What's the kindest thing a stranger has done for you?

last year when I separated from my XH and was made homeless so went to live with my parents with my toddler and was pregnant, one of my sisters friends heard about what happened (I've never met her before or since).

She wrote me a card and asked my sister to pass it to me. When she did, there was £600 inside in cash with a note saying 'I believe God wants you to have this more than we need it. We will be praying for your family'. She also had a new baby of her own. That money went towards so many things I could never have given my newborn on my own, but more than anything it made me cry with the shock of how much good there is in the world when I'd been hit by so much hurt.

Over the same period, MNetters who followed my threads in Relationships sent me clothes for my baby, toys for my toddler, a ring sling, baby books, cards and words of encouragement, and so many more things... so many loving, generous things.

Ultimately I remember that year as the year I learned about how kindness can change the world one person at a time - I don't think of it as the year my world was ripped apart. I wish I could tell everyone who held me up last year what an amazing thing they did.

I've since started a social enterprise company, and plan to spend my working life giving other people the chance to feel loved and wanted and unique as well. What goes around comes around. If anyone recognises me and was one of those incredible people, thank you with all my heart xxx

A few months ago student son fell 20 feet off a wall. I had a call at work asking me to go to the hospital (I had been reassured he was alive and OK, but still . . . ). I needed to get petrol for the journey, and having just separated from 'D'H had taken out my own bank account. Could I remember the PIN? Could I heck! Lovely man in the queue saw how distressed I was and paid for my fuel. I took his number and called him - he refused to give me his bank details so I could reimburse him. So thank you, Richard, wherever you are!

Many years ago, in the winter, I was doing a placement in a children's home where a room was made available to me. I went out for a coffee and when I tried to get back, my key just could not open the door. Not knowing what to do, I decided to go for another coffee to try and figure out how not to freeze to death if I needed to spend the night outside. The waitress, surprised to see me back asked if I had lost something. When I finished explaining to her I was locked outside, she offered me a bed for the night a few miles away and her DH woke up at 5 in the morning to give me a lift back to work. I thought they were the warmest most amazing people! Never going to forget them!

A little thing but a woman who gave me her coin for the supermarket trolley recently really made my day - rather than judging me as ds lay on the floor tantrumming while I queued up to get change, she helped me.

I wish I could say thank you again to the couple who picked me up and drove me to a phone box and back to my car again when my car broke down. This was pre mobile phone and I had broken down somewhere quiet isolated. It was quite a detour for them.

Someone in WHSmith returned a carrier bag containing a load of brand new (sealed with the receipt) DS games, dozens of old games AND three gameboys. My eldest left it on the floor when he was looking at some books. It took 24 hours for it to turn up and I had given up on it. I was very, very relieved.

I like doing things for people secretly and I like not telling people about it afterwards. It feels more of a genuine good deed if no one knows.

Telling people on an anon Internet forum is fun though.

I often think about some kind strangers that helped me as I now use the same station for my daily work commute. maaaaany years ago aged 11 I tripped horribly over my massively heavy leather schoolbag's long strap while running for a train down a metal staircase onto the platform one morning. I was desperately trying not to be late for my new secondary school which I travelled to alone on the train. I cut my knee open and there was a lot of blood and I was limping and generally in bits.

A young woman and her boyfriend, commuters, got me onto the right train, carried my bag, walked me into school which was a long way from the destination station and god knows how far from their destination/workplaces, and then handed me over to the school reception all the while chatting to me to cheer me up and being really reassuring and nice.

The weirdest thing was that being so young I knew I wasn't really meant to go anywhere with strangers despite being so grateful to them for helping me and knowing I couldn't really manage to get to school on my own in that state.

So my 11 yo logical solution to this was not actually look up at either of them or make any eye contact. I don't remember speaking to them though I must have done for them to have taken me to school. God knows what they thought of me. They didn't leave their names or anything when they left me at the school although I do remember thanking them t that point. But I used that station every day for years afterwards and still feel mortified that I could have travelled with them again and blanked them after they were so incredibly kind to me. Thank you train people!

An auxiliary nurse / HCA stopped me from giving up breastfeeding completely. It was the day after my EMCS & a particularly traumatic time for me & my family, I was trying desperately to establish bf with DS & couldn't, I'd repeatedly asked for help from several midwives who told me, rather unhelpfully, to "carry on" with what I was doing. The HCA was walking by my cubicle & saw I was crying, sat with me, helped me get DS latched on properly & even made and brought me some toast as the breakfast room was the other side of the maternity unit. I wish I'd have gotten her name so I could sing her praises accordingly, she's a credit to the NHS.

