What is the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

[user83921]

What is the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

One of the nice things about this thread is that I feel encouraged to offer help - I sometimes don't for fear of patronising /misunderstanding /being rejected/shouted at .

but I reckon now that it's worth the risk .

The ones that come to mind are all people saying, often just in passing, "I can tell you're a good parent" or "You have lovely, well-behaved kids" - especially when the kids are not being lovely.

It really helps when dealing with a journey with a screaming child who will not shut up!

And a kind stranger whose help I didn't need - I had a backpack and was carrying a sleeping bag through central London because I was going to meet a friend later and then go camping. A homeless chap came up to ask how I was, and where I was going to sleep, because he knew that a young woman would encounter hassle and he could tell me where the shelters were and give me some money to get in one.

It took a lot of effort to convince him that I wasn't just playing down my problems and I really didn't need his assistance, but as I told him, there was a time when it would have been necessary and I really appreciated his offer.

DH in CCU following numerous heart attacks. I was back and forth between the hospital and the kids at home. The weather was atrocious and one time visiting in a mad rush I didn't have any change to pay the parking fee, just a £20 note. It was dark and chucking it down with rain and I just stood at the parking machine and cried. A lovely kind man came along and paid for my parking. Never got his name but was incredibly thankful.

Such a lovely thread

A midwife who sat with me in the wee small hours while my baby was in scbu with an unknown condition and comforted me while i sobbed. (Baby, now a healthy 13 yr old).

So lovely to read this thread

Lovely thread.

Mine is just a small thing, but it meant so much at the time. I was struggling to get back back to my car with a trolley full of shopping, a newborn DS2 in his car seat & toddler DS1 who was having a tantrum. An older woman, probably about the age I am now, came over & helped me, pushing the trolley so I could scoop up DS1. I was so grateful for her calm kindness.

This thread has inspired me to carry out acts of kindness, something that's so simple to do can mean the world to those on the receiving end

I had bought a train ticket the day before I wanted to travel and made it very clear to the woman in the ticket office that I wanted to travel the next day...
When the conductor checked my ticket during the train ride, it had the wrong date on it and he threatened to throw me off the train....this was before contactless payments and I had no cash with me, and a 5 month old baby.
A stranger paid for my ticket. She gave me her business card and I paid her back but it was so nice of her.

Several times people have given me enough to get a parking ticket. I do the same and always give any ticket with extra time to anyone coming in to the car park. Little things.

Also when my DM died a few years back, I had no appetite but still had a family to feed. A kind friend would leave cooked meals on my doorstep. I was so grateful. She would just leave them and text. I couldn't cope with many visitors or words and she knew that. It meant so much and still does.
As someone said upthread, if in doubt do it, it's worth the risk.

Stuck in the corner with miserable screaming baby at a family get together while everyone else was cooing over the other baby that was there being passed around for cuddles. I looked over to see my MIL and SIL both looking adoringly at this baby whilst they ignored mine because of the screaming and I couldn't help it, my eyes just filled with tears, I turned to walk to the front door and DP's cousins wife had been stood behind me the whole time watching this happen and could see how upset I was. She took us out for a walk and listened to me for ages, she was the first person to actually ask me if I had been ok since baby had been born and said she would always be there to listen and help if I needed her. I haven't seen her since but I will never forget how in a room full of people she was the one person who could see how sad I was feeling and did something to help. I will always be so grateful to her for that.

I was driving through heavy snow to get my son (then 5) to school and then go in to work. It was terrifying as I'd skidded and was very scared to keep driving. A lovely man in a van stopped, helped me get the car back on the road and then followed me all the way to the school to make sure I arrived safely.
Also snow related I once locked myself out of house and car as I was running the engine in thick snow to de-ice. The car door shut and I was locked out. My phone was also in the car so I couldn't make a phone call. A lovely man who was walking past stopped to help, went all the way back to his house to get some 'tools', came back and got my car window open so I could get back in the car.
All this took him about 2 hours to do and made him late for work as well. But he saved me from having to smash the car window and all the hassle that would have gone with it!

