Regular People Share "Acts Of Kindness" They Will Remember For The Rest Of Their Lives
On the always discussion-filled subreddit r/AskReddit. Reddit users discussed random acts of kindness that have stuck with people their entire lives:
1."I had a horrible migraine and ran out of meds. I called the pharmacy to request a refill and explained my situation, saying I'd be there immediately. When I got there to pick it up, they had it ready, and as I was paying, I was fighting back tears from the pain. Without asking, the pharmacist got me a glass of water to take a pill immediately. It was a small gesture, but I'll never forget it."
2."I was visiting Austria with some family, and my uncle's car just randomly decided to explode internally (antifreeze spilled everywhere, and the parking lot was stained even 5 hours later). Then a family friend, who I had never even heard of, drove from the Slovak-Hungarian border to Vienna, towed the broken down car and us to Bratislava, where my uncle lives, took the car to a mechanic, took us back to our flat and just continued his day like it was nothing."
3."I was driving home from a job interview. I had been out of work for several months due to Hurricane Florence hitting my area badly. I drove an old, beat-up car. While stopped at a stop light, I thought the person in front of me was going as soon as the light turned green, but they didn't, and I rear-ended them. We both pulled over, and she looked at the scratch on her very nice car and said she wasn't worried about filing any insurance claims or having me pay to fix it. Instead, she said she wanted a hug. I was at a very low point, and it was a hug I needed. She could probably tell I couldn't afford to fix the scratch, and her kindness meant a lot to me. I think about that all the time."
4."A stranger paid for my groceries when my card got declined. Made my week."
5."My friend came over without me having to ask after my divorce. She brought gifts for me and her dogs to play with my very sad and scared dog to cheer us both up. I'll remember it forever."
6."About 14 years ago, I was young and poor, and my dog was sick. I spent almost all of my money for the week at the vet, who recommended I feed her chicken and rice until she recovered. I went to buy the supplies but came up with $2 short. I ran to my car to try to scrape up any change I could find, and when I came back, someone had paid for my groceries and left a note that said, 'Merry Christmas!'"
7."I got in line at the grocery store, and the woman in front of me had the same type of ice cream that I did, and we chatted a little. When she was almost rung up, she told the cashier to ring my ice cream on her tab for my birthday. That was the first birthday gift I had received in over five years. I went out, sat in my truck, and cried. That was the best ice cream I ever had."
8."It could never happen today, but in high school (during my senior year), I had trouble completing a major writing assignment. Our school required a thesis project to graduate. My home life was garbage, and I was a teenage mom. My son was born before I started high school. One of the teachers asked my parents if I could stay with him and his wife for a few days to finish the paper. They said yes, and I did. I would not have graduated otherwise."
9."Took the kids for a walk on the beach in early spring. I was cold, tired, and hungry with two misbehaving kids, generally having a bad day. I was trying to rinse sand off the shoes of my youngest, and she grabbed the faucet and sprayed me enough to get my clothes soaked through. It was an accident, but it was the kind of accident kids have when being bratty. When the cold water hit me, I was just about to lose it, and an old guy sitting on a bench waved at me and gestured at me to play up a smile. So instead of losing it, I laughed it off and told my kids, 'I'm sure you didn't mean to do that, but it was kind of funny,' and then made a bunch of jokes and took the kids for hot chocolate. I always prided myself on not losing control or making my kids feel bad. A kind stranger helped me be a good mom that day."
10."It was my sister's graduation, and we ate at this fancy restaurant in Los Angeles. About seven of us were there, and once we were ready to pay, our waiter told us there was no need. He said that some man sitting alone across from us had already taken care of it. He left before we checked out, but I will never forget that man."
11."For context, the place I work has kiosks where you scan your food or drink and then scan your ID badge, and you pay for it through deductions from your paycheck. In my second or third week, I couldn't figure out the kiosk, and this older woman behind me said, 'Here baby, lemme show you.' She proceeded to scan her ID and then said, 'Enjoy.' I was dumbfounded for a second, but then thanked her and continued my day. At the time, I was struggling with social anxiety and self-esteem and was still very nervous, given that it was my first real job outside of college and that one woman made me feel so welcome. I still work at this job four years later and hate it, but that is a memory I'll never forget here."
12."When I was 15, I was in a deep funk for a week or two, and I sat on a park bench to cry. One girl, a total stranger, stopped to sit next to me and ask if I was okay. She listened to me vent and promised me that things would soon get better, even if it were just a little bit, and it really helped. Leah, if you're out there, thank you again!"
