Sometimes a wholesome experience is just around the corner. All we have to do is let it into our lives.
On April 30, author Mitali Perkins published a tweet, describing the unexpected encounter she had with a random teen. "I was walking alone yesterday when an unsmiling teen on a bike whizzed by," Perkins wrote. "Our eyes met. He circled back, and I couldn't help bracing myself for our encounter. 'Hey, lady,' he said gruffly. 'Five ducklings. Under the culvert ahead.' Then he did a wheelie and sped off."
The tweet instantly blew up (as it should) and already has over 138K likes. But most importantly, it has inspired other Twitter users to share their own pleasant moments with strangers. Below are some of the sweetest ones.
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Perkins said she didn't know what to make of the situation at first. "The teenager seemed angry and there was nobody else around," she told Bored Panda. "We were separated racially and generationally, so I wasn't sure of his intentions. I was on guard, that's for sure." Luckily, everything turned out for the best.
"Encounters with 'strangers and aliens' across borders of culture, age, and power are often moments where I receive God's presence and love," Perkins explained. "These divinely human connections have become a private collection of delight and I go on the hunt for them now."
But what allows us to break the boundaries of our differences? To trust people outside our circle and form meaningful bonds, even if just for a few seconds? Well, one study suggests it's their looks
"We found that attractive subjects gain a 'beauty premium' in that they are trusted at higher rates, but we also found a 'beauty penalty' when attractive people do not live up to expectations," said Rick Wilson, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science and Professor of Psychology and Statistics at Rice University. Wilson is the co-author, with Catherine Eckel, professor of economics at the University of Texas-Dallas, of a study titled 'Judging a Book by Its Cover: Beauty and Expectations in the Trust Game.'
He told her he was concerned for her safety and why he was staying so that she wouldn't be creeps out by him sitting and staring, then he kept his distance and left her alone so she knew he was genuine. Sounds like a great guy.
The researchers took 206 students from Virginia Tech, Rice University, and North Carolina A&T to participate in a two-part experiment to examine trust and attractiveness. In the first part, subjects were photographed and took part in a series of trust games. In the second part, another group of subjects evaluated the photographs for attractiveness. Researchers controlled for gender, race, facial expression, glasses and jewelry so those factors did not enter into the decision.
Each person posed for four photographs — two neutral and two smiling — and then he or she picked one to be used for the game. Each participant was also given 10 'lab dollars' to exchange during the game. Then they were shown photographs of other students and told to send any amount they wanted to each of them. The experimenter then tripled the amount and gave it to the second student. Then the recipient decided how much to return to the sender. Students kept the money that was exchanged.
Aw. She seems shy and that must have been hard to come up to her like that. What a sweet girl!
In the second part of the experiment, another group of students evaluated the photos for 15 traits, including attractiveness. In the trust games, on average, more money was sent to attractive people. Likewise, trusting attractive people was justified because they tended to reciprocate with higher amounts of money.
"Attentiveness to attractiveness may be embedded as part of our cognitive apparatus," Wilson said. "There are evolutionary reasons why humans might be attentive to attractiveness, including that historically it signaled good genes, substantial parental investment or status."
Perkins had been on a solo retreat just before encountering her new friend, Kevin. The author saw him again the next day when she came back to try and find the ducklings. "During those three days in silence, I'd been wondering if my presence on social media was useful in any way to the planet. I came home, met Kevin, and posted the story. And then I was overcome by the string of beautiful stories that people began to share."
Reading the tweets one after the other was really meaningful to Perkins. "There's a story of Jesus interacting with a small boy and a hungry crowd. The child offered five fish and two loaves, and I imagine Jesus taking them with a smile as he began to feed many people. I felt an affirmation of my small contribution of words to the world—that they, too, can be used to bring sustenance in some way even if flawed and simple. Keep writing, Mitali, I heard, even in a sometimes disheartening venue like Twitter. And so I shall," she said.
How fortunate they caught you in time. A friend put diesel into her Honda, years ago, and had to replace the engine.
Oh my goodness I love that. I do this to every person I see walking a dog. But I have a fairly non-threatening appearance and I’m feminine. But dogs are cute to everyone!!
As long as you're not in a rival gang, gang members are often very nice and helpful people.
Racism goes both ways. The only place where a color should matter is when sorting your laundry.
