To ask for random acts of kindness that you've carried out...

[IchWill]

I believe that kindness breeds kindness. I often carry out random acts of kindness, because:

1. If I'm able to, why wouldn't I?
2. The world would be a nicer place if we all helped others out more often.
3. It makes me feel good to make a positive impact on someone's life.

Most I go about and do quietly, genuinely not helping people for recognition or glory, but when I have shared one or two examples with friends, they've said I've inspired them.

Let's hear your random acts of kindness...

In a popular baby stuff store a new mum was in looking at buying an outfit for her baby who was in hospital awaiting surgery. My child needed surgery at a very young age. Anyway I bought a voucher and wrote a card saying something like "wishing your baby a speedy recovery " and gave the mum both. I walked off without even seeing her reaction. X

Omg. Terrible typos.
I gave a school gate mum a heap of my DD's old clothes.

Another time I was buying wine in a shop. Older gentleman in front told me it was his 9th birthday so I paid for my wine and gave it to him. Told him to enjoy his birthday.

Buy coffee for the Big Issue sales people.

@HariboLecter I think it counts as an act of kindness due to the hassle I got for it all, the cheque I had to track through numerous internet search pages for the man as he was literally at one point untraceable, it was from hmrc who told me to destroy it and they will close the case for him and let him contact them.

The phone I tried for two months to return to the owner it was locked so I couldn't find the person who owned it plus they had blocked it, they assumed someone had stolen it. The bus garage and the police station wouldn't accept it for some reason, I ended up finding them through Facebook and it turned out to be my neighbours phone 😮

Myself and my best mate went to a local pub a couple of years back for a catch up.

Just as it was nearly our turn to be served, a man came into the pub in cycling clothes and a helmet, bit out of breathe from his ride.

The barman then turned to take our order and we asked for a bottle of Pinot, with two glasses. With that, the cyclist piped up behind us said, "Make that two bottles please, but can I have mine unopened, to go and I will pay for both!"

We turned him and said thank you, there's no need. He insisted and paid quickly before we could protest again, told the bar man to keep the change and wished us a lovely evening, before putting his wine in the bag and getting on his bike.

We sat there in shock. He wasn't cracking on to us, didn't want anything in return, just was kind.

We tried to work out his motive, a promotion at work, some good news in the family, a pay rise / bonus, he was on a promise. No idea, but I think he just liked to be nice.

I was brought up in absolute poverty but my Mum taught me that we could be rich in kindness and thought so I cannot walk person a person suffering.
Sometimes it leads me to get a mouthful of abuse and a lot of strange looks but I will always try and help people if I can.

My day job is a community support aid to the elderly and I love it but am always appalled at how other people will walk past an elderly lady struggling to cross a busy road or with her shopping.

Every day my daughter and I share what we're grateful for and who we've helped, as we eat dinner. Looking out for RAOK is a habit. If I see an old or disabled person struggling I'll always offer to help. Usually it's small things, like noticing someone is down or lonely and finding some way to complement or include them. This thread has been great for picking up more ideas.

I typed in a colleague's results on a spreadsheet. The deal was we would both call out the results for the other, but I'd done mine already.
My payback was a friendly chat while we were doing it!

I almost regret mine... was driving and saw a young girl walking back from school and she was getting drenched.

Stopped the car and gave her my umbrella even though it was special to me (sounds silly but it was a present from dear friend!!!) because I felt so bad for her. She looked like she was struggling to keep something covered in the downpours.

When driving back down the same road the next morning I saw it chucked in a bush 

Every payday i put a fiver behind the counter of the coffee shop near work to pay for a cuppa for someone who's having a bad day and could do with a bit of kindness.

When I was a young newly single mum in a homeless hostel someone did this where we were living at the time which meant I could have a drink myself rather than sharing a hot chocolate with DD who was 3 at the time. I'll never forget how I felt that day and what a boost it gave me during a spectacularly crap time, and I hope someone who's had one of these cuppas has been similarly helped on a bad day.

Bought three homeless people coffee and porridge last week on my trip to the bank.
When we go and get tuck for my son I encourage him to give to the homeless man outside the supermarket and his dog now he does it off his own valition

Mine's an honesty one too. I noticed a very large carrier bag under a clothing rail on the floor in a department store last month. It was in the children's department and no one was taking any notice of it. I handed it in, got the store assistant's name, he looked inside the bag and found a receipt (for the contents for over £100) , there were toys and books inside. I posted a message on the local Facebook page and a young Mum messaged me that night saying it was hers, she realised it was missing a few hours later and described the contents. I gave her the information on where to collect it and she messaged me back thanking me and saying she had spent her first month's salary after returning from maternity leave on early Christmas shopping gifts for her children. Her toddler had been with her shopping and she had got distracted.

Karma kicked in a few weeks later however, as my daughter lost her purse containing her driving licence and bank card - it was handed in at busy Leeds Railway Station intact.

When a girl I knew Mum died, after a long battle with cancer I bought her a dress she had been posting about and trying to win on fb. I only ever told one person (to get a double opinion on sizing) and double checked with the seller that her boyfriend or other immediate family hadn’t bought it for her first. I did it completely anonymously and the shop even put in a free petticoat.
Every time I think about it it makes me pleased that I was able to give her a small moment of happiness in such a sad time.
I’d love to have a similar opportunity to do something similar again.

I was in a coffee shop last week and a lady with apparent learning or processing difficulties who seemed well known (in a good way!) to the shop staff was in the queue behind me. It seemed like she normally ordered a tea as they offered it to her, but because I had a hot chocolate, she asked for one too. She didn't have enough money for one as held her cash out in her hand for the staff to check. She was short by quite a bit, so I offered to pay the difference for her and did. Why not! It's a small amount of money to me really, and a small treat for her. Win win.

