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Original poster

What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever said to you?

147 replies

Magik01 · 30/10/2021 09:02

Following on from the thread about the strangest thing said, I thought it would be nice to hear some positive stories!

I was at a theme park with DS2 who was about 8 weeks old at the time. We were walking one of the character live shows and he was hungry so I sat and fed him (I’m BFing). A woman came up to me after the show and said “it’s so lovely seeing someone feeding their baby, your doing a really great job.”

It honestly made my day, sometimes it’s the little things!

OP posts:

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 30/10/2021 09:08

I was in the supermarket, and DD1 (then 2yo) was being a toddler, and DD2 (then a few weeks old) was getting fed up and wanting fed. DD1 managed to knock some stuff off a shelf, I was trying to hold DD2 and pick stuff up and stop DD1 run off.

Random woman came over, helped me and told me I was doing a good job. I needed that then.

Eileen101 · 30/10/2021 09:08

I've had similar comments, usually from little old ladies.

user1471538283 · 30/10/2021 09:11

I've got a few. My DS was about four months old and as I was walking him to the grocery store an older lady stopped me to tell me I look radiant.

Another lady when I had my DS and my friend DD with me the same age told me I was a saint.

A gentleman told me that he had never heard such an articulate child when my DS was 18 months old.

My favourite is someone saying that I was always illuminated!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Breast & bottle feeding

Stressed21 · 30/10/2021 09:12

Walking round the supermarket with DS1 who was 2, talking to him and saying how well he was doing helping with the shopping and just generally being positive. A lady came up to me and said how lovely it was to hear someone interacting so positively with a child instead of shouting.

I was in a pretty bad place at the time and that comment has stayed with me since. Happened around 15 years ago

GoodnightGrandma · 30/10/2021 09:13

How polite my kids are.
I always think that, if they behave well out of the house , you’ve done a good job.

Cantstopthewaves · 30/10/2021 09:15

I was working in a hotel and walking through reception when an older gentleman got up off his seat and told me he needed to tell me that I looked just like an angel. He then went and sat back down and carried on drinking his coffee.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 30/10/2021 09:23

not long after I'd had DC1 a oldish bloke stopped me when I was pushing the buggy in the park. He said "you won't know me, but I saw you getting on the 345 bus to work each morning. when I stopped seeing you I knew your baby had must have arrived, and I really hoped everything went well. It's lovely to see you both." Warmed my heart, that one.

GoodnightGrandma · 30/10/2021 09:26

I took my baby into school to be in the school photo with my others.
When he’d finished the photographer said what a lovely family I had.
That was nice as I’d had my in-laws saying that I shouldn’t have had another baby.

SapereAude · 30/10/2021 09:29

Mine's a purely selfish me me me one
Graduation ball, a million years ago. Total stranger came up to me and said "you won't know me, and I'll never see you again, but I've fancied you from afar for four years and tonight's the last time I'll ever see you so I thought I'd tell you".
Didn't try and get off with me or anything which would have ruined it. Was v sweet.

QuicklyNowThen · 30/10/2021 09:31

In my dd's last parents evenings her teacher said dd was everything you would wish your child to be - strong, caring, brave and friendly which made me want to cry was so sweet.

TheProvincialLady · 30/10/2021 09:32

I was 27 and a man of similar age stopped me to say that he was sure I had a boyfriend and he wasn’t coming on to me, but he just wanted to tell me how pretty I looked. He didn’t hang around but kept walking. I’m not particularly pretty so the compliment has always stayed with me.

Sunnysideup999 · 30/10/2021 09:41

I stopped to say hi to an old neighbour I’d not met. I introduced myself.
‘How charming you are’ he said to me :)
Once with my baby daughter (who I had dressed in an all pink outfit and pink bobble hat) I went into a deli and the lovely Italian lady said ‘This!! You! This is my dream’. It was nice as I’d had a tough morning.

Once walking with my young son someone was watching us in the park having a hot chocolate and she came over and said ‘what a sweet boy and how lucky he is to have such a sweet mummy’.
My son was very hard work as a baby and it just made my day feeling like I was getting somewhere with him.

dudsville · 30/10/2021 09:42

Mine was when I was 18. I'd left home with no support or prospects. I barely finished school, no qualifications. I found a volunteer position on the other side of the country that provided room and board. The manager there was very paternal and told me he hoped his children grew up to be like me. I'd not thought of myself as anything at that point. His comment literally turned my face toward the sun.

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 30/10/2021 09:52

Two different occasions when I was catching a train to see seriously ill relatives in hospital.

First time a lady came over to give me tissues, water and the chips from her Burger King meal “as I clearly needed them more than her”

Second time I managed to trip and fall while running for the train. Strangers in the carriage rallied round and produced wet wipes, water and a brand new, clean (unripped) pair of tights.

Never will forget the care and lovely comments from these total strangers.

