Tell me about a time a stranger has been kind to you - that unexpected kindness

[BridportSpectacular]

I was wondering around Cambridge waiting for a relative to get the yes or no after a biopsy at Addenbrookes, the prognosis was awful but this would give a bit more time.

I'm not a make up person really but thought I'd pop into a Department Store - John Lewis?? and ask about a new foundation.

The absolutely lovely middle aged make up lady took me under her wing, gave me a full make over, including doing my eyes twice because I cried when I explained why I was in Cambridge and chose me a lipstick shade that was perfect.

It was like a total therapy session. She was just so kind and it made that 2 hours I was waiting just go.

The news came back from the hospital that we had more time left than we thought.

When dcs were small we had a flat tyre in a supermarket car park and dh was struggling to change the wheel and a random bloke came up and did it for us, he was a mechanic and saw we were having difficulty and had small children in the car. Wouldn’t take any payment.

On here, very recently.

I posted for some personal recommendations of a dog carrier/sling for my aging little dog as she's starting to struggle on long walks and needs a rest, I have a younger dog and we all enjoy new places and long walks. There's loads on the market so I was after some personal experience as to decent ones that fit the bill.

A wonderful Mumsnetter commented that she had one that did indeed fit the bill and that she wouldn't need it once her puppy had his jabs, she offered to post it to me, and that she didn't want anything for it! It arrived a day after she posted and has meant long walks again with little old dog and I'm so grateful. I made a donation to her favourite charity in lieu of payment, it was so unexpected and so kind ☺️.

Oh wow, that's so lovely.

I was once in a new job, and leaving the house in a rush that morning, I left my wallet at home. I stop on my way to work (again in a rush!) to get some petrol... go to pay, and no wallet to be seen.

I was very stressed and anxious as was getting a very hard time in my new job and just broke down in tears. The cashier was not helpful at all as I offered to leave my handbag behind the counter all day as 'collateral'!

Anyway; a lovely man in the queue behinds me comes along and pays for my petrol. £50. I insisted on asking for his bank details and transferred the money over later on that day (this was before the days of mobile banking!).

Will never ever forget this act of kindness!

I had one slipped tile on my three story house with a very steep roof. Was causing water through obviously.

First two roofers - was gonna have to spend over £400 on scaffolding and only £50 for the repair!

Third roofer turned up with his massive ladder, did the tile, saving me the £400 for scaffolding. I was so grateful.

Then ... he decided not to charge me anything, gave it me for free, because I'm a nurse as a thanks for hard work during Covid!

I don't mind admitting I teared up (after I got off the phone with him!) because it's the kindest thing anyone's done for me for years.

I was miscarrying on holiday, not wanting to stay in a foreign country I got on the first flight home. My boyfriend (an ex now!!) decided he had paid for a holiday and was defo staying where he was so I ended up going home alone…

I got home and 4 days later (still no sign of him coming back… he was enjoying himself..!) I fully miscarried in the bathroom and it was horrific. So sooo much blood, ambulance , emergency etc.

I ended up in hospital for 4/5 days. I remember feeling so lost and alone… this absolutely wonderful nurse came and sat with me for a little while one evening. I will always be grateful for that 10-15 mins she spent consoling me, I was a mess and just needed that hug. She didn’t even say much, but the time and hug will always stay with me.

These are so cheering to read.

We were on holiday with young DC in NYC a few years ago. Sitting on a hot subway train the youngest, only two at the time, starting to really meltdown and cry from tiredness and hunger (we'd been out and about sightseeing all day and were out of snacks). I was a bit stressed trying to console DC but also glanced apologetically at other passengers around me. The woman sitting opposite us had all her shopping piled up around her feet - she dug in one of the bags, pulled out a bunch of bananas and gave the DC each one. I was so grateful to her I almost wept.

Last year I was standing outside the hospital waiting to be picked up, I’d just had confirmation that I had miscarried and was in bits. I was trying not to make it obvious to everyone around me but you could tell, anyway everybody just kept themselves to themselves, but one girl in school uniform, I’d say about 15, walked up to me and said “I’m really sorry do you want a jammy dodger?” And pulled a full packet out of her bag🤣 I burst out laughing and said no thank you. I think I’ll always regret not going after her to say thank you and how I wish the world was full of people like her🥺

About 20 years ago I arrived in Whitechapel with all my worldly goods and got dropped off in Walden St, the address of the hospital accommodation I would be staying in. The cabby couldn't find the number, but it was definitely the right street. Little did I know it is (or was) a RIDICULOUS street, with two parts separated by a dead end, a long walk to get around, no vehicular access to the bit I would be living in, and zero chance of finding it if you haven't been shown. Long story short, a local guy took pity on me, heaved everything into his car, drive us as close as possible, then heaved it all to the door of the accommodation.

