What's the kindest thing a stranger has done for you?

[GimmeDaBoobehz]

Equally, what is the kindest thing you have done for a stranger?

I've had strangers pull up and try to help when I broke down on the motorway (including when my car went bang and stopped dead in the fast lane of the M25 - terrifying experience), young lads who stopped their car during a snowstorm and all tried to push my car out of a ditch. Another stranger who looked after my youngest when my eldest had escaped from the house and I had to sprint up the road looking for him (which I couldn't do with youngest in tow), the man who saw me running, got in his car and drove to help me, then offered DS1 and I a lift home when I found him (by which time I was gasping for breath and having a panic attack), also someone insisted on paying my bus fare when (as a poor student) I didn't have correct change and would have had to pay my £2 fare with a tenner.

I try to help others when I can, used to regularly buy meals for a homeless chap in our town, I think just little gestures can really make others' lives a lot easier.

When I was 19 I arrived in Germany with no money, expecting to pick up my grant straightaway. But the office was closed. So I went to the bahnhofsmission, which I thought would be a youth hostel and turned out to be for male rough sleepers. The organiser took me home and gave me her daughters bedroom. She said she had been an au pair in the war in London, and expected people to be horrible to her as she was an enemy alien, but they were kind. So she passed it on.

By the end of that course I was on the train home, completely broke, with a ticket that was 24 ors out of date and no ones to replace it. I got caught, in Switzerland naturally, where I could expect no mercy. A nice lady paid my fare and refused to give me her address to send her back the money. "When you are older," she said,"you can do this for someone."

I have repaid this twice. Once I paid the fare for a young girl on the Heathrow but to our city, who had no money and no English to explain herself.

Once a young girl knocked at our front door and asked to camp in our garden- she was travelling. I gave her a meal,a camp bed, a shower, and an evening on the intent so she could email all her family (this was before Skype and she couldn't afford to text or phone very often). In the morning I sent her off with a big packed lunch.

I often think of those young girls and hope when they are old bags like me, they remember me, and pass it on, as I did..

I have a bad knee from a terrible break. So the people who help me off trains. Usually it is the ones you least expect, the tatty teenagers, the scary monsters, the very very smart.

It feels odd to boast about my own, but I was recently on a v long train ride. There were three entrancingly beautiful but poorly behaved children, with an exhausted mother (, the oldest had discovered that if you put a slit in your plastic cup, you can aim your coke accurately at passengers etc, the youngest was using two packets of quavers as confetti ( very effective, btw) rushing up and down the train under the passengers feet, under the conductor's feet) . You could feel the hatred of the other passengers after about an hour as they had about another 2 hours to go.

Fortunately I had lots of blank paper with me and some pens so they drew wonderful pictures and were beautifully behaved after that, and their ma was able to get a rest. I have one of the pictures up in my office, it is very talented indeed. They were lovely children but had been bored.

Ooh remembered a sweet story.

Want to the ballet. My then boyfriend was six foot seven. As we sat down, we heard a little whimpering sound. Behind us was a little girl, about four, in her best dress and ballet shoes. She had come to the ballet as a big big treat, and then a real live giant had sat down right in front of her and she couldn't possible see past us. Her little eyes were brimming over and her lip was wobbly. Her mum was stunned.

My boyfriend leant over and said, "would you and your mummy like to swap seats with us?".

Oh, and from strangers, the lovely Turkish Germans who got our car just about running again, at any rate down to the valley, when it died in a lonely pass in the Alps, night was falling and so was the snow....

This is a lovely idea for a thread!!

Mine was new years eve, id been out with a few friends in town at a club when we'd got chatting to a group of lads, i suddenly had a panic attack and just neede to get away outside as my head was spinning, looking back now id had my drink spiked by 1 of them, but i managed to get my coat and started to walk the long walk home out of my head.. I remember seeing a cab driver and asked him how far 20 p will get me (deadly serious, thats how out of it i was). He told me to get in the cab, i couldnt even string 2 words together but somehow managed to point him in the right direction, when we were near my house i said to him he needed to pull over as i didnt have enough money, he said theres no way on earth he was letting me out of the cab until i was outside my front door. Ill never forget him and i thanked him through his company a few days later, he was so modest about it!

