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To ask, on World Kindness Day, what the kindest thing someone's ever done for you is?

123 replies

octoberfarm · 13/11/2018 14:00

Just spotted that today was World Kindness Day and thought amidst all the dreary news (and November weather), it might be nice to have a thread about kindness.

I'll start: the first time I travelled anywhere as an adult, I went to Canada. I'd been traveling for nearly 22 hours (was a tad over-optimistic about the manageability of multiple layovers in a bid to bring flight costs down) when I got on a bus to get from the airport to downtown Vancouver. I'd only bought local currency in the form of notes, rather than coins, and the rather hassled bus driver took off whilst I was trying to pay. When he realized I didn't have any coins, he told me he'd be dropping me off in the industrial area we were passing through and I'd have to find another way to get where I was going. I was disorientated and jet-lagged, and starting to get a bit panicky, when a kind stranger stood up and asked how much I needed. She pulled a few quarters from her pocket and as I looked around, I saw that a heap of the other passengers were taking out change from their pockets too. They all contributed enough to cover my ticket, and as she left the bus, the original lady said "Welcome to Canada" with a giant smile. It's always stuck with me.

Also: the time a stranger walked me and my two kids to the car with his umbrella in a torrential rainstorm, and the kindness my toddler showed me the other day when I was upset. Sometimes a simple "don't worry Mummy, it's okay" is all you need Smile

OP posts:
Hidillyho · 13/11/2018 14:11

Mine is a weird one....

My dad kicking me out when I was a teenager. He was abusive and doing it for all the wrong reasons but my life now is a lot better than if I had stayed with him for any longer.

In terms of actual kind things though I would say my colleague who has changed holiday dates for me to be able to accommodate things in my personal life

Oobis · 13/11/2018 14:24

I have twins. When they were little, I never got more than 90 minutes sleep at a time and was often up all night with a collicky baby. That, with a 5 year old too took its toll over time. I have a friend who lives 200 miles away. She plotted with my husband, drove down to see us and sent us to a local hotel overnight while she took on the night duties and drove back home to her own family the next day. Truly the kindest thing ever. I love her 😍

Birdie6 · 13/11/2018 14:29

DD was 2, my husband was away in the Army, it was Christmas. I was quite OK really, happy to spend a quiet day with DD . But my neighbour wouldn't have it ! She sent her adult daughter over to collect DD and I , wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

When we got there, we found that we were not the only "lame ducks" who'd been invited - there were about 10 other guests, all people who'd been alone for Christmas. A couple of foreign students, a few really elderly people who lived alone, all sorts of folks. AND my neighbour's entire family !

We sat at a long table in their garage and ate a beautiful feast, then her grandchildren put on a little concert and we all had a singalong. When it was time to go, my neighbour thanked us all for coming, and gave everyone a small gift. I've still got the scarf she gave me.

That sort of kindness is rare, but there it was right in my street and I've always been grateful for her generosity of spirit.

Oopsy41 · 13/11/2018 14:38

When my two were babies (20 months and 7 weeks) we were in the supermarket, I had a full trolley and two crying babies who just both wanted their mum. As I was loading my shopping on to the conveyer belt, the man behind me starting packing my shopping for me. I thanked him but said he didn't need to do that, he replied that he would want somebody to help his daughter and I should sit down and give the babies a cuddle. I did and they both stopped crying. He was a lovely man and it was a lovely gesture and I'm still grateful to him to this day

Theknacktoflying · 13/11/2018 14:43

I was really very ill at work - my manager drove me home

baublegirl454 · 13/11/2018 14:47

I went to NY with a friend for her birthday weekend. I'm rather afraid of flying but managed the flight out there fine with some bubbly and a few good films. On the way home my friend had arranged an upgrade, but only for herself. So I was left alone st the back of the plane. Suddenly there was really bad turbulence which went on for over 2 hours. Never experienced anything like it before or since, absolutely terrifying. The elderly man 2 seats away saw my face and moved to sit next to me. He then held my hand and reassured me for the rest of the time. He was so kind and so understanding of my fears without making me feel silly. If it hadn't been for him I think I would have had a full blown panic attack, especially as my 'friend ' had taken all the Valium with her Confused

Huntlybyelection · 13/11/2018 14:57

I moved to london for a year. I was 19 and forgot id need accommodation for the first few nights before i was meeting a colleague to move into their spare room.

