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People Reveal The Nicest Thing They've Ever Done For Someone

People Reveal The Nicest Thing They've Ever Done For Someone
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For those of you looking for a heartwarming change of pace, consider Redditor 13onghit's decision to ask the online commmunity: "What's the nicest thing you've done for someone?"

There... don't you feel better already?


"Former Boy Scout here."

Former Boy Scout here.

I worked a summer camp in Missouri one summer. One week we had a troop of mentally disabled guys stay at the camp. They were all older than standard Boy Scouts.

One I took a liking to. Big dude who you would be frightened to death to cross on a dark street. But he was mentally a 5-year old. He had zero confidence.

I wanted to work on that.

So I guide him all week but make sure he does as much on his own as humanly possible.

We get to woodworking day and I help him construct as much as he feels he can. He just doesn't want to use the hammer to sink the nails. I do a few but notice every single thing he does, he does better than he feels and I decide I'm going to have him do it, whatever the cost.

I give him the hammer. He declines. I tell him I believe in him. He declines. I say, "Tell you what... I'll hold the nail for you, I trust you that much. I know you won't hurt me."

He took the hammer. I hold the nail. I bit down hard expecting a broken finger.

WHACK

That nail went down like it was made of butter. He didn't even pinch my finger as the head of the nail went down. He hit it PERFECTLY.

He saw it and dropped the hammer and started wringing his hands and tried to be excited without "making a scene".

My heart was so full for him. I felt amazing for taking that risk. That was over 20 years ago, and I've never forgotten it.

I now have two young daughters who I put my physical self on the line for regularly. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes I gain new scars. But I know being the someone who trusts you no matter what makes any physical pain not even a consideration.

germanywx

"A friend I went to high school with..."

A friend I went to high school with is an elementary school teacher at a school without a lot of money. She did one of those "GoFundMe but for teachers" things, I can't remember the site exactly or what the project was - something tech-related. She posted it on Facebook and there was a decent amount of sharing and stuff, but outside of a few $25-50 donations there wasn't a lot of actual activity.

A month or two goes by and I check up on it again, it's only like halfway to the goal with a few weeks to spare. I finished it out and paid for the rest of it, I wanna say it was $300 or something like that. Never told anyone I know about it, left it anonymous on the donation too. This is actually the first time I've mentioned it to anyone at all. Just felt good.

41-6C-65-78

I (riding on my bike) saw a man lying on his back in the middle of an adjacent sidewalk. While it's fairly common around here to find homeless people passed out in doorways and whatnot, and therefore relatively easy to ignore, this guy was different. Nicely dressed, clean, not obviously homeless, and really, really still. Nobody was stopping. It was in broad daylight.

I got off my bike and checked on him - his eyes were rolled back in his head, then would randomly roll around, his pulse was weak and slow, he was breathing, but very slowly and shallowly. Once I stopped people started getting interested, but when I asked someone to call 911, everyone took off. I called them myself, and they wanted me to do CPR. I only had one functioning arm, so I again asked for help. All the rubberneckers again disappeared.

Fortunately an ambulance arrived quickly. I still don't know what happened to him, but I hope he was okay.

I also called 911 for a guy that was obviously homeless, and drunk, at night in a mostly deserted area, because he was passed out face down on a sidewalk with a nearly empty bottle of bourbon in his hand, and a growing puddle of blood stemming from where he slammed his head when he fell down. I would rather risk some personal safety than wonder if another human bled out because I didn't want to be bothered.

Yes, I understand not stopping to help a guy in a van on the side of a deserted road in the middle of the night, or another dozen other scenarios. Get somewhere safe and call the police! But I'm baffled as to how people can just flow around a person in need in broad daylight in a well-populated area.

moose_tassels

"Knew someone at school..."

Knew someone at school who was raised by a single parent, said parent develops cancer and my friend, who had been obviously depending on her, became utterly depressed. Couldn't cook meals, finish schoolwork, do sport, most of his time was dedicated to his parent.

I cooked/bought meals for him, helped him catch up all his missed classes, organised stuff to get him outside, etc. he's doing better now, so is his mum, although we don't talk anymore. Still, felt worthwhile.