I wash all my colors together and never had a problem. Same as how I judge all people. Color doesn't matter
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Yeah, but they don't see themselves as mean, even if they are neo-nazis, so that sticker means nothing.
Yeah but OP says they "looked like skin heads", we've no way to confirm whether they actually were or not. They may have been perfectly decent people.
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Bumper stickers mean jack. Can't count the number of times I've seen stickers like 'be kind' on cars with drivers that are acting like d***s.
True. I noticed that drivers of cars with a "baby on board" sticker have this strange idea that the sticker gives them the right to ignore each and every traffic rule.
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Hmm. As far as I remember, in Oregon it is against state law to pump your own gas. So this either didn't happen or didn't happen in Oregon.
This law was changed in May 2020. It's legal in some places now to pump your own gas.
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Well Skinheads does not mean Nazi. Originally Skinhead culture was aligned to punk culture and had very strong ties to Raggae and Ska music. Obviously rightwinger and Neonazis have taken up the style of shaved heads. Well..
Demi, you seem to, most frequently, have a negative view of most everything around you... you might find life more enjoyable if you look for the good in others and not assume the worst... or create a negative scenario when there is no evidence of one!
More of this kind of thing please Chief Panda. There is already enough of the Karen/sex war/US bashing/other unpleasantness abounding
I was heading to training for a new job. We were told from the beginning that if we missed a day, we'd be let go. I'm driving on the freeway when suddenly my van starts pouring white smoke. I pull off..turns out a coolant hose burst. A man stopped in his work truck, proceeds to take the hose off, cut it at the break and re-attached it. Then he put some more coolant and water in my van. I offered him money for it. He said "That's ok. You remind me of my daughter and, if she were in trouble, I'd want someone to stop and help her." He was a great influence as I've stopped to help many people with disabled vehicles since then. I'm just sad I never got his name.
So many positive teens!! I was in a burger joint some time ago, and a group of young people were celebrating an 18th birthday. The young man explained to all his friends individually and in the open why exactly he loved them and why they are wonderful people. I got so warm and fuzzy inside :)
I was temping in the City Hall area of New York City when I was hit with a high fever (before Covid). It was 105 by the time I got to my house in NJ. With the fever I got confused and couldn't find the subway. A man asked me if I needed help. He walked me to the subway. There was a woman coming in and he asked her of she was going uptown. She said yes and was informed if my situation. She brought me downstairs and helped me onto the crowded train. She yelled to ask if someone was taking the train to Port Authority. Another woman said yes. She was informed of my situation and helped me off the train onto the transfer. She then asked the crowd if anyone was headed toward my terminal and a man said yes. He was informed of my situation and walked to my bus stop. There was a woman standing there. She was informed of my situation. She helped me onto the bus and sat with me until we reached my stop where my husband was waiting to take me home. New Yorkers are the kindest people on earth
I have two such stories both involving old ladies: 1. You know they say Parisians are rude, right? I was in Paris on a metro train which terminated unexpectedly and the driver announced we all had to leave and board another train on a different platform. I couldn't speak French well enough so was a bit confused until this immaculately dressed old lady (roughly 80 years old) saw me, grabbed me by my hand, walked me to the other platform and made sure I got on the right train. 2. The other one was when I was flying to the US from Rome and was sat next to an elderly Italian lady who, it turned out, was absolutely terrified of flying. She was talking to me all the time in Italian (I don't speak Italian) but I just let her speak as I could tell it gave her a bit of a relief... Just before take off she grabbed my arm with both hands and snuggled up to me so that her head was on my chest. After take off, the flight attendants told me that I was doing a great job looking after my Grandma ;-)
I have one.. when I was pregnant with my son I went trough a difficult time as I was alone and a recovering addict. I quit with everything the moment I knew I was pregnant. Never used again. Well, my son had a habit to be super sleepy in my belly. So every now and then I had to go to the hospital to check is heartbeat. I would sit there for hours and one time I was talking to a nurse about my life and the pregnancy. A few months after I gave birth I went to the hospital and there was this same nurse. Getting exited and telling to her collegue how proud she was of me. Bless this women.
