Mumsnet Talk

The lovely AA man who helped us when our fully laden car blew it's head gasket halfway to to Cornwall at the start of our holiday. He drove us to the campsite, stopping frequently for toilet breaks, letting the(3) kids choose the radio station, singing along with them and generally keeping them entertained. he then dropped me and the children at the campsite, helped DH unpack the car, drove him to a garage he used himself, negotiated a fab rate for the repair, and then brought DH back to the campsite. Turned a disaster into a story to dine out on. He mentioned during the drive what his wages were - I was amazed to find out what low pay he was on, he deserved treble, at least! i tried to trace him after the holiday was over - they are not allowed to accept tips etc, but thought would send a pressie for his almost 2-year old DS, but with only his first name was unable to do so.
So Paul, if you're out there with a son who must be almost 12 by now, thanks again!
Actually have to say have never met an AA man who didn't go beyond the call of duty, don't know where they find all their lovely blokes....

Was on the train home with DD1 & a friend with her DC`s, carriage where we got on was packed so friend & all DC`s went down train 2 carriages where there were plenty of seats & sent her DD up to tell me to go down.
I started to say that I`ll stop where I was with my case when a lovely lady said she would watch my case for me so I could go sit with all of them without lugging bulky, heavy case down the train
Then, as we were getting off the train, lovely lady was getting off at the same station & offered to help as I had bags aswell as I had left my DD with friend further up the train with all her luggage aswell
She was truly lovely & I hope she see`s this!

Thank you Denman

The cashier in a now defunct tea shop in Edinburgh, I was going through a bad break up and was completely and utterly skint. I'd taken my last tenner out of the cash point and gone to sit down with a pot of tea for one - all I could afford. Got to the till and realised I'd left the tenner in the cash machine. She gave me the tea for free an a biscuit. Bless her.

DH and I were driving up to the M6 Toll once and it was carnage, traffic everywhere. We let someone in front of us who needed to change lanes, and when we got to the man in the toll booth he told us that the guy in front had paid our toll for us! Just for letting him in our lane!

To the current team of Doctors, CAMHS, MAT, School Nurse, Anger Management, EWO and Year Head for their immeasurable support for my DS........ And myself. The last 6 months have been harder than I could ever have imagined.
It is a long way from being over, and he has a lot to over come but the safety net that is in place for my troubled son makes me feel both humble and more appreciative than words can express.

And to a friend who would brush off his contribution, but I hope knows that nevertheless, is also beyond simple thanks. And for so, so much more. xx

Twinkles... thank you x

The sweet woman who gave me 50 pence or something in Tesco, when I didn't have quite enough for my shop, and for some reason had to pay in cash - maybe I had cancelled my cards or something as I had lost them.

To the Eurostar lady who rescued my husband when he was stranded for days in snow on the continent with only the clothes he stood up in. Having slept twice overnight in the airport in Switzerland to be told still no flights he was at his wits end. I decided to join a long call waiting queue for Eurostar on his behalf as he was running out of battery at his end.

After I got through the lady waited v patiently whilst I tried to track him down on the other line. Then she let me relay his card number over the phone so he'd be able to slot his card in the machine at Gare du Nord. She literally managed to get him the last seat on the Eurostar leaving Paris that night and it was First class. Rather than make me pay the £400 she upgraded him! What a star. He made it with 5 mins to spare and no more trains ran for three days. He said he'd never been happier to jump on a train.

The lovely ?African man who helped me carry DD in her pushchair down 80+ steps at Oval tube station a couple of months back, when the escalators were out of order.

I guess it's fairly unlikely he's a MNer, but if anybody reading heard this tale from a DH/brother/son/uncle/friend, tell him thanks again from me - what a hero!

Yay! I have such a nice one!

Some years ago, we were preparing for our first Christmas in the house, and having moved a little way out of town, and not yet passed my driving test, I was making my way home through rain and sleet on my bicycle, absolutely loaded to the gunnels with bags and panniers, and weighed down by a heavy backpack, all filled with Chrismas stuff. One last purchase remained, the Christmas tree. I had bungy cords at the ready as I turned into a roadside Christmas tree market stall to buy a nice 6 ft tree. Honestly, in the days before the car, I was so totally optimistic and can-do it was quite awesome.

Having made my purchase, I proceeded to try strapping the tree to my bike frame (I wouldn't have ridden the bike home, just used it as a packing mule). Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder. There was a man looking at me with incredulity and amusement (and, looking a tiny bit impressed, I'd like to think).

