Random Act of Kindness - to balance all the ranty threads, tell me of a random act of kindness that you have never forgotten.

I had just finished a 24 hour shift at a hostel and it was pouring with rain- I knew I did not have enough money for a taxi home, but was so shattered could not wait for bus- told the taxi driver how much money I had and could he stop when the meter was at that and I would walk the rest of the way. When the meter read that amount he turned it off and and drove me all the way home. Saved me a 10 minute walk in the rain.

A friend and I were on holiday in Dublin when we were 21, we were short of cash so took left over bread rolls from breakfast. An Australian man saw us and bought us a meal that night! He had daughters our age and said he hoped someone would do the same for us

Both wedding related:

1. The taxi back to the hotel for our first night was the one thing I hadn't bothered to organise (we got married in central London). Friends flagged down a black cab, and without our knowledge covered it in balloons and stuff. He must have been held up for half an hour while I made dramatic, drunken goodbyes. We got to the hotel (a £10 fare - after all that time waiting!) and he wouldn't accept a penny.

2. Morning of my wedding, had an Ocado delivery to feed the hoards getting ready at ours before the 2.30pm wedding. They didn't bring the bread. I said - Oh no - it's for the salmon! And the guy went away, went to the local sainsbury's and came back with a loaf for us. And wouldn't accept payment. Amazing.

An act of kindness from my dad that always makes me feel lovely:

I worked in an amusement arcade and had a 'lovely' uniform. Knee length polyester skirt and polyester blouse, tights and court shoes.

Whilst I was on a full day shift at work (no windows) it started to snow. Didn't realise how much it was snowing till my dad arrived 5 minutes before I was due to finish. He'd brought me some trousers and wellys coat hat gloves scarf so he could walk me home. All the buses had been stopped and the roads were too dangerous to drive on. I was a very lucky daughter that night!

kellamity With actual people (rather than Telegraph bogeymen) he really was just incredibly generous. With time, advice, money, everything. Drove my mother mad

I was on my way to an exam in a town a couple of hundred miles from home. I'd stayed there the night before, and in the morning headed out for the exam centre, only to end up hopelessly lost.

The rising panic as time ticked by only made things worse and I drove into an MFI car park to see if someone could give me directions, forgetting that it was only 8am and nothing was open. I sat there in tears, no idea where I was let alone where I was going, when a member of staff arrived for work, came over to my car, listened to my tale of woe, ran off to the store and then came back saying she'd told them she was going to be late, and told me to follow her.

She drove ahead of me all the way to the exam centre, by some miracle getting me there in time, and I was so all over the place I didn't even say a proper thank you.

If that was you, thank you so much. I passed the exam all thanks to you.

Ds1 fell off his scooter and cut his head badly outside a pub last year. I dashed in the pub to ask for something to clean him up and call a taxi to go to a&e and the pub manager instead drove dh and ds to the hospital himself immediately

I can remember also when I first got to Thailand on my first leg and my mozzie stuff just wasn't working, and I swell up with bites to massive hot mounds. :( Anyway I went into what looked like an apothecary, very hot and itchy and upset and realising what a long way from home I was and would be for a long time (beginning of trip.) Anyway this old motherly Thai woman took one look at my arms with these red mounds, and her face creased and she slung her towel over her shoulder and advanced on me, and felt the mounds, and tutted, and went off and came back with a little tub and applied it to me with a gentle fingertip again and again. It was only tiger balm but it cooled them right down and I still use it. I realised that there are lovely people everywhere and language is no barrier.

Thank you foosty I will never forget Bonnie. I passed the 5 year since dx in October,so far so good.

Wow restores your faith reading these.

Dp some how manged to reverse his car into a ditch. I was heavily pregnant at the time and we were standing at the road side trying to work out how we were going to get the car out. A man in a 4 x 4 pulled up and towed the car out. He wouldn't take any money for a drink just told dp to pay it forward. His wife told us he was secretly dying to use the new tow bar he'd had fitter a couple of weeks earlier.

When I was living in Manchester my friend (alone, female) was lost late at night. The bus driver (a Wall's bus - think they're out of business now) drove her all the way home, to her door on his way back to the depot. Aah. Something about Mancunian bus drivers eh? Maybe it was the same kindly lone wolf.

When I was on my way to the labour ward to give birth to DS2 I was staggering through the hospital, clearly in a lot of pain. I kept having to stop to vomit. DH was doing his best in an 'oh shit what do I do' sort of way. A lovely, tiny, rotund Turkish lady who must have been a visitor stopped and held my arm and hand and held me up pretty much all the way to the ward. I don't even know if I said thank you as I was being sick so much on arrival.

Militarywag-i am a cynical witch and NEVER cry at mumsnet but your post has me in tears. Hope your Dd Is well now

This thread is beautiful. pranma - your story made me a bit weepy. I hope you're better now.

I just remembered one of my own... when we lived in Germany I miscarried dc2 at 16 weeks. I was terribly distressed, as you can imagine. I was booked in for a d&c and had to go into to a German hospital to wait for the procedure. DH couldn't stay as dc1 was only about 2 and we had no idea how long it would all take, so i sent them off.

The nurse gave me a pessary to get things going. I was just lying in the bed, in a room on my own, weeping. I literally could not stop weeping. The nurse looking after me spoke very little English; she saw my distress and just came and sat at the side of my bed and took my hand in hers. She simply held my hand and looked me in the eye with such a sympathetic expression; I just lay there crying. It was awfully, awfully sad, but she was exactly what I needed. No words of 'comfort', no idle chit-chat, just quietness and peacefulness. I'll never forget her.

I know that's not exactly a random act of kindness, but it was so kind all the same.