I am the type of person who will always step in if someone needs medical help, picking up off the floor, assistance up the stairs etc so I'm not great at giving specifics as there have been rather a few...

I was the only one to go to the aid of a lad in Ibiza who had an epileptic fit when we were on a boozy catamaran trip. The holiday reps were drunk, as were most of the crew. No one was first aid trained except me. That was a nightmare though.
GRAPHIC WARNING
He smashed his front teeth to bits as he collapsed against the rail, poor sod. An ambulance met the boat at the shore, as they took us back inland. Not much I could do but make sure he didn't hurt himself any more and not choke on the blood.

I try to make sure I pay little compliments out all the time. About how people look, or better yet, how they make you feel. It's a nice feeling if someone tells you they make you feel happy or they give you comfort.

Big issue seller outside our work has a dog. He gave me a McDonald's scratch card thing and asked if I could grab him his hot chocolate when I went in to grab lunch (I'm the dogsbody who gets sent out for supervisors lunch).

When I went in I bought him a large hot chocolate and gave it to him with the scratch card intact. Told him to save the card for when it's colder at night.

Nothing major but he was really appreciative, didn't think it would mean that much to him tbh.

Mentioned the dog cos he couldn't go in himself cos he didn't want to leave the dog outside alone btw. Not a totally random sidebar!
It's been a long day lol

Chatting to the Aldi checkout lady about all the things to do for
Christmas, when the lady waiting in the queue told us that this was her first Christmas without her husband of 55 years who had died in September.

She was worried about writing her Christmas cards as it would be the first time she would sign them with just her
name.

I bought my shopping, doubled back, picked up a bunch of flowers and managed to catch her up with her in the car park.

She was so lovely in her response and keen to say she was lucky to still have family and friends, but to be in the world without the person who's been beside you for so long? I think the least she deserves is a random act of kindness ❤️

The most recent I can remember there was a young girl in the post office queue patiently waiting to buy a stamp to send a music letter so I gave her one of my stamps to save her the bother...

Feel a bit daft though as it was a.post office in a newsagents so she went and spent her pound on sweets......

I hope one day she remembers and pays it forward.

As I went through the tube barriers at Heathrow I saw the person in front of me drop her credit card. I picked up the card and chased her through the station/travelators to give it her back. She was very thankful, and karma got me at the airport, I got upgraded to business class.

Oh as above as a trained first aider I always go to the aid of someone who is hurt, I couldn't just leave someone on the floor or in pain goes against my nature

I was in Boots last Christmas picking up a delivery. A lady in front of me was buying something, quite small I think, but she was short 7p. I watched her for about a min if that rummaging about in her bag getting more and more flustered trying to find some spare change, so I got out my purse and gave her the money. The relief on her face was immense! I felt really good for the rest of the day.

The other one was earlier this year. A lady was trying to push an elderly lady on her wheelchair out of a fast food place and was struggling with the door. I know how hard it is to push my dds around in their wheelchairs so I went over and opened the door for her. She was very grateful that I did.

The people in the car park next to me were fussing around the front of the car. It was granny, mum and two children. Turned out there was a dead bird trapped in the grille and they were too squeamish to deal with it. They were a bit upset. I picked up a twig and dealt with it for them. Despite being quite squeamish myself! They were grateful.

This was possibly my favourite RAOK: I know of a lad who had been hit by a car as a small child, and as a consequence is brain damaged and in a wheelchair, and the whole family has to revolve around his needs to quite a large extent - can't go far as all the equipment, oxygen etc has to be lugged about. Consequently their 2 younger children tend to be overlooked to some extent, obviously that's their life and they know no different but I do feel sorry for them as they do miss out on 'stuff'. Anyhow, I happened to hear the 2 younger & their mum really liked Ed Sheeran, so I enlisted the help of my friend who is a demon at getting tickets on release day, got the best tickets for the 3 of them, and sent them anonymously by Special Delivery, including rail tickets and £a largish sum of cash for expenses, food Tshirts etc. They had THE best day out and no clue where the tickets landed from. It was especially useful as that Christmas her OH got made redundant so I know there was little cash for treats.

Also, when the children were small, we live near Legoland so had Merlin cards and got in for free, but the local council car parks had the peel off bit from the back of the ticket with 'child goes free with paying adult' vouchers. Of course we rack up a lot of tickets with swimming lessons, shopping etc, so I used to take a handful and find big family groups, ask if they'd pre-bought tickets or not and if not hand over enough vouchers to get the kids in free. One family from Manchester were so overwhelmed as they'd been saving for months to go and it meant they had spare ££ for ice creams and treats.

I do heaps of other stuff but I'd be doing a whole post of my own for several pages, it's so uplifting reading about everybody else's.

My eldest DD(10) has a gorgeous friend who reluctantly spends a few days living with her father (guilt), every other week. For some reason, he calls this stick thin child, chubby.
My DD said she often only has a piece of fruit for her food, all day at school. (no school lunches here) and is usually so hungry.
So I make double food for DD to share with her and make sure I pack a few treats too. The girl does not know I know, but my DD was really upset and the mum has told me that her ex does this to her kids. So I guess really it is my gorgeous daughter's ROAK.
I also buy her delicious fattening cream doughnuts when she comes over- just to squash extra needed calories into the poor kid.

This thread's lovely, making me feel all squiffly
Love random acts of kindness, doesn't' cost anything to be nice!
Mine was going to the cash machine and the lady in front of me was walking off and down the street having left her money in there.
Ended up chasing her down the street to give her it back.