Its latenite and winter,, I had just pulled through my apt gates and came to a sudden stop. My lights had reflected off an black, elderly gentleman laying on the ground in the middle of the road. I stopped my car and ran over to help him up. I noticed he was frail and had a catheter hanging so I called the paramedics. They took him to the hospital because he knocked his head when he fell and was bleeding a lil. The whole time I'm helping this gentleman, a random neighbor had parked in front on my running car(and my driver door was still open) and watched over my car while redirecting traffic around it. 🥰
I've had many, but one of my favorites happened 10+ years ago. I was walking around the block with my son, who was about 4y/o, and was going through a "hugging" phase, where he would basically run towards people and hug them close to their knees (his height). Well, this one day, I spot a teenager, and I get a sick feeling and said 'he's gonna mug me' (four times I've had that feeling, I'd been right), we lock eyes, and my son runs towards him to hug him, and I tell him "L, don't bother him, he might not like that!' in a very neutral and calm voice. As expected, my son ignores me, hugs the teen who proceeds to pick my son up in his arms and smiled at him, then smiled at me and said "lucky your kid is cute", and went on his way. Turns out he *worked* a few blocks from my house, mugging people. We'd pass each other on a regular basis and always stopped to chat.
Whoa... how scary to have been mugged so many times! What city/country was that in?
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In the 1980s, I was travelling around France and Italy, visiting friends studying abroad. In one city, I arrived to find my friend out. A beautiful day, I sat in a local square and played my guitar. Soon, some teenagers came over to me, and asked me (in French) where my money was. I was a bit worried, until one boy took off his cap, and put it on the floor. They thought I was busking! I said I was just playing for fun, and they looked horrified. But then they all sat down around me, and the guitar started passing around, with everyone singing or playing something. Twice, the boy with the cap went round to other people in the square, and it was clear they were being generous. The boy came back and showed the contents to his friend, and they walked off with the money! But after 20 minutes, they came back, with bread, cheese, meat and bottles of water, and we all had a picnic, there in the square.
I worked in Spain as a volunteer and this was an awesome time of my life when I was constantly meeting and making friends with people from everywhere in the world. I had some days off and this sweet guy from Sweden (who was volunteer as well, but from another group) asked me "hey, I'd like to go visit Toledo, are you in ?" I agreed. On our way in the bus we met an American girl and another guy from Ecuador (more precisely he was from the Galapagos). The four of us visited Toledo and spent all that day together, sharing food and taking pictures, then we parted ways in the evening. We never met again but 18 years later I still remember this as a very cheerful moment of friendship.
I love this so much! There are so many stories of how peoples lives are like a thread woven into the tapestry of all the living people. Threads join together for friendship and marriages, end at death, etc. This was a moment where four separate threads knotted together then split off. How beautiful!
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I wonder if people remember nice teens more because they have such low expectations of teenagers. I bet many people are kinder when they are teens before they get jaded.
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I had this big scary teacher who was old, tall, and very scary when he yelled. But he gave all his students letters over the holiday break to drive safe because he did not want to bury another student. And noticed when I was struggling. Mr. Conye if you see this know your acts meant a lot to me I hope you're having a great retirement.
40 yrs ago, staying w/inlaws in chicago while hubby was deployed & i was waiting for base housing to open in california. never been to chicago before. trying to not only keep 4 yr old entertained plus see the city, decided to take bus to go to the zoo.ended up in 'bad' part of city. realizing i had to go back to correct mistake, got off & was waiting for another bus. across street was a guy who was blatantly doing drug deals w/his buddy. they stared at me & my son; i prayed for bus to come quickly. one of them comes over & asks me what i am doing in 'his hood'. told him going to zoo but took wrong bus. he walked back to his buddy; i'm thinking trouble is coming. instead, he comes back over & waits w/me. then, when bus comes he tells me he will get me to the zoo. while on ride he asks were i live. gave him generalize area. he then tells me which busses to take back home when i leave the zoo w/ comment 'make sure you leave zoo before dark because it's not always safe at night on the bus"
When I moved from Miami to Milwaukee in '97 I ended up having to stop for gas in a little mountain town in TN called Slippy Daisy. Just me, the largest U-Haul semi I could rent, 2 cats, and a 90 lb Rottie/Dane mix doggo. It was about 1am and this was the first lit up gas station I'd seen in an hour, so I was grateful to get out, stretch my legs, check on the cats, let the doggo run... As I'm heading to the bathroom a blue beat up truck pulls in and parks on the other side of the pumps. Didn't see who was in it before doggo and I occupied the only bathroom. I'm in there for about 10 minutes, and when I open the door there's a huge First Nations guy standing right outside the door, hand raised to knock. I *eep* and jump back a bit, but before I can say anything he grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug while loudly saying "Hey honey, you got kinda far ahead of me. I'm glad you stopped here, I needed a rest too!" My usually protective Rottie/Dane mix just flopped against him for scritches. 1)
The man then told me he'd been behind me for an hour or so, along with blue truck, and that there had been a spate of women alone getting car jacked along that highway. He led me into the gas station and we had some coffee and chatted until the blue truck left. Whomever was in it never got out, didn't get gas or anything. I saw that blue truck at 2 more stops throughout that night in the mountains, and they never left their vehicle that I saw. The First Nations guy caravaned with me until the IL border. I'm grateful that he did, because who knows what would have happened.
