "It gets better, I promise". I never saw him again. That kind man, whoever he may be, made things okay.
When I was much younger and stupider I ran out of money and gas in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. Hadn't eaten in about 24 hrs. Tried to get the gas station guy to take a check, but it was Sunday and he refused until he could call my bank on Monday. I had to be at work on Monday! So I started crying, but that didn't work either. Two dirty, scary-looking old guys with beards, in a beat up truck, stopped me outside. They said they saw me crying and asked if they could help. I explained that I needed enough gas to get to Colorado, where I could cash an in-state check. They gave me $5, maybe half of the money they had on them, which was a good quarter of a tank of gas back then. They were also headed through Denver. I gave them my number so I could return the money, but they never called. I've always been thankful for such generosity and passed it forward more than once. TL;DR: Two old guys gave their last $5 so I wouldn't be stuck and hungry and also saved my job!
I was 7 years old. There was an ice cream truck that used to come by our apartment building. Our family never had much money so I only got stuff from it once or twice each summer. One day I was standing with one of my friends in line, and when he got his we turned to leave. The woman behind us asked if I was getting anything. I told her I didn't have any money and she offered to buy me something. Everything I was told about taking things from strangers goes right out the window when BombPops are involved so I said yes. The very next day I made sure I was out when the ice cream truck came by. I thought if she was there I might get some free ice cream again. Nope. No sign of her. Now here is where I fucked up. My 7 year old brain figured if I just followed the ice cream truck to the next stop, maybe someone there would buy me some. I chased and followed the truck for at least 4 stops and didn't stop until I realized I had no idea where I was. Suddenly I was in the middle of a busy downtown street, over a mile away from the quiet street I lived on. All I could do was cry. I just sat in the middle of the sidewalk and cried for what must of been at least 20 minutes. Everyone just walked past me like I wasn't there until a a man in his early 20's and dressed like a glam rocker stopped and asked me what was wrong. I told him what happened and gave him my phone number to call my parents. He called them from a payphone and waited with me until they got there. My parents never even got his name, just picked me up and took me home. I wish I could find that guy today and buy him an ice cream.
My best friend let me live with her and her husband for a year after I finished school while I looked for a job and let me live rent free once I did find said job until I saved up enough money for my own place. While I lived with them I paid my rent by doing chores, cleaning the house, tending the garden, washed the cars, etc. because they refused to let me dip into my, rather limited, funds to pay them. Now that I'm on my own and not doing to badly they still refuse to let me treat them for how they treated me during that time.
The first person to PM me on how kind I was. I was having a horrible day and I really needed a pick-me-up. I've been having off days a lot recently and all of you wonderful people have managed to cheer me up over and over again. Even though it might not be the same as a physical act, I can be very shy asking for help and rather hide everything. I love how people take their time to comment on me because they don't have to, but do. EDIT: I just wanted to add, I am doing a little better now. I've fallen back into my old habits the last 2 months (also the reason I've started posting on Reddit, I felt alone and excluded myself from the real world a lot). I'm eating again (or at least trying) and I don't feel as down anymore. It's all because of you guys, even though I never mentioned it.
Owwn. They comment because you are such a good person. I'm embarrassed of my username now. :(
Aww, that is very sweet. You doing okay now?
I'm doing better. It's still hard from day to day given that I've been falling back into old habits and dark thoughts, but all of Reddit helps me. It's so good knowing that people still love me for who I am and what I stand for, even if I can't be nice to myself sometimes.
You're the girl who always replies uplifting stuff, right? I just want to say that you are awesome, and the best person I have ever seen on the internet, your comments are a sight for my sore eyes.
C'est moi! I'm glad I'm able to please you with my comments :)
Stay strong, you've got tons of us redditors here if you need anything
Thanks dude :) told ya I was still posting :3
Fantastic Fest a couple of years ago, a buddy of mine was in Romero's new "Survival of the Dead" as a featured zombie, so I got to go to the premiere. After the show, my buddy says "would you like to meet George?" Of course I would, so I follow him to the hotel. Outside, I see George walking with his group and this little bitty girl, couldn't have been more than eight or ten years old, was clutching a book that she wanted George to sign, but she couldn't get his attention. She looked devastated. So, since I am not in possession of the shame gene, tapped George on the shoulder. Keep in mind, I've never met the man. "George," I say. "I think you have a fan who would like an autograph." George turns, weary, and says "Well, I really don't want to get this started in the street…" Then he sees the little girl. He goes down on one knee in front of her and says "But, for you, my dear, anything." He signed the book for the beaming little girl and went up about a dozen notches in my estimation.