Yvanne

"Someone dropped..."

Giphy

Someone dropped their lotto ticket and I returned it to them. They won 400$ and gave me half.

khaosking1

"I switched..."

I switched from one type of insulin to another. After switching, I had about 30 vials of Novolog left over that I didn't need.

We had a guy come out and do electrical work on our house and saw that he wore an insulin pump. I asked him what kind of insulin he used. He said Novolog. I asked him if he wanted my leftover, non-expired, still sealed vials. He said sure. I imagine he was thinking that it was going to be only a few.

I loaded them all up into a Walmart bag and gave them to him. I don't know if he had to pay out of pocket or anything for his, but even if he did, the total cost to him for it could have well exceeded $1,500 in just co-pays alone.

He was nearly in tears when I told him to keep it all.

bolivar_shagnesty

"I helped a waitress..."

I helped a waitress at a restaurant I frequent. After a few months of patronage I knew most of the staff and was on a first name basis with them. I learned that she was working 6 days per week, 8 to 10 hours per day, and going to school full time (5 days per week, 6 hours per day), plus she traveled by bus between 2 and 3 hours per day. A quick bit of mental math... on a bad day she could spend 19 hours with her obligations, not counting bathing, eating, or homework! And after she paid for her tuition, she only had 10% of her paycheck left over.

As i have no family nor children of my own, I decided to pay for her university. She has since quit her job and is focusing on her studies. She regularly sends me updates about her classes and I'm happy to report she's getting straight 'A's as a psychology major.

Indy_Pendant

"I came home late..."

Giphy

I came home late on a delayed flight and there was an old woman sobbing at the bus depot because no one was there to take her home. This was in the middle of a bad snowstorm at 1 am so no one wanted to drive. I picked her up and drove out of my way to drop her off. Had to drive an extra half hour in the worst conditions ever but it all worked out.

Zilreth

"An acquaintance..."

An acquaintance talked about suicidal thoughts over several weeks online. One day he said "goodbye forever" and left all groups. I found his address and sent an ambulance there.

He's feeling better now, and thanked me a few days afterwards.

HannahAching

"I had an early childhood education class..."

This happened about 10 years ago.

I had an early childhood education class in college that involved observing/interacting with preschoolers. The college has a daycare for locals and teachers.

One day we all decided to take the kids to a nearby park. This park was pretty secure but there was a very busy road right next to it, and there were gaps in the fences.

One of the kids mom's decided to come early to pick up her son. She parked on the other side of the street and was waiting to cross.

The kid saw her and basically immediately started running and climbed through the fence and was going into the street.

I noticed and ran as fast as I have ever in my life, leapt over the fence (it was only about 3 feet) and grabbed the boy literally a split second before a huge flatbed truck zoomed passed going at least 65+ mph.

I looked up and saw the mom and tears were pouring from her eyes and she was screaming, because from her perspective all she could see would definitely give the impression her son was hit.

So she runs over and I just hand her the boy and she's in total panic and terror. The instructor gets over and tells me thank you and says "we are never coming to this park ever again." and she holds the mom as she's crying.

I just stand there in shock. She took the kid home. We all walked the kids back to class.

greentreesbreezy

"Me and my roommates..."

Me and my roommates once took in a girl that at 18 had been kicked out of her house and subsequently got stuck in a bad living situation. She had no job and no car and was nowhere near work.

We lived near the center of town, so we gave her a place to stay, helped her get around to look for jobs, and gave her some bus money. Within 6 months she had a job, a car, and was getting a promotion. By 1 year she had turned her life around and joined the army.

She is happily married now with 3 kids and a good job.

ITFucked

"I gave away..."

I gave away a wheelchair I was selling to a lady who really needed it. I let another person have my appointment at the veterinarian because they thought theirs was at my time and would have missed it because they had to pick their kids up from school. Whenever I play arcade games at the beach or whatever, I'll hunt for a parent and give them my tickets for their kids. It's little things that make me happy knowing that I have made someone else briefly happy.

march_rogue

"I met a kid..."

