The kindness of strangers is a rare and valuable thing. From a young age, we are taught to fear and mistrust strangers, so when someone goes out of their own way to help us, it is magic.
u/PissYourTi*s asked:
What is the kindest thing a total stranger has done for you?
Here were some of the answers.
Calming, Soothing
Got into a pretty bad car wreck when I was 19 and was alone and scared. The cop dropped me off at a gas station so I didn't have to wait for my parents to come get me on the side of the interstate.
A kind lady came over and asked me if I was alright. She gave me directions and drew me a map to the local tow yard (I had the tow yard name and street from the cop). She helped me calm down and gave me water and waited close to an hour until my parents picked me up.
I'll never forget her kindness. I think of her often and I hope she remembers what she did helped so much in my time of shock.
Small Yet Kind
Years ago I was at Walmart buying a lunchbox and a bunch yogurt for my kid and my debit card didn't work. It was about $30 and the lady behind me pulled out cash and paid for my groceries. I tried to thank her, ask her name, or give her the little bit of cash from my wallet. She wouldn't hear any of it and sent me on my way.
I try to "pay her back" by doing random acts of kindness for people when they least expect it, but definitely need it.
The Man In The Chippy
I was on my way home from a party and my phone had died, it was late, dark out and there was a very heavy rainfall. I missed my turning (roadworks and couldn't for the life of me see anything) so I figured if I keep in the same direction I'll find my way again.
Wrong. I had drove about an hour in the wrong direction down all these small country lanes trying to find a slip road to the motorway. Starting to panic I pulled into the first open shop I saw which happened to be a fish and chip shop and asked the ladies if they could point me in the direction of my hometown. They hadn't even heard of it, major bad sign right there and similarly I hadn't heard of the small village in which I found myself completely lost.
There was a man in the chippy buying his tea who had overheard my conversation and took pity on my plight and tried to draw me a map but the route was complicated and said it best if he took me as it was a short cut and would very likely get lost on my own, it was only a 10 minute journey and he really didn't mind.
So I was following him in my car down all these small country lanes in the pitch black and the 10 minutes passed and then another, and another, 30 minutes in and he indicates to pull into a garage. He must have sensed that I would be scared as he approached my car cautiously and kept a distance and told me to take the next left onto the motorway and I would know my way from there. I didn't get much of a chance to thank him because I was feeling quite scared and emotional. But truth to word he had drove me right to the motorway slip way.
The next day, overwhelmed and grateful I tried to track him down so I retraced my steps on google maps until I found the chip shop and googled their number. I recounted my story to the owner and they had remembered me. I said I was trying to track him down to thank him and asked if I could leave some money with them to pay for his next meal but they said he wasn't a regular customer and they didn't know who he was but that they had gave him a free meal when he returned.
So this kind hearted stranger drove an hour out of his way just so that I could get home ... his kindness is something that will stick with me forever.
A Little Life
I was crying alone in the park at night because I just got back from dinner with my estranged dad that I now see maybe once a year. It was really hard seeing him again and as I was sitting on the curb crying, someone approached me and said: "Look I know it's weird because I'm a stranger but you look like you need a hug" Got the hug and she actually had a really good pep-talk about family and absent fathers. Never even got her name but I gained back all my trust for humanity that day.
Two Encounters
Four months ago, I got the call at work that "something was wrong," with my stepdad, who raised me. Walked outside to follow up, as nobody would give me details while I was at work. Found out he had killed himself. I fell onto the sidewalk and sobbed and sobbed. Honestly I barely remember it, besides the feeling of being unable to breathe or move. What I do remember is a beautiful stranger picking me up off the sidewalk and half carrying/half walking me back into the building so I could get myself together and collect my things so I could go home. It turns out she works in my building (there's probably close to a thousand people, and we work in different departments, plus I'd only been there 5 weeks, so we'd never met before), so I eventually found out her name and wrote her a thank you note, but no note will ever adequately express how grateful I am that she picked me up off the sidewalk that day.
My camera bag (my wallet was in it, too) fell out of the back of my SUV when the trunk didn't latch properly as we were leaving the Cape May, NJ beach. In the camera was the SD card with the only copies of the last photos of my son and my stepdad when he visited for my son's second birthday 6 weeks before his death. A stranger returned it to the police station with free boardwalk tram passes and a little note.
My stepdad was one of the kindest, most compassionate, and generous people in the world. These experiences at least made me feel like there are still people out there will a soul like his.