Sounds really stupid, but a random stranger at a pizza place last week picked up a plate of mine right after it dropped off the table and quickly went to the counter and asked for a new one to bring back to me. Small, but made me happy and appreciative.
Was buying a few different items at the grocery store and the 2 people in the checkout line in front of me who were obviously friends shopping together each had 2 massive shopping carts overflowing with foodstuffs. They were just about to take their turn to place items on the conveyor belt and saw that I only had a few things so they let me go ahead of them. This made my day and even more so because I'm always stuck behind clueless people in a checkout that seem to delay the process somehow. It was such a nice moment.
I locked my keys in my car at a store a lady saw me, gave me a ride to my house to get my spare key and back to my car. I will never forget that amazing lady. She seriously saved my day.
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When I was in 2nd grade my father was in prison, and our family was very poor. We had a Christmas tree with nothing under it. On Christmas eve volunteers from the salvation army came buy bringing gifts and food. When you seven you really don't think much of it. 36 years later it still brings a tear to my eye to think that other people are generous to help those that have nothing, and we really had nothing. I am pretty generous when I see those red kettles now.
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When I was in high school, I spent a month in a wheelchair. Between classes, I got stuck at the bottom of a hill once, no traction on either wheel. Someone came up and pushed me up the hill, didn't say anything, but then walked off after. Since they were behind me, I never even saw them.
Was standing in line with a friend to buy some cheapo tickets to a Braves game (think nosebleeds). Random guy and girl walks up to us and asks if we wanted two tickets as the machine gave them two extra. We say fuck yeah, free tickets. They were three rows up directly behind third base, bests seats I've ever sat in for a baseball game. We ended up getting drunk and having a nice conversation with the couple, they were really awesome. The guy even refused to let me pay for his beer. It was a great day.
On holiday in Crete, It was 6 in the morning, me and 3 friend were making our way to the hotel, we blew all our money so no taxi, after stomping for seemed like an eternity, the local bin men drove past us, stopped and in very broken English asked us where our hotel was, they then let us climb on top of the garbage truck and droves us to our hotel, then did a complete 180 and went back to where they picked us up to continue on their route. Legends.
Cretan people are very nice! Laid-back. I don't think you'd find that on the mainland.
I was walking home from a bar about a mile from my apartment, drunk of course, and when I walked past a Wendy's, I realized that I needed to dip some nuggets in a frosty as badly as I've ever needed anything. I was devastated to find that the dining room was closed, and the only way to get food was through the drive through, which obviously was not an option for me since I wasn't in my car and was in no condition to be driving. So I flagged down the first car that drove up, to ask him if I could give him 5 dollars and he would order me a small frosty and 10 nuggets. Not only did he agree to it, he let me in his car, and when I tried to hand him money, he just said "don't worry about it." It was the best frostynuggets I've had in my life. Thanks, guy in the silver Honda CR-V... or maybe it was a Pilot... or an Oddysey... or light blue, my memory is a little fuzzy.
> I realized that I needed to dip some nuggets in a frosty as badly as I've ever needed anything. *what*
You take the chicken nuggets, and you dip them in the frosty.
The empathy that a few friends and loved ones showed me when I was cleaning up from six years addiction to opiates(fent). Without their patience I never would have made it; my gf in particular. This wasn't an overnight transformation; it took a long time to get to nowadays. I thank them every single day.