The long and short of it was that, having stated that he was concerned for my safety and comfort, he enquired as to where I was planning to deliver my tree and stuff, and offered to take it home for me. He produced his card, stating that he was a paediatric consultant at our local hospital, and would be easy to trace if it didn't arrive. He filled his car and took my address and was waiting outside for me when I arrived home quite some time later, as I'd still had to ride my bike.

Years later, when I was in labour with DD, at said hospital, I mentioned this story to the midwives, who went all "oooowww", and did agree that this man really is the nicest of people and does this kind of thing all the time. Top bloke!

love these threads. always make me teary!
i was travelling with DS then age3 on the train to london. it was about a 3hr journey and after a couple of hours DS was having a bit of a meltdown. a woman from the next table come over and said to DS he was such a good boy travelling all this way and did he want to play snap with the pack of cards she and her husband had been using. Of course DS was made up! She sat with us for the rest of the journey (at least an hour) playing snap!
She was so lovely - she said she had a grandson the same age that she doesn't get to see very often. I couldn't thank her enough!

Biker monkey bedtime - sniff!

Thank you, lovely lady on the bus, for offering to help when DS threw his biggest tantrum ever. You said you are a granny, and that I made you think of your daughter in law. She's lucky to have you.

Thank you, postman, for being ridiculously cheerful and smiley and always waving to me etc despite the fact that we live up three flights of stairs and get parcels sent almost daily. DS loves you, he thinks postmen really are just like postman Pat because of you

Thank you, wonderful nursery staff. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you tall Dutch random man who I shagged twenty years ago. You made me smile for over a decade.

Thank you David Lodge for writing your wonderful novels and keeping me entertained through the ups and downs of my life.

A few years ago, my dad was rushed to hospital, 50 miles from where I live. I was just heading into the train station to jump on the first train that would take me to him. A man appeared out of nowhere and asked if I was going to Glasgow. When I said yes, he said he had a spare train ticket he wouldn't need and he would be very pleased if I would take it as it would save me standing in the ticket queue. There was no reason whatsoever why he should have picked me out of the dozens of people around but he lightened my load that day and made me weep a little for his completely random act of kindness.

My MIL. She has been nothing but welcoming to me since I met her son 18 years ago. She loves her DGC, will do anything to help out but doesn't interfere. She and FIL come to stay to help us out when our CM is on holiday. She is a joy and a treasure, and, we found out on Friday, she has breast cancer. Whatever you want, MIL, you can have. I will do anything to make this easier for you and hope and pray that we're one of the lucky ones when we get your prognosis.

Thanks to the lovely lady in the IKEA car park who helped me get all my boxes into the car a couple of weeks ago. I had DS2 with me and had totally underestimated the size/weight of the boxes compared to the size of our boot! She'd seen me come down in the lift with DS2 in the sling and volunteered to help me, I didn't need to ask. She was definitely over 60 and very petite so I felt bad that she was lugging my boxes around but without her I'd still be in that car park!

To the South West Trains employee who picked me up when I went flying running for a train at 33 wks pregnant, radioed another platform to hold a train for me, walked me to said train on another platform, put me in 1st class, told the guard what had happened (who then came and checked on me when train got going).

Thanks to the mum with her 19 yo daughter who sympathised with me when my DD was having a tantrum in the middle of a Surrey department store yesterday afternoon. I did give in eventually and pick her up as not everyone is as understanding as you and I was worried she would get stepped on! She did get over it and a few minutes later was chasing pigeons around the market...

Beginnings I know! Very kind of them though, not even accepting petrol money.

The little boy then had an ambition to be a biker when he grew up "so I can take all the lost toys home".

So many lovely acts of kindness on this thread.

A lovely man today said to me 'congratulations on having such a beautiful daughter and she looks like you' as I was struggling to get my 3 year old to hurry up home from the rain and moaning - I think he could tell I was not having the best of days and it brought a smile to my face.

MiddleAge those bikers were lovely, but let me also assure you, as the daughter of a biker, they were delighted at the excuse for a hundred mile spin!

Getgoing...dont feel bad..people react strangely when they are stressed. Im sure they will think diffently later. Reminds of when I was walking home from work and a small child went to run into the road (the mum was about 6 feet behind me) and I instinctively grabbed her by her coat hood and pulled her out of danger...her mum just glared at me and not a word of thanks!

chicheroine - thank you. im ok now, though a bit worried about sleeping tonight. dh brought home chocolate for me that defo helped!

A few strangers have been really kind to me in the past. It is lovely when you are feeling rotten and someone steps in to cheer you up.

I was kind to someone this week - a stranger. Unfortunately, they were feeling a bit messed up and it was misinterpreted, so this thread is making me a bit glum

InLoveWithDavidTennant - sorry to hear that; hope you're OK. Sending you a massive, un-mumsnetty HUG and XOXO.