Memories
My family had a tradition of spending Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family, and Christmas Day with my moms. For quite a few of the Christmas eve parties, a man I didn't know would wander around with a old camcorder, and talk to people. He was a friend of other people in the family, but I had no idea who it was. Several years later, after both my mother and grandmother had passed away, he handed us all a copy on DVD of his Christmas videos, edited together as a thank you for inviting him every year. It was about the nicest gift I've ever gotten, as it's the only video footage I have of them left, and it was from a total stranger.
A Bike, A Bike!
When I was about 7 we went to a police bike auction to try and find me a bike, since I hadn't learned how to ride one yet. I found a really cool red bike with flames and even training wheels already on it; I was totally obsessed from first sight.
But my mom then had to explain to me that it was too expensive ($50) and she couldn't get it for me. I was pretty upset, crying and not understanding why I couldn't have this great bike. That's when a random stranger who'd overheard came up and told my mother he'd buy that bike for me.
I didn't really understand what he'd done at the time, I was just ecstatic that I got my bike. But I still think about it; how that guy just bought a crying kid a bike out of the kindness of his heart, expecting nothing in return.
Now that I'm older with a steady job, I'd like to get a kid a bike like that, given the chance.
Long Lasting
My first job was in a little coffee shop. I was 16 and doing my best to support my little brother and mother. Times were tough, very tough. Anyway there was a baker that used to work next door to my coffee shop. He'd come in and always say, "Ya need a new pair of shoes, kid." He was right, I did need new shoes. I'd just agree with him, too embarrassed to say I could not afford them. This went on for about a month. Then one day, I come into work and my coworker tells me someone dropped something off for me that morning.
There's 2 boxes sitting in the back for me. In one box is a new pair of shoes. The other box has assorted pastries. There's an eclair in there with special wrapping and a note that says: 'don't share this one.' Well, as it turns out, the filling of that eclair was cash. $500 and another note that said, "Please get rid of those ratty shoes. Keep your head up and pay it forward when you're older." I used that 500 to pay rent that month. We would have been evicted otherwise. And I kept those shoes well into my late 20s.
None Left Behind
I hitchhiked around the country (USA) this past summer. I got out of a 4 day backpacking trip in the Tetons in Wyoming and hitched a ride with a couple who were living in their van. They fed me tons of fresh fruit, and when they dropped me off, I realized I had left my phone in there van! I was devastated. I was alone in the middle of nowhere with no phone. 30 minutes later the same couple pulls up and the woman gets out and hands me my phone. I felt like crying and gave her a huge hug.
They had drove off for about 15 miles and realized I left my phone and drove back to give it to me. Hearts of Gold indeed.
Pay It Forward
Was driving on the highway with my family when the car broke down. A stranger pulled in behind us almost immediately. I was looking at the engine when he pulled up and asked if I needed help. I asked if he could give me a ride into town so I could arrange for a tow (this was pre-cell phones). He suggested we might get the car running again and asked me to get in it and try to start it. After a few minutes of troubleshooting he said he thought it was the fuel pump--a known issue with that particular engine. He said there was a parts store just a few miles up the road that probably had a fuel pump on the shelf. He offered to drive me over to check.
I said even if they had a pump I didn't have the tools to replace it. He said he had a set of tools in his trunk. I looked at the wife, and she said to go ahead (she had an equalizer made by S&W in her purse). So off we went to the parts store. Sure enough, they had one in stock. Back we went to the car, and replaced the pump right there on the side of the road. 45 minutes after the car had died we were headed down the road. I couldn't get the guy to even let us buy him lunch.
Now I pull over and offer to help anytime I see someone sitting in a car by the side of the road.
Real life contains the scariest horrors you could ask for. So aren't we all living in a horror movie, in a way? At least, these people sure freakin' were.
MisterSnowman69 asked: What was a moment in your life that felt like a horror movie scene?
In the words of the legendary Mary Vivian Pierce in the film Pink Flamingos, “Murder merely relieves tension”. I’m sure the following Redditors felt differently.
Nothing scarier than the woods at night.
Went into a real deep woods hike for only the second time in my life.
My gps broke and had to rely on my compass. Got turned around a few times because I couldn't remember the direction I came from, and it was getting dark. Lost the trail way.
But the woods are weirdly silent in the dark and alone.
It was around 2am by the time I found the trailhead.
Darn foxes.
the simpsons react GIFGiphyMy friend and I got lost late on one foggy night in the Italian countryside. There were rats all over and every once in a while we heard someone scream.