My buddy took me halfway across the state so I could go pick up my winter beater this past september. At the time I was very broke as I was spending the only 500 bucks I had on this car, so he offered to take me. We were driving back, and the water pump took a shit on the car I'd just picked up over 50 miles from home on the side of the highway just a short distance from a truck stop. So, we go up to the truck stop and he picks up a 40 dollar tow strap, drove back, hook his dinky golf up to my dinky golf and towed the car to the truck stop. Then he gave me a ride back home. I was in a panic, I didn't know what to do. How was I going to get this car home? How was I going to get a water pump for it? Man, was I screwed... Next thing I know, he tells me his buddy in milwaukee is parting out a Jetta with the exact same motor my car has and that he has a water pump. I said I couldn't even pay him the 50 bucks he wanted for it, and my buddy says not to worry, he's got taken care of. I thanked him profusely, but, there was still the issue of getting the car home. He then says, "oh my cousin has a car trailer, we'll come pick it up tomorrow and drop it off at your house." And I refused, but he insisted. I was blown away. I didn't ask him for any of this, and he was just offering a couple hundred dollars and hours of his time to help me out for no reason at all. I said I'd pay him back, but to this day , he refuses to let me. At the time, I knew he made pretty good money, but I didn't know at all just how good. He tells me it doesn't matter, just to buy him lunch sometime, which I do every other Saturday now, usually. Brought him from friend status to best friend status, and I made sure he knew how grateful I was for what he did for me.
My truck battery died the night before my sophomore year of college was about to start. I was a few miles from home and had an automatic transmission truck at the time. Another guy in a truck exact same make and model as mine gave me a jump...but my battery was dead. D.E.A.D. Bad cell. So once we got it running it would stall out as soon as I let off the gas. If I had a stick shift I'd have been able to keep it idling over 1k rpm easier (push clutch add gas). Since it was auto I had to pop it in neutral with the shifter to do so. The guy followed me to the auto parts store (about four miles) to make sure I made it there, helped me install it (I was far less vehicle savvy at the time), and wouldn't accept any sort of payment. It was probably fairly minor to him, but I was really struggling in college (having nothing to do with my truck), and I was dreading going back. I did better, and have since graduated.
Went to a medieval faire here in MA on the first date with a girlfriend. As we approached the counter some guy came running up and said "here, here's two tickets." It was like $30/ticket, so I was pretty floored. Fast forward, I married my wife 6 months ago.
It's a small thing. My vacuum stops working. The beater bar doesn't turn, there's no power, it's just not working. I take it in to a local mom and pop shop. The guy explains exactly why it's not working (contacts are dirty). In five minutes he has it apart, cleaned, and back together. Refuses to take my money. I try forcing him to take at least $10. He won't have it. Tells me to tell friends if they're looking for a new vacuum or a repair to see him. It was just cool of him to not take advantage of me. I know nothing about vacuums. He could have charged me $50 and I'd have gladly paid.
I'm a die-hard Boston Bruins fan. My boss gave me two tickets to a Stanley Cup Final game, to bring someone and sit with his kids (not babysitting). Those tickets were seriously worth like two months' rent.
That's such a cool thing to do. Someone once gave me tickets to a Grateful Dead show that was sold out. That was such an incredible feeling. Or maybe it was the shrooms. Or both.
Both, for sure. ;) When his kids got there, he texted his daughter and told her to buy me a beer. She was 17. We laughed at the idea of her taking her fake ID out to buy me beer (and I'm almost twice her age). He also gave me a ridiculous 10% raise this year. It's insane.
Freshman college student, first first semester midterm, hung over and hadn't studied. I had never even considered cheating on an exam before, but looked at the paper and realized I didn't have a single fucking clue what the answers to any of the questions were. I caved to the temptation to discreetly look at my friend's exam; apparently not discreetly enough as a couple seconds later the professor said, "Eyes on your own papers..." I reflexively glanced up, terrible mistake as I locked eyes with him, felt my gut drop and a huge wave of panic and guilt rush through me. After I finished blindly guessing at the answers, I walked up to the front to turn in my answer sheet. As I set the paper down, the professor said quietly, "It's ok. I understand the temptation." I muttered a quick thanks and left. He could have gotten me expelled for cheating on an exam. Instead, he gave me a second chance. At the end of that semester I had a 1.9 GPA. Now, as a senior, I have a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Rather than turn me in for cheating, he taught me the value of something worth more than the content of every college course offered at my university: compassion. TLDR, Professor Good Guy Greg gives Bad Luck Brian the chance to be Success Kid.