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xmas 2019 I see a woman on a riding cart in the walmart parking lot and assume she can't find her car. I stop to help and she could not find the neighbor's car that she drove with. I went inside to have them page the girl and she was gone. With this lady's purse in her car! So I drove her home to the next town over. When I was stuck once in a dangerous area late at night a nice man stopped and helped me and welded a part for my car right in his van on the side of the road.
Unfortunately, all the bad and mean people have made most of us very suspicious and mistrustful of everyone. Not everyone wants to harm us, some may want to help us, but it's so hard to recognize bad from good :(
It’s lovely to read about ordinary, everyday, common kindness. I am blessed to live where these acts of generosity and goodness are the norm amongst people and are so common that I believe that most people are good, and that mean, nasty people are actually pretty rare. It’s only the mainstream media that gives the impression that the world is mostly a dark and dangerous place because it sadly believes that only bad news is newsworthy.
I was once on a train when a woman with a large case and even larger German Shepherd got on in floods of tears. Turned out she was escaping from an abusive relationship. The train car was full of slightly drunk and loud guys celebrating their football team winning. They quietened down when they saw her and asked if she was ok. When they heard her story they insisted we all have a party to celebrate her new start. Every train stop they’d run out to get more booze and food for the whole carriage, then dive back on the train before it pulled out. They had her laughing and singing football songs within minutes. Reassuring her that no one deserves to be treated badly by their partner and that she was brave and smart for getting out. The whole 4 hour trip was a blast and she left with a smile on her face and hope in her heart for her new life. I’ve never forgotten their kindness and concern and I’m sure she never did either.
When I was in high school I got in trouble for a messy report and was told to stay after school to rewrite it. Almost done and then I realized that I was out of paper and couldn't finish. It was weird 5 hole paper and there was no more of it. Almost in tears when Jeff V., class football god, walks by and hands me a stack of 5 hole paper, and keeps walking. To this day, I cannot figure out how he knew.
I was driving homewards alone after visiting my daughter. I was peckish so was eating a chocolate bar containing peanuts. Of course, one went down the wrong way and I was choking. Not life threatening, but certainly very uncomfortable. I noticed a mobile home ahead that had stopped in a layby for a break, so I pulled in and asked if they could spare a cup of water. Not only did they give me water, but also made a cup of tea for me, before making sure I was OK to continue on my way.
Once I was on the bus after an exhausting day at work. There were many people this lady could have sat next to, but she sat next to me. I had my headphones in, which she could see, and she started talking to me. I took my headphones out and spoke to her the whole journey. I found out she recently lost her dad to cancer, she had no other family and no friends and I could tell she was lonely. Afterwards I thought to myself that just by taking interest in what she had to say, they I made a difference to her day
I needed this. I get chest spasms (not heart-related thank goodness) a lot when I'm cycling, and looking back over the past three years, I can count on one hand with three digits left over the number of fellow cyclists who have stopped to ask if I'm OK as I'm doubled over by the side of the path with my hand pressed to my chest to calm the spasms. So reading these is lovely :) ♥
Oh yea so today I was at a wave pool and I was as close to the wave maker as they would let us be, but I noticed that my sister and her friend were a little bit back so I went to go stand next to them and while I was swim-walking over there I passed a little boy and I heard him say something so I looked at him and said "Do you need help?" (Coz I thought I heard him say help) and he said yes so I picked him up and kept his head above the wave until we got to a shallow enough section and while I was carrying him we passed by two other kids (I assume friends/siblings) and he just looked at them and laughed and said "I got swamped" and it was so cute. (I think he was 6 or 7? And he was in the 5ft deep area)
You did something heroic without realizing it. Apparently, people who are drowning are usually very quiet, rather than waving and shouting for help. This kid may have been in worse trouble than either of you realuzed, and where the hell are his parents or the lifeguards?
