The kindest things are done out of a desire to be kind, not out of a desire to be commended. Being nice for the right reasons can not only brighten someone else's life, but can also lead to good karma. Here are some of Reddit's best stories of anonymous kindness.
u/indeed_indeed_indeed asked: What's the nicest thing you've done for someone without them knowing you did it?
Freakin' a**holes.
Had a friend who got super drunk, partially naked, and extremely... loose-lipped during a party (she started talking about her (dead) daddy issues). It was humiliating enough for her in the moment, but I noticed one guy and his buddies trying to film her as well. So, I sidled up to them later and then flirted my way into "borrowing" his phone (subtlety isn't usually my M.O., but I didn't want to risk it). Deleted all six videos the sh*t stain had recorded on there and then f*cked off (with my passed-out friend and one other to help carry her both in tow) before he had the chance to realize what was up.
She woke up the next morning and had zero recollection of the preceding night. I did not mention it to her.
ETA: I definitely did not have the wherewithal to wipe his phone further, sadly, but this was years ago and I haven't seen her on the Internet yet, at least. Also - I know what to do next time this (does not) happen in front of me, because I am too f*cking old for this sh*t now. Hopefully.
Everyone appreciates gum.
GiphyWe had a German exchange student at my school with her and it was her first day and she was very clearly stressed and having a hard time. Halfway through class she was called down to the office to have a meeting with the other exchange kids, I'm guessing it was to get to know them better. But that meeting turned into an hour-long meeting where the next class would have started by the end of it.
So towards the end of class when everyone was lining up at the door for the Bell to ring I packed up all of her (exchange student's) stuff and put it neatly back in her backpack and threw some gum in there for her. I didn't know I had her next class but she came in chewing gum.
That's so heartwarming.
Several times a year I take my elderly neighbor to the cemetery to visit her husband's grave.
What she doesn't know is that before we visit there, I go to the cemetery in advance, place some flowers and trim the ornamental shrubs around the monument so it looks cared for and loved.
Self-defense is so important.
A friend of my wife is a single mom, her son is on the spectrum and overweight and was therefore a target for bullies. She signed him up for some self defense classes but could only afford 2 or 3. He really enjoyed the classes. I went into the dojo and prepaid a couple months worth. Never even told my wife. Her friend called my wife super excited thinking another friend paid. I just let it slide.
That's good karma.
GiphyI remember a poor kid that always used to go to my school - his uniform was from either the lost and found or donations, and he used to always wear hand-me-down footwear. The first year I met him, I found he didn't have recess or lunch for the first half of the year, because his parents were still trying to recover from paying for school.
The next year, I covered him with recess and lunch for two terms by leaving him something from the canteen on his table before school. I used to write in cursive, and nobody knew my print handwriting, so I also left him a note asking "want anything specific?" and left a little writing space for him. I also gave him a pencil case full of stuff because the teachers gave us a pencil and an eraser and nothing else.
This is so sweet.
I bought my cousin's wedding dress. She fell in love with one but couldn't afford it so settled for a cheaper one on a payment plan. I went back, had them order the nicer dress, paid it in full, and let her discover it when they said it arrived. She still doesn't know it was me. Our grandfather had bought the wedding dresses for every other of his granddaughters getting married but he passed away before she was engaged. It was my way of making sure he was part of her day.
A good deed.
When my brother had pneumonia and was hospitalised, I knew his wife wouldn't leave the house for shopping due to her anxiety and depression. So I ordered an online shop delivered to their door with 2 weeks worth of shopping, pack lunches, treats the lot. To this day they think her dad must have arranged it since she had been crying to him over the phone a few hours prior. He thinks he must have forgot he ordered it.
I'm sure he appreciated it.
GiphyWhen I was in Chicago, I saw a homeless guy sitting near a trash bin with a sign that said "no money, just food, I'm hungry". I was on my way to the store to buy some medicine and figured I'd get him something.
When I got back he was no longer there, so he never knew I bought him food.
What a d*ck.
I was at a college party (I tried to avoid them, but a friend insisted I start going) and noticed some guy put something in a cup belonging to a girl I knew from my philosophy in the matrix class (don't ask, it counted as a philosophy course and I needed a philosophy credit to graduate). She set the cup on a coffee table and wandered off somewhere, so I walked over and "accidentally" knocked her cup over. When she came back I apologized and offered to get her another one. Didn't have any classes together after that, the guy got expelled a month later after he got caught spiking another person's drink.