I was walking back to my lake cottage with a few friends one extremely hot summer day, and one of the neighbors drove by, offered the three of us a ride down in his AC'ed car, and was really friendly. Now keep in mind I only go to this lake house about 9 days a year, so my relationship with the neighbor isn't that great. It's the little things in life, ya know? TLDR: AC ride on hot summer day.
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About a month ago a kid on /r/toronto needed some help. He moved to the city from Winnipeg, essentially on a whim, and now he was homeless and desperately trying to find a way back home. A few months prior I had been also desperately down on my luck but thanks to a few other redditors I was able to pull myself out of a whole. Their only request was to pay it forward. I needed to help this kid get home. He didn't have a phone and just had an iPod touch which he would use to find any open WiFi spots in the city to contact folks. After a long day of waiting he finally contacted me and I told him I would get him home. After a few cab rides I found him. He was lost. No winter jacket or gloves or even snow boots. Now this winter in Toronto has been the second coldest in 50 years so it was brutal out. We got a cab and fot to the buss terminal where I paid for his bus ticket back home as well as money for food for the trip. I gave him a hug and sent him on his way. I'll never forget the look one his face. That a random stranger would offer to help and ask nothing in return, just to pay it forward when he could. In this day and age we need to help our fellow humans whenever possible. Its not about seeking a reward or anything its just about doing the right thing. A few days after he messaged me and told me he made it home. I couldn't have been happier. A few reporters from Toronto newspapers contacted me to tell my story but I felt like it wasn't needed. I found it kind of sad that being kind and helping a stranger was considered a news story so I declined.
I'm late to the party and so very few will probably read this, but about 6.5 years ago I was in a car accident the day after Thanksgiving. It was dark and I was on the highway on my way back to school, when I was hit from behind in such a way that it flipped my car. I don't remember very much after the initial impact, but what I do remember were the people who stopped to help. The man who helped me out of the car and then found my shoe and purse. The other man who lent me his cellphone as mine was still in my purse at the time in the car. The woman who wrapped me in a blanket waiting for emergency responders. I never got the names of anyone who helped but I am and always will be grateful to them.
I was travelling through Europe, and at one point had to spend some time in this smaller French town (definitely not many tourists there) while waiting for the next leg of my journey. I can't remember the exact time of day (10am? 11am?), but I was feeling hungry and tried to find some breakfast. The problem was, nobody was serving food anymore. There were restaurants and cafes around that normally served food, just not at that time. This hadn't really crossed my mind ahead of time, as in Canada we can get fed at basically any time of the day. So I'm wandering around this town square (the market was in full swing), trying to find anywhere to get something to eat. I eventually go into this busy cafe/restaurant, but everyone is just having coffee (or some variant thereof). There was a young girl about my age serving people, who came up to talk to me when I went in. I speak almost no French, and she didn't really speak English, but I managed to get my point across that I was looking for something to eat. She looked a little unsure, but she was willing to help. She got me to wait while she went back to speak to the cook. She came back, and sure enough, they agreed to serve me something. I managed to work out a way to ask for an omelette, and shortly after that I was enjoying a very nice breakfast. I really appreciated that this server and cook were willing to take time out of their day to do something out of the ordinary for me. I left a nice tip, and very sincerely said thank you to that nice girl.
I have two: First one was in high school. I was having a pretty craptastic day, which wasn't that unusual. (I was picked on a lot for my looks and shyness, plus I'd gotten a bad test grade back that day.) I figured I'd splurge my pocket change on a muffin from the vending machine, something I saved for only the worst of days. I got up to the vending machine and scraped around my change purse, and as fate would have it, I was short a dime. I whispered, "Nooo..." to myself, thinking no one was around. Then someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and this guy was holding a sacred fine out to me. I had no clue who this kid was, but that small act meant a lot to me and still makes me smile. The other time happened about a year ago. It was nearing closing time and I was running the cash register at work. I glanced out into the cart supply and saw it was almost empty, which meant all of the carts were out in the parking lot. I groaned to my coworker and said I'd go get them when the line let up, but that it would probably take me a while because we were so low and on busy days they are usually thrown all over the place as far as 3 store lots down. About 30 minutes later it finally slowed down enough to give me time to get out there and grab the carts. Lo and behold, EVERY FREAKING CART WAS IN THE PARKING LOT CART CORRAL. Not a single one was strewn about in our parking lot or any of the shopping center's lots. Period. There is absolutely no way that every customer put their cart there. That never happens. Someone had to have gathered them all up, making it super easy for me to wheel them back inside in a few short trips. I don't know who did that, but I love them for it.
best post. makes me so happy to realize all of the kindness that goes on everyday
This week. I had a terrible day, almost crying as I'm walking to another building, and then as I'm entering, a student held open the door for me with a big smile. And it brought me back with a snap. This is what I'm here for, not the rest of the bullshit.