May his reward be great in heaven, because I don't know how else I would have sorted that out.

I was on my way to a separated parenting course on a court order (complete waste of time and I had better things to do) and I was early so got a takeaway coffee from an independent cafe near the venue. I'd never been there before. I was anxious about the course and what I might have to do. The barista handed me the cup and said 'it's on the house' with a big smile. It was just the boost I needed but I've felt bad for never going back ever since!

I was in the hospital cafe after an post-cancer treatment appointment for DS, then age 3. It was one of the first check-ups since he got the all-clear so I was really anxious. A lovely elderly man passed by and commented on the delicious-looking cake DS was eating, then told him to "have a wonderful life". I welled up, thinking thank God that DS now has the chance for one 🥲

Years ago I was 22 and in Bray just outside Dublin holidaying with my best friend and her 2 kids who were 4 and 2. I hadn’t realised how hard it would be with someone with kids and I hadn’t passed my driving test (was learning) so we were reliant on public transport and taxis.

On a second night out with my friend I met a man whom I’d got off with on the first night out. We ended up going back to a party in the Wicklow mountains in a huge house of some music stars, I think one of the members of The Fureys (I had no idea who they were!). My friend had to go home and this man disappeared leaving me with his friends. I slept overnight on a sofa and woke early next morning had tea and toast and wanted to call a cab, I think I was told by someone in the house that none were available as too early. Or I couldn’t use the house phone, it was either one of those options. The man I was with ended up avoiding me and the house was huge. Most people were still asleep.

I ended up walking down a country lane but I was miles from anywhere and had no idea where I was, in days before mobile phones or I didn’t have one. After walking I either knocked on the door of a big house or a big car stopped as I was walking and a young man offered me a lift back to Bray. I think I knocked on the door of the house. I told him exactly what happened to me and where I’d been and he thought it was disgusting how I’d been abandoned with no way of getting home and in a strange country. I had cash and a cashpoint card on me just no way of using either! He took me out for dinner the next day and he wanted to keep in touch and we swapped numbers but I didn’t keep in touch.

A very kind thing to do, I think he might’ve been on his way to church or just a Sunday morning.

@SirChenjins That's like the start of a romance novel! What a nice guy he was.

These are great!

Inter-railing, years ago. Just arrived in a country, didn't have the right change in the local currency to get a bus ticket for the campsite (in the days before contactless). Lady behind us gave us a handful of coins.

My poor dog was off lead this morning just sniffing about and another huge dog suddenly tried.to attack her. She was so scared she bolted at full speed ( she's a very fast working cocker) and the other dog simply couldn't catch her and gave up when she jumped across a stream. Although her recall is usually great wouldn't come back to me she was just intent in getting away. It was clearly a very aggressive dog it just leapt at her growling and snarling and if she wasn't such a quick and agile dog it would have been another matter.

A lovely man on the other side of stream saw what happened and managed to get her to come to him and held her. By the time I'd made it through the stream and up the bank he was sharing his sausage roll with her and comforting her.

No sign of other dogs owner. Just so grateful she's so fast I thought she was going to be seriously injured.

That was today but the one I usually tell is about the time I was 17. I felt a bit ill and then with no warning I was violently sick and had a huge dirroeha attack simultaneously. I was literally covered in sick and shit. Of course it was summer so I was wearing a short skirt. Most people averted their eyes as I stood there in absolute shock eith nonidea whqt to do next but one man stopped, told me to come with him and took me to public toilets and told me to clean up what I could and wait. Well I wasn't going anywhere except the toilet!! Fifteen minutes later a multipack of M and S knickers, a big pack of wet wipes and a packet of mints were slid under the door .. he said " hope you feel better soon" and he was gone.. and I never thanked him but 30 years later I'm still grateful.

I was once crying my eyes out silently on a bus in London and an elderly woman came and gently sat next to me, handed me a little packet of tissues gave me a little smile and held my hand on my leg until she got off at her stop.

