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

For me its the guy who bought me a hot chocolate when I was sat on a wall outside a touristy place, bawling my eyes out. I was travelling, 1000s of miles away from home and received a phone call that my mum was seriously ill and likely to die in the next few hours.
He had no idea what was wrong, but bless that man.

Loving the nail varnish story.

There's been many- both giving and receiving- but after thinking about it, my favourite is this.
I had gone to Prague on a friend's stag do and we were visiting the Charles Bridge, which is a big tourist attraction- consequently there are many street entertainers that ply their trade there. We had just got there and it was quite early in the day. There was an old lady who was clearly very nearly blind who had taken a while to set up her keyboard, amp and seat and just as she started playing and singing ‘Scarborough Fair’, the heavens opened and it started pelting down. She maybe got through the first verse and chorus. Everyone, street entertainer and tourist alike rushed for the archways to take shelter from the storm. I found myself pressed up next to the lady that had been playing the keyboard. We were all pretty much crammed in together. After a few moments, I started singing very quietly next to her, and after a few lines, she joined in with me singing ‘Scarborough Fair’- just the two of us crammed in together in the archway. After we finished the song, I pressed some money into her hand and wandered off. It was a kindness both given and received, from, I think, both our perspectives.

I was just reminded of this thread yesterday evening as I walking home. 2 boys, about 8 years old, were walking in front of me and one was telling the other how he'd kicked his ball over into the neighbours' garden and when he went to ask for it back they had not only given him his ball back, but also another football, a pump for it AND an ice lolly! He was so excited and it made me happy that his neighbour had really made his day with a small act of kindness.
It's not on the scale of the rest of these I know!

I have bawled my eyes out at this thread - such lovely tales of human kindness - thanks for sharing them!

This thread has me in tears .

I would like to say thank you to all the "strangers" who are currently helping advise me and support me during DD being ill these last two weeks. It might just be a few minutes each time they post but they are helping more than they know. Just to have someone to ask is brilliant. Thank you .

Not the kindest thing ever, but this happened yesterday.

I was taking dd2 to a concert she was singing at for school. I had to drop her off in a town I don't know, take her into the concert hall and leave her with her teacher. Meant parking for about 15 minutes.

I didn't want to use the multistorey because I hate them, and also I would have to pay for 2hours (£2.50) for just 15 minutes.

I found a space outside, which you could park up to an hour, pay at metre.
Price 70p for 30 minutes, which was ideal.
Except I only had £1 coin or 20p and it didn't give change.

So I stopped this lady and asked if she had change for £1. She looked terrified and hurried off. But the man behind her stopped, rooted in his pocket, and said, sorry he only had 50p in change. I thanked him, turned to dd2, and when I trurned back he had put the 50p in the machine and left.
So instead of having to pay £1, I only had to pay 20p.

Very kind.

I have a bit of a habit of adopting strays, both animal and people, and going out of my way to make sure someone's ok - but the story people retell was at Christmas many years ago.

I was flying back to the UK on Christmas Eve and one by one the airports were shutting due to heavy snow. I was sat next to an American girl who was hoping to get a connecting flight home and we were discussing Christmas plans and how she was really worried she'd left it so late.

When we landed it was clear that her flight was cancelled and that she'd have to spend Christmas Eve, and probably Christmas Day, in the airport.

I ended up inviting her to Christmas with my family, much to the shock of my parents when we came through the gate, and my whole family were just wonderful and welcoming.

My Aunt found room at the table on Christmas Day, my Dad took it on himself to call the airport every hour to check if the flight was rescheduled, my little cousins made last minute cards and presents for their new American friend and we ended up travelling en masse to drop her back at the airport on Boxing Day because my cousins were determined to wave goodbye.

This was in the days before facebook but we stayed in touch via email and each Christmas I get a card from her, asking if I've taken in any more lost souls that year!

so many to mention. When I came off my bike in the snow and broke my arm badly the (scruffy) student who gave me his coat in below freezing temperatures to keep warm while the ambulance came, and then locked my bike up for me and gave me the keys back.