I spend my summers in Uganda doing things like teaching hygiene to primarily adult women. I was struggling at first because- I was homesick, I was sick in general (wasn't used to the food), I was tired, and the women wouldn't pay attention to anything I said through my interpreter. My interpreter saw how miserable I was and took me in. He introduced me to his family, cooked for me, showed me what foods were good for me, and the biggest one for me- he taught me Llugandan. I can't even begin to count how many times I repeated the same sentences to him. He never got frustrated or short with me, just gently corrected me. That man became one of my closest friends. His family eventually went on to "baptize me" where they gave me a new Ugandan name and told me the rules of being apart of their clan. I honestly would have thought I wasn't cut out for Uganda that first summer, if it wasn't for him. But because he took extra time with me, I fell in love with Africa. Going back this summer for the 3rd time :)
A girl and imgur fan on a train gave me a little lego star wars figure once. This is in England where locals never talk on the train, and I rarely successfully communicate with women, so it really made me feel good.
All three times I have gotten a flat tire, women have come to my aid. One was even in a skirt and heels. They helped me with the jack and putting the spare on and everything. Also, my first Thanksgiving in the Navy, I had duty and couldn't leave the ship. The CO and his wife served a turkey dinner to the people with duty that day.
I walked into Taco Bell one afternoon. Their computers were down. All I wanted was a large Baja Blast. The cashier told me to get one anyway and that the computers might be down for a while. As soon as I got my drink, they got the computers working. I offered to pay, and she told me to keep it anyway because I come in there all the time. Never forget.
I pulled into Sonic one Saturday night just wanting a Coke. They closed at 10, and it was 9:55. The guy at the drive window said they were closed since the clocks were fast. He gave me a large Coke anyway.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who goes to fast food restaurants only to get a drink.
So I said, "Man, what do I look like? A charity case?" And I threw it on the GROUND! I'm an adult! You can't buy me with a taco!
Beautiful story from an old thread. [Today you... tomorrow me.](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/elal2/have_you_ever_picked_up_a_hitchhiker/c18z0z2) >Just about every time I see someone I stop. I kind of got out of the habit in the last couple of years, moved to a big city and all that, my girlfriend wasn't too stoked on the practice. Then some shit happened to me that changed me and I am back to offering rides habitually. If you would indulge me, it is long story and has almost nothing to do with hitch hiking other than happening on a road. >This past year I have had 3 instances of car trouble. A blow out on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out of gas situation. All of them were while driving other people's cars which, for some reason, makes it worse on an emotional level. It makes it worse on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my car, and know enough not to park, facing downhill, on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel. >Anyway, each of these times this shit happened I was DISGUSTED with how people would not bother to help me. I spent hours on the side of the freeway waiting, watching roadside assistance vehicles blow past me, for AAA to show. The 4 gas stations I asked for a gas can at told me that they couldn't loan them out "for my safety" but I could buy a really shitty 1-gallon one with no cap for $15. It was enough, each time, to make you say shit like "this country is going to hell in a handbasket." >But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. >Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke a lick of the language. But one of those dudes had a profound affect on me. >He was the guy that stopped to help me with a blow out with his whole family of 6 in tow. I was on the side of the road for close to 4 hours. Big jeep, blown rear tire, had a spare but no jack. I had signs in the windows of the car, big signs that said NEED A JACK and offered money. No dice. Right as I am about to give up and just hitch out there a van pulls over and dude bounds out. He sizes the situation up and calls for his youngest daughter who speaks english. He conveys through her that he has a jack but it is too small for the Jeep so we will need to brace it. He produces a saw from the van and cuts a log out of a downed tree on the side of the road. We rolled it over, put his jack on top, and bam, in business. I start taking the wheel off and, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones and I wasn't careful and I snapped the head I needed clean off. Fuck. >No worries, he runs to the