I booked a room in a lodging house - it was a normal house, they just took in lodgers. But they had double booked.

One of their neighbours found out and couldn't face me being stranded so took me in. They were a really kind and lovely family who housed me when i had no idea what to do and I wish I had their address so I could send a card (20 years on) to thank them.

Santaispolishinghissleigh · 13/11/2018 15:01

After my 8 week scan show no hb I prepared to miscarry. Self employed, I went to work cleaning as usual. I passed my tiny dc at a customer's house, she lit up her wood stove and let me send my little one off with love. We never spoke about it then or since.

krustykittens · 13/11/2018 15:06

Many years ago, I was waiting on a bus to get me to an a -level exam. The bus didn't turn up and I was beginning to panic so I went to get a taxi from the local mini cab office. I explained I didn't have enough money to get me all the way there but if he could drop me as far as my tenner would take me, I would be grateful.The driver took me all the way to college and wouldn't take a penny off me. Said he was a student too and he knew how important today was going to be for the rest of my life. I passed and got into uni! Such a wonderful man. I wonder if people realise how much of a difference their kindness makes?

Hidillyho · 13/11/2018 15:11

This is lovely!
There is so much kindness out there which you rarely hear about. I was gutted when I missed watching the pride of Britain this year

wink1970 · 13/11/2018 15:31

Gosh, this is so relevant.
I am sat here being so grateful for a policeman being VERY kind to me earlier. I was driving like a complete twat and he pulled me over and gave me a well-deserved telling off rather than the instant ban he could have done. His graciousness and kindness means I won't lose my job and I really am grateful for that. Lesson learned.

Lamona · 13/11/2018 18:58

This is the kind of post that makes my day brighter! Smile

BreakYourselfAgainstMyStones · 13/11/2018 19:09

When i left a women's refuge after getting my house I had nothing.

A lady had posted on a free site that she was giving away a freezer so I messaged and asked her for it, she gave me her address and I thanked her and told her my situation and told her how grateful I was.

When I showed up for the freezer she had also gathered some other bits, a toaster, small kitchen bits and some real luxuries like candles and nice bubble bath.

I began to cry and she gave me a hug and wished me well.

I'll never forget her kindness. It really meant so much if me to have a few things to call my own. I don't know if she knew how much it meant to me.

Bestseller · 13/11/2018 19:15

DH emptied the dishwasher before he went to work this morning, very early before I was up.

It might not be much and its not the biggest thing he's ever done by far. It used to be DS2's job but he doesn't get up early enough to do it usefully anymore and DH knew how much the feeling that I do "everything" was getting to me. It made me smile

lidoshuffle · 13/11/2018 19:36

Years ago I was walking in the early hours of the morning towards Kings Cross (before it was gentrified) to get the all night bus. It was (unknown to me) the the very dodgy red light area. A London cabbie stopped, gave me a lift to the station even though I didn't have any money; "I don't want your money, I want you to be safe".

I sometimes wonder what could have happened without that kindness, bless his good heart.

beela · 13/11/2018 19:44

Lovely thread.

When ds was born he was very poorly. One day when he was about a week old, we had to take him from scbu to another part of the hospital for a scan. There was me, DH, DS, a nurse, a monitor, lots of wires etc. It was obvious that he was not a well baby. An elderly lady in the lift with us looked into the hospital pram at ds and said to me 'you must be very proud'. I'll never forget that.

(ds is 8 now, and fit as a fiddle).

BelladonnaKebab · 13/11/2018 19:53

What a lovely thread!

PassMeTheBleach · 13/11/2018 19:56

I was suffering from horrible anxiety that was affecting my work as a teacher so I was on a reduced timetable. OFSTED came in for two days, the first of which was my day off, so I knew I’d be observed on the second day.