When I was younger I did a few shifts in a pub, on one particular afternoon a mother came in to set up their table in the restaurant for her DS' 18th birthday, I helped her set up the entire room, took the cake into the kitchen & made sure everything was perfect. As a result she insisted on tipping me £5, I used it to buy her DS a birthday cocktail, after asking his mum for permission!

I've reunited a wallet with a lot of money in with its owner and helped people with prams, etc. I once offered to help a woman off a bus with her pram, meaning I would get the pram for her, when she thrust her baby DS at me. He was beautiful & she was so happy for the tiny gesture that it really warmed my heart.

The lovely young man who gave up his seat on a hot and crowded train last night for my mum. Everyone else was pushing to get the last seat, and I urged mum to grab the last one available, only for some businessman to sit in it. So the lad in his 20's got up. As the journey was an hour, it was a kind gesture

I was shown kindness by the staff of the local PDSA beyond the usual .It still brings tears to my eyes .
Like many of us money just wasn't there when my beloved collie was ill. So we had to thankfully use the PDSA. Emergency appointment but told of course bring her in ...it may be a wait . She was so poorly and the vet we saw was superb. He lay on the floor to examine her . She died the next day at home and I rang them sobbing like a loon. Everything from then on was made easier by the care and kindness I was shown . Gentle care for her body and me . I will never forget that .
Beyond the remit of the job for sure .

Had been able to pay for vets before by the way and have never had this level of care and support . It mattered.....that extra mile .

Kerala - I think people are listing the things that they have done because the OP specifically asked them to do both. What's odd about that?

I thought it was just a way of showing they could "pay it forward" kerala, a nice deed begetting a later kindness

I was in a car accident on a roundabout (in the UK) with a foreign driver. I had followed the rules of the road to the letter, but, unfortunately the foreign driver hadn't - or was confused. He slammed into me sideways and I ended up on the central reservation.

It was an absolutely baking hot summer's day and a car behind me stopped to help. The foreign driver was yelling at me. The driver of the car who stopped was with his wife and tiny baby, they were so fantastic. The driver phoned the Police, his wife gave me a carton of juice and they stayed with me until the Police arrived because the foreign driver was becoming more aggressive with me.

I can't thank them enough. They gave their names as witnesses and I wrote them a nice thank you note afterwards. That little baby would probably be about 22 years old now! Thank you - you absolutely fabulous family.

I do my bit too!

I had a cycling accident at Centerparcs - no ones fault but mine! Seriously fractured my wrist (10+ fractures ) and damaged the joint capsule. Needless to say it was extremely painful and I went into shock. Lady who had been jogging just behind me immediately came to help. Despite been on her holidays with her family she stayed with me, talking to me for over an hour and gave details to medical staff when they arrived. I'll never forget her.

In a further act of kindness, Centerparcs booked my children into their childcare programme for the day (at no cost) so that my husband could come to the hospital with me. The kids had a whale of a time (think they were having a Witches and Wizards afternoon) and a lovely lunch and were so excited later to show me what they'd made. It helped me feel like I hadn't spoilt their holiday and I'm sure any kid would prefer it to hours in A&E.

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17 years ago my dad suddenly died on November the 10th. Our next door neighbours who went away to their son's EVERY year for Christmas 'invented' a problem that year that meant they were unable to go. They spent that first horrible Christmas with my mum, me and sister and helped us to make the best of it. It was many years before I found out about their sacrifice.

We were driving off a roundabout and noticed an old car pulled over with its hazards on; 200 yards up the road an elderly lady was slowly shuffling up the hill. We didn't have time to stop, so drove onto the next roundabout, came back down and round to the car, and stopped.

In it was a disabled man who told us that some idiot had cut them up, forcing them onto the pavement and puncturing their tyre. The lady was his wife who had gone to try and find a house to call for help. We bombed up the road to where the lady was (dual carriageway with no pavement), and got her in the car. A teenage girl also stopped to help behind us.

We drove her back to her husband, rang their breakdown cover, and sorted them out. We offered to wait until they were rescued, but they told us to go on our way.

A few mners contacted me after the "what's the nicest thing someone did for you after having a baby" thread. I posted saying how nice it was to read that lots of people had been well looked after, but how I was sad that I had never had the same. I am pregnant again and I guess feeling emotional! Two mners messaged me saying they would love to send me a gift. How kind is that? It made my day to know I was in somebody's thoughts.