The nurse who had admitted me following a complicated miscarriage who came to see me the following morning when she was visiting a relative and not on shift.

My lovely pharmacist who dropped DS (who is disabled) prescription through my front door when my DH was away and DS was really poorly.

The people who stop and offer to help when DS is having a tantrum and I am trying to carry him, his kaye walker and shopping to a till and back to my car as quickly as possible, often making themselves late but making my day that little bit easier by just asking what they can do to help.

The farmer who went and got a tractor to pull my car out of a ditch when as a 17 year old who had just passed my test I skidded and didn't want to tell my mum (I told her about 10 years later).

As for what I have done, whatever I ever can. I have stayed with a young man who pulled his tendon running for the tube, and got him and his luggage off the train at a station and medical help when he couldn't walk. I have carried buggies, shopping, for people on the tube more times than I care to remember. I am always in my best city suit when in London but I know what it is like to be on the other side.

I have taken a teenaged girl to hospital and called her mum and stayed with her mum came from 2 hours away when they fainted and were having funny heart murmurs.

I have picked up a cyclist who was hit infront of me but had minor injuries when I was taking my DS to a hospital appointment.

Had not long since passed my driving test aged about 18 and was driving back from boyfriends late one cold dark night. Stalled car at lights and was struggling to restart the engine and get going as was on a slight incline when I noticed several male youths coming up behind the car. I was terrified, but without a word they grouped together and pushed me going again. I was so relieved and thankful.

DS is disabled. He is a real character and "makes friends" wherever we go. Using the lkval shops became a bit embarrassing as we would end up with gifts of fruit at the greengrocer, sweets at the newsagents and even a book at the charity shop. (Did wonder if I should have gone to the jewellers too )

Where we holiday there is a lovely elderly lady who has befriended him over the years nd has taken to giving him gifts.

Likewise people on the beach. He will take himself off and sit and chat to the nearby adults and won't stay with us although we do keep a close eye on him. I do worry about being seen as one of "those" parents who let others entertain their kids but everyone is so nice to him!

This thread is making me howl

So many lovely, lovely little (and big) things that make such a difference.

I helped an old man who fell over. He was in a real mess and kept telling me not to help as I'd end up dirty. I sat on the floor with him, got covered in blood and dirt and held his hand until the ambulance arrived.

I couldn't think of a way to say this earlier without outing myself, but I also want to add that one of the kindest things ever done for me was when I was having a really tough time with something and posted about it on here (in another name) and a MNer took the time out to message me and 'hold my hand' through it. You know who you are.

The lovely Women from the MNVogue thread sent me flowers from Wild At Heart when my niece was born last July with such serious brain damage that the clinic said she would not survive. I had to fly to see her thinking I was going to watch as they took her off Life support. Thankfully she has survived w/ problems and the flowers I received on my return helped lift my spirits during a terrible time. (I had lost my Father/FIL and cat in the previous 12 months so this was the last straw.)

Last week I was in Waitrose and whilst paying for goods I observed another customer being extremely unpleasant and abusive to the check out operator-a young lad and the packer; an older man. She was ordering them about, calling them slow for not packing fast enough and being generally foul. My check out operator said this Woman had been a continual problem and nobody supports the staff. I paid for my goods, walked up to her and told her that she was rude, obnoxious in her behaviour and had no right to treat people as servants. She was behaving like Prince Andrew in drag. Like all bullies tend to do, she shut up and became meek when somebody stood up to her.

I went home and emailed the manager of the store and asked him to ensure he supported his staff better as I do not wish to see them being treated like this. I gave the details of the operator from my till receipt and said they had been treated appallingly yet behaved w/ commendable restraint. I went back on Sunday and coincidentally got the same operator and the young lad was next to her again. They were pleased that I had emailed and said the manager is on the look out for this customer to deal w/ her behaviour.

