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Original poster

There are kind people in the world.

110 replies

Jackthementalkitten · 09/10/2021 17:53

I went too Tesco earlier, I only took £20 with me ( stupidly forgot my card) I’d worked out that the bill was around £19, went too pay was £23. I was stood with my daughter feeling absolutely bloody mortified, telling the cashier too take some items out. A lady at the next till walked past, out s giver in my hand and told me to buy myself all the shopping. I’ve never been so grateful in my life at this kindness. I managed to shout thank you so much. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s given me faith in people again. Has anyone else ever had a stranger be kind too then?

OP posts:
Holly60 · 09/10/2021 20:44

@TurnUpTurnip

That’s nice but I wouldn’t have accepted
Why not, out of interest? It’s more gracious to accept a kind offer than not.
TurnUpTurnip · 09/10/2021 20:48

Because I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting money off strangers but I see I’m in the minority on that but no I wouldn’t feel comfortable and I also teach my children not to accept things off strangers so I would be contradicting that, but I wouldn’t do it without my child there either. I would have felt very awkward and embarrassed.

Holly60 · 09/10/2021 20:49

@TurnUpTurnip

How is it unkind to not accept money off a stranger 😕
Because they have offered a gift. it would be embarrassing for them if that gift was rejected. The gracious thing would be to accept.
Bagelsandbrie · 09/10/2021 20:49

It’s always gracious to accept a kind offer (in response to the person saying they wouldn’t have taken it). It makes the other person feel good too.

I paid for someone’s parking at the hospital one. She was a mum struggling with a toddler and the hospital had recently put a new parking machine in which meant she would have had to walk a good 15 mins and back to the main hospital to get money from the cash machine and then back again. I’d just been to visit my mum and wanted to do something nice so I gave her the money for the parking. It made me feel good. It’s nice to help others.

vampirethriller · 09/10/2021 20:53

I left my handbag on a night bus a while ago, with £80 cash, my phone, a watch and all my cards, and someone took it to the police station for me and everything was in it when I got it back.

ParkheadParadise · 09/10/2021 21:00

Yes, there is definitely kind people in the world and it isn't always about money.
When my dd was murdered. A gentleman found her when he was returning from nightshift. He stayed with her until the police came,covered her with his coat. He never ONCE spoke to the press or gave any interviews.
He attended her funeral and every year he takes flowers on her anniversary to the cemetery.
He also had to endure the court case. I finally got to meet him properly 7mths after she died and was able to thank him in person for his kindness.
I will always be grateful to him for what he did for my dd.

Mattsmum2 · 09/10/2021 21:12

I’ve done random acts of kindness like money and assisting people. Also had this in return.
Acts of kindness make me feel I’ve helped in some ways.

NannyGythaOgg · 10/10/2021 00:21

My personal view is to do a good turn when I can.

I've been in situations where people have been shit and others where people have been brilliant and I choose to remember the good ones (although the shits do still sit at the back of my mind.

When I can 'pay forward' I do.

Areyouboredyet · 10/10/2021 01:08

I dropped my mobile phone outside dc's school and a lovely kind lady managed to call my mum who gave her my address so she could bring it back-I was so thankful to have it back.

A few weeks later I went to Tesco and found a bank card with £40 on the ground. Took it into Tesco and left it with the staff. I got a call from a man thanking me for being so honest and he left a £20 Next gift card at Tesco for me to say Thank you. So kind

SammyScrounge · 10/10/2021 02:20

My Gran used to say that good manners meant that you never embarassed anyone by making them feel stupid or silly. Refusing the fiver would have embarassed the giver