I met a kid at my old job and he was stuck in the wrong state due to missing his greyhound so I paid for his hotel room for a night and gave him money for a bus ticket the next morning, as well as my number in case he needed a ride to the bus station. I don't know where he is at or what he is doing but i'll never forget him. He was crying and worried to death he will never make it home and we were both 18/19 at the time and I just know how I would feel if it had been me.

ZestyCloseLettuce

"Some days I'm equally as broke as he is..."

Pay 70% of our household bills. My boyfriend was in a rough spot financially and I just told him to contribute what he can while I shouldered the majority of the bills. Some days I'm equally as broke as he is but I never complain because I know if I was in the same situation he would do the exact same thing for me.

adventuresquirle

"I took care of my mother..."

I took care of my mother for years after her car accident, which triggered her Fibromyalgia, without pay or anything. Now I am her PCA (Personal Care Assistant) and get paid for it.

DQ: What's the nicest thing you've ever done for someone?

People Break Down The Most Disturbing Thing They've Ever Casually Been Told

Reddit user DarthAbhinav asked: 'What is the most disturbing thing you've heard said casually?'

Every now and again, when talking to a friend or family member, a rather shocking piece of information might casually slip out.

Information one imagines they wanted to keep secret for as long as they possibly could.

In some cases, it's something embarrassing, that everyone will be able to laugh about with the passage of time.

In other cases, however, it's information that stuns us silent.

Learning something we wish we hadn't.

Redditor DarthAbhinav11 was curious to hear the most disturbing information people have ever been casually told or overheard, leading them to ask:

"What is the most disturbing thing you've heard said casually?"

An Acquired Taste

"I work in a deli and some lady asked me to cut her ham extremely thin to the point of seeing through it."

"I heard her justify it as 'so you can get rid of the ham taste'."

"I still think about this one."- Alternative_Net8931

Utterly Horrid

"When I was walking to my front door."

"My neighbor had their window open and was scolding their 3 year old adopted child."

"She was howling crying."

"'Do you want mommy to send you back?'"- BoredBSEE

It Arrives Sooner Than You Think...

At Macy's, two teen girls: 'Women over 30 have the ugliest elbows'."

"'OMG. I know'."

"'Very disturbing'."

"'I always ask my mom to wear long sleeves when we go out to eat'."- CapitalPhilosophy513

Never Too Late

"I when younger I worked at a pool and had to lifeguard senior aerobics classes."

"Most participants where 65+."

“'Where’s so and so'.”

“'Oh he won’t be here, his wife was put into hospice'.”

“'Well I feel bad for him, but we do need some more single men around here'."

"'He’s not bad looking, has a retirement too'.”- CuriousOne9320

Round And Round It Goes...

"'If the Earth is spinning, then why my front door is always facing east?'"- SuvenPan

"Something I once heard a passing stranger say for which I have no context: 'He wears a scarf around his neck so you can't see where he's decaying'."

"I've been curious for years and it annoys me that I'll never know."- xyanon36

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

"An ex after I ended things 'I don’t understand, if I want to be in a relationship with you but you don’t want to be in a relationship with me why do you get to win?'"- TinyFurryHorseBeak

Not His Decision To Make

"Was at an end of season event for my kid's baseball team when he was little."

"The coaches brought Italian ice for everyone."

"Mom has just served her kids and husband and comes back with her own."

"As she's sitting down to eat, I hear her husband loud whisper behind her something like 'absolutely not'."

"'You don't need any more calories'."

"I just watched her face fall."

"I can't imagine what their marriage must look like behind closed doors and what life must be like for her."

"Heartbreaking."

"Note that this woman was already probably a size 2 at most so this was not a scenario where there were serious weight-related health problems."

"This guy was just a jerk and this really wasn't the first time that season, but his reminders that they aren't living up to his standards were usually aimed at his kids on the field."

"I try to assume the best of people but that guy sucked."- littleirishpixie

The Truth Hurts

"I was in an accident once and was hospitalized."

"The accident left me severely disfigured."

"I was out of my mind on pain meds when I arrived at the hospital and told my family to call my girlfriend and let her know what happened and where I was."

