To think the kindness of strangers can restore your faith in humanity

[Geegeehadid]

A warm fuzzy thread please - was thinking a couple of examples recently that made me so grateful for the kindness shown. One when my husband was in hospital after a serious accident the Uber driver insisted he wanted to give me the journey for free (I insisted on paying but was so touched) and secondly when our little cat was run over someone took him into the vets so they could identify him and call us. Both sad situations but a reminder of where people sometimes just look out for others.
In this world of a lot of bad news what are your examples ?

When we took our baby home from the hospital we were taking an uber - and we weren’t super confident on putting car seat into the car (we didn’t have a car so we couldn’t even practice in advance-other than you tube videos)

the driver just took the seat and put it in confidently (he had his own baby at home) and he drove so carefully with the precious new cargo 🥰

When I just left my physically emotionally and financially abusive ex and had no money or anywhere to live and I called citizens advice and spoke to the most lovely man. He reassured me we'd get me sorted and told me ex wouldn't be able to control me or my money. He gave me step by step instructions on where to go for help. And I'll never forget how that one phone call was such a ray of hope and kindness. I did get my self sorted and I'm happy safe married to an amazing man and earn now more than my ex. Id love to thank that mannin person .

What a lovely idea! You only read about people being vile but in reality most people are nice (most=+50%).

My DS16 (asd) had a panic attack outside last week. He had forgot his phone so called from someone's phone. I hurried up to get him. The lovely young mother with a young child waited with him and did everything she could to reassure him. Her kindness towards a teen she didn't know from Adam almost made me want to cry. DS kept repeating "she was so nice the lady".

Not to me, but when I saw this American cop rescuing a dog from a burning van...😭

I wish I felt like that @Foxglovelove.
Truly I do.
My life experience has taught me different. I am an outsider and that's how I am treated. I have no doubt that those that " fit in" with society have a different experience .
I'm glad OP has had good experiences but I don't expect anything from anyone.

I fell down the stairs at a train station recently and a group of teenagers were so kind, helping me up and making sure I was OK 😍

Completely agree @Foxglovelove , but I do also like reading warm, fuzzy threads like this sometimes, to balance the drama on so many other threads.

When I was in hospital with my disabled daughter having cancer treatment I slept in a chair by her bed. The first night a nurse brought me a blanket but instead of just passing it to me she put it over me and tucked me in. I nearly cried, such a simple comforting gesture. Also the wonderful Maggies centre, I used to go there for a break. They’d make me tea then take me to a lovely warm room with the lights dimmed and pillows and blankets laid out so that I could sleep. I think they pretty much saved me during that time.

Years ago I hadn't got my expected A level results and I was invited for an interview through clearing.
I was terrified - it was the first time I'd been on a train on my own and I was scared stiff.

A lovely young man on the train engaged me in talk and finding out where I was going to spent the three hour train journey running through scenarios with me and practicing for the interview.
He also told me how to get the college from the train station and was just so calm and reassuring that he helped me calm my nerves and made the whole experience uplifting rather than terrifying.

When I was going through cancer treatment, I found people incredibly kind. I took my boots to be resolved at Timpsons and when I went to pick them up, the man working there simply said there was no charge. He said he could see I was going through enough as it was. I thought that was so kind.
I go to an art group in a neighbouring town, while I was having cancer treatment, the manager there used to quietly upgrade my order in some way. Either the drink would be the next size up, or there would be a cake with it or extra sprinkles or cream or whatever. I really appreciated his kindness.

Running low on petrol in an unfamiliar rural area, I asked a van driver in the car park for directions to the nearest petrol station. He topped me up from the can he kept in his van and wouldn’t take any money for it.

When my dad was dying of terminal cancer PALS at Northwick Park hospital were angels. I will never forget Helena. And if you ever read this all these years later I’ve never forgotten you. You gave us the help we needed when we were so desperate and that help meant that dad had a dignified end. Thank you.

I have two taxi driver ones from quite recently.

One was an uber driver who heard my tale of woe about how I had been delayed getting home and hadn't eaten dinner. He offered to stop on the way back so that I could buy something. I politely declined. He then said that he would pay for the food if I was worried about the cost. I didn't accept but it was so kind. And no, he wasn't coming on to me in any way... I was old enough to be his mother!!