I've never been more sure I was about to get murdered than I was that night.
It was probably a red fox that was screaming.
Could've also been a lynx, but they are much rarer in Italy.
At least she wasn’t speaking in tongues.
My mom is quite the sleep talker, but it's usually pretty short and incoherent when it happens. One night as a teenager, I woke up to her scream-yelling the Hail Mary prayer (my bedroom was across the house and upstairs).
Difficult to get back to sleep after that one.
Sometimes scary sh*t ends up just being funny coincidences. Super funny. Right?
Don’t give them any ideas.
I was exploring an abandoned mental asylum and then got the scare of my life when a scary looking person inside one of the rooms was just staring at me without moving. Turns out some joker had left a cardboard cutout there.
And now I have plans this weekend... Just need to find a couple of cardboard cutouts and to break into the local abandoned asylum.
Don’t you hate when that happens?
Evil Dead Horror GIF by Coolidge Corner TheatreGiphyI was driving home on backcountry roads at midnight in heavy fog. Like can't see 10 feet in front of you thick. Suddenly I see an all-white silhouette running in front of the car. Every hair on my body stood up. I immediately think "oh god, oh f*ck, it's a f*cking woman in white, I'm gonna f*cking die"
Nope just a drunk who dove into the ditch.
Gotta love paranoia.
When I was about 12, my parents went out for dinner leaving me home alone. We lived out in the country, on a private road with only three other houses, surrounded by cow fields and wooded areas.
I went into the the kitchen and glanced out the window towards the trees and there in the fading light I could see a person walking slowly through the woods. They were wearing all black, moving slowly and appeared to pause behind trees. My heart started pounding so hard in my ears I couldn't hear anything else and I was weak and shaky from fear. I froze and just watched them. Would they come to the house? Where were they going?
This was before cell phones but I suddenly remembered my mom had left the number of the restaurant by the living room phone. Slowly, I made my way towards the living room, trying to watch this stranger in the woods.
Just as I entered the living room, all the lights in the entire house went out. By this time it was nearly dark outside. I started openly sobbing and in the dark I heard a weird boom like noise. That was it, I ran to my parents room, hid under their bed and sobbed. That's where my mom found me hours later (it felt like).
Well, turns out the stranger in the woods was a stupid cow that had busted through a fence, the lights going out was from an accident a few miles away (hit the power line) and the boom was the pilot light in the gas stove. Man, I have never been that scared in my life though!
I have a lot of questions.
A naked man who was covered in blood chased me across a park at 2 in the morning. I was totally alone. He just wanted money for a bus (????) and luckily nothing bad happened but I thought I was going to die.
But of course, the genuine horrors do exist. And they aren’t scary in a fun horror movie way, they’re actually terrifying because they can happen to anyone.
A scary few seconds.
car chase GIF by Mayans M.C.GiphyI am a "baby" in a car seat in between cousins in backseat. Dad is driving. This is in the 80s and it is my aunt's insistence that I am in this seat even though I am like 5.
A sleeping semi driver is coming over into our lane and there is a cliff on other side. Basically my dad did some amazing driving but semi blew us up. I am uninjured sitting in the seat swinging my legs while everyone is unconscious. They all wake groaning. Dad doesnt wake up.
Long story short just minor scrapes and dad has broken leg. But the crunch of metal and those few seconds/minute of being the only "alive" person was quite fear inducing.
Glad they’re all ok now.
Two days after my now boyfriend told me he liked me he fell from a zip line and broke his back. Almost died. 6 months later he got into a car wreck from a drunk driver - almost died. 6 months after that, he passed out and had to have emergency brain surgery, again, almost died. I now have severe anxiety/separation anxiety/and ptsd. That whole year was a f*cking nightmare
Edit: we're both okay now, the brain injury was almost a year ago. But TBIs take a while to heal so he still has side effects. Thankfully our relationship is still strong; he's physically getting better and I'm healing emotionally too. Lucky for him, the trauma of the injuries has caused him to forget the majority of the pain and memories of those incidents.
ALWAYS wear a helmet.
Driving home from work at 23, listening to my favorite song.
I pull up to a red light, and see this guy on a motorcycle coming up next to me in the other lane. I rolled down my window to compliment his bike when he stops. He doesn't, and runs the red light. He hits a car going at least 55mph. His motorcycle shatters apart, he goes flying, hits the hood of another car, and lands on the ground and rolls into the curb (no helmet). The car he hit with his motorcycle was totaled. I had to step over his body to talk to the police. He was still alive when they got there. I regret not holding his hand. It was just a normal day, and all of a sudden it felt like the rug was pulled from out beneath me. He was only 18.