My nice thing was a few years ago, myself and dp had gone into town to do a bit of shopping, as we were walking from the car park we ran into an old man who looked really upset and confused, i couldnt just walk past so we started chatting to see if he was ok, turns out he couldnt remember where he lived, obviously suffering from dementia in someway, we talked him through little bits of his childhood to see wher he had grew up and we drove around his od neighbourhood to see if that would trigger something, luckily it did as he remembered he lived near to a football ground, so we drove to that part of the city, as were driving around the streets slowly a group of people were all gathered at the top of 1 particular street and as we got closer he recognised his son.

The family were so thrilled to have him back, he apparently had a early onset dementia and there greatest fear was him walking out and getting lost. They offered us petrol money to cover our costs but we refused. We still see the family from time to time and always say hi, unfortunately there dad died a couple of years ago but i still feel really good about stopping to help him and id do it again in a heartbeat.

My next door neighbour is always doing kindnesses for us and the rest of the road. Clearing the leaves or snow, checking on the elderly. He's lovely.

A tribute to my husband. I got off at our station and a man was in pain. He refused to have an ambulance called, so DH drove him to a&e and waited with him. Turned out he had had a heart attack.

And another, though not random, DH drives a neighbour to see her husband in hospital once a week, round trip 70 miles, as she becomes too exhausted otherwise and this,way she can just about cope.

About 15 years my ex-bf and I were backpacking in Australia and living in a tent. We arrived in Sydney after a really long overnight bus journey and the campsite was miles north of the city so we jumped on another bus to get us there and asked the bus driver to let us know when we were at our stop. This bus driver - with quite a full bus - went a step further...he actually drove us to the campsite and dropped us off. It wasn't a massive diversion for him but we were so incredibly grateful.

Another one...when my DS was about 18 months he started having a febrile convulsion in his pushchair as I was in Tesco. While waiting for an ambulance to arrive I felt useless as I didn't know what to do, and a man who was shopping came over to me and said "It's alright love, my kids used to do this to me all the time", in quite a light-hearted way, took my DS from me and showed me what I neededto do and stayed with me until the ambulance arrived. A stranger who just felt like the most perfect person to be there at the time. He made me feel more calm in an instant. And then when the ambulance arrived he went. I think I said thank you but everything was such a blur I can't really remember. I really wished that I could have thanked him properly and I actually looked out for him for months afterwards but never saw him again.

My own acts of kindness...I gave a mum with two young children whose Oyster card had run out her bus fare. Didn't seem a huge deal but she was very grateful! Helped quite an elderly man who had fallen getting off his bike and was struggling to get up again. And at the swimming pool, a little girl of about 6 was following her dad, who was carrying a toddler, with a float. Suddenly the float popped out from underneath her and she found herself out of her depth and started screaming and panicking but her dad couldn't hear and despite being quite busy I seemd to be the only person to see. I'm sure a lifeguard would probably only have been a few seconds behind but I managed to get to the little girl first and she just burst into tears on me...properly shaking, poor thing. Her dad still hadn't even realised what had happened as he hadn't looked back to see if his daugther was ok and I had to try and catch up with him dragging my baby in her float seat, my 3yo and helping this little girl who was still very upset. The dad gave me a half-hearted thanks, called his daughter a "silly thing" and went on his way!

And to the cab driver who drove us at top speed to Great Ormond Street and wouldn't take any money.

I'll never forget the lovely old lady who sat next to me on a National Express coach on the way home from visiting my boyfriend when I was 18. It was young infatuation and I was devastated to be leaving him. The old lady wisely said nothing but just kept passing me sweets

I was driving home from work after a huge, stressful bust-up with my bitch of a boss and accidentally rammed into the back of a car, thinking it had already left the slip road (if anyone knows the Tyne Bridge you know which one I mean). The driver saw I must have been in shock and calmed me down before telling me not to worry, he'd ring me later to go through any details if needed but that it looked fine and I should just get on with my day!

I like to give hot food to beggars when I can. I took one who was begging on the Tube once to Dominos and he said it was nice but he preferred McDonalds

Just being aware of the people around you can help a lot with the little kindnesses. An elderly woman was struggling getting out of her car the other day at the supermarket car-park and dropped her walking stick - there was no way she could reach it in a hurry. I picked it up for her and got her trolley. I think it's amazing how independent some elderly people are determined to be and how little provision there must be for the day-to-day things that matter.