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I was in Dallas a few years ago, waiting for my sons train to come in. I was with my sister, we had a little time to kill so we set off, walking and laughing when I tripped and fell. And out of no where, came three large men, one from his car, another ran across a busy intersection and the third just materialized. They asked if I was alright, helped me up and before I could thank them their just disappeared. The worst that came of it was a bruised shoulder, and ego, and the heinous murder of a bottle of Mtn. Dew. But, there are still, good, kind, and thoughtful people out there. And angels unaware. If you are out there and it was you. Thank you.
Travelled NZ almost 20 years ago with a friend. We were walking on a lonely beach looking for penguins. A guy comes up to us and asks „Do you want to see a penguin?“ My friend is all in and follows him - I already see us murdered or raped. He shows us a penguin in the bushes who was shedding feathers, explains about this specific breed and asks us to leave by dusk (which we did) as penguins will not come back to shore from fishing if there are people around. Says bye and leaves. Just like that. I still feel a little bad about my initial thoughts... but hey, you never know.
It's good you were cautious but that's a really cool story :)
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My husband and I were having marriage issues and I was taking the bus from Minnesota to Nevada where my family was. We stopped in Nebraska and I was trying really hard not to cry in front of people in the terminal but was not being very successful. Three men who did not speak English that well came over to see if I was ok, I said yes and thanked them. They sat with me the whole time until our next bus got there. I had to use the restroom, they walked me over and waited outside the ladies room until I came out and escorted me back to our seats. I will never forget their kindness at a very difficult time in my life.
Like ten years ago I was going through a very difficult time in my life and I put on a lot of weight (which made me feel even worse). But I kinda pulled myself together and started to go to the gym for the first time and even though I kinda hated it I tried to go every day. After like three months this very buff dude I've seen there sometimes came up to me and said "I've seen how much work you have put into this, I just wanted to say that you look great!". Made my day and gave me the energy to keep on going.
We need to read stuff like this .the past four years madness became the norm . we are relearning to be nice
I was once escorting a very frail elder lady to a restaurant, she was using a walker and I was supporting her balance. A young man whizzed down the street on a skateboard in our direction, and he was a tough-looking m**o, covered with tattoos and wearing gang colors. When he got about 20 feet away, he stopped the skateboard and walked politely past us and nodded politely. He wasn't going to take any chances of hitting her, or even of startling her!
80% of these read as “woman who thought she was about to assaulted wasn’t assaulted!”
More of this kind of thing please Chief Panda. There is already enough of the Karen/sex war/US bashing/other unpleasantness abounding
I was heading to training for a new job. We were told from the beginning that if we missed a day, we'd be let go. I'm driving on the freeway when suddenly my van starts pouring white smoke. I pull off..turns out a coolant hose burst. A man stopped in his work truck, proceeds to take the hose off, cut it at the break and re-attached it. Then he put some more coolant and water in my van. I offered him money for it. He said "That's ok. You remind me of my daughter and, if she were in trouble, I'd want someone to stop and help her." He was a great influence as I've stopped to help many people with disabled vehicles since then. I'm just sad I never got his name.