"My mom called my girlfriend and my sister not knowing the particulars of my life called my ex."

"Neither knew the other had called and both ended up showing up."

"They arrived within an hour of one another while I was asleep."

"Since someone was there with me it gave my family a chance to go home and take a break."

"So I woke up to my ex and my girlfriend talking to one another."

"Obviously my girlfriend was mad my ex was there and things got heated between the two."

"My ex being level headed suggested they step into the hall since I was half awake and in no condition to deal with the drama."

"As they're arguing in the hall voices are being raised until finally a nurse comes to reign the situation in."

"The nurse breaking them up made my girlfriend leave."

"As she was leaving she yelled 'you can have his a**'."

"'It's not like I wanna be with some burnt up scarred dude anyway'."

"'He's f*cked'."

"At this point I was still bed ridden and hadn't seen a mirror."

"I was aware my body was f*cked but had no idea what I actually looked like."

"Hearing that was such a gut punch and it really messed with my head at the time."- Burnvictim49percent

Where To Even Begin?

"I am a tutor."

"I heard some of my students say ;What's the point in learning history? We should live in the present'."

"We are German."- GentlemanPirate13

Most of the time, when a friend or family member warns us or apologizes for sharing "too much information" or "TMI", what we've heard isn't that shocking in the grand scheme of things.

Indeed, as evidenced by the sad and shocking stories above, when people really share TMI, they often have no idea they're doing so.


A hand adds a yellow post it to a wall of yellow post its
Photo by Kelly Sikkema

There are rules in life where people are expected to just know how to operate without being told.

For instance, if someone falls down... help them.

When you like a sweater in a store... get money to buy it.

Just leaving with it won't go over well.

And there are more rules, or guidelines to adhere to...

Redditor christygl7 wanted to hear about what is expected in people's homes without words, so they asked:

"What's an unwritten rule in your household?"

If you have to pee... lift the seat cover.

The people in Port Authority always miss that one.

Routine

Cleaning Chores GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy

"Either my wife or I can do any chore when noticed. We thank each other for routine chores as we appreciate each other."

cwsjr2323

"That’s how my fiancée and I handle chores. Whoever’s around when the core needs to be done does the chore, typically. I find she does more regular cleaning of the whole apartment while I do more dishes and cooking."

radtech91

Trashed

"Replacing the trash bag IS PART OF taking out the trash."

UndiagnosedReptard

"Similar to this, in my house, the rule is if the toilet paper ended on your turn (or there’s barely enough for the next person) then it is your job to procure the next roll and put it in the bathroom. It is NOT acceptable to let it run out for the next person."

wavesnfreckles

"We have extra stored in every bathroom. I make sure of it. However, if it runs low/out on the roll, my wife will 100% of the time take the new roll and set it on top of the empty tube on the spindle, refusing to replace it. I actually called her over and shamed her into changing it in front of me the other night (not in an abusive way - we were both laughing about it)."

on_the_nightshift

Finder's Keepers

"If you find money in the laundry while you are doing the laundry, it's yours."

Rich1926

"Yep. My boyfriend learned that lesson the hard way when we first started living together. He had a bad habit of just crumpling up bills in a big wad in his pocket, usually just ones, but sometimes he accidentally leaves a twenty in there. I tipped myself the twenty. It took him a couple of days of trying to figure out where it went before I took pity on him and told him."

"He now both turns out his pockets and washes his own clothes. I still find the occasional single dollar in the dryer."

Head_Razzmatazz7174

Dropped something?

"If food is dropped on the floor it becomes the property of the dog. The dog knew this rule before we did."

Altruistic-Bit-9766

"That was one of the hardest things after our family dog died. Dropped something? Who cares! Riley will get it. But then he didn’t."

"Also, I don’t live at home anymore but coming home to him barking and crying out of excitement and greeting me always made my day and I looked forward to it every time I opened the door and could hear him wiggling in excitement on the side hahaha. It’s a little less exciting coming home now."

ohno807

Obligations...

Water Stay GIF by Kinda FunnyGiphy

"If the water you take from the Brita pitcher leaves what’s left below a certain line, you are obligated to refill the pitcher on penalty of death."

halcyon3608

If you stay in my home and don't refill the Brita pitcher...

