<p>When we were stranded at the airport by MT blizzard we were able to sweet talk the kind car reservation worker to driving us down the hill from the airport to the hotel. It was south better than holing up in the airport. </p>
<p>That was very nice of your mom, ZM.</p>
<p>Zoos, that’s wonderful. What an odd time that was for everyone. People were stranded all over the country. Probably all over the world, too.</p>
<p>My mom, before she became ill, was always taking people in. We had a young mother and her three kids for about a year once. It was all good, mom was an amazing cook and always had a warm lap for kids to snuggle in.</p>
<p>9/11 was a very bizarre time. One of my most vivid memories is of the Canadian Mountie who had come down to direct traffic on the FDR. It literally made me cry. He was a tall, large black man with a giant personality. He kept telling people “New York, I got your back.” We were very grateful because in those early days there were constant bomb threats and the police were stopping every single vehicle in lower Manhattan, so you can imagine how awful the traffic was.</p>
<p>Once my car broke down and I called the breakdown service, but I was stuck at the side of a busy road by myself in winter for ages. Cars were whizzing past and it was pretty scary. Then I was rescued by Hells Angels! A group of scary bikers pulled up and I was pretty worried. But they asked me if I was ok, had a go at fixing my car (which was soon destined for the scrap heap I’m afraid), got me some coffee and waited with me until the breakdown truck arrived. The car got towed to the nearest town and the bikers followed. They waited with me until my friend arrived to pick me up and take me home.</p>
<p>This is one of the times I miss the " like " option here 
I can think of so many little moments when we have encountered people in small situations where they needed a helping hand.
I was very moved by all of the volunteers that were in our area post Sandy just to help out. It amazed me that people came from so far away just to lend a hand to whoever needed it.</p>
<p>Last weekend I attended a daylong conference for my job. We had to stay in the same building all day (no going out for lunch). Lunch was to be served in the dining hall.<br>
I have a somewhat stringent diet so decided to take my own lunch from home. </p>
<p>After the opening session, we went to different classes throughout the building. After the first one, I realized I didn’t have my lunch w/ me. I rushed back to the main meeting hall and went directly to where I knew I had left it. It wasn’t there. I was SO perturbed w/ myself…thinking “Would someone really steal a lunch bag?”</p>
<p>As I was dejectedly riding the escalator back to the second floor, I happened to look down on the lobby…and there was my lunch bag sitting on a table by the entrance. A kind person had found it in the auditorium and taken it out to the lobby desk.<br>
I was really hungry so was overjoyed to get it back!</p>
<p>This is a nice thread. You all are making me want to do something nice for someone!</p>
<p>Grateful to the mechanic who fixed our car after D1 filled it with diesel fuel in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina. Not only did he fix it on a Sunday, but it was Mother’s Day!</p>
<p>When D was just a few weeks old, I was in the grocery store. I had timed it poorly and as I got to the checkout she was starving and screaming. I gave her a bottle, but when I had to load the conveyor I couldn’t hold the bottle and empty the cart, so she started howling again. The woman behind me smiled and offered to hold the bottle for D so I could check out. Such a little thing, but made a huge difference in my day.</p>
<p>I’m always amazed reading in the newspaper about people paying for others’ meals. Just seems kinda funny to me. I’m glad to see there are those people out there, but just a little odd is all. Almost every other week I’m reading in the “Shout Out” about how thankful somebody was for another person doing it…</p>
<p>Personally don’t ID with paying for another’s meal or coffee–groceries maybe. I guess we’re all different never understood paying for tons of toy others had on layaway either.</p>
<p>One of my parent’s experiences: they were college students in China, and needed student visas to move to Canada - a long and lengthy process that would require an experienced lawyer. They were helped by one of the tourists they led around the city, a lawyer who found my parents generous and hard-working. My parents offered to pay for her service but she refused and said that a simple thanks was more than enough.</p>
<p>Many years ago (and I do mean many!!), I was attending U of Texas in the summer and on the first day of class, I found a wallet under the desk next to me after class ended that was full of cash. I looked around but did not see the person on the ID. After quickly searching and still not having luck, I saw a group setting up some display and noticed they had a bullhorn. They let me use it and after about 3 minutes of me yelling this guy’s name, he came over and wanted to know why I was yelling his name.</p>
<p>Me: Are you missing anything?
Him: No and how do you know me?
Me: Can I see your ID?
Him: Are you nuts or something?