They truly care.
I used to be a probation and parole agent.
I had maaaany people on my caseload. If they were cool, not aholes, reporting and their house was in order and they were working and trying and whatnot, they got special treatment.
Part of my weekly checks involved checking what their supervision fees and court fees looked like. I didn't care about court fines, so I would usually have them sign paperwork that I just wouldn't explain to have them restructured. I did the same with supervision fees. The supervision fees were 50 dollars a month. For some of these people they didn't report every month, so every time they reported, like every 3 months, that's 150 that they were behind. Some of these people that's actually a lot of money. So I just would restructure it without them knowing.
I had one girl that was busting her a** working the program. Then she was like "oh my god, and Agent Citadel, I haven't paid my supervision fees in like a year, court fines either. I'm probably behind 600 dollars. You're going to lock me up over that one of these days."
I was an absolute hard a** on people, but I do have a lot of respect for someone that's busting their a** and trying their best. So I explained to her that I've been periodically wiping her arrearage away. My logic was I wanted her focusing on paying her drug rehab fees and not worrying about the other small stuff.
She cried and cried in the office. "Agent Citadel they always say you only care about the money but you actually care about us." All that through huge boo hoos.
That's beyond kind.
GiphyA co-worker's mother died. Her mom was in a different country, and she couldn't go over there because she'd never make it back to the states, and she didn't have much money to send over there. I talked to my other co-workers and raised about $600 for her mom, not including what I put in. I even grouped all of us together, and we gave her the money as a group, because I didn't want her to know it was me that originally decided to do this.
She cried and gave us all a hug. Was beyond blessed to have the money to send and give her mother a proper burial. To this day she has no idea that I organized this.
Support the arts.
I gave $50 to an artist on youtube when her girlfriend needed surgery and they couldn't afford it. It may have been a scam but I don't really care. Hopefully that money went to good use, and if her girlfriend really was in dire need of that surgery, I saved a life.
Awww.
I made up a Christmas stocking for someone to give them a sense of childhood (Santa giving you stockings full of stuff) since they never had that. I got a relative to get up early to set it by the fireplace without him knowing. They assumed it was from their relative who's never given them anything for Christmas (supposedly) and I never had the heart to tell them it was me.
Kind of them.
GiphyA lady dropped her wallet whilst talking on her phone and holding her son's hand. I grabbed it and followed it up, but I didn't want to disturb the lady's call, so I just handed it to the son.
As I was about to walk off to my bus stop, I notice the kid started raising the wallet in front of her mom's face after she finished her call, and started mumbling to her about someone returning it after dropping it.
A true hero.
I once folded a stranger's clothes for them when I needed to use the dryer.
The people who love you the most can break your heart because of their betrayal of trust.
Cheating is cowardly and inexcusable, but depending on the situation and the couple, it is possible for them to find a path to healing emotional wounds.
But there are some ways in which infidelity is totally unforgivable.
That's the kind of scenario Redditor WCh3L3 was curious to hear about when they asked:
"What’s the wildest cheating story you’ve witnessed or happened to you?"
It must be exhausting leading double lives.
Hospital News
"A friend of a friend found out that her husband was cheating when she got to the hospital to see her husband who had just moments before been brought in by ambulance after a serious car accident only to be denied entry to his room because 'his wife was already in the room with him.'"
"He had two simultaneous lives with two women, neither of which was aware of the other."
– JeBronlLames
The Ruse
"My ex-wife pretended to be admitted to a mental health ward for long term treatment while actually staying with her new man and cheating on me."
– Impossible-Visit-199
"This one is just next level."
– most-royal-chemist
"That’s some Batman villain level of intrigue and machination. His wife missed her calling and wasted her abilities on sleeping around."
– filifijonka
A Separate Life
"My friend's mom was in a relationship with a guy for years and they ended up getting engaged and due to marry."
"The guy was a senior director of a company for which he travelled every week abroad for business."
"Eventually, the guy had a heart attack and when my friends mom turned up at the hospital, his wife and 2 kids were there also."
"Turned out he was already married with children and living a double life the whole time. When he went 'abroad' for business, he was simply going back to his actual family."
