Strangers you remember fondly

I was heavily pregnant with twins and had an early appointment at the hospital. I had to get the bus in to work that day and couldn't remember how close the bus went to the hospital. Although the driver told me the route ended about a 10 minute walk away, instead of stopping there he drove the bus all the way to the hospital and dropped me right in front!

The second was recently when we were starting a very long overseas flight, my three kids were playing up dreadfully in the departure gate at Heathrow, we were all very tired and irritable and we thankfully were boarded first. I was already sat in my seat and an older man stopped as he walked past me and said "you're doing an amazing job". I really felt like I wasn't and everyone was judging me and my kids so it meant a lot.

I lay by the side of a busy road, having come off my bike and taken a good whack to the head. Cars kept passing, but I was too groggy to even move my arms. A guy in a van stopped and helped me up, ran me and the bike to A&E, and in my hearing told his boss that the job could fucking well wait. Not that it matters, but he was black, and given the local demographics the passers by would have been white. Yup, like that.

The other one was the family in Germany who took us into their house after DF crashed the car. I think DM sent them a Christmas card for years.

I was on a train when I found out that my father had passed away. (I was on my way to visit him.) A lady near me overheard and fetched a cup of tea from the buffet trolley and wouldn't accept payment. Not only that, she stayed with me when we reached the London terminus and caught the tube with me until her stop. Such kindness I will always treasure.

When DD was a baby (in a pushchair) my DS (then 2) was obsessed with escalators. We were in primark and there was one to get up to the children’s section. DS had never really been a ‘runner’ but on this occasion he saw it and just went. I barely had time to react and he launched himself off the top of the ‘down’ one. It was horrendous - slow motion almost - and I was convinced he’d end up in a heap at the bottom. I was distraught but a lovely lady who worked there saw too and she was there before me. He was absolutely fine, but she chased him down and held his hand all the way back up so he couldn’t go off anywhere else.

She was so kind about it, despite my teary state. Always grateful to her for the compassion she showed.

@WhatsGoingOnEh purely because that stranger had been so nice to me!

I was very hormonal in my defence!

This is a lovely thread. I love all these stories, especially BMW man!

I have a story from my grandpa's funeral. He'd been in the royal navy (in WW2 and afterwards) and he was in his 80s when he passed away. Anyway at his funeral, standing at the back of the church, alone, was a man of about 80-odd, in a Navy uniform, medals and everything. I didn't even notice him until we were all leaving the church, and he saluted the coffin as it passed. My grandma said afterwards she didn't know who he was. He must have been someone who'd served with my grandpa. It was just so moving to see him standing there at the end, saluting his old friend.

When i was at uni, I was having a terrible time. I had to get home but couldn’t afford the bus ticket until I worked my last shift. I literally finished working in a bar, walked to the bus station and waited for it to open to buy my ticket. It was cold and dark and I was knackered. Truly miserable by the time I got on the bus not looking forward to arriving Home at all.
Of course the bus was busy so I was sitting next to another student who I didn’t know. Anyway i obviously fell asleep because when I woke up I was restinf my head on his shoulder and he’d put his coat over me. When I jumped up he put his arm round me (in a totally none creepy way) and carried on highlighting his notes. Something about eyeballs. It was the nicest, purest human contact I got all year.

After I lost my son , the first time I went out I got far far too drunk. Got myself into a fight, but started crying (not proud) the lady who I had roundly been shouting at, stopped shouting back , put her earrings back in (she was clearly a seasoned fighter and would have actually hurt me, idiot that I am!) , took me in her arms and asked what was wrong. I had been awful to her but she saw my pain and we spent four hours chatting after that. She changed my life.

While visiting New York in 2006, we went to the Ground Zero site. It was such a sobering place, and I was feeling the enormity of what it represented. A man obviously noticed the tears running down my face and came over to me and put his hand gently on my arm. After a few seconds, he simply said "I know, it makes me think about how important it is to love each other." He then walked away.

ILoveBakingCookies do you think she saw something in you or was it just a general warning?

Two:

When I was in my early twenties my grandad died. As we were travelling to his funeral I saw a women stop on the footpath, face the car and draw the sign of a cross on her chest. I'm not religious at all but was so touched by her showing such respect to compete strangers.

A more recent one was when I was in A&E with my youngest. I was really upset and tearful. A lady who was also waiting to be seen came over and gave me a cuddle and told me it would all be ok. She was so kind and really helped calm me down.

Lovely thread!

We travelled to Australia when ds was nearly 4. DS managed to stay awake for nearly the whole 23 hour journey, but managed to finally fall asleep as the plane landed! We were exhausted from entertaining him for all that time and pretty slow getting to the immigration queue due to having to carry ds. The queue was horrendous, but a lovely airport man came straight over to us and ushered us straight through what I think was the cabin crew desk. I was so grateful to him, I could have cried.

I was about 20 weeks pregnant with dd2, working full time as a travelling advisor. I was waiting to see a client in their reception area, and an elderly lady was sitting opposite me.
She told he she had worked as a midwife all her life and loved her job, I wasn’t really listening to her, was just stressing about my meeting - hoping I wouldn’t be sick in it (had severe HG).
Just as I was getting up to go into see my client, she shouted across the reception area “your waters Dear, promise me you’ll watch your waters?”. I smiled and said “yes, ok, thank you!” Thinking she was a bit crazy.
At 36 weeks, I was at home, cleaning cupboards and as I bent down, I thought I’d wee’d myself, then realised I hadn’t, then suddenly remembered this lady shouting to me.
I drove myself straight to hospital, I had only 5% fluid left. My waters had been very slowly leaking for ages. I almost lost my baby girl, and might have done if I hadn’t acted straightaway when I remembered this woman’s words.
I will remember her forever.