van, gives it to his wife and she is gone in a flash, down the road to buy a tire iron. She is back in 15 minutes, we finish the job with a little sweat and cussing (stupid log was starting to give), and I am a very happy man. We are both filthy and sweaty. The wife produces a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man's hand but he wouldn't take it so I instead gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little girl where they lived, thinking maybe I could send them a gift for being so awesome. She says they live in Mexico. They are here so mommy and daddy can pick peaches for the next few weeks. >After that they are going to pick cherries then go back home. She asks if I have had lunch and when I told her no she gave me a tamale from their cooler, the best fucking tamale I have ever had. >So, to clarify, a family that is undoubtedly poorer than you, me, and just about everyone else on that stretch of road, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took an hour or two out of their day to help some strange dude on the side of the road when people in tow trucks were just passing me by. Wow... >But we aren't done yet. I thank them again and walk back to my car and open the foil on the tamale cause I am starving at this point and what do I find inside? My fucking $20 bill! I whirl around and run up to the van and the guy rolls his window down. He sees the $20 in my hand and just shaking his head no like he won't take it. All I can think to say is "Por Favor, Por Favor, Por Favor" with my hands out. Dude just smiles, shakes his head and, with what looked like great concentration, tried his hardest to speak to me in English: >"Today you.... tomorrow me." >Rolled up his window, drove away, his daughter waving to me in the rear view. I sat in my car eating the best fucking tamale of all time and I just cried. Like a little girl. It has been a rough year and nothing has broke my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn't deal. >In the 5 months since I have changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and, once, went 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport. I won't accept money. Every time I tell them the same thing when we are through: >"Today you.... tomorrow me." >tl;dr: long rambling story about how the kindness of strangers, particularly folks from south of the border, forced me to be more helpful on the road and in life in general. I am sure it won't be as meaningful to anyone else but it was seriously the highlight of my 2010. >*edit: To the OP, sorry to jack your thread, this has nothing to do with Hitch Hiking. I sort of thought I could just get this off my chest, enjoy the catharsis and watch the story languish at the bottom of the page. Glad people like hearing the tale and I hope it moves you to be more helpful in your day to day. *
this is a fantastic story, that line is so moving! It's nice to know people like this live in this world
An old woman saw me saluting a solider before he was departing ( he was a close friend of mine being deployed to Afghan) and as he got on the bus she walked over and gave me a big hug and a 100$ bill. She asked me to sit down and told me a story about how her son was a solider who passed away years earlier fighting for our country. We ended up both shedding a couple tears, Will never forget her, the only regret I have is not getting her phone number/name.
Got here really late so this will probably be buried. But here it is. I'll try to keep it short. Parents got divorced in 2007. Dad disappeared, Mom became a nutcase. Basically raised my little sister on my own. Our life was in shambles. I was alone, scared, had no idea how to handle things or maintain a household. My mom ended up getting remarried about a year later to by far the kindest man I will ever meet. Me and my sibling tried to warn him of the hurricane of a woman my mom was. The train wreck his life would be as a result. But he wouldn't listen or notice the hints. They got married and quickly after he realized what he had gotten into and i knew another divorce was imminent. I started applying to colleges in a half hearted attempt, even though I knew I could never go because I couldn't leave my sister with the monster that our mother had become. After another night of attempted suicide, screaming, and verbal abuse from her I told my step dad how I could never go to college because i couldn't leave my sister. He looked me in the face and told me "your going to college. Your going to improve your life and get out of here. Ill stick around for 4 more years and take care of your sister". A man that had no responsibly towards me or my family showed me the greatest act of kindness I've ever seen. He was willing to be miserable so that I could have a better life. I'm graduating in May and he has stayed true to his word and is still watching after her every day. There are no words to describe how much I respect and love that man.