She never said a word and I've never forgotten how much better it made me feel to have someone just notice I was in pain and want me to feel a bit less shit.

I wish I had her details so I could say thank you but didn't, so all I can do is try to pass it on.

That's so lovely, OP. I once had a lady see me out running on a cold February day when it started raining. She insisted I took her raincoat to get home as she didn't live far away, and said there was absolutely no need for me to give it back. It was so unexpected and kind.

Another time I was on a gap year in Canada (I've posted about this before). We'd just landed and didn't realize the bus from the airport would need smaller change than the $20 bills we'd received when we did the currency exchange thing back home. The bus driver was miserable and told us we'd have to get off the bus (he'd started driving before we'd had a chance to pay and we were in some industrial area beyond Vancouver's airport) and I was exhausted because we'd been traveling for nearly 20 hours at that point. Some lovely lady started emptying her pockets to see what change she had to help cover our tickets and the whole bus (no exaggeration!) followed suit. They managed to club together to cover both our tickets all the way to downtown. As she handed over the money to us, she just said "Welcome to Canada", and I'll never forget it. She didn't know how nervous I'd been about traveling and she was just so kind ♥️

@monsteramunch That has made me get a tear in my eye. It shows how powerful a kind and sympathetic silence can be. Just feeling that someone has noticed that you're in pain can be what makes a difference.

I was in the hospital with my son who was really poorly with bacterial tonsillitis. He hasn't eaten or drank anything in 6 days without us force feeding him glucose & syringes of water. We were walking from one ward to another past a WHSmiths and my DS gestured towards the ice lolly fridge. It's the first time he had asked for anything in a week. The shutter was half way down and I popped my head under and asked if I could buy an ice lolly. The lady said the tills were closed but let my DS pick two twisters for free. I offered her the cash but she said no. After a horrible week i cried with gratitude. (And I'm crying now lol)
.

My mum had just died, I had to go and sort her bank out and a few other things. I looked like shite, had been sitting with her overnight for weeks and working. I needed the loo so went into House of Fraser, I was mooching about the makeup counter waiting to,go to an appointment when a lady on a counter asked me if I was ok. I just deflated. She didn’t try and sell me a thing, made me sit down, listened and grabbed a big tube of very expensive hand cream and started massaging my hands. I felt the tension of the weeks melt away.

This is making me cry
It's good to know there are all these good souls out there.
I try to be kind. I offer people to go before me in queues. Tell people random compliments but wish I could do more. Like money gifts or paying for things.
I feel all upset tonight with the world and bad news I had but this really helps. Great thread

I once twisted my ankle really badly in wedge heals. A passing van with a middle aged couple stopped, helped me up, gathered my things and offered to take me up to A&E.

Probably not a great idea to get into stranger's vans but I was so grateful for the help!

I've got a severely autistic son who was having a rough meltdown in a town centre so I was sat on the floor comforting him(it's very rare he meltdown out of the house).
A lady I've never seen before came over with a takeaway coffee,sat on the floor with me and handed me the coffee while saying you got this mummy .
After 10 minutes son calmed and we all got up and she gave me a big hug before fluffing my sons hair and we all went about our day x

A few years ago I was taking Ds2 who's deaf and autistic to see Singing Hands in concert in Hampton London. Got off the train not a taxi in sight and long queues or refusals from cab companies when I rang up... Ds2 started getting agitated so I asked three people getting into a car how to.get to the school where the concert was.. They noticed ds2 getting worried and said it was on their way. They loaded us into the backseat and dropped us off... Such a kind thing to do... ♥ ♥

The opposite situation but it made my day. I was in my last week before retiring - I had been a GP receptionist/secretary for the previous 20 years. I had told a few patients who I knew well, including, this day, a lovely mum with a depressed looking 15 year old daughter. Mum turned to daughter and said "I brought you in here when you were about six weeks old, you were crying incessantly, I was exhausted, and the other patients were glaring at me. I felt like an awful mother who couldn't cope......and then this kind lady (me!) called me into a spare office, took you and cuddled and rocked you, all the time telling me I was doing a great job and this was just a bad day! She was a lifesaver and I never forgot her kindness" Teenager wasn't particularly impressed but I was very touched and realized that an act of kindness is remembered for a long time!