to ask if a stranger has ever been kind to you?

[Penguinsarethebestest]

On the back of the negative thread of 'nasty to you'

Standing at the toilets at a station, bursting, no coins on me, about put a £20 note in the change machine that would had given me £19.70 all in coins. Nice random bloke pays the 30p for me to use the loo...

Student, broke, knackered, walking home up a big hill after a shift in late night takeaway 3 am, Cabbie stops, insists on giving me a free ride home the last mile and waits til I'm safely in door.

If you ask for help with a buggy (I always ALWAYS do when out and about on TfL with my grandchildren), you will always get help. I think people are sometimes either uncertain about offering in case they are misunderstood, or are a bit in their own little world with their AirPods! No one has ever said no, or even helped reluctantly.

When I was in my late teens and writing cheques for the first time. I got in a muddle because of the delay waiting for the cheque to clear. So I thought I had more money than I had. I got into an unauthorised overdraft and bank charges. Then I got a letter to see the bank manager. That lovely man listenened to me and explained about cheques and a talk on how to manage my money. That no one had ever had with me before. Beong young I had barely any money and he must have been busy. But he spent that time with me. Then he cleared the debt from my account. It was less than £100 but a fortune to me at the time. Now I am older I wonder if he paid it himself. I promised that I wouldn't get into debt again. I never have either. In fact I became overly careful with money thanks to him. I only ever met him that one time.

Right for time for interview standing in a busy car park in pouring rain. I had exact amount for parking ticket but machine randomly decided to reject my 20p. Alternative was to find a cash point, then go to a shop to get change and then return to car park. I would have been very late.

Lovely lady was watching from across car park, gave me a 20p and wished me merry Christmas. I still feel a warm glow when I think about it.

In fertility clinic, for the scan that ended up giving me good news about my pregnancy. Woman there, her DP left for some reason and I could see whatever she was there for wasn't good news. Asked her if she was okay, did she want a drink of water or anything, and she tears up, so I sat beside and held her for a bit while she had a little cry.
I were called in and when I came back out she'd gone.I hope the hug helped.

Loads of times (Lovely counter-thread btw). Most memorable is when I came to London for a summer school when I was fifteen and had my purse with my entire money for two weeks stolen from the pub we were in. A lovely lady at the bar lent me £30 which was enough in those days to see me through. When I got home, I repaid her and she sent me a letter saying she never expected to get the money back.

And on a trip to a uni Open Day, we hadn't realised there was a four hour overnight wait between connecting trains at York on a freezing station platform in December. A squaddy on the same platform just came up and put a hot cup of coffee in front of me and then walked away so I wouldn't feel threatened by him. Such a lovely man.

Hobbling down the steps to the Northern line, blood pouring down the back of my heels caused by new, ill fitting shoes and no socks/tights.

Guardian angel stopped me, handed me two Compeed blister plasters. I will never forget her kindness, I had over an hour commute back home and would have been shredded to pieces without her.

Yes. I lost my grandma who I was really close to last September, and broke down one day on the bus home from work crying silent tears and trying to stop my nose running. A lovely lady sat in front of me turned around and offered me a pack of tissues. A small act - but reminded me the world isn’t always so bleak.

A few weeks ago I lost my friend to Covid, understandably it's been devastating. Anyway I had to go for some blood tests which I had been putting off, and got a real telling off from my GP. I went the day after I'd lost my friend. Had my bloods done, and saw the little cafe in the hospital was open. I ordered my coffee, and started to feel a 'grief wave' flooding over me.
The lady making the coffee picked up on this, told me to sit down and she'd bring it over.

She came over with the coffee, and a small bag, and said I know something terrible has happened but it will get better, trust me. This is for you no charge.

In the bag she had put a sandwich, a cake and a couple of cold drinks.

So lovely and kind, she was like a beacon of light on one of the darkest days.

Not me but shortly after my daughter passed her driving test aged 17 we had an unexpected snow storm whilst she was at work - as she left the multi story car park she struggled to stop at the bottom of a ramp and slid into a brand new Jaguar.

She got out of the car and burst into tears as she was so scared about what the other driver would do - but the very posh middle aged owner of the vehicle gave her a hug and told her just to go home and he would tell his insurers he had come back and found the damage.

I know strictly this was not totally the right thing for him to do but a lovely gesture.

I posted on the other thread but pleased to say I have lots of examples for this one.

The most significant was when I was flying to Athens on my own for a hysteroscopy (i didn't qualify on the NHS in our area as I already had a child and it was much cheaper to go abroad. I was very nervous not least because I had to pay the hospital in cash so I had a couple of thousand euros secreted amongst my clothing. My appointment was at 6am next day so I'd booked a hotel room in bookings dot com.