I'm setting your hair on fire at 3 AM!!!

Flushed

Go Away Pink GIF by HacklockGiphy

"Check the toilet after you flush."

NANNYNEGLEY

"This. My brother-in-law never does this. It's annoying and disgusting! You don't want to clean up after yourself because you think it's gross? How do you think it makes me feel to clean up after you?"

purplestarsinthesky

WAKE UP!

"Wake someone up if their alarm goes off. It's a pretty weird one but setting up alarms is a conscious and deliberate decision for all of us and you want to wake up when it goes off, so we just help each other out."

DonMartiniMacaroni

"I'll do this a few times, but my roommate needs to learn not to hit snooze because he's taught his body that alarms don't need to be woken up to. I don't wake him up anymore. He started waking up to them."

stumblinbear

"I’ll wake them up because it annoys me when people snooze especially if I’m next to them in the bed and I don’t have to get up."

chill90ies

No Exceptions!

"Shoes off at the door. No exceptions."

Next-Dark-4975"

"Shoes-on people must not be using the same public bathrooms that I do. 100% of them have a lake of dirty urine in front of the urinal. They must also be amazing at finding two urine-free spots that are shoe-sized on the shores of said lake. It’s fine if they want to bring that into their homes. It’s not allowed in mine, though."

Bmadray

Table Manners

"No tech at the table."

"Even with a teenage daughter this has proved eerily easy; we all love food though!!"

"Also murder is out of the question, it is non-negotiable. If any of us kills another then they are outlawed in the true sense."

"Other than this, we are pretty cool."

Dante2005

Woof

Well Done Applause GIF by MOODMANGiphy

"Let the dog out to go potty before you use the restroom. (Seriously, the dog is asking to go out and you think she can wait while you take a 30-minute poop first? Not cool.)"

InfiniteBackspace

Always let the dogs go first.

If you wait, you won't like the surprise they leave!

person using laptop computer to make a credit card purchase
rupixen.com on Unsplash

Sometimes we look at a product and think "who would buy that, and why?"

For me the "Flowbee" home haircutting tool comes to mind. If you're unfamiliar, it's a shaver you attached to your vacuum cleaner so you hair was pulled past cutting blades.

It was sold on late night infomercials in the 1990s.

Who wouldn't want to style their hair like this?

Flowbee infomercial GIFGiphy

As fabulous as that looks, results did vary with most veering toward "yikes!" yet by 2000 the company reported 2 million were sold.

And *surprise* you can still buy one—for about $150.

It seems no matter how bad a product is, someone will buy it.

Keep reading...Show less

There's this amazing quote by Maya Angelou that we can all put into practice: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better."

This can be applied to anything in life, from learning more about a subject that we're passionate about, to practicing better time management skills, to being a better friend.

But there are some things that we may not even realize we need to do better... until we suddenly know better.

Cringing in anticipation, Redditor one-droplet asked:

"What have you always done, but later found out was gross?"

The Best Ice

"When I was like five or six years old I would love going to the grocery store with my mom because the vegetable and fruit and meat tables always had the best ice to chew on..."

- campio_s_a

"I work in a restaurant, and I try to grab a cup to get the ice before they use it for raw oysters and shrimp cocktails. It really is the best ice."

- AustinRiversDaGod

Toilet Paper Use

"As an Asian, I was always taught growing up to throw used toilet paper in the trash bin. It wasn't until I went on a school trip to Italy and the chaperone mentioned to everyone, 'The plumbing system here isn't as good as the USA so you guys are just gonna have to throw it in the trash bin,' and everyone went, 'Ew.'"

"That's when I learned that it was gross to throw toilet paper in the trash bin since the issue was you're basically having shit bits sitting around in a bin."

- stigma_numgus

Toothbrush Bristles

"All my life, I wiped my toothbrush on the hand towel to dry it up until my sister asked what the f**k I was doing."

- Sark_Doul

"My sister used to scrub the bristles on the faucet where the water came out when she was done brushing her teeth. I guess to dry it off. I still cringe thinking about it."