– wallbagz
Here's The Story
"My dad did this. He worked nights and would juggle both families that way."
"He came clean after he got admitted to hospital for heart trouble and realised that if things went badly he’d end up in this exact situation."
"I was 16 when he came clean that I have an older brother and sister. They found out about me then too - as did his wife."
"ETA: I’d actually already figured it out before he told me though. Nobody else had."
"EATA: I saw a preview of a text on my dad’s phone from my sister. I didn’t know she was my sister obviously, but it said ‘hi dad, mum says…’"
"At first I was in denial and I thought his friend must have borrowed his phone or something. I started to watch him more closely."
"He had a ringtone (lol the 00’s) that would say the name of the caller. I noticed whenever a certain name rang he’d leave the room. Some tactical eavesdropping later and 15 year old me had it figured out that I had a brother and sister."
"I didn’t clock I had a stepmother though, or that I was family no2 and they were his primary family. But I still think I did pretty well!"
"My whole family on my mum’s side knew - mum respected that it was my dad’s secret to tell and she gave him time to tell it. (Although they did have a few arguments about it as I was growing up, I never knew what they were about at the time.)"
– notemily-
Life is never the same once the truth comes out.
Shameless
"A family friend's husband was having an affair for 20+ years and that woman knew the entire time about his family. He was at her ranch one time and was bucked off a horse and broke his back. The affair partner called his wife to tell her and acted like everything about this situation was normal and the wife had no reason to act all upset at the affair. Some people really just have no shame."
"Guy lived and made a complete recovery, left his mistress and they stayed together since they were working on their relationship. He died a few years ago and the wife finds out he never actually left his mistress just lied."
– SailoLee92
Unilateral Decision
"In a small town the husband kept telling people he had an open marriage; finally someone asked his wife about it, she was unaware of this new arrangement."
– Long_Strange_Trip_GD
Rehab Romance
"Was in rehab, two people were there for sex addiction one a minister the other a Jewish housewife. They left rehab together early. Woman divorced her husband who sent her to rehab for sex addiction and married the guy she met in rehab. They are still married 10 years later and seem very happy."
– Life-Evidence-6672
On The Case
"I knew a guy years ago that was a private investigator. Many times he was approached by a spouse who suspected their partner was cheating."
"He had a slam-dunk strategy. He would suggest his client sign up for a course, whether a hobby thing, or educational. The key was that the class would happen for a period of weeks, all on the same day of the week, and all at the same time of day."
"Then, while his client was in class, he would follow the spouse."
"Caught them every time."
– PJMurphy
If you have a hunch about an unfaithful significant other, it's there for a reason.
Going For A Run
"Had a coworker who cheated on her live-in boyfriend. She would tell him she was going for a run, put on her shorts without underwear and would f'k her side piece in the apartment parking lot. So then she would come back inside sweaty 30 mins later and needed to shower and it all made sense to her boyfriend, he never questioned it. She was an awful human."
– rashawah
It Made Scents
"A friend caught her husband cheating because he kept coming home smelling like ferrets."
"Hard to play off 'long day at work' and explain that."
"When she found out at a holiday party that one of the young female coworkers owned ferrets, it all made sense."
– benloe7
Special Delivery
"I used to go to a comic shop. And the comic shop owner knew all of the gossip in the area. Nice dude. Remembers all of his regulars and asks about you if he hasn’t seen you in awhile to check in on people. Lot of people in the area grew up with his shop. So he’s got stories."
"Anyways he told us about this story from some years back about this regular. Who disappeared for a few months. Comes back one day. And the shop owner asks him, 'hey, man. Haven’t seen you in awhile?' Kind of like where have you been. The regular was like oh I’ve been getting divorced. I had to move it was a whole thing."
"So naturally the shop owner asks. 'Why are you divorcing your wife?' The regular caught his wife cheating."
"He had picked up a 2nd part time job as pizza delivery man because he was trying to fund to take his wife on her dream vacation. All of the money he earned from that job was supposed to go into that vacation. He had been working this job for like 6 months. It was a whole secret. She didn’t know he was doing that for her. Because he was trying to surprise her."
"He was the pizza delivery man at the motel. She was cheating at him with. The dude she was cheating on him with answered the door with her right next to him."