BasiliskStare · 10/10/2021 02:34

@ParkheadParadise Flowers

CormoranStrike · 10/10/2021 03:21

@ParkheadParadise

Yes, there is definitely kind people in the world and it isn't always about money. When my dd was murdered. A gentleman found her when he was returning from nightshift. He stayed with her until the police came,covered her with his coat. He never ONCE spoke to the press or gave any interviews. He attended her funeral and every year he takes flowers on her anniversary to the cemetery. He also had to endure the court case. I finally got to meet him properly 7mths after she died and was able to thank him in person for his kindness. I will always be grateful to him for what he did for my dd.
I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter, and for the not proven verdict which will have left you in legal limbo, never knowing for sure what happened.
Graphista · 10/10/2021 03:43

@TurnUpTurnip because while there are good manners involved in giving a gift there are also good manners in accepting one graciously

People like to help others it's churlish and immature to decline if they're happy to do so

Your manners here are also as pp have said not the best

You also have the option of paying the person back is not possible to at least say to them and follow through with paying it forward.

I love hearing stories of small acts of kindness and being at either end of them too irl

@ParkheadParadise you and I are often on the same threads, so I've probably already said to you on several occasions how sorry I am for your loss but I'm saying it again, I actually love when you share that part of the story as it perfectly illustrates how kind people can be at the worst of times Thanks

My father once was in the position of administering cpr to a neighbours husband (we barely knew them the poor woman had just moved in and they'd no phone - this was before the mobile explosion - and was chapping at the neighbours doors to borrow a phone to call 999) who'd had a heart attack.

Dad had 1st aid training as part of his job

Sadly the chap later died but dad went with her to hospital and sat with her pretty much all night while they worked on him and after he'd died until the relevant admin was properly processed etc and then brought her home made her a cuppa and made sure she'd be ok before he left her and he then had to go into work having had no sleep himself.

I've helped people out in various ways and it's a lovely feeling, I've also had people be amazingly helpful to me

The person who on the night I had my first breakdown literally just sat with me making me cuppas and talking any old nonsense as a distraction I will forever be grateful to for probably literally saving my life!

I've had people provide so much help and support to dd and I around that time and it was very much appreciated.

sandgrown · 10/10/2021 07:06

I ran out of petrol on a busy corner in town . I tried to push the car to a safe place but was struggling. I got back in to ring the AA. There was a pretty rough pub about 200 yards away . While I was getting my phone there was a knock on the window and three customers who had been outside having a cigarette came to push me to a safe place. I walked to the petrol station and when I came back one of the men came over again to make sure I got the car started ok and on my way . I was very grateful.

BasiliskStare · 10/10/2021 15:32

@sandgrowm - many years ago I was walking down a fairly "rough" street late at night on way back from station - 3 tall well built young men approached me - I breathed in - They said " can we help you with your suitcase ?" & they took it to my flat - lovely young men

Graphista · 10/10/2021 16:58

Those last 2 posts remind me of when I was moving home by train in London (I was skint! Long story)

I was still quite young at this point too early 20's and I'm ashamed now to say stupidly prejudicial based on people's appearances

I was struggling through on the tube with 2 suitcases a rucksack and a small tv!

There were two points on the journey that were especially tricky due to very steep and juddery escalators and the busy commuter crowd (I had timed it very poorly)

The first time as I was trying to get on to the escalator with great difficulty a suited and booted city law/finance type squeezed past me muttering complaint at me and nearly tipped me over! Arse!

The 2nd time a chap with a purple Mohican, tons of piercings and tattoos (this was 30 odd years ago when this type of appearance was still quite rare and stereotyped as being a "rough" person) approached me. At first I'll be honest I thought he was gonna mug me! That's partly due to day I was having though! He put a hand out and said "can I give you a hand with that? You're gonna come to mischief if you try it yourself" I was quite amused at the contrast between the appearance and his accent which was quite posh and the use of word mischief. He very kindly helped me not only up the escalator, but the rest of my journey till I got to my new address! As I said I was utterly skint! But my new landlady had been baking and when in a rush I explained who he was she gave him a pie Grin he was very slim and she said he needed feeding up which he laughed at.