- Suspicious-Craft4980

That's Not Clay

"As a child, I would dig up bits of clay from the local sandbox. It wasn’t as good as Play-Doh, so I would cast it aside and continue digging."

"Maybe I didn’t have a very good sense of smell at that age, because I was well into adulthood before I realized it was probably cat s**t."

- Blue_Moon_Rabbit

Dirty Showers

"I showered in a dirty tub. Once I discovered how gross it really was, my hoarder mother didn’t like it when I cleaned the bathroom, so I just lived with it til I was able to get a place."

- TrustIsOverrated

"My hoarder mom was like this."

- Best_Eggplant_9259

"When I tried to wash the nicotine off the walls in my bedroom, my hoarder parents were not happy."

- obviouslyanni

Fresh Towels

"I waited until a towel smelled weird to swap it out."

- DrippyFlames

"Look, the towel forgets everything before the next shower."

- gljivicad

Self-Service Assorted Candies

"I used to really like those self-service lollies/candy buckets with the scoops. They were in most big box stores in Australia, like Kmart, Target, Big W. So much fun mixing and matching."

"But then one day I started working at Target. Every single day I caught old people and kids with their hands directly inside grabbing them out and munching down all slobbery-like. That turned me off forever."

"Though not too long after they started disappearing from businesses so obviously someone got the unsanitary message."

- blahblahrasputan

Not Flushable

"I flushed my tampons my whole life until I was about 30. No one had taught me they weren’t flushable. I stupidly thought they were like toilet paper."

"One expensive and embarrassing plumbing problem later, I never did it again."

- Ew_fine

Dental Habits

"Not brushing my teeth when I wake up. I would only brush my teeth after breakfast, and I would rarely eat breakfast."

"So most days I would only brush my teeth at night. I figured, 'Well, I brushed last night and haven’t eaten anything since, so why should I brush again?'"

" Then I learned about all the bacteria that feed on the tiny bits of food left in your teeth and they literally expel gas and feces in your mouth as they consume it. And this is what causes awful morning breath."

"So I have this mental image of bacteria poop and farts coating my mouth and have brushed every morning since regardless of eating breakfast or not."

- scatteredwardrobe

"Brush at night to keep your teeth, and brush in the morning to keep your friends."

- coykoi314

Not Just Yellow Snow

"Eating snow. Just take the same handful of snow you might see a kid stuff in their mouth and let it melt in a glass. Bet you wouldn’t willingly drink it!"

- Affectionate_Cloud86

Don't Visit Everyone's House

"I sit on my couch butt naked when I’m alone watching TV at night. I mean I’m relatively clean but I feel sorry for anyone else that sits there."

- Rich-Abbreviations25

Letting the Hair Fall Where It May

"I'm suffering from hair loss at the moment (51 Female) and I'm often absent-mindedly raking a hand through my long hair, glancing at what comes out and then dropping the strands on the floor."

"Just read on another sub that that's pretty disgusting to other people. In my defense, I work exclusively from home in my own small office and would never do it in public, but even so, maybe my husband thinks I'm gross."

- RadioDorothy

Shoes Indoors

"Wearing shoes inside. My family was not a shoes off family and they always wore outside shoes inside."

"I remember a few friends' homes were strict shoes-off homes, but I thought that was the minority."

"I was about 27 years old before I realized it was disgusting and people were definitely judging my etiquette."

- MyDogAteYourPancakes

Double-Dipping

"Double-dipping snacks. Pretty logical but only found out recently that’s very bad etiquette."

- AggravatingDriver559

"Double-dipping is only acceptable if you’re not sharing the dip with anyone."

- froderenfelemus

Fair Lessons

"Some things I've learned:"

"Wash my bedsheets every week, including bed, pillows, and covers."

"Only use the same bath towel twice before washing it."

"Use a new toothbrush head every month."

"Always wash my hands coming back from a store or public transit."

"And NEVER EVER go into a resort pool with a swim-in bar."

- freddg_mtl

This conversation was so cringe-worthy and left us wanting a shower in the worst way.

At least for most of these Redditors, now that they knew these are gross habits, they've chosen to do something better.