So many positive teens!! I was in a burger joint some time ago, and a group of young people were celebrating an 18th birthday. The young man explained to all his friends individually and in the open why exactly he loved them and why they are wonderful people. I got so warm and fuzzy inside :)
I was temping in the City Hall area of New York City when I was hit with a high fever (before Covid). It was 105 by the time I got to my house in NJ. With the fever I got confused and couldn't find the subway. A man asked me if I needed help. He walked me to the subway. There was a woman coming in and he asked her of she was going uptown. She said yes and was informed if my situation. She brought me downstairs and helped me onto the crowded train. She yelled to ask if someone was taking the train to Port Authority. Another woman said yes. She was informed of my situation and helped me off the train onto the transfer. She then asked the crowd if anyone was headed toward my terminal and a man said yes. He was informed of my situation and walked to my bus stop. There was a woman standing there. She was informed of my situation. She helped me onto the bus and sat with me until we reached my stop where my husband was waiting to take me home. New Yorkers are the kindest people on earth
I have two such stories both involving old ladies: 1. You know they say Parisians are rude, right? I was in Paris on a metro train which terminated unexpectedly and the driver announced we all had to leave and board another train on a different platform. I couldn't speak French well enough so was a bit confused until this immaculately dressed old lady (roughly 80 years old) saw me, grabbed me by my hand, walked me to the other platform and made sure I got on the right train. 2. The other one was when I was flying to the US from Rome and was sat next to an elderly Italian lady who, it turned out, was absolutely terrified of flying. She was talking to me all the time in Italian (I don't speak Italian) but I just let her speak as I could tell it gave her a bit of a relief... Just before take off she grabbed my arm with both hands and snuggled up to me so that her head was on my chest. After take off, the flight attendants told me that I was doing a great job looking after my Grandma ;-)
I have one.. when I was pregnant with my son I went trough a difficult time as I was alone and a recovering addict. I quit with everything the moment I knew I was pregnant. Never used again. Well, my son had a habit to be super sleepy in my belly. So every now and then I had to go to the hospital to check is heartbeat. I would sit there for hours and one time I was talking to a nurse about my life and the pregnancy. A few months after I gave birth I went to the hospital and there was this same nurse. Getting exited and telling to her collegue how proud she was of me. Bless this women.
Its latenite and winter,, I had just pulled through my apt gates and came to a sudden stop. My lights had reflected off an black, elderly gentleman laying on the ground in the middle of the road. I stopped my car and ran over to help him up. I noticed he was frail and had a catheter hanging so I called the paramedics. They took him to the hospital because he knocked his head when he fell and was bleeding a lil. The whole time I'm helping this gentleman, a random neighbor had parked in front on my running car(and my driver door was still open) and watched over my car while redirecting traffic around it. 🥰
I've had many, but one of my favorites happened 10+ years ago. I was walking around the block with my son, who was about 4y/o, and was going through a "hugging" phase, where he would basically run towards people and hug them close to their knees (his height). Well, this one day, I spot a teenager, and I get a sick feeling and said 'he's gonna mug me' (four times I've had that feeling, I'd been right), we lock eyes, and my son runs towards him to hug him, and I tell him "L, don't bother him, he might not like that!' in a very neutral and calm voice. As expected, my son ignores me, hugs the teen who proceeds to pick my son up in his arms and smiled at him, then smiled at me and said "lucky your kid is cute", and went on his way. Turns out he *worked* a few blocks from my house, mugging people. We'd pass each other on a regular basis and always stopped to chat.
Whoa... how scary to have been mugged so many times! What city/country was that in?
Load More Replies... In the 1980s, I was travelling around France and Italy, visiting friends studying abroad. In one city, I arrived to find my friend out. A beautiful day, I sat in a local square and played my guitar. Soon, some teenagers came over to me, and asked me (in French) where my money was. I was a bit worried, until one boy took off his cap, and put it on the floor. They thought I was busking! I said I was just playing for fun, and they looked horrified. But then they all sat down around me, and the guitar started passing around, with everyone singing or playing something. Twice, the boy with the cap went round to other people in the square, and it was clear they were being generous. The boy came back and showed the contents to his friend, and they walked off with the money! But after 20 minutes, they came back, with bread, cheese, meat and bottles of water, and we all had a picnic, there in the square.
I worked in Spain as a volunteer and this was an awesome time of my life when I was constantly meeting and making friends with people from everywhere in the world. I had some days off and this sweet guy from Sweden (who was volunteer as well, but from another group) asked me "hey, I'd like to go visit Toledo, are you in ?" I agreed. On our way in the bus we met an American girl and another guy from Ecuador (more precisely he was from the Galapagos). The four of us visited Toledo and spent all that day together, sharing food and taking pictures, then we parted ways in the evening. We never met again but 18 years later I still remember this as a very cheerful moment of friendship.
I love this so much! There are so many stories of how peoples lives are like a thread woven into the tapestry of all the living people. Threads join together for friendship and marriages, end at death, etc. This was a moment where four separate threads knotted together then split off. How beautiful!
Load More Replies... I wonder if people remember nice teens more because they have such low expectations of teenagers. I bet many people are kinder when they are teens before they get jaded.