Such a nice chap on what was a fairly rotten day for me (new landlady was lovely but it was all a bit of an emergency move which was incredibly stressful)

That day taught me more than any other I think not to be a dick myself in prejudging people based on appearance - positively or negatively

And ever since I have had lots of other occasions/events that have shown me how right this is.

Latenightreader · 11/10/2021 16:06

I visited New York when a hard up student (I was staying with a friend in Boston and it seemed too good a chance to miss). I stayed in a cheap motel in New Jersey which it turned out was only accessible by car - the map was misleading! The next morning (after a series of unpleasant events) I couldn't find the bus stop back into the city. I tried to ask in a donut shop but was ignored, so went to a garage on the grounds that people may need a bus after dropping off a car. A woman in the queue overheard and said she would drive me to the bus stop. When she heard my story she took me to the railway station, gave me a bottle of water and some cereal bars, and was so motherly and kind it turned a horrible trip into something good.

Littlepaws18 · 11/10/2021 16:18

@TurnUpTurnip

Because I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting money off strangers but I see I’m in the minority on that but no I wouldn’t feel comfortable and I also teach my children not to accept things off strangers so I would be contradicting that, but I wouldn’t do it without my child there either. I would have felt very awkward and embarrassed.
But that's your own insecurities and nothing to do with the good deed from the stranger! Teach your children to recognise an act of kindness rather than to shut away the world.
EduCated · 11/10/2021 17:10

When the pandemic started, my elderly grandmother had about 10 different neighbours knock or leave notes to offer any help she needed - it was genuinely lovely, especially the ones she’d not spoken to before.

TurnUpTurnip · 12/10/2021 23:15

Nope! I will continue to tell my children not to accept things off strangers, literally that is what we are told to do for safeguarding reasons, still wouldn’t accept it and I actually think it’s wrong to put someone on the spot like that

TurnUpTurnip · 12/10/2021 23:17

Ever heard of grooming, it’s not always an “act of kindness” kids round here are groomed into gangs with offers of buying them things like expensive trainers, I will continue to teach my kids not to accept things off strangers.

EduCated · 12/10/2021 23:35

I think it’s more important to teach the difference between genuine kindness (is someone offering something you need, is it reasonable, are they doing it openly, are they giving without expectation, are there other people around) and manipulation (are they being secretive, are they asking something in return, are they making you feel uncomfortable, are you alone, does it seem to good to be true). There’s a world of difference between the two, and learning to recognise help is incredibly important.

Blossomsbloom · 13/10/2021 04:45

In Scotland in my teens with a friend and missed the last coach back to London (waited at wrong location!)
Two elderly ladies were waiting for a coach to Glasgow bus station, we got chatting and told them what happened.
When their coach arrived they told the driver he had to let us on free and get us to the bus station to wait for the morning coach.
He was fuming but knew better than to argue with them 😂 and let us on. They gave us both a pound note each which paid for a McDonald's burger meal then! So we sat all night in Glasgow bus station and had a McDonald's.
Ive never forgotten their kindness as a scared teenager.

@TurnUpTurnip would you not want someone to help your children if they were in a similar situation? Would you rather they were just left stranded?
Rather than teach your children not to accept anything from strangers for fear of grooming why not teach them the difference between the two?
Offering to pay for the difference in someone's shopping is very different to randomly buying a pair of trainers for a child. One is in need, the other isn't.
Also, would you never help someone in need then if that's your view? Very sad if so.

ThirdElephant · 13/10/2021 04:56

Lovely idea for a thread. We drove the kids to a park we'd been to loads in order to meet friends wed not seen for ages and found that the parking app we usually use to pay for parking wasn't working. We had no change to pay the actual meter but a lovely couple saw our difficulty, came over and gave us some. So nice of them!

AllySmelly · 13/10/2021 05:05

@TurnUpTurnip

'How is it unkind to not accept money off a stranger 😕'

Because it could make the person who offered feel like they had offended you in some way... therefore making them feel bad!