Nice things strangers have said.

[Differentforgirls]

There’s a brilliant thread on here about awful things strangers have said to you. Some of the things 😱.

They are awful but hilarious in many cases.

So, are there brilliant things strangers have said that you remember?

Mine is the first day my 2.5 year old son chose and put all his clothes on by himself and was delighted.

We both set out for the village shop. On the way there we passed an older man and my son said “Mr, I got myself ready today”.

He replied “ You are kidding wee man, that’s brilliant” and gave him 50p to “ celebrate” and shook his wee hand.

I will never forget the kindness of that man to my son.

Aww you’re nice, but I’m really not haha.
For balance I’ve also been told I look like Noel fielding!

I'd had a day out with my aged parents and my difficult sister, and had just left to get the tube home. At the pelican crossing in front of the station, feeling stressed, and a lovely American woman tapped me on the shoulder and said 'I love your top' , made me smile after a tricky day.

Years ago I took my two little sons, both aged under three and a half, to the cafe in John Lewis in Milton Keynes for lunch. DS1 was big enough for a chair and DS2 was in a high chair. Two elderly ladies at the next table remarked on how beautifully behaved they were and that I was a great mum. It's stuck with me all this time, because it gave me a real boost. I was pregnant with DS3 and worrying about how I was going to cope with three under four. I'm probably the same age as those ladies now!

Was talking to a guy I've worked with for 3 years. He commented it was nice to have a mature person backfilling my role while I'm away for 8 weeks. I looked at him and said the man backfilling was the same age as me - how old did he think I was? 35, max 38. Um, I'm 53... I went home happy that day.

I love a spontaneous stranger niceness story! This is an excellent thread.

Among my best stranger encounters:

My DP and I were staying in a small hotel in an isolated place in Scotland and we spent the evening in the lounge one night instead of going out somewhere because the weather conditions were so appalling. We went to pay our bar tab at the end of the night and the proprietor told us he was giving us all our drinks for free because we were such nice guests and he’d never seen a couple laugh together as much as we did.

I was out with a friend of mine once; we’d been drinking all afternoon and were just about to go home as the city started to get busy with evening drinkers. Just as we were leaving the bar a random woman stopped me and said she thought I had an amazing style.

I always try to say a hello/ take care to homeless people even when I can’t offer them anything sometimes. They’re always lovely back. I think that so many people ignore them and I just want to acknowledge I see them.

Not long after I separated from my husband I went out with a friend. Made an effort. Wore a red dress. A woman at the tram station told me I looked stunning! That really made my day. Longer in fact. A proper pick me up.

I like paying things forward. People are generally lovely and kind. I saw a man pay a woman’s parking because her card wasn’t working at the hospital car park.

I always tell people who are trying things on if they look great! I was in a shop where a girl of about 15 was trying on sunglasses and her friend was sneering at them, but she looked brilliant in them and I said “Don’t listen to your mate - they look amazing on you and they’re really on trend” and she looked SO chuffed.

I also like to tell people in restaurants when their kids are well-behaved. I also once emailed a school to tell the headteacher how lovely and kind and polite their pupils were on a school trip on public transport. They were only about 12 and their teacher was brilliant with them, and there was a little group of lads who all got up from their seats unprompted to offer them to an elderly couple 😍

@BauhausOfEliott I love that you do that! I'm going to try to do the same, I often think nice thoughts but don't articulate them. You sound like a lovely person. (See what I did there..)

This is an odd one, but I gained weight and lost it again, and have been dressing a lot better since I did, taking more care of my appearance.

my clothes do tend to be more expensive brands, although many bought new from vinted or seasonal sales, and I’ve developed a new style, wide leg trousers, I’m quite leggy/tall, fitted tops, slouchy cashmere jumpers, midi skirts or dresses , fitted jackets or looser blazers etc, often in soft colours of cream, tan etc but also olive or sea green, navy, plum etc all age appropriate, and I’ve received a lot of compliments from young women.

I’m mid fifties, and it’s women in their mid to late 20s, early thirties, just the sort of I love your outfit, that dress is great, you look fantastic, I love your hair, or your really pretty , type of stuff, it’s when I’m out, can be bar staff, someone in a shop, a waitress etc, it’s always random and unprompted. And it’s nearly always younger women,

I don’t really give a shit about male comments, or people I know where it’s just social lubrication and kindly meant and nice to hear, but there is something about admiring glances and comments from women younger that is quite touching,

its also lovely to see women behave like this, obviously as older generation im a safer haven, but I do find it quite touching as it always feels genuine from the way it’s said and the look on their faces. Like I’m passing some unspoken test.