I changed planes in Switzerland and on the final leg I sat next to a banker (greek but worked in Switzerland). We got chatting and he was horrified to hear where I was staying - a very dangerous area apparently where tourists were often robbed at knifepoint. He insisted he would find me somewhere safer and when we landed he made a few calls, gave me details for a "very affordable" hotel right next to where I would get off the coach which transferred from the airport into the city centre and where I could easily get a taxi the short distance to the hospital. He said he and his brother had been born in the maternity hospital where I was having my op! I thanked him and we parted ways. I got the coach, found the hotel and was greeted by the concierge who told me that my benefactor had already settled the bill in full! I was so grateful!

I left a generous tip for the concierge and emailed my good samaritan once home offering to repay but he said no need, he was just glad I'd been safe and all had gone well. (I did manage to have another baby after that op too!)

I do wonder if I was foolish to trust such a total stranger as i could have "walked into a trap" and ended up robbed, raped and murdered!

Also in Greece another time my 5 year old got his arm trapped in a revolving door of a bank (his fault/my fault for not watching). Bank manager rushed over and offered to drive us to hospital for an xray and a passer by stopped and did some first aid checks to establish if there was a fracture (thankfully not).

In France me husband and child walking back from town to our campsite when the heavens opened - full on thunder and lightning. A lady stopped and insisted on giving us a ride. She even strapped our son into a child seat. We saw her a few days later on the beach and offered to get her and her children a drink/ ice cream but she waved us away saying "it was nothing".

In uk this time. Was going to a job interview/assessment day. Location was an industrial estate some easy from the station. I'd bought ticket in advance and it was only when I got to the destination and that I realised I'd left my purse in my gym bag ... at home. It was before everyone had mobile phones so I couldn't even call the firm to explain. I was panicking and a stranger came over to see if I was ok and I blurted it all out. He was getting a taxi to the same estate and gave me a lift. I had my cheque book ( this was a long) time ago and offered to write one out for my share but he said no, it was fine and then joked her hoped they wouldn't assess my organisational skills! I didn't get the job but always remember his kindness. Luckily the firm provided taxis back to the station or I'd have had a looong walk!

I do try and help other people when I see the opportunity but the gestures seem to be less grand - helping people with buggies etc.

A squaddy on the same platform just came up and put a hot cup of coffee in front of me and then walked away so I wouldn't feel threatened by him.

This is so nice to read. Gentle nuanced understanding and empathy.

Heavily pregnant with my first very precious baby. Drove to pick up step daughter from school with snow and ice on the ground, had to walk down a steep hill from the car park to school and was silently fretting as I got out of the car, suddenly an older lady appeared and linked my arm and walked me the whole way there. So lovely!

I’m a couple of occasions, staff working on trains (GWR) have been very kind to me when I was in distress. I had booked a ticket with the wrong date so was about to get off the train, the train manager asked me if I was okay and I started crying as I was having a tough time. He told me to sit back down and that I didn’t need to buy a new ticket. He also got me a cup of tea.

People who gave up their seats when they saw my baby on board badge. Sometimes other passengers saw my badge and took charge, asking if anybody could let me sit down on very busy journeys.

I was on a aeroplane and I was sat near a mother and little boy the little boy was really unsettled crying etc the mum was flustered and abit embarrassed. When the lo settled she was reading a book to him she was lovely very patient and just a lovely mum. When we got off the plane I seen her and I said btw I think your a fantastic mum she thanked me and I walked away. I wanted her to know to give her a boost

@Dimontepickle Just shows how people can affect your thoughts and actions. Things stick with you along time. Lovely story

First day after moving to a new city with DC aged nearly 2 years and 2 weeks. Both asleep in buggy so DH went off to buy a new suit.

Baby woke up hungry and it was a freezing January day so I wanted to find a cafe to sit in to feed. Toddler immediately woke up once baby had latched and started crying. Nice waitress helped him out and got him settled with crayons and milk. Then he slipped and hit his head on table. More tears, baby still feeding, no signal so couldn't call DH and tell him where we were. Getting very frazzled.

Managed to get to both sorted, DH came back all apologetic and as we got up to leave waitress told me another customer had seen me having a bit of a time of it and had anonymously paid for my coffee.

Such a small thing but made me feel so grateful for their kindness.

Many times.

Had many different people pay for my parking when I didn’t have the exact amount or smaller notes.

Had someone go out of their way to help me at an airport & get me a bottle of water while they searched for my hotel taxi and then loaded all my luggage and refused any tip from me to say thanks.

Just today I was given a 3l bottle of rose and had people offer to carry my groceries to my car.

I have also been really kind to strangers, paying for groceries, buying baby clothes and elderly lady put down because she couldn’t afford them, paying for people’s toll for the car behind me... I love to bless people that do not expect it.

A few weeks after I’d passed my driving test I parked up in my dad’s road to visit him. My dad was unwell at the time and housebound (all fine now).

I’d given myself a decent bit of room between my car and the one I’d parked next to and gone inside my dad’s. When I came out, it was pouring with rain and another car had parked right up behind me, almost number plate to number plate. Absolutely hemmed me in even though there was plenty of room.