Load More Replies... I had this big scary teacher who was old, tall, and very scary when he yelled. But he gave all his students letters over the holiday break to drive safe because he did not want to bury another student. And noticed when I was struggling. Mr. Conye if you see this know your acts meant a lot to me I hope you're having a great retirement.
40 yrs ago, staying w/inlaws in chicago while hubby was deployed & i was waiting for base housing to open in california. never been to chicago before. trying to not only keep 4 yr old entertained plus see the city, decided to take bus to go to the zoo.ended up in 'bad' part of city. realizing i had to go back to correct mistake, got off & was waiting for another bus. across street was a guy who was blatantly doing drug deals w/his buddy. they stared at me & my son; i prayed for bus to come quickly. one of them comes over & asks me what i am doing in 'his hood'. told him going to zoo but took wrong bus. he walked back to his buddy; i'm thinking trouble is coming. instead, he comes back over & waits w/me. then, when bus comes he tells me he will get me to the zoo. while on ride he asks were i live. gave him generalize area. he then tells me which busses to take back home when i leave the zoo w/ comment 'make sure you leave zoo before dark because it's not always safe at night on the bus"
When I moved from Miami to Milwaukee in '97 I ended up having to stop for gas in a little mountain town in TN called Slippy Daisy. Just me, the largest U-Haul semi I could rent, 2 cats, and a 90 lb Rottie/Dane mix doggo. It was about 1am and this was the first lit up gas station I'd seen in an hour, so I was grateful to get out, stretch my legs, check on the cats, let the doggo run... As I'm heading to the bathroom a blue beat up truck pulls in and parks on the other side of the pumps. Didn't see who was in it before doggo and I occupied the only bathroom. I'm in there for about 10 minutes, and when I open the door there's a huge First Nations guy standing right outside the door, hand raised to knock. I *eep* and jump back a bit, but before I can say anything he grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug while loudly saying "Hey honey, you got kinda far ahead of me. I'm glad you stopped here, I needed a rest too!" My usually protective Rottie/Dane mix just flopped against him for scritches. 1)
The man then told me he'd been behind me for an hour or so, along with blue truck, and that there had been a spate of women alone getting car jacked along that highway. He led me into the gas station and we had some coffee and chatted until the blue truck left. Whomever was in it never got out, didn't get gas or anything. I saw that blue truck at 2 more stops throughout that night in the mountains, and they never left their vehicle that I saw. The First Nations guy caravaned with me until the IL border. I'm grateful that he did, because who knows what would have happened.
Load More Replies... xmas 2019 I see a woman on a riding cart in the walmart parking lot and assume she can't find her car. I stop to help and she could not find the neighbor's car that she drove with. I went inside to have them page the girl and she was gone. With this lady's purse in her car! So I drove her home to the next town over. When I was stuck once in a dangerous area late at night a nice man stopped and helped me and welded a part for my car right in his van on the side of the road.
Unfortunately, all the bad and mean people have made most of us very suspicious and mistrustful of everyone. Not everyone wants to harm us, some may want to help us, but it's so hard to recognize bad from good :(
It’s lovely to read about ordinary, everyday, common kindness. I am blessed to live where these acts of generosity and goodness are the norm amongst people and are so common that I believe that most people are good, and that mean, nasty people are actually pretty rare. It’s only the mainstream media that gives the impression that the world is mostly a dark and dangerous place because it sadly believes that only bad news is newsworthy.
I was once on a train when a woman with a large case and even larger German Shepherd got on in floods of tears. Turned out she was escaping from an abusive relationship. The train car was full of slightly drunk and loud guys celebrating their football team winning. They quietened down when they saw her and asked if she was ok. When they heard her story they insisted we all have a party to celebrate her new start. Every train stop they’d run out to get more booze and food for the whole carriage, then dive back on the train before it pulled out. They had her laughing and singing football songs within minutes. Reassuring her that no one deserves to be treated badly by their partner and that she was brave and smart for getting out. The whole 4 hour trip was a blast and she left with a smile on her face and hope in her heart for her new life. I’ve never forgotten their kindness and concern and I’m sure she never did either.
When I was in high school I got in trouble for a messy report and was told to stay after school to rewrite it. Almost done and then I realized that I was out of paper and couldn't finish. It was weird 5 hole paper and there was no more of it. Almost in tears when Jeff V., class football god, walks by and hands me a stack of 5 hole paper, and keeps walking. To this day, I cannot figure out how he knew.