A stranger saved my life. I was a student travelling in a foreign country unable to speak the language. I fell ill and he insisted on driving me quite a distance to hospital despite me changing my mind part way through. I later heard I'd only had three hours to live.

I would like to add a story of what my husband did.
We were with the kids in the park outside my house an there were 2 mums with a pram and one had a flat tyre my husband offered to help as they were struggling it turned out it was a puncture so my husband went to our loft got the inner tube off our old pram and fixed it :) so they could carry on their day. Worst thing was he got no thanks!

Plomino I read that when you posted it before, but it still makes me cry. Such a fantastic example about how the small things make such a difference.

The most impressive think done for me (i was just 16) was that a random middle-aged stranger bought me a ticket to a fancy event and gave me a ride home afterwards... Nothing inappropriate whatsoever.

Whatever good i did... I rescued a stray dog. RSPCA would have killed her.

plantsitter I LOVE your Mum! Well done her.

A few more I've remembered - this one I've told before. Pre-DC but when we were very much trying I was impressed at Victoria by a woman getting off a tube, and effortlessly managing herself and her pushchair up the escalator. Of course, she came a cropper after that as there are only steps up to the mainline station. I went to offer help, which she was in the process of accepting when a very dapper gent came up, silently handed me his briefcase, took the end of the pushchair and carried it up the stairs. We both thanked him at the top, he took back his briefcase and said "The style to which you should both be accustomed" and walked off! Brilliant.

When I had my first miscarriage, DH and I were devastated. The doctor in A&E examined me (the MC had been very quick and very painful) and confirmed that it had happened. She just put her hand on my leg and told me how sorry she was as I thanked her and cried. There was something about the humanity with which she said it. She was so kind. I know the NHS deserves much of the bad rap they receive for the way in which they deal with miscarriages but at my local hospital, I have received nothing but kindness and care.

I was in the park with my Mum and the two DDs a couple of weeks ago - DD2 was only about four weeks old and DD1 is 17 months (I get either laughter or sympathetic looks from every woman of childbearing years or older when I'm out and about!) and an elderly man looked into the pushchair and said oh how lovely! We stopped for a quick chat as he admired the girls and told me how lucky I was and how children are such a blessing. Then he thanked us for stopping and went on his way. That made me really sad. How many people would have walked past thinking he was some kind of "weirdo" . He just wanted a quick chat, and it took nothing to stop for a couple of minutes.

When I was walking over London Bridge a couple of years ago at rush hour a man ahead of me FLICKED a penny at a homeless man . I was FURIOUS and was going to tackle him when I remembered that would do nothing but get me a torrent of abuse so instead, I went to ask the man if he was ok. Of course it turned out he was from my hometown. I went to the local Pret and bought him a hot drink and something to eat. He was there a lot so I did that a fair bit for a while. I went on maternity leave after a bit so didn't see him. He's not been there since I've been back at work. I hope he's ok.

This thread has me sobbing buckets!

Kindest things I have seen/heard about/done myself:

A friend saw a distressed elderly woman struggling with a shopping trolley in the bay, and went over to help put the pound coin in. The lady just said "Thank you. My husband used to do this for me." Bless her.

My mum takes flowers to her neighbour every year on the anniversary of their daughter's death. There's no chat and tea, just a simple exchange.

I saw 2 young teen girls in a train toilet station looking really upset and asked them what was the matter. They said they needed to get to but were really confused and didn't know if there were any trains going there. I said I didn't know either but ran out to catch an attendent to ask him to please direct the girls to where they needed to be. A little while later I saw the train to their destination pulling out, and the girls weren't on the platform so they must have made it in the nick of time. I'd missed my own train but at least I knew where I was going!

A really kind Greek man shared his bread on the bus at 7am with me and my 2 friends I was backpacking with. We were exhausted and skint, it meant a lot at the time.