Edit: The song was Sunny by Boney M., for those curious
What did we learn today, kids? Foxes scream like humans, shadowy figures are usually cows or drunken rednecks, and once again, PLEASE WEAR A HELMET WHEN YOU RIDE ANY KIND OF BIKE.
Scary sh*t surrounds us. But where there is horror, there are heroes. So next time you think you see a scary figure in the woods, know that Bruce Campbell is probably right around the corner
Hypocrisy is everywhere; it's like a disease. And sadly everyone does it. Some of us indulge in smaller doses than others. But some people live their life by it. Like how can you support civil servants, like police, firefighters, etc... yet try to find ways to hide money in order to not pay taxes? Tell me... I'll wait.
Manga...
Hungry Night Court GIF by LaffGiphyItalian moms that say you're too fat then say I'm making grandma cry by not finishing my pasta.
Asian moms too! Not only that if you try to not eat, they make to go containers for you. Oh, sorry I have to leave, RUNS AT LEAST HAVE SOME FRUIT.
Phonies...
Celebrities positioning themselves as champions for social justice while launching a clothing line with no comment on the labor conditions their garments are made in.
Sexy Times...
The Porn Industry
Why is prostitution considered a crime, but it becomes perfectly legal once a camera is put beside them?
I think the first amendment helps with that one. There's been many a supreme-court case about whether porn is protected speech.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...
You can get away with WAY more crap, in general, when you're attractive.
But we all kind of aspire to attractiveness and it's not like it's attractive people's fault, exactly. So what is there to be done?
So true. Money and beauty are treated like virtues and they aren't. They're luck of the draw. It probably helps you to be a better person if people assume that you are gentle and clever just by looking at your face or wallet.
KIDS
GIF by MOODMANGiphyPeople screaming at you if you don't want Kids and Kids are the greatest thing in the World and then turn around and whine how expensive they are and how annoying yadda yadda.
Yeah see... humans are a mess. And too often then not, personal conviction and dignity are just a myth, or a punchline. Double standards have always been a way of life. And many of us have begrudgingly learned to navigate.
Fashion
Fashion Model GIF by NYFW: The ShowsGiphyIf a skinny person wears something out of the ordinary, it's a fashion statement and awesome. It can even just be something like a crop top or overalls.
But God forbid a fat person wear the same thing.
Distractions
The hypocrisy hypocrisy. People love to call it out but rarely notice it on themselves and if they notice it then it's something completely different or a distraction.
That's the worst. I hate that I have to hate that. But if I don't hate it, then the hate will just continue. So, really, my hate comes from my love of an end to hate. So anyone who hates my hate hates love. And we must hate anyone who hates love!
My Morality
My own personal hypocrisy; When I was a lot less well off financially, delivering pizzas trying to get through college, I kept a cup of coins in my car. When a homeless person would approach me for spare change, I gave them the cup. Most of the time it was nearly full, so there was probably 20-30 dollars in there.
Now that I have a good salaried job, even if I've got a few bucks in my wallet, I tend to not even make eye contact anymore. I know it's awful, I know it makes me crappy, but the last 4-5 years have made me a jaded craphead towards people in general. I used to be so hopeful and I wanted to help everyone, and tried to live a life that reflected that.
Now, while my general and political morality is pretty much the same, my personal morality has gotten more grey. I'd jaded, I hate people, I assume the worst of people I used to assume the best of. I don't really care about the strangers around me like I used to, but I still expect everyone else to.
Placing Blame
Victim mentality.
It's so freaking frustrating when it becomes entrenched. "You did this, it's your fault" "you should've known to do x, its your fault" Yeah bro your problems aren't my problems and if all you do is make excuses and blame me for them, it's not going to be my fault when you don't develop as a person and accomplish your dreams. I'm sure they'll find someone to blame though.
In D.C.
Donald Trump Reaction GIF by Election 2016GiphyPoliticians work part time, are given free housing, education, and health care, and exempt from the everyday violence we experience, but refuse to lift a finger to help us.
At this points most people running for a position in the government are only in it for the benefits of being a politician and the amount of money they can embezzle. Well in my country at least.
Just speak a truth and live it. Yes, it maybe hard. But what part of life isn't? Hypocrisy is just lying. Plain and simple. And it's a sin to lie.
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