Me: I have your wallet</p>
<p>I have seen sighs of relief before but this one was huge. He later told me that he had close to 1K in cash in the wallet. He insisted on a reward but I declined. He asked me why I did not just take the money. I told him I am a strong believer in karma and plus, it was just the right thing to do.</p>
<p>Awesome story, ShamrockDad!</p>
<p>A few years ago, my daughters and I were shopping in the mall and as we we walking around, we saw a young girl, about 12 or 13 years old tops, crying and very upset and being comforted by a slightly older girl, who appeared to me to be her sister. Anyway, she was saying how she was going to get in so much trouble and how she needed to find ‘it’. We had no idea what she lost; however, as we entered a store, we found a purse on the ground. We opened it up and saw that it had a few hundred dollars in it and no identification. We took it to the cashier who told us that a young girl and her sister had been in the store looking for a lost purse, but that no one had seen it in the floor. The cashier asked us to bring the purse to the mall security office, since she thought it unlikely that the young girl would return to that store again to seek out the purse. So, we hiked all the way to the other side of the mall to turn the purse in. Then it occurred to us that this girl may not think to check in the mall security office for her purse, nor would the security personnel be able to contact her, since there was no ID in the purse. So, my D said that we should search the mall to locate this girl to tell her we found her purse and where it was. I thought it not likely that we would find this girl, but I thought it was worth a shot. So, my girls and I literally ran back to where we last saw the girl and combed the mall trying to find her. </p>
<p>To make a long story short, we did end up finding her and telling her we found her purse. She threw herself into my arms, crying and saying thank you. She was so grateful that she made me start to get emotional and tear up. I took her to the security office and she claimed her purse. It was one of the best feelings in the world for me to see the relief on the girl’s face. She said she learned a valuable lesson not to carry around so much money and to be careful with her purse!</p>
<p>I was standing at a bus stop in Troy, NY, when a woman, noticeably upset, came out of a bar and crossed the street to the payphone near me. She was trying frantically to make a call. A guy, mid-30s and about 250 pounds, comes out shouting, “Come here, I wanna talk to you. I’ve got something for you.” She turns and tries to dial again. He comes up behind her, grabs her head, and smashes it into the phone. He grabs her arm and slaps her across the face.</p>
<p>I’m not a big guy, 5’10" and 150 lbs, and, though athletic, I was never much of a fighter. To make matters worse, I had separated my shoulder two days earlier and had one arm in a sling. I stepped between them before he could hit her again and pushed him away as best I could. I told him to leave her alone but knew my beatdown was coming.</p>
<p>He was roaring mad, literally roaring, and coming toward me, both hands up. He stopped. I couldn’t believe it. He turned and walked back toward the bar. When I turned around to walk back to the bus stop it all became clear. A 16-year-old boy was standing behind me. A car was in the middle of the road with the doors open and two guys coming toward us. Two more guys were running up from a block away. The cavalry had come. I shook their hands (lefty, my good arm) and thanked them profusely. At this point the woman had disappeared around the corner and I never did see her again.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I would recommend stepping into situations quite as readily as all those guys, but I’m glad they did.</p>
<p>I LOVE this thread. What is striking me is how these kind acts are remembered for years and years. Really shows how much good one can do. It seems kind acts are retained in ones thoughts much longer than misdeeds!</p>
<p>aka random acts of kindness.</p>
<p>It really helps remind us that the world is basically an amazing place with lots of nice people and helps reassure me that this is a great world.</p>
<p>I can remember many acts of kindness by strangers. Here are two from my younger days, just out of college and pretty green about the gills. New York and Paris can have pretty frosty reputations, but I have not found that to be the case:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>In New York City for the first time. On my way solo to a big job interview and unfamiliar with the city and the weather. Unwisely, I was wearing high heeled sandals. In January. In a blizzard. I was trying to make my way to the entrance to the steps headed down to the subway, slipping and sliding all over the ice, trying to keep my balance. I probably was headed for a steep fall at the edge of the stairs, but several total strangers near me grabbed my arms to steady me until I got my footing on the steps past the snow. (And they didn’t even tell me how foolish I probably looked LOL)</p></li>
<li><p>In Paris for the first time, again solo. No reservations, no plans, very little knowledge of French. Waiting for the metro to head in to the city. A friendly local who speaks some English helps me with directions, gets on the same train, and learns I am looking for a hotel. Conversation is difficult because of the language barrier. At one stop he simply takes my bags and departs. I follow, thinking I’ve just been robbed of my luggage. No, he was carrying my bags to an inexpensive hotel that might be suitable. I wasn’t sure about the hotel, and he carried my bags to several more places until I found something I liked. Once he was sure I was ok, he said goodbye.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I will try to remember the serendipity of youth and not worry <em>too</em> much about my kids…(repeat 100x).</p>