A Polish taxi driver took me and a friend much further than our combined money would take us after a night out, because he said he had a daughter our age and would like to think someone would do the same for her to get her home safely.

This isn't a stranger but I have to tell it because I'll never forget the day my friend pulled a sickie from work to take me out when I got some bad news. She took me to a cafe and just held me as I cried on the phone to my Mum. She would have done the same even if I hadn't known her, because that's similar to how we met!

I'm so proud of my mum, who just told me that last night she was on a train home and there was a young woman on the seat in front. A drunk rambling old man got on and sat next to the young woman and started harrassing her and wouldn't leave her alone.

My mum tapped the guy on the shoulder and said, ' I think you are making this young lady feel really uncomfortable. Why don't you come and sit next to me instead?' so he did, and then drunkenly (and quite stinkily) told her his life story all the way home. My mum said it was a bit of a trial but worth it to see the relief of the young woman, who thanked her profusely when the guy got off.

I expect she made the man feel better too - sounds like he was just after a chat but it can be very intimidating!

The kindest thing I have done will be a bit cryptic. I have paid for something for a bereaved MNer who couldn't afford it herself and I hope helped her a bit at a very difficult time. She didn't ask or anything, but I saw her talking on a thread I randomly clicked on.

The kindest things done for me are all small things, but that make you feel good. Like people giving me seats on the tube when I was pregnant, my neighbour clearing all our leaves along with his on the drive when (unknown to him) I was feeling awful with morning sickness and DH was away.

I make window displays for a living, I was working on one particularly hard window with the sun streaming in day after day roasting me alive, all contorted up trying to get bits of handmade "coral" wired into place and pulling every muscle in my back in the process.

A man who must have walked past that window every day came in with a box of chocolates, told me my window was beautiful and left.

I actually cried a little bit, it was so sweet.

My DD was born by C section and as the theatre gradually filled up with nurses and medics I began to realise something was seriously wrong. Everyone was focussed (of course) on the baby, but the lovely anaesthetist stayed with me, quietly explaining what they were checking for and trying to distract me. Eventually one of the medics turned to me and said, 'baby seems to be having trouble breathing, we just need to pop her upstairs to SCBU for some oxygen.'

As he turned to whisk her away, the anaesthetist said 'WAIT - let mum have a cuddle first' I held my precious, blue baby for a few memorable seconds and then off she went.

Thirteen days and 2 heart surgeries later, I got my second cuddle. I am always so so grateful to that anaesthetist who obviously had an inkling we were in for a long separation.

DD, btw, is now a strapping 12 year old who has never looked back. I get dozens of cuddles every day.

Sniff.

hmmm - acts of kindness I have done.

I gave a frazzled father whose car was about to run out of fuel at the supermarket £5 so he could put some fuel in. He looked desperate and tbh I could have spent that £5 on some pointless tat and he looked like he needed it way more than me.

I was leaving the tube station to go and pick my daughter up from nursery which is next to the hospital. A very worried and shaken lady was asking the underground staff how she got to the cancer treatment centre from the tube. It was raining and the staff member could only point to the bus stops. As I was driving that way anyway I offered her a lift. She was so grateful that she kept saying she would pray for my baby (i was pregnant). I really don't know how anyone could have ignored her poor love.

My grandma was the ultimate though, when she died at 91 a very distraught young lady who obviously had been going through some personal issues came up to me at her funeral. None of us knew who she was, and she explained she had read my grandma's obituary and wanted to tell us how she would miss my grandma as she would visit her once a fortnight for a cup of tea and a chat. She ran off before I could ask for more details. But her taking the time to come and pay her respects like that really warmed our hearts.

When I was working on a cruise ship, a few of us had gone into town for a meal and we missed the last bus back to the ship. If we had been late we all would have been fired. The waitress overheard us and then got her brother to come and take us back to the ship in his camper van. He refused to take any of our money. We got back just in time. This was my first time in France and the stereotype of French people despising us Brits really did not ring true that day.