<p>Thanks for triggering a happy memory. H and I were just arrived after two very very long plane rides to Germany and we were trying to catch a train to Rottenberg. Naturally we spoke no German. A kind woman made sure we got on the right train and then told us where to get off and yelled at the train to wait for us. It was a warm welcome to a wonderful vacation I still remember nearly 20 years later.</p>
<p>When my H and I were in Germany last year, we got off at the wrong train exit in a very remote area. We were trying desperately to figure out what to do and some very nice businessmen got out their smartphones (yes they did work!) and planned our route for us as it can get very complicated.They even offered to buy our tickets b/c we didn’t think we had enough cash to cover the tickets - all we had were credit cards.</p>
<p>The opposite happened to me yesterday - I didn’t help out a stranger and I feel bad. I was very distracted b/c I was on my way to visit my sister in the hospital after major surgery for cancer. A woman ahead of me was fumbling around for money. She wanted a very modest lamp and had some other necessities that she kept asking the clerk to subtract off of her bill so that she could buy it because she had the perfect place for it. She was with her daughter and modestly dressed. I went through the line next and she was still in the store. I got a $5 gc for purchasing 2 of the same items. I wish I gave it to her as she walked out (I didn’t have any cash) so that she could have gotten the needed items.</p>
<p>Something triggered this memory:</p>
<p>When I was 19, I was home in NYC on a break. The older sister of a good friend had a party with some older young adults and invited me. At the party, I left my coat and purse on the bed in the bedroom and partied in the living room. When I left, I grabbed my coat and purse and hailed a cab. I was almost back to my apartment when I opened my purse to get money ready to pay the driver and I realized all my cash had been stolen. </p>
<p>The cab driver immediately shut off the meter and said he wouldn’t charge me. I gave him all the change I had on me – maybe a dollar or two. I’ll always remember his kindness.</p>
<p>I was with my husband in a coffee shop in NYC when an obviously homeless man came in and just started looking around. One of the workers in the coffee shop somewhat politely told him to leave if he wasn’t going to be buying anything and the man left the coffee shop. My husband followed him out, brought him back in, and told him to have a seat and order whatever he wanted. Of course, my husband paid and tipped. I’ve never loved him more.</p>
<p>I was in Paris last July, having arrived on the train from London. The handle on the top of my suitcase snapped upon arrival in London a week earlier & I had to wrestle my suitcase in & out of trains in the UK and up & down stairs of the Paris Metro (no escalators or lifts). As I was struggling up the stairs to street level, suddenly I felt the suitcase lift up behind me. It was a young Parisian woman who - unbidden - helped me carry the suitcase up 3 flights of stairs. When we reached the street, I turned to thank her. She winked & simply said, (in English) “Welcome to Paris!” and walked away.</p>
<p>I still remember arriving in Venice on Easter and trying to check into a hotel we THOUGHT we had reserved. The manager sadly shook his head that he had tried to communicate we had to send lira to reserve, not credit card. He suddenly smiled and had his staff pick up our bags. He said we could stay at nearby hotel for same rate and his staff would be back the next day to carry our bags back to his hotel. We had a wonderful stay in Venice and he saved the day for us!</p>
<p>Well, it took a minute to find this thread as I thought it had Kindness of Strangers for the title…</p>
<p>Anyway, my DS spent a semester at the Budapest Semesters in Math, this Fall quarter. He came back without his drivers license. Christmas break came and went without him doing anything about it… busy all quarter , blah blah blah. Now he is home for spring break, WITH his drivers license. Seems the next occupant of the apartment (always rented to BSM kids) found it, found a way to contact DS and mailed it back to the US. DS got it on Thursday before he came home for spring break. </p>
<p>Nice kids go to BSM!</p>
<p>Last summer I was having a bad day and was sipping a coffee on a bench in our local town in front of the post office. An adorable boy of about 4 holding his mother’s hand walked by. All of a sudden he stopped, let go of his mother’s hand and picked up a blossom that had blown off one of the bushes. He walked over and handed it to me with a smile. Honestly, I thought he was an angel or something. It was so spontaneous (even his mother was surprised) and so heartfelt. It made my day!</p>
<p>Love this thread - the news is so negative lately. Reading these posts renews my faith in humanity.</p>
<p>Many years ago, I accidentally dropped a rosary that had great sentimental value down the heating grate in our house. I had the ducts cleaned in hopes of retrieving it, but it was too far down and too wedged to be dislodged by the powervac. The technician told me that he would have to cut an opening into the duct and then patch the hole. The additional charge for the work wasn’t much, but it was more than we could afford in those days, so I had to decline. He said, “Okay, just let me clean up down here and I’ll be out of your way in a minute.” I went back upstairs to tend to the kids, and some time later, he emerged from the basement, with a smile on his face and my very dusty rosary dangling from his hand. No charge. And he patched the hole with a removable “door” which has been very useful over the years. I don’t know about the rest of you with forced air heat, but our ducts have always been a treasure trove of small toys, single earrings and pennies. :)</p>
<p>Yesterday was going to be a challenge. Oncologist appointment (Xanax needed) and a Passover seder for 22 in my house. </p>
<p>Doctors appointment went well. I have begun seriously exercising and it showed. My blood pressure went from 185/130 (white coat fear) to…130/90. All my numbers were good.</p>
<p>And the seder…it was wonderful. People came at 6 and stayed until 11:30. Everyone was happy. Everyone ate…dogs played…sent leftovers with my uncle. </p>
<p>Thank you for cleaning up. </p>
<p>One of the best days ever.</p>
<p>Wonderful to hear!!! </p>
<p>(I take it your MIL didn’t attend the seder. :rolleyes:)</p>
<p>Bevhills, great news!</p>
<p>One thing that I will always remember, is just a brief moment many years ago, when I was going through survival training in the military. We were all made to stand on our feet for hours, starved, humiliated, exhausted. There were only two women in the group, so we were given particularly poor treatment (they use the women to try to break the men), I was nicknamed an obscenity that rhymes with “witch”, and instructed to sweep the floor between the cells.</p>
<p>There were several pieces of gum on the floor that we’d tried to sneak into the prison camp, which of course, were all found during the strip search. So when I was sweeping, I’d lean over and push the pieces of gum back into the cells. As I pushed one piece of gum into a cell, one of the soldiers grabbed my hand, and held it, for just a few seconds. That little bit of humanity in such a miserable situation kept my spirits going for a long time.</p>
<p>Seems trivial, but sometimes the tiniest actions can be meaningful, when done at the right time.</p>
<p>VeryHappy and Zoosermom: My mil had a prior commitment. :)</p>