I was driving homewards alone after visiting my daughter. I was peckish so was eating a chocolate bar containing peanuts. Of course, one went down the wrong way and I was choking. Not life threatening, but certainly very uncomfortable. I noticed a mobile home ahead that had stopped in a layby for a break, so I pulled in and asked if they could spare a cup of water. Not only did they give me water, but also made a cup of tea for me, before making sure I was OK to continue on my way.
Once I was on the bus after an exhausting day at work. There were many people this lady could have sat next to, but she sat next to me. I had my headphones in, which she could see, and she started talking to me. I took my headphones out and spoke to her the whole journey. I found out she recently lost her dad to cancer, she had no other family and no friends and I could tell she was lonely. Afterwards I thought to myself that just by taking interest in what she had to say, they I made a difference to her day
I needed this. I get chest spasms (not heart-related thank goodness) a lot when I'm cycling, and looking back over the past three years, I can count on one hand with three digits left over the number of fellow cyclists who have stopped to ask if I'm OK as I'm doubled over by the side of the path with my hand pressed to my chest to calm the spasms. So reading these is lovely :) ♥
Oh yea so today I was at a wave pool and I was as close to the wave maker as they would let us be, but I noticed that my sister and her friend were a little bit back so I went to go stand next to them and while I was swim-walking over there I passed a little boy and I heard him say something so I looked at him and said "Do you need help?" (Coz I thought I heard him say help) and he said yes so I picked him up and kept his head above the wave until we got to a shallow enough section and while I was carrying him we passed by two other kids (I assume friends/siblings) and he just looked at them and laughed and said "I got swamped" and it was so cute. (I think he was 6 or 7? And he was in the 5ft deep area)
You did something heroic without realizing it. Apparently, people who are drowning are usually very quiet, rather than waving and shouting for help. This kid may have been in worse trouble than either of you realuzed, and where the hell are his parents or the lifeguards?
Load More Replies... I was in Dallas a few years ago, waiting for my sons train to come in. I was with my sister, we had a little time to kill so we set off, walking and laughing when I tripped and fell. And out of no where, came three large men, one from his car, another ran across a busy intersection and the third just materialized. They asked if I was alright, helped me up and before I could thank them their just disappeared. The worst that came of it was a bruised shoulder, and ego, and the heinous murder of a bottle of Mtn. Dew. But, there are still, good, kind, and thoughtful people out there. And angels unaware. If you are out there and it was you. Thank you.
Travelled NZ almost 20 years ago with a friend. We were walking on a lonely beach looking for penguins. A guy comes up to us and asks „Do you want to see a penguin?“ My friend is all in and follows him - I already see us murdered or raped. He shows us a penguin in the bushes who was shedding feathers, explains about this specific breed and asks us to leave by dusk (which we did) as penguins will not come back to shore from fishing if there are people around. Says bye and leaves. Just like that. I still feel a little bad about my initial thoughts... but hey, you never know.
It's good you were cautious but that's a really cool story :)
Load More Replies... My husband and I were having marriage issues and I was taking the bus from Minnesota to Nevada where my family was. We stopped in Nebraska and I was trying really hard not to cry in front of people in the terminal but was not being very successful. Three men who did not speak English that well came over to see if I was ok, I said yes and thanked them. They sat with me the whole time until our next bus got there. I had to use the restroom, they walked me over and waited outside the ladies room until I came out and escorted me back to our seats. I will never forget their kindness at a very difficult time in my life.
Like ten years ago I was going through a very difficult time in my life and I put on a lot of weight (which made me feel even worse). But I kinda pulled myself together and started to go to the gym for the first time and even though I kinda hated it I tried to go every day. After like three months this very buff dude I've seen there sometimes came up to me and said "I've seen how much work you have put into this, I just wanted to say that you look great!". Made my day and gave me the energy to keep on going.
We need to read stuff like this .the past four years madness became the norm . we are relearning to be nice
I was once escorting a very frail elder lady to a restaurant, she was using a walker and I was supporting her balance. A young man whizzed down the street on a skateboard in our direction, and he was a tough-looking m**o, covered with tattoos and wearing gang colors. When he got about 20 feet away, he stopped the skateboard and walked politely past us and nodded politely. He wasn't going to take any chances of hitting her, or even of startling her!
80% of these read as “woman who thought she was about to assaulted wasn’t assaulted!”