One of the nice things about this thread is that I feel encouraged to offer help - I sometimes don't for fear of patronising /misunderstanding /being rejected/shouted at .

but I reckon now that it's worth the risk .

^^ yes yes yes to this. What a lovely thread.

My son can be a terror and sometimes fights terribly with his sister. I remember once I left them alone in McDonald's, upstairs, while I got the food. While we were eating, a lady nearby got up to leave but as she did she came over to our table. She said 'i just had to say...' and my heart sunk... 'how well behaved your children are, they're a credit to you'. So lovely to hear and she had no reason to say it. I thought she was going to tell me they'd been up to mischief!

I was in McDonald’s and ordered the kids a happy meal each. My card wouldn’t work and the lady behind me offered to pay

Grabbed me to stop me and my rollator falling down the gap on the London underground.

I was going through a really difficult time and was just holding it together. I was in the supermarket and I just couldn't hold it in any longer, I broke down in tears, lent on the trolley and sobbed.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, looked up and a young woman said "would a hug from a stranger help?". We hugged and I was so grateful. It really did help to know that a stranger cared.

I just love these threads, and really hope it does give people the confidence to offer that kind word or small gesture when they can.

Sat in A&E with baby DD who was waiting for an xray. Long wait at the x-ray department.

A man sat in a wheelchair with a broken leg insisted DD take his place in the queue. As a result, we went straight through and he took our place at the bottom of the waiting list.

His foot was pointing the wrong way. He must have been in dire agony.

I've never forgotten his kindness when I was in my darkest hour.

Actually I want to change mine. The kindest thing strangers have ever done for me is let my DD sit in their car on a cold night in the middle of nowhere for the 5 hours it took for us to find her. Wrong train, unscheduled stop, dead phones all coming together to create the perfect storm of lost daughter.

I've remembered another from a long time ago. I had my first car and was only 20. I crashed into someone from behind, it was my fault. The police were called. Lady in the house beside the road where it happened just came and too me not her house, made me sweet tea, let me call my dad(pre mobiles) and just let me wait in peace and comfort. 28 yrs on now and I'm still grateful.

*took me into her house

Our son, aged 5, had a long-standing, potentially life threatening condition. I called out of hours in a related emergency situation. The on call doctor organised the ambulance but then went on to tell us his name and that he was literally 7 doors away from us and to bang on the door if things deteriorated before they arrived. Our son was taken in and admitted for surgery, which quite literally changed all of our lives for the better overnight.
I wrote to him afterwards, told him the effect his actions had had, and because he’d mentioned on the phone that he had 3 little ones of his own I dropped some Christmas chocolates on his doorstep for them. I did think about knocking but somehow felt that would be overstepping the mark.
He had no obligation whatsoever to tell me where he lived, I could have been a complete crank and rung his doorbell for every sniffle for ever more. We moved away a couple of years later but I’ve never forgotten his kindness.

This thread is amazing
Mine would be from Mumsnet. In 2011 my third dd was born and was unexpectedly severely disabled. I had 13 wonderful but terrifying months with her. I would have been a complete mess if it wasn’t for the continuing kindness of strangers here on MN. They kept me afloat and reminded me that I was my dd’s best advocate and encouraged me to keep fighting for her.

After she died, wonderful MNers came to her funeral and kept us in their prayers and thoughts.

Years later, I absolutely treasure the Woolly Hug that strangers made for me. I snuggle up with it and remember my beautiful girl and the struggles we endured, the love we shared and the absolutely amazing kindness of complete strangers that changed my entire life.

Never close your mind, embrace the unknown and accept kindness when offered. Life is a blessing that we’ll never truely understand or appreciate x

My story is not about me and is from many years ago before the wonder that is the internet and mobile phones, my adult 20 ish son was flying back to the U.K. to an airport many miles away from us and he had no money. We were able to arrange and pay for a bed for him at an airport hotel. He ended upon a shuttle bus to the hotel and it was the end of the bus driver's shift. The driver stopped at a chippy for his meal and asked my son when was the last time he ate and then bought my son a meal.