Despite the bit of space I’d given myself with the first car I found I was really struggling to pull out as the second car was also parked at a slight angle as well as very close. I kept trying lots of tiny movements with the wheel but couldn’t clear it. It felt like that scene with Ross in Friends when he gets his car caught.

The pouring rain also made it harder to see. I was only a new driver too so didn’t have the confidence of an experienced one, plus the general stress about my dad’s illness meant I was already quite tense. I was nearly on the verge of tears and didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t ask my dad to come out in the rain and move it in his condition.

Moments later I hear a knock on the window. It’s a man walking his dog in the rain. I open the door and he asks if I’d like him to try getting the car out which I gratefully accept.

So I stand on the pavement under the man’s umbrella holding the dog lead for him while he has a go. After much steering and easing out he finally gets the car out of the space for me. When he handed the keys back he agreed it was really difficult and he’d been driving 40 years - no wonder I was struggling.

It was such an enormous gesture to me despite it probably being just a small one for him. I thanked him profusely but I doubt he fully understood how significant it was for me given everything going on at that time.

Mine is a knight in shining armour.
Dd was 18, in London at 10pm when she had her bag stolen with literally everything in it. She went to the police station to report it. Came out and burst into tears because she had no money, no phone and no ticket home. Knight is shining armour (Who she described as a middle aged dad), stopped, walked her to the tube, paid for her ticket to the station and gave her 25 quid for her train fare home and some food for the journey.
Thank you lovely Dad, whoever you are.

When I was about 6 I went to a toy shop with my childminder and her child. I wanted to buy myself a little pot of bubbles but only had 11p and it cost 17p and a stranger gave me the 6p. I still remember that kindness nearly 40 years later.

I went to an army friend's wedding (I was in dress uniform) and the London cabbie that drove us back to where we were staying refused to accept the fare which I was really touched by.

One act I've done is driving down a country lane and saw someone had driven off the road into a ditch. I drove him to a couple of farms looking for someone with a tractor who could pull him out and saved him a couple of hundred pounds in recovery costs.

When staying in a holiday cottage on the Isle of Skye we were on the way home had a problem with the car. It was pouring with rain. We were just outside a fairly isolated house and could not get a phone signal to call the AA so DH went to ask if he could use their phone. The man gave us a cup of tea and a biscuit while we waited for the mechanic to arrive. We left a bottle of whisky on his doorstep the following day.

Another time I was queuing in Toronto airport for my flight home to London. It was taking a long time to start boarding so the passengers were all quite suspicious something was going on and got talking. I was travelling alone and got chatting to another British lady who explained she’d moved to Canada years ago after meeting her husband and they’d started a family, but she often flew back to see her British loved ones.

It was then announced our flight was cancelled. It was an overnight flight and the next wasn’t until 6am so the staff told anyone who lived in Toronto to go home and anyone else would get accommodation sorted although they weren’t sure how long it would be.

The woman very kindly offered me a room at her house for the night even though we’d just met. I politely declined and took the hotel option although later regretted it as it took nearly 90 minutes to sort out, plus the hotel Kitchen then couldn’t handle the extra influx of guests so I ended up eating dinner from a vending machine.

I just couldn’t believe she would offer up a room in her house to a total stranger, such a lovely gesture and I somewhat wish I’d taken up on it now (although I guess she could’ve been lying and was an axe murderer for all I know!).

Few years ago while driving to work I was hit by a car which was on the wrong side of the road and ended up in a ditch. I'll be forever grateful to the driver of the car behind me and to a lady who also stopped her car. They helped me out my car, called police and ambulance and looked after me until they arrived. I was in pain, shaking and struggling to breathe. I never got the chance to thank them as was bundled into the ambulance asap but I'll be forever grateful.

To contrast my post in the negative thread, one evening when I was walking home from work, a man tried to stop me on the street. I made my excuses and walked on but he followed me going on about the things he wanted to do to me. I was extremely nervous and didn't want him to follow me all the way home so when I saw a group of people I approached them and told them he was following me and asked could they pretend they knew me. When they copped what I wanted they burst into eager "hello's" and hugs, then they watched him over my head until he was well gone and asked me to join them for a drink, which they insisted on paying for. We had lovely chats and then they walked me the rest of the way home.

I've just remembered a quite recent one. I was selling a sofa bed in December for £30 on Gumtree and a lady emailed to say she'd come for it, but not till next week was I OK to hold it, so I did. When they arrived her and her husband were quite elderly and she said we are travellers and we have all the grandkids coming for Xmas and this will be a godsend. She gave me £40 and I said I'm so sorry I have no change in the house, I said do you want to pop the shop up the road to get the right money, I felt terrible. She said don't worry love you keep the extra and get yourself a drink for Xmas, then she gave me a big hug and said God bless you. I filled up it was so kind!