"He apparently didn’t even go back to the pizza place. He quit on the spot. Went home. Packed his sh*t and left town."
– TheMysticalPlatypus
Those who are unfaithful in their relationships may think they're good enough for more than one person, but they're usually not.
And while you may not believe in it, there's something called karma, and watching it enact justice can be extremely gratifying.
If you were the one being cheated on, know that the person with whom you've fallen in love is not the kind of person you want to spend the rest of your life with and there will always be a better human who will respect you and love you.
And if you were the cheater, watch your back. Because whether you believe in it or not, karma's coming for ya.
Food trends are not so very different from fashion trends, constantly evolving and quickly becoming outdated or passé.
Can you think of the last time you were served ambrosia at a dinner party?
Or have you noticed how anything featuring kale is now met with an eye roll rather than excitement?
Of course, some food trends tend to last longer than others.
Even if many people wish that they would also become extinct... the sooner the better!
Redditor Prestigious-Humor872 was eager to hear all the food trends people wished would die out, and fast, leading them to ask:
"What modern food trend can you not wait to die?"
Less Isn't Always More...
"2 ingredient desserts (with 7 'optional' ingredients that appear once you read the actual recipe)."- strawberry-emma
You Pay For The Experience
"Food trucks that charge the same price as a premium restaurant but serve half the size on a floppy plate that I have to stand up to eat."- thorn_10
"Food trucks."
"Weren’t they supposed to serve cheaper food because of lower overhead?"
"No brick and mortar?"
"We have a lobster roll truck-pulled by a Range Rover- that shows up for lunch and charges $22 for one entree."
"Ridiculous."- tizzymyers·
GiphyChoice Of Words...
"Calling a slight alteration to a recipe a 'hack'."
"Adding parmesan cheese to your grilled cheese sandwich is not a 'hack'."
"It's a minor recipe change."- No_Pear_2326
Jumping The Gun A Bit...
"If I'm on a website I'm only there to look at your menu."
"I'm not interested in starting an order before I've looked at the menu."
"No, I don't want to give you my zip code."
"Just give me your menu and some food pictures."- DueRest
Staying Humble?
"Fancy restaurants that say they serve 'street tacos' and proceed to charge $18 for three."- Chipwich75
T-Bell Yes GIF by Taco BellGiphyThere's A Reason We're Told Not To Play With Our Food...
"The stupid food wasting trends on YouTube and TikTok etc."- fluffernuttersndwch
Presentation Is Key...
"For some reason putting food in wine glasses."- Ralphroberts603
"Restaurants serving food on cutting boards, shovels, paper, shells, or anything that is not an actual plate."- Funny_Disaster1002
meat grill GIF by Gifs LabGiphyRemember The Golden Arches And The Red Roofs?
"Making all fast food buildings look like cookie-cutter beige/grey boxes."
"They all used to have their own distinct personalities."- mattnotis
There's Economizing, And Then There's Jusy Poor Hygeine...
"The videos of people making food in sinks."
"Gross."- h20rabbit
Is It Even Still A Secret After 100 Thousand Views?
"Any TikTok/IG trend that makes life more difficult for fast-food workers with overly complex orders or ordering stuff not on the menu or trying to 'one up' each others orders etc."- HiThisIsMichael
bored fast food GIF by Zaxby'sGiphyMaybe It Gives Them Incentive?
"Tipping as an option BEFORE receiving good service."- mytimeis2044
Sweet Tooth? Or Cavity Express?
"Sweets on top of sweets."
"A milkshake with a donut, lollipop, and cupcake attached."- Marleygem
Technology Slowly Taking Our Jobs...
"I just went to a restaurant, not a fast food place, a sit-down restaurant where you have to scan the QR code for the menu, then a screen pops up where you have to place your own order."
"No one comes to the table to answer questions, nothing."
"You place your order, a person comes by and throws your drinks at you. "
"Then they swing by a while later and throw your food at you."
"That’s all you see of them."
"You pay your bill on your phone, and are still expected to tip."- Megmuffin102
Saint Urbain Website GIF by Front of HouseGiphyBe it in presentation, cooking style, or flavor profile, people will likely always try to make food "cool" in truly bizarre ways.
Sometimes ignoring that the only thing that should truly matter is whether or not it tastes good.
At least people have finally realized that kale doesn't need to be added to everything!
For now, at least...