I love this thread, faith in humanity restored a little bit tonight.

My own is from when DD was 2 days old, we’d just been released from hospital and as she came early we had no where for her to sleep. The cot wasn’t due until a week before her due date as I was sure I’d go over. Anyway we nipped to the local babies r us for some sheets for her pram cot that she could sleep in for now. DD was just in my arms wrapped in a blanket. Got to the till and the women in front looked a bit perplexed at me. She looked around and then laughed and said she thought I’d been holding a real baby but it was clearly a doll. I laughed back and said no she was real and 2 days old. We chatted for a minute or two about babies and children etc. Then she picked up a Christmas book from the till and added it to her shopping. I didn’t think anything of it until she turned back after paying and gave us the book for DD, wished us a merry Christmas and hoped that our lives with dD would be filled with joy.

We read the book to add every Christmas and I can’t wait to tell her the story of such a kind lady.

Very kind man driving a road train along a quiet part of a dirt track road in Australia some 20 years ago.
My friend and I had hired a car to get from some remote place to another, and being unfamiliar with the roads had skidded and nearly gone into a ravine. Whilst still in some degree of shock, friend walked back the way we'd come hoping to see another vehicle.
Road train man hooked the car up to chains, made sure all was safe and waited until we'd driven off.

Looking back anything could have happened to us, and nobody would have known.

i fell and broke my leg a few weeks ago whilst i was out alone

i was in a public place and within about 2 seconds i was surrounded by a crowd of people who just couldn't do enough for me

i was bought drinks, given food and someone called an ambulance,other people sat with me until i was taken to hospital

so so much kindness :) i'm very grateful xx

I went into town with DS when he was around 3 months old. We were in a lift in Asda with a lady who asked me how old he was. I answered and she touched my arm and asked how I was. I felt like absolute shit but the fact that a stranger went to the trouble of asking me how I was has really stuck with me.

I had just been diagnosed with the hereditary cancer that has killed my grandmother, two uncles, aunt and cousin. I’d been in for more surgery under a local anaesthetic. The doctor hadn’t put enough anaesthetic in, and I screamed when she cut me and then started crying. She got quite cross and told me to stop making such a fuss, and that she couldn’t carry on with the operation if I was crying. I finally got out, with huge hospital dressing on, and started crying again - because of the doctor, and worrying about the cancer. I bumped into a lovely nurse in the foyer who gave me a big hug and took me for a cup of tea.

The lady who gave me a pound coin for a trolley at Tesco when DS1 was a newborn and I was going a bit mad about a)the trolley being wet (it was raining ) and b) not having a pound coin. Even though I have been doing weekly grocery shops for approximately fifteen years and therefore know that you need a pound coin.

She came over and said "here you go my love, it's hard when you have a baby". Could have kissed her.

I have remembered another one so hope this is ok? When my DD was a week old she stopped breathing, we were rushed to hospital and my arse of an ex was more concerned about how he would get home..they kept us in and he left.
I sat in the room with her shell shocked about what had gone on and this absolutely lovely nurse came in and sat on the bed, he told me to get some sleep and that he would get up with DD if she woke in the night.
He then told me his wife was 10 weeks pregnant and he needed the practise and could I please not tell anyone else as it wasn’t public knowledge yet..he was just so lovely and he made me realise what an absolute shit of a partner I had

What an uplifting thread!

Mine is the guy who towed my car out of the snow on the A303 near popham a few years ago, it was about three am and I was totally stuck, facing the wrong way on the dual carriage way after sliding about in my in my MX5 (before kids, obviously)
I was so stressed and knackered after a long shift at work (and being alone, stuck in a car in the middle of the night) that although I said thank you I was probably also a bit scared of being murdered or something.

He was lovely, on his way to Warminster, was very handsome and drove a Land Rover. If you are his wife and have read this then tell him thanks again from me!
I have a snow-worthy car now and always stop for people who are stuck.

On my way home from Australia, alone, tired, skint and not very well. The flight stopped over in Seoul, South Korea. A married older couple took me under their wing and bought me a hot chocolate at the airport.

They were so kind and really helped me. They told me to repay the favour when I'm older and buy something for a young traveller.

I wish I had taken their names and contact details.

Oh another... Ds was about 18 months when we boarded the train to see my parents. It was just me and him. When we got on the platform I had to get him out of his pram, lift him, the pram and the suitcase onto the train. This one time he just ran straight down the middle of the train as I put him down to put the stuff in the luggage rack. This lovely old man was so quick though, he grabbed ds and told me to carry on as he had him and it was no problem. He really saved my sanity that day and ds from getting hurt.

The man who helped me get a book down from a high shelf in a shop - for reasons I've never really understood I didn't speak to him at all just used body language to get him to come to my part of the shop and get my book down for me (no language issues, neither of us was on the phone etc).
He must have been a nice guy and the memory of his confused expression when I answered my mobil straight after him helping me and spoke fluent English still amuses me 15 yrs later.

Going through passport control with DC2 11 months and DC1 2yrs 4months - both with ear and stomach infections so throwing up, crying and very sleepy. I was carrying a rucksack and carrying both kids when DC1 decided to throw himself backwards out of my arms. All of the strangers (5 or so) who dived to catch him and nearly brained each other in their rush to get to him were all great, and were lovely in staying to help me with the kids afterwards.