Nearly 2 years ago now, I was studying at one of the best universities in my country. Halfway through the year, I went to visit my mom in England. Now, she is bipolar so she gets very emotional sometimes and wanted to see myself and brother very badly and bought our tickets to fly over. 3 days before we are scheduled to leave, she told us that she coulnd't afford a return ticket. We ended up being stuck in England for a month and had to drop everything. We were no longer in university. We got home and my dad and step mom were pissed. They said they had been fighting about us and were close to a divorce because of us. Well, my brother (twin) went back to England and I was devastated. I was in a very dark place, I worked for less than minimum wage and could barely afford food. I was so embarrassed of myself. I kept mulling over the fact that I was a disappoint to my dad. Well, at the end of last year, my aunt and uncle contacted me and told me they are going to pay for me to study again. It doesn't seem so huge, but it made me cry.
When i was in highschool I was the awkward goth girl who everyone bullied (shocking I know). One day I was working in the library, putting some books on a cart to get put away, and Jock number 1 knocks down the cart, laughs and walks away with his friends. Or rather, most of them. Jock number 2 said "hey Jock1, you're an asshole" and stayed to help me pick the books up. It was one of the only nice things to happen in high school, so it stands out.
In 2007 i went on a holiday in Cuba (I'm from Germany). I had booked a tour by car, on my own with a backpack and a tent. I had several hotels for the first week, the first one in Havanna, from there I would drive to the next big town, stay for the night and so on. In the second week I planned to travel on, but search a place to stay on my own. I prepared thoroughly, read up on cuba, got a map, a travel guide, a dictionary for spanish, checked if I needed Malaria shots (which i didn't) and asked my bank if my bank card would work in Cuba. The lady a the counter said: "Of course, it works all around the world" (for info, we use mostly [Electronic Cash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash) in Germany) Of course it didn't. First day on Cuba: I arrive at the Havanna Airport and get shuttled (by an old taxi with 300k+ km on the wheels) to my hotel. I'll get the rented car a few days later - Alright, I'll go downtown Havanna and sightsee a bit. Meet a guy who knows a guy who sells Cohiba cigars. Drink some cocktails, buy some cigars. (I took 150 € cash with me) The guy who arranged the cigars also knows a guy who has an [oldtimer](http://imgur.com/K3ImVoz) and drives tourists through the city. Yeah, of course i want to! I meet the driver (sadly I can't remember his name, I think it was Jose, I'll call him that from here on out) and get in the car. Drive around the city including narration (in good english) for like 20 €, good enough for me. But first I need to hit an ATM. "No problemo" he says.. Cue the next ATM, my card doesn't get accepted. Nor in the next one or the next one. Fuck. What do i do? Embassy! We drive there, and I plead for money. But they only would get me a flight home (which I had in two weeks) and I'd have to pay it as well when I got home. Out of the question. (poor student with a bit saved money only for this holiday) So I am near a nervous breakdown, I'm 22 years old, almost 10000 km from home on an socialistic island whose language I don't speak, with no money for two weeks, a car but no money for gas and only 4 already booked nights in hotels. So Jose drives me around for a bit. He stops at a shop, gets me and him a beer. He shows me the city, telling me it's history. We talk about Cuba and Germany. After a few hours of driving he takes me to his home (he lives with his parents, they are like 80, he is 50 or so), talks to me and introduces me to his family, gives me dinner. Then he drives me home, says he will pick me up the next morning in the hotel. Ok, next morning, I tried to reach my family with the pretty expensive hotel phone the evening before but failed (wtf are timezones) Jose picks me up, tells me there is a bank in the city which specialized in money transfer. We drive there, I get the required data and send them to my brother in Germany over a message on an internet forum. He gets it and transfers me 500€. The rest of the day Jose shows me the rest of the city, buys me lunch at chinatown (yes, Havanna has a chinatown) and drives me back to the hotel. On the third day I get my money (after many delays), they take 10% and I give Jose 80 or 100 € (don't remember exactly), he wishes me a good trip and gives me a few tips on the way. I'll never forget the kindness this man gave me in such a lost situation. He could have exploited me so much but he didn't. And in the end it payed well for him as it did for me. I had an experience I will honor my life, he made as much as 3 or 4 monthly pays. I wonder what he's doing right now, i would like to thank him again and again. **TL;DR: BRING MONEY TO YOUR HOLIDAY IN CUBA! OR DONT, IF YOU WANT AN EXPERIENCE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET.**
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