I have had a few nice things done for me (I must come across as absolutely helpless). few that stick in my mind are 1) When I was in hospital a few years ago under some pretty upsetting circumstances, all alone in a strange city, and as soon as I saw the needle they were using for... I can't even remember what, I completely freaked out! Hysterical crying, snotting everywhere, shaking, the lovely nurse sat with me chatting and stroking my hair, gave me a hug (really awkward as I was lying on the table and she had to kind of bend over me and hug my head) It made me feel so calm and when I woke up she was there sat with me holding my hand and gave me a big smile and said "Well done, we got through it." really made me feel like I had someone going through it with me.

2. A lady who goes to baby group with me got chatting to me and we became quite friendly. One day I was having a terrible day, my dp had become very depressed since our dd was born and had been drinking a lot, leaving everything up to me. He was spending all his money leaving me financially responsible for our family. My brother had also been in a fairly serious car accident (he is fine now although pretty scarred) so as he couldn't work I sent him any spare money I had to help with rent and food, and tried to arrange to see him as often as possible (live about 5 hours train journey away). I also had a lot of trouble bonding with dd (possible PND) which was really taking its toll on me.

I was exhausted and on the verge of tears all the time. The lady must have seen me getting worse over the weeks and one day she came in with a voucher for the local hairdressers and gave it to me. I asked her why she was giving it to me and she said that while she was there they told her they were starting gift vouchers and she thought I was a lovely person who was doing so much for other people that it might be nice if I got something for me.

Both of these lovely women were so kind to me when I felt so alone and needed help, I will not forget them. Hopefully one day I can do something that makes such a difference to someone else, like they did for me.

Reading these lovely stories,there certainly seems to be guardian angels walking amongst us.Long may i continue.

in vietnam our bike broke down, we were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by paddy fields. a farmer came over to help us, he then went to get someone (it was his brother) they took us to their home and fixed it for us, his wife gave us food. we managed to communicate without knowing each others language. they had nothing, two rooms house with three young children but what they had they shared. they refused to take any money. i have never felt so humbled in my life and doubt i shall ever again. we returned the next day with football tshirts that we knew they would love which they did with a note (and money hidden inside the shirts) that was written for us by our b&b owner

oh many a guy who found my phone on a train going out of his way to meet me at the station and return it to me as he could see that it had a beautiful picture of ds on it. a woman coming over to me i was sitting on the train sobbing i was a few months pregnant(looked about 7) and really in a bad bad way, i was alone and scared what was going to happen she listened she did not say much just it will all work out and that the love for your baby will make you strong

i was knocked over and the kindness people showed made me cry, they thought i was crying in pain but i wasn't i was so touched by their kindness

Lovely thread

People helped my DH get me home a couple of times when I fainted near home during pregnancy.

We live in an area where a lot of tourists come, & a few weeks ago we saw an old lady looking rather lost & worried. She'd forgotten the way back to the bus park & was worried she'd missed it, so we walked her across town to the bus park. She looked very relieved when she saw the driver and her friends. We got chatting on the way, she'd recently been widowed & it was her first day trip on her own since. She was really lovely.

While I was on mat leave we were horribly broke, we got food bank, a big bag of tins & a box of other stuff. DH took DD in the buggy, & the box of stuff, & rushed ahead to unlock the door (it was pouring with rain). A stranger saw me struggling with the bag & carried it the rest of the way home. DH & I did get a bit emotional that evening, that stuff saw us through Christmas.

We got stuck in traffic on our way back from a horrible hospital appointment with DS2. I was a bit tearful and he was miserable too. The cabbie stopped the meter when he realised what was going on and that we'd be in the cab a while.

I took a lady's overshoes off in the swimming pool for her yesterday. She had a newborn in a sling and an overwrought young child and couldn't reach her feet.

when l got my job this year after being out of work for 17 months and haveing baby inbetween l decided to give £100 on my first pay day to charity instead l made 10 bags of esentials for babies and gave them in to the mid wives center were live to help new mums.

The most amazing thing ever was when I went on maternity leave. We're in Australia and I had got confused with the maternity pay so I didn't get paid until 4 weeks after DS was born and DH was a SAHD so we literally had no money.
I was seriously depressed one morning, went to the letterbox and someone had left $5000 cash in an envelope with a note saying "with our love and prayers". We never found out who it was...