What a lovely thread, some really heart warming stories here

I was living in Manchester years ago. I had only been there a couple of months and was due to view a room to let. I didn't really know my way around but the landlord had told me that the bus stop was near a library, so I stupidly decided to get the bus and just get off when I saw the library. Well, I missed the stop and ended up sat on the bus with no idea where I was. The bus stopped at the end of the route and the bus driver, realising I'd missed my stop, asked me where I was supposed to get off. I told him and he offered to drive the bus back to that bus stop, which was about 20 minutes away, even though it was the end of his shift. He also gave me a cigarette and let me stand at the front of the bus smoking, whilst telling me lots of interesting things about the area

I went to an art exhibition in Hong Kong in 1996. My friend and I really loved the paintings and were commenting on them enthusiastically. The gallery owner overheard us and presented me with a signed copy of the artist's book as we left, for free. It was a small thing maybe, but it made me happy for a long time afterwards and I will always treasure the book.

Racing to a dr's appointment with my wee boy, parked car, went off to get a parking ticket and a lovely stranger came over with theirs as they were leaving and hadn't used the full amount. Nearly cried with gratitude as was in a hurry after being given an appointment for 15mins after I phoned - poor little one was quite sick at the time.

Now, if I haven't used up the full amount on mine, I will look for someone to give the remainder to - what goes around comes around.

What a lovely thread.

I can remember being in Thailand out near the border of Burma. Walking home after a boozy night with strangers in a part of town I didn't know, when two women on a moped stopped and gave me a ride (which I didn't think I'd needed) and we all sailed thro the night with our dresses and hairs fluttering in the warm night, and they were singing too!

I have done things for homeless people too, I often do that. But the nicest thing I think I did was when on a packed summer commuting train home, going past a place where refugees are housed. Family of one mother and about 5 kids all ranging in ages. Tiny little boy all dressed in the clothes they wore, he looked like a tiny little man. They were singing and he was dancing! But they spilt some milk on the floor and that was it for the grey commuters looking for an angle. 'Wipe that up!!! We don't do things like that in our country!!' he said, but she didn't have any tissues, so I got mine out and mopped the floor for them, and then they started singing and the little chap was dancing and it was all ok again.

a robin follows me around the garden and helps me take the dog for a walk. I know it's only a small thing but it also cocks its head to the side when I talk. Small things help me on my way

I got on the bus home, it was packed and I was 37 weeks pregnant and feeling very unwell. There were no spare seats so I grabbed the pole next to me but a man got up and insisted I take his seat, I was embarrassed as he had only one leg and used crutches but so grateful as I really felt ill. He chatted to me the whole journey. The next day I found out I had pre eclampsia.

I got my middle name from an act of kindness my parents did before I was born.

They were driving back from the supermarket and saw an old lady struggling up the steep hill with her shopping. They pulled over and gave her a lift home. After that they came back every week for several years to take her shopping and home again.

She died a couple of months before I was born, apparently she was very excited about my mum's pregnancy and so my mum gave me her name 'May' as a middle name.

When I was younger we used to go and visit her grave every year, lay flowers and keep it clear of weeds as she didn't have any family herself.

Aw Dolly what a lovely man

When I was 16, my DM was seriously ill (she died just before I turned 17) and was only working a few hours a week. Things were obviously pretty tough for us all at home. We came home from school and work one day to find an envelope had been put through the door with about £100 in it, and absolutely no idea who or where it came from.

The other day I was running late for my train and had to sprint across the car park, over the footbridge and down icy steps whilst dodging dozy sixth formers. Was sure I was going to miss it but the lovely guard held the train for me and even shouted encouragement when he saw I was flagging.

My dad was one for random acts of kindness. He once drove a friends violin all the way to Cardiff from south London because she had forgotten it and had a gig. He took their next door neighbour shopping and to visit his wife (in a home) every week, happily waiting in the carpark for hours to take the neighbour home again. Another neighbour who had dementia was obsessed with driving but had his license revoked so he'd come and knock on the door, dad would get his car keys and they'd go off on a little pootle somewhere. Whatever dad was doing, even eating his dinner, he'd say "righto Mr G where to?" and off they'd go. He was lovely my dad.

Six years ago I went into John Lewis to see if they sold bandanas as my daughter had lost all her hair as a result of chemo. I had searched high and low in so many shops without any success. She refused to wear the wigs the hospital had. Was hunting around and couldnt find any. Asked an assistant who said they did not sell them. She suggested I might try and make them. I said I was rubbish as anything creative. I explained the situation and how stressed I was because my daughter was really worried about going out and about with a bald head. She then said why dont I come up to the fabric department to at least look at the fabric and one of the ladies up there would explain how to make a simple one. To cut a long story short, one of the wonderful assistants said she would make me some. I went back the following week and she handed over a bag full of wonderful bandanas and she refused to accept any payment for them or the material. She put her hand on my hand and squeezed it. Ashamed to say I cried at such a kind gesture (it had been a stressful week) I still have them in a bag.

when my car tyre burst on the state highway in New Zealand - i'd pulled over onto the verge and had just got out to see what the problem was when a ute pulled up, the chap changed the tyre within moments and was on his way virtually before i realised what had happened. love those kiwis.

Me and my best friend used to go off camping when we were at sixth form. One weekend we'd gone to Edale and spent the day walking miles over the hills. When we got back, we'd missed the shop, had hardly any money and were out of supplies. We were lying in our tent that night, talking and probably complaining about being starving. When we woke up the next morning, the man who'd been camping next to us had packed and left and shoved a load of bread rolls under our door.

(And then that night in the pub we had enough money for a packet of crisps - it was when they were running a competition and we won a fiver which was enough to buy our tea!)