DP's mum collapsed suddenly three years ago. It was a couple of hours drive to the hospital, when we got there she was about to undergo brain surgery and we were told to prepare for the worst.

I left DP with his family at midnight to check us into a hotel. I found a Hilton nearby but I could barely speak I was so upset. I must have looked a state but the night manager and receptionist were very kind. Five minutes after I got to my room there was a knock on the door and the manager carried in a pot of tea and a piece of cake.

We ended up staying there a week and they couldn't have been nicer.

My dad really wanted my ds to come to the Remembrance Day parade and church service so I brought him along.

The service was longer than I thought it would be and ds got fidgety and kept whispering to me asking when it would be over. I was starting to get anxious that he would be disturbing others but when we left a lady said to him how well behaved he was, it made us both very happy.

Lovely thread.

I was in hospital with my son for his 4th and final surgery, it was a day surgery where we had to be there by 7am and hopefully be discharged later on that day.

He was on the early list so was back from theatre by 11am.

His reaction to the GA was to sleep and sleep and sleep... There was a Cypriot family there with their daughter who was having the same op as my son. We got chatting and found they had a shop in an area that we used to live. The Dad popped out and came back with a huge spread of Turkish food, they insisted on sharing with me. It was lovely because I was on my own and didn't want to leave my son and not be there when he woke up.

I was starving having left my house at 6:30am and stupidly didn't think to pack a sandwich.

I thanked them profusely, but they brushed off my thanks as though it was nothing.

Lovely people.

My son slept until about 6pm in the end, I think I'd have fainted if they hadn't fed me!

I was in Aldi a few years ago having just left an abusive relationship and moved 400 miles to be away from my ex. I had my three year old with me and I was stressing about money, having never really had to budget alone before. I managed to get everything I needed, and was queuing up when my son spotted a pack of sweets. I was counting the pennies in my purse and came to the conclusion I couldn't afford them. Son was disappointed but well behaved about it. As I was packing up my shopping a lady came over and handed me the sweets he had been looking at. She said she had no grandchildren and wanted to reward my boy for being so good, but she thought she had better check with me first as she knew some people didn't like their child having sweets! That was lovely, I went home and cried.

I've also had a lovely offer of help from an MN-er, I took her up on it and we are now good friends, I will always feel grateful for that and offer it up to anyone who says "oh only the ROYALTY have things sent to them,,nobody notices me here" etc. I was a newbie and didn't know anyone!

I shamefully can't think of many RAOKs I have performed but I do try in small ways - giving someone my weekly bus ticket when I realised I didn't need it for the whole week for example.

One thing I did which I don't count as an amazingly kind thing, but was received as if it was, was a few years ago. I was on holiday with my family and eating in a cafe. A lad came over to us and watched. He was about nine I'd guess, and quite disabled, he had the most wonderful smile! His mum came over and apologised, she said he loves babies and seems to seek them out! I asked him what his name was and his mum told me he doesn't speak. I carried on talking to him and gave him a biscuit we had bought. After a while he went away again. As we were leaving his mum thanked me so sincerely, she said people usually ignored him and hardly ever spoke directly to him. I said I was totally inexperienced with disabled people so once she said that he didn't speak I was unsure what to do but my instinct wouldn't allow me to ignore such a lovely child. She was so grateful. Like I said though I don't see that as an act of kindness really, I couldn't believe how happy she was about it!

A few years back I collapsed on the concourse at Cardiff station while waiting for my train home from visiting a friend. When I came to, a man I'd never met before had put his coat under my head, got another passer-by to hand over his coat to put over me (it was February and very cold), alerted the station staff and phoned for an ambulance. He also asked me who he could phone and got my friend to come down to the station, sat with me until they arrived and didn't ask for his coat back until the ambulance staff had been and I was on my way back to my friend's house. I never knew his name and I can't even remember what he looked like as I was so dazed, but he missed his train to help me and I'm seriously grateful.

I had a late missed mc and had been admitted to a hospital in Croydon for a D&C.
In the early hours,I miscarried naturally, the nurse on duty was a nasty piece of work,she scrubbed be down with cold water,no words of sympathy.
The lady in the bed opposite,also in for mmc, came and sat by my bed,wiped my tears and held my hand all through the night talking to me until I slept.
I have never forgotten her kindness.

When I was in 12-step programmes, there were lots of people who'd never done a random act of kindness (as well as lots who had, of course.) They were amazed at how good it made them feel :) I think it's worth celebrating this gorgeous aspect of human nature, Kerala!