My car broke down on a busy dual carriageway, people were beeping me and I had 4 week old DS in the back. A guy drove along the middle "aisle", put me, DS in his car, called DH, called our breakdown (who picked up the car) and took us home!

Aside from the elderly lady I mentioned above who I think potentially saved my life, I remember once being a teenager and being lost in a strange town (had got on the wrong bus)caught another bus and it got me halfway home, and ran out of £.
An elderly lady gave me £2 in twenty pence pieces and told me how to get home. Bless her.

I always leave parking tickets for people. One guy was so astounded at my doing this-I went to uni, and my class was cancelled so I had a full night's ticket that I didn't need, and as I was going back to my car I offered it for him and he just couldn't get his head around why I'd do this! Asked me why I didn't need it , was I sure?! Lol it was a small thing. I guess people just aren't used to people being nice.

What else have I done.. I was once studying in a really big wetherspoons , and I saw one of the staff go to an elderly gent and literally dump his dinner down in front of him and run off. He shouted after her but she didn't go back to him and he was obviously confused, didn't know where to get his cutlery or condiments from. I went and got them for him and we had a chat, he was lovely.

I am sure I'll think of more done for me or by me as time goes on. I do like to be kind and helpful.
I cannot remember what film is from, but a good quote ;
'I have always relied on the kindness of strangers'. :)

Nine years ago (two days before Christmas!) I was delivering a Christmas card to some friends who lived down a country lane. No street lighting and hardly any other cottages. They were out. As I walked down their path my right leg slipped away from me. I heard a ripping sound and I had to sit down only to see my foot almost dangling off (I was told later it was floating free from my leg - ouch!). I sat there wondering what to do - the car radio was blaring and I had three small children sitting in it (aged 1-7) and the place was deserted. Luckily I had my mobile phone on me so I dialled 999. As I was waiting for the ambulance the neighbours who lived in the attached cottage arrived back from a shopping trip. They immediately took out the brand new duvet they had just bought from its box and put it over me. I often think how kind that was and whether they ever got the wet slush off it!

Standing in front of a bank teller who told me that my bank account had been cleared out ( bastard ex ) and I wasn't eligible for an over draft. I stood with tears pouring down my face and DD saying don't cry mummy .As I walked out of the bank she came after me and gave me £10 which I know was from her own purse.

Recently a colleague has organised a Christmas party for staff children. She asked senior( very very very well paid) members of staff if they would put a bit of money in each (£5) for a present for each child from Father Christmas . They declined. So I stuck £50 in an envelope , wrote 'love from Father Christmas ' on it and left it on her desk.

When I had just had DD2 and was still in hospital, the heating in our house broke down (it was a blizzardy new year in north yorkshire) . When I got back from the hospital, the hallway was full of electric heaters of all shapes and sizes with notes of good luck attached from people I never even knew but who had obviously heard of our problem. We managed to stay warm until the boiler could get fxed.

Kind things for me:

My midwife saved my life (I know its her job, but she went well and truly beyond duty). I had a rough time after I gave birth and had she not listened to me when I said I wasn't feeling "right", I may very well have died. She stayed with me the entire time through surgery, and right until I got transferred to ITU later on that evening- she came and visited me the next day. Every other midwife that attended me the next day told me I had scared the life out of her!
I wrote her a card and bought some flowers, but it won't ever be enough to repay her. She told me she doesn't want me next time

My neighbour cleared all the snow off our steps, and put grit on them last year- 4 weeks after having DD. In fact he cleared the entire road! but it meant such a lot to me- he could see that we had had a rough time.

Kind things I have done:

Today I held a door open for a man who was struggling to get into a shop with his wheels (you know those trolley things, a walking aid if you like). Everyone had walked past and he was really struggling. He was so thankful it was lovely!

When working at my previous job I started doing an old mans shopping for him every Saturday. He was irish and stubborn, but his family had left him to die in a residential home with no help. For three years I did that and it became the most wonderful friendship- He died last month and I am still devastated.

After reading this thread I am weeping a bit but I am vowing to do an act of kindness every day. You guys are so wonderful

two strangers have greatly helped me - random kindness and always grateful