A stranger told me my dog was beautiful the other day!
It was unexpectedly sunny so she was looking really shiny, she’s got red undertones in her black fur..she’s a bit of a stunner.

I was in M and S at the sale rail and I had 2 dresses in my hand, a plain navy one and a mustard spotty one. I was dithering a bit and a lady next to me said please do not buy that plain dress get the mustard one it will suit you so much better and it more interesting, it will make you happy. So I bought it and think about that lady often when I put it on as it is a happy dress!

I actually love strangers and their comments.

We used to have a dog who was a rescue dog.

We got him when he was 6 months and he was very nervous because he’d been treated badly.

His nerves didn’t last that long and my husband took him for a walk then went to Asda. On the way there they passed by Greg’s and two young men came out with their sausage rolls. One of them took a bite then lowered his hand with the sausage roll in the Greg’s bag.

My dog saw this as an opportunity and sneaked the sausage roll out of the bag and ate it!

My husband apologised profusely and said he’d go and get him another one.

The young guy said “Nae bother, your dug’s a legend”. And then told the dog “ You’ll go far wee man” and told my husband he was lucky to have him. 🤣

This comment was made to me nearly 20 years ago and has always stuck with me. I was trying on dresses for a work’s Christmas do and DH (then boyfriend) was outside the changing rooms and I would go out and ask his opinion. I walked out in one dress and a woman said to me, “that one. You look stunning”. Bloody made my life obviously!

I have also had older women approach me whilst BF-ing and complimenting

Oh I love these stories! I have a rescue dog who was very afraid of men when I first got her - especially tall men or those in Hivis. Yesterday in two different places, tall men in Hiviz told me my dog was beautiful and crouched down to approach her. She accepted both approaches and allowed them to stroke her. I was so delighted with their comments and her reaction!

I was in a restaurant recently and when the waitress came to take our order she said to me, ‘I noticed you when you came in, you’re stunning’. (Assuming it was meant as a compliment and not stunningly gruesome 😂).

Thank you so much for doing that - we genuinely appreciate that a lot!

Rescue dogs are wonderful. We had ours for 14 years then had to get him put down. OMG, I will never get over it. We did it at home and all four of us were with him. He was still wagging his tail when they put that wee initial thing into his paw. 😭

He was like our third child and our two sons wee brother.

The vet and vet nurse went into another room to let us say our goodbyes to him.

Another example of the kindness of strangers.

I took a group of yr8 students on a visit to a Cathedral. It's an inner city school, none of them had ever been in a cathedral, and most were Muslim, as was obvious from the girls wearing hijabs. Two elderly ladies came up to me and I thought they were going to be negative, because some of the students were very chatty. They said they thought I was doing an amazing job, and how lovely and engaged the children were, even though it probably wasn't a familiar environment for them. They said they were thinking what a positive trip it was and hoped the children were always this well behaved!
It made my day, and I've never forgotten it.

I went swimming last week, I met a lady maybe a wee bit older than me, drying my hair. After we had a wee chat she said "goodbye my dear". She was Indian and just sounded so warm and friendly to me. And she had the kindest face. I wanted her to take me home and make me a cup of tea and let me feel looked after for 10 minutes 😔

When DC was very young, around 7/8 weeks, I was breastfeeding in a very busy cafe and feeling flustered about the wobbly chair. We had to sit there for a while as DC could feed for England! A lady who looked like she was in her 80s got up to leave and as she walked past said "how beautiful to see a mother feed her child".

I nearly cried as it had been quite the journey to having DC and of course I was very sleep deprived. It was a lovely and kind thing for her to say and I've never forgotten it.

Actually I did that about school pupils! I was walking home with shopping bags and there was a kind of wee slippery slope thing. Two pupils from our local secondary (they had their blazers and ties on), asked me if they could take my bags so it would be easier for me to get down the slope. I said yes and thank you and the next day I called the school to let them know. 😊

We live in a small village, everyone knows everyone. I had my son when I was young and brought him up as a single parent. Anyway he is an electrician now and the amount of people that stop me to say.. You have done an amazing job there, and tell me how lovely/hardworking he is always makes me smile.

What a heartning thread show there's still friendlieness and kindness in people❤️

A nail tech once told me that I was the best-smelling person she’d ever met. It was actually a bit weird and I go somewhere else now, but nice too, I guess?

A lady in Sainsbury’s cafe once came over and told us that my children had the best table manners she’d ever seen when they were about 5 and 2. Gave me a real boost. Not sure she’d say it now 10 years later!