Nc123 · 30/10/2021 09:53

One of the people I managed at work cried when he heard I was leaving. “You’re the best manager I’ve ever had, I wouldn’t be doing any of this if you hadn’t encouraged me.” I nearly cried at that!

And a slight acquaintance - a friend of a friend - told me how much she admired me for taking on DS1 (who started off as my stepson) as my own when he was a baby. He was about eight by then so it was a long time afterwards!

squashyhat · 30/10/2021 09:57

Can I turn it round without blowing my own trumpet? I commuted daily on the train for a long time and one morning a woman got on and sat next to me who smelled absolutely gorgeous. I debated with myself for several minutes about whether telling her so and asking what her perfume was would be weird (I'm also female) but in the end I just for it and we had a lovely chat. Turns out it was body lotion not perfume (and when I googled it afterwards it was waaaaay over my budget) but I like to think she was happy for the rest of the day that a complete stranger had complimented her.

mnahmnah · 30/10/2021 10:01

The only ones that stick in my mind are about how polite my children are. Or how caring, particularly when my eldest is doing something to look after the youngest. It’s always lovely to hear and makes me realise we must be doing something right!

AudTheDeepMinded · 30/10/2021 10:08

I remember attending an interview for an MA many many moons ago. It went really well (although I ended up going somewhere else in the end). I was so happy that it was finished and chuffed and excited at the prospect that I was grinning my head off as I walked back towards the station. Total stranger stopped me to tell me that my smile had made his day.
Also had a fair few positive comments about the kids over the years, which is always appreciated, especially if they have been being little shites at home, at least they don't show me up in public! And I ALWAYS tell breastfeeding mothers what a fabulous job they are doing as I know how difficult it can be at first to feed in public. I always ask if they need anything too.

Alonelonelylonersbadidea · 30/10/2021 10:11

Back when my first son was newborn (decades ago), I used to pace the living room with him at my shoulder. Him screaming. Me trying not to cry. For colicky weeks on end. I was a very young single mum, alone in a city where I knew no one.

One day the doorbell rang and there was a lady there with a bunch of flowers. I let her in and she told me how she saw me every day, holding my crying baby, and she wanted me to know that she could see me, that she knew I was exhausted but that this too shall pass and that I was doing a wonderful and hard job breastfeeding.

I had never met this woman before. I sobbed. I put my head on her shoulder and she held me while I cried. She put the flowers in the vase. Made me tea. And left.
I never even knew her name.
Seems dream like now.
I didn't tell her how I'd thought about killing myself and my baby.
That day changed my life.
I'm forever grateful.

Nc123 · 30/10/2021 10:13

@Justyouwaitandseeagain

Two different occasions when I was catching a train to see seriously ill relatives in hospital.

First time a lady came over to give me tissues, water and the chips from her Burger King meal “as I clearly needed them more than her”

Second time I managed to trip and fall while running for the train. Strangers in the carriage rallied round and produced wet wipes, water and a brand new, clean (unripped) pair of tights.

Never will forget the care and lovely comments from these total strangers.

Oh I love this, and I’ll share mine.

When my much-longed-for niece was born we knew she was seriously ill and her life hung in the balance. She seemed to be stabilising at first and we were hopeful, but on the second day I got a call to say that the doctors had said they couldn’t operate and she would not live. We all had to get to the hospital to see her for an hour.

I didn’t have a car and the hospital was two hours away so called a local taxi service to take me there, wait for an hour and come back. They were understandably curious about why and when I told them they halved the price and refused to charge me waiting time. Because of them I saw my niece while she was still alive and I’ll always feel indebted to them fir that. I’ve used them ever since.

user1471604848 · 30/10/2021 10:21

Years ago I lived in Madrid.
One day I was walking down the street. Up ahead an old man was walking towards me. When he saw me he stopped and waited for me to get to him. Then he said something like"que flor mas bonita y mas guapa" (which means "what a lovely beautiful flower").
It wasn't said in a sleazy way, just nice!
I laughed and said Thanks. I always remember how he put a smile on my face! (I had just split from my boyfriend).

Lulu1919 · 30/10/2021 10:21

You smell nice .....

MintJulia · 30/10/2021 10:23

I was running an errand one lunchtime, literally running, across the marketplace. Rushed. Untidy. Definitely not glam.

An older man (about 40), said I looked gloriously full of life and raised his hat - it was race day so people were dressed up.

SammyScrounge · 30/10/2021 10:39

An older man sitting opposite me on the train kept glancing at me. When he got up to get off he paused and said "You're really beautiful. In a weird kind of way.'"

WobblyLondoner · 30/10/2021 10:49

I was once at an ceremony where I was being awarded something and agonised about what to wear. It was the sort of occasion where most women wear some kind of hat/fascinator etc. I can't stand them on me and so decided not to wear one at all, and bought a fantastic but very un-me dress.

After the ceremony a woman came up to me and said how fantastic my dress was and complimented me on not wearing a hat. Was already on cloud 9 and that just made me feel even better.

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