I was incredibly stressed as you’d expect and once I’d walked my usual 30 minute route to the train station, I realised I didn’t have my purse. I didn’t have time to go home and get it, so I went to the ticket office and absolutely broke down, asking the man if there was anything I could do. He paid for my train ticket out of his own money, and sent his colleague to meet the train so they could delay it a couple of minutes while my tickets were printed off.

Because of him, I made it with plenty of time to prepare and had a very successful observation. I went back the next day to pay him back and gave him a little gift. He was surprised I’d returned as he had no expectation of me paying him back.

Sadly, as I turned to catch my train, he implored me not to mention it to anyone from the rail network as he’d get in trouble. Such a shame I couldn’t let his employer know how wonderful he was.

CaptainCabinets · 13/11/2018 20:02

I crashed my car when I was 18 after taking a hideous wrong turn and ending up down a byway. The recovery driver who came to my rescue put in his report that he’d found me on the actual road so my insurance wasn’t invalidated. I had no idea it would’ve been so I could’ve got myself into an even bigger mess!

He also got me a cup of tea from the services on the way home because it was early January and I nearly froze in the 4hrs it took for him to get to me! Lovely man, I’m so grateful to him because I would’ve been up shit creek if he hadn’t done what he did.

RavenMaven · 13/11/2018 20:08

What a lovely thread. I think I might have something in my eye...

I have one. I was a student travelling one summer and was flying home from St Lucia to the UK. I arrived about 6pm and my next flight was about 3pm the next day. I had hardly any money left and no card because it had been stolen earlier on during my holiday. So I planned to doss down in the airport overnight. I found a seat in the restaurant and made myself comfortable. There was a waiter clearing everything up who told me that it was closing in 10 minutes. The airport closed overnight and I couldn't stay.

I was really worried as I really couldn't afford to stay anywhere. He contacted some friends of his who were British expats and they not only put me up overnight but took me out to see the sights and bought me lunch the next day. Lovely people, we stayed in touch for several years.

FairyLightFiend · 13/11/2018 20:09

I was (unbeknownst to me at the time) quite sick at uni and exhausted all of the time. One of my module’s lectures were off campus and I was physically too tired to make it to them. As a result I only managed 38% on my exam / coursework with the pass rate being 40%. A very kind lady in university admin fudged the result for me (I didn’t ask her to!) and recorded it as a pass on the central records system. I struggled for the rest of my degree with my health but managed to pass all of my modules. If I’d had to retake that one to pass the year and proceed then I think I would have broken me and I’d have had to leave. Her kindness gave me the chance to get my degree. (Which I’m now to poorly to use, but it doesn’t stop me being proud of it!)

Kannet · 13/11/2018 20:13

Someone donated eggs so I could have my dd, when approached by the clinic again two years later they donated again so that my dc where full siblings. I will never know this woman's name but I will be forever grateful to her

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JaponicaBlossom · 13/11/2018 20:22

I hadn't slept for a couple of nights before Christmas, due to medication change it turned out. Finally slept on Christmas eve, and though DS11 had woken up early, he'd left me to sleep. Finally woke when GPs phoned at 9am, then we opened stocking and had breakfast. He was so kind to leave me to sleep when I know he must have wanted to open presents, makes me teary when I remember it.

ForalltheSaints · 13/11/2018 20:37

Maybe not the kindest, but I will not forget the kindness and in a way honour to be able to participate in a dedication service at the Menin Gate in Ypres on Friday.

Peaspleaselouise · 13/11/2018 20:40

A couple of years ago I was really upset about something non-work related in front of a colleague. We were sitting in an informal area of a large open plan office.

I had red puffy eyes and big fat tears, unknown to me a lovely cleaning lady, who’d i’d never set eyes on before (very large company) had spotted me crying and had gone off to fetch me a tissue and a cup of tea and subtly handed them to me before carrying on with her own work.

What a gem.

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