The other is a taxi driver who passed my exhausted elderly dad who had tried to catch a bus but had given up because the bus stop had temporarily moved and he didn't have the mobility to get to the replacement stop. He flagged down the taxi and asked how much it would cost to take him into our nearest town. The driver said he was heading that way anyway and refused to take any money.

People just chatting to strangers/saying nice things. The man who helped an older woman at the hospital, as she was struggling to get to where she needed to go. The teenager helping the mum get the pram on the bus today. A group of boys buying a meal for a homeless man. The family looking after a lost dog. The teacher staying late to talk to an upset child. And that's just the ones I'm aware of this week, there are a lot of nice people around.

Got caught in a riot in Marrakesh when DD was about 12 . We were trapped against a wall while the crowd swarmed with rocks and one man even had a gun . A young Spanish man covered us with his body to protect us- he then with his girlfriend took us to his hotel where we were able to wait safely until things were calm enough for us to return to our hotel.

I have faith in humanity.

Then there was the surgeon who saved DH's life when he had a ruptured appendix overseas, but refused to take any payment from him despite it being a private hospital and DH having proper insurance.

And the guy who insisted that my dd and I share his taxi which he diverted to Heathrow when the tubes weren't working and he found out that we had a plane to catch.

When i was very unwell with anorexia as a teenager I would go walking for miles in an effort to burn calories but sometimes my legs would give way and I would fall, often hitting my head in the process. So often strangers would stop and call an ambulance for me or take me to A&E themselves. That was such a dark and lonely time in my life and their kindness made me feel like I mattered and was a person of value when I felt anything but.

More recently, the day after we brought our baby home, we had to go back into hospital because he had lost nearly 10 per cent of his birth weight. It was deemed a feeding issue so my partner went home whilst I spent the night with baby. Overnight there were concerns that he could have an infection and he was taken to resus. I completely lost it, seeing him with tubes and wires in him and one of the nurses gave me the loveliest hug and the staff made me so many cups of tea I couldn't drink them all! My parents arrived around 6am and a nurse told me I should get some rest in the family room as I hadn't slept. I lay down on the sofa and she came with a blanket for me. I missed breakfast but they ordered and saved me some. Such kindness at a terribly worrying time.

Love reading these btw

I went out for a night out with friends lately, got the bus home (unfamiliar route), had too much go drink, near enough fell asleep and when I jerked myself awake threw up all over myself and the floor. Totally unexpected, no time to react or catch anything.
There was one man on the bus, sitting about level with me on the opposite side. I kind of sat there in shock for a minute, desperately hoping he somehow hadn't noticed. Then he said 'are you OK? You've just thrown up.' I started to apologize and he said 'no need to apologize, I just want to make sure you're alright.'
I rang the bell for the next stop, went to the front and said to the poor driver 'I'm really sorry - I've just been sick on your bus. I don't know what to do now?' (In my head kind of thinking, do you have any cleaning stuff? Do I pay a cleaning fee?) He said 'get yourself home, and take care of yourself'..
The whole experience was mortifying enough but the kindness of those two men made it so much more bearable. They didn't have to be so nice, I was totally at fault, they were good men.

When my DD was in NICU and I was stressing over not being able to pump milk for her one of the other mums was so kind to me even though her DS was so much more poorly than DD.

Also, not a personal one, but reading Christian Lewis's book about his walk around the coast of the UK and how kind so many people were to him really restored my faith in humanity.

Just thought of another one - during the 4 month regression I was really struggling to get baby to nap. I had tried everything I could at home so took him out in the pram as that usually worked except this time it didn't. He cried and cried and cried and cried and I didn't know what to do. I started crying too (partly sleep deprivation, partly frustration, partly feeling like a terrible mum) and a woman came over to me and asked if she could give me a hug. She said my baby was just exercising his vocal chords (it was a bit more than that!) and told me i was doing a good job. I was equal parts embarrassed and grateful at the time but she really was so lovely and I did need that hug!

DD as a very image conscious teenager dived into a swimming pool and cracked off a huge chunk of one of her front teeth - she was mortified and was reluctant to go to school - our NHS dentist did not see it as an emergency so had to go private - I was a lone parent with not a lot of spare money but willing to put it on my credit card so went along with trepidation - they built it up with resin to look as good as a full tooth 😊
I nervously went down to reception to settle the bill to be told there was no charge and they were glad they could help! 20 years later the cosmetic repair is still going strong