13."I got in a pretty bad accident on the Golden Gate Bridge and was incredibly panicked/having an anxiety attack. A mother and her young daughter walking by stopped and helped calm me down and comforted me until the dust settled. It meant a lot. I was all alone and a long way from home."
14."A guy in high school gave me lunch money. I still remember 40 years later."
15."I was hospitalized in a foreign country on a business trip and didn't speak the language. My coworkers' friends provided all the Harry Potter audiobooks for me to listen to (they were in English) and bought me all the English language newspapers they could find, and one or other of them came over almost every day to take me for a walk outside (without all the greedy malpractice attorneys, they let you walk outside on the hospital grounds even with an IV pole!). I was hospitalized for nearly a MONTH. I barely knew them. It was such a generous thing to do."
16."I work at a grocery store. I used to get scheduled out in the parking lot sometimes. One day, we were short-staffed (which was not unusual, unfortunately). I'm pretty sure I was the only one out working when a customer told me the one in the back of the lot was getting bad. I didn't really want to deal with it, but if I didn't, it would just get worse, so I went back there, and sure enough, carts were overflowing out of the corral and all over the parking lot, making it hard for cars to get by. I started trying to get it organized when these two ladies came over and started helping me. They stayed with me until we had every cart in that corral in nice, neat lines. I know it would have taken forever if I'd done it alone. I probably thanked them like a dozen times. Most people would have just added their carts to the mess and left. They did not need to stick around, but I'm so grateful they did."
17."In the early mid-'90s, my girlfriend and I hitchhiked from Sarasota, FL, to Santa Cruz, CA. We got a ride from a trucker on I-10 through Louisiana, Texas, and Arizona...We got to Phoenix, and it happened to be my birthday. He took us out for a nice dinner, then got us a hotel room for the night. He knocked on the room door about an hour later, and he had a cake and a six-pack for us, which we all shared before hitting the sack. He took us to Barstow before he dropped us off. I will never forget that birthday as long as I live."
18."I went through a period of my eyes swelling almost closed, and the film over the whites even swelled up, so it looked like my eyeballs were starting to pop out. The first time it happened was after crying a lot from a breakup (but it happened plenty after, at random, nothing to do with crying), and it freaked me out so much that I got a cab to Urgent Care. The taxi driver asked if I was OK, seeing as I was going to the hospital, so I told him about my eyes. He asked why I'd been crying, so I told him that, too. When it was time to pay, he said, 'This one's on me. You've had a tough day. If my daughter had such a bad day, I hope someone would be kind to her.' Needless to say, I cried some more."
19."I took a class last semester, and I answered some questions near the end of the course on the questions discussion form. Trust me, I didn't answer that many, but my gem of a professor randomly sends me an email thanking me for helping out and tells me that he's open to writing me a letter of recommendation when applying for a job. His kindness made me speechless (remember that this course has 700+ students). It doesn't end there. During the final exam, he randomly comes up to me, gives me a plushie of a bacterium (a micro course), writes a note saying thank you, and tells me he hopes it brings me good luck. And now I'm tearing up as I'm writing this. I'll never forget this, and I'm so grateful I had him as a prof. He made lectures so incredible, made me so interested in microbial, and was so inspiring. Kindness is so beautiful and can make someone's week so much sweeter."
20."My car broke down (fuel line burst) in the middle of nowhere on an unpaved road in the desert of southern Utah. A mechanic and his helper happened by, taped up my fuel line, gave me gas, and refused any payment. It was like a miracle, and I will never forget them."
21."I was having a really rough day at work when a lady complimented my work and was really nice to me. It completely changed my day."
22."When my brother died, it was going to take us a couple of hours to get to my mother's place, so the police officer stayed with her the entire time until we arrived."
23."When you join the army, you are sent to a MEPS station for processing. I went to Louisville and was met by a huge sergeant. I was very young and terrified about the decision that I had made. A three-year commitment to the US Army. This man was so concerned about me that he took me to lunch in his car and, after discussion, removed one year of my army commitment down to two years. That may not sound like much, but that is unheard of in the United States military. The guy saw something in me, and I turned out to be a good soldier, and the army put me through college. I’ll never forget him. I wish I could see him and thank him."
24.And finally, "The one person in town that actually used a turn signal. Thank you, whoever you are."
Have you ever experienced a simple act of kindness that has stuck with you for years? Comment below and share your story!
