People Share Unforgettable Moments of Kindness from Strangers

A Stranger’s Compassion

I was 17 (5’7 105lb, blonde girl) in the downtown area of Atlanta at night when I ran out of gas, my fuel pump sensor was broken so I didn’t get the little low fuel light on my dash. I pulled right over into a sketchy-looking gas station, the type where the attendant is behind a thick shield of plexiglass and cameras everywhere, and attempted to open the door to my gas tank using a lever on the floor of my car. Turns out the cable connecting the lever to the door was disconnected so I couldn’t get it open. And my cellphone was dead. It was clearly not my day. I went to the gas station and asked the attendant if I could borrow a phone. He told me no because for safety reasons I can’t come behind the counter which I understood because this was a bad side of town. I had been begging him to let me borrow a phone when a group of scary-looking dudes walked in and he turned his attention from me to them. I quickly walked outside. Luckily, I keep a small roadside kit and tool set in my car for emergencies (thanks dad!) and pulled out a flathead screwdriver to try and pry the door open. At this point, I am visibly shaken up. Then I hear the door of the gas station and turn to see this big scary guy walking over to me. I froze on the spot. He took off his hat and said, “Ma’am are you having car trouble? Do you need to call someone?” from his pocket, he pulls a phone and handed it to me. He carefully took the tool from my hand and asked if I wanted him to give it a shot, I was speechless so I just nodded. While I am dialling he asks, “What’s a girl like you doing out here on her own? This is a bad area, you need to be more careful.” I explained that I had been at work and was driving this way to get on the interstate. My dad picks up and I tell him what happened, he starts asking where I am and I really wasn’t sure. The guy asks to speak to my dad so I hand him the phone and he says, “Sir, I got your daughter here at (gas station name) on (name of the road) off exit ___. She’s just fine but I wanted to ask if you’ll be alright with me removing the door over her gas tank so she can fill it up. Alright then, I’ll stay here with her til you get here.” The home was about 45 minutes away but he stayed with me the whole time. When my dad got there and thanked the man and he just held up his hands and said, “It wasn’t any trouble. I would just hope that if my daughter was ever in a similar situation that someone would be so kind to look out for her.” And he left.

A Heartfelt Thank You

My father got admitted to the ICU. I was there along with my mom. It was the first time in my life that I was facing anything this serious. I made my mom sit in the waiting room and came back to stand beside the door to the ICU. My brain had just completely stopped functioning and my heart had taken over. It was crumbling down, and I remember holding on to a wall to make myself steady. There was a lady guard outside the ICU, who had noticed everything and started talking to me. She reaffirmed that nothing bad would happen, and asked me about myself. By then, my relatives had arrived, and they were all consoling my mom. No one even bothered to check how I was doing. The doctor came and told us to go to the room, and that he would call in case of anything. While leaving, the lady just shouted at my relatives ” Take care of the child too.” She didn’t have to do that. But it was the kindest thing that I’ll never forget. It remains to date one of my saddest memories, but even in that, she stands out like a silver lining.

Stranger Savior!

I used the drive-up ATM at my bank, got my cash and drive off. The car behind me pulled up to the machine, paused, but didn’t stay there and followed me.

He followed for a few minutes. At a stoplight, he walked up to my car and handed my bank card back.

Bro could have cleaned out my account since the card was still in the machine waiting for the next instruction.

No clue who he was. I barely understood what happened then he was gone.

Knight in Shining Armor

I worked in the computer lab at college, and there was a guy who had a crush on me. He was a total creep, however, and his crush was more like “stalking”.

He found out the hours I was working, and would always show up about thirty minutes before closing time. He’d pick up his computer, and sneak stare at me. It made me wildly uncomfortable.

One night right after he started this routine I announced closing time, and people got up to leave. He did not. He came over to the front of the room, leering and hanging over me, asking me if I had plans for that evening. I said I did. Then he’d ask about other evenings, and I murmured I was busy. I said it was time to leave again, but he just wouldn’t get the hint.

Another guy who I knew casually in the lab was packing his stuff up when he witnessed this. He came up and said loudly, “Hey honey, are you ready to go? We’ve got to get over to so-and-so’s house.” I made eye contact with him and said, “Yes!”

This casual contact guy was no hottie, not someone I’d ever noticed much, but I was happy to be his “date” for the night! He escorted me to my car and asked me if that happened much. I told him this guy had been creeping on me for a while, and my new male friend made sure to come into the computer lab every night I worked, and when I was done, he’d walk me to my car and say good night. He did this for the whole semester. We’re still friends, 15 years later.

The creep guy later hacked my school account and sent me offensive and threatening emails. I had to eventually report him to school authorities who threatened him with expulsion from college if he didn’t stop. He did. Thankfully it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten even his name.

The Water Angel

I was out hiking with my dad on Mt Hood during the summer, and we had picked a particularly hard trail, and though bringing two big water bottles had finished them before reaching the end. I was mentioning to my dad that I was really thirsty and this lady heard me and offered me some of her water as she had like 3 bottles strapped to her belt. I drank it down and later realized that I was probably on the way to heat exhaustion and dehydration. Thanks, random hiker lady for the drink of water! I shall pay it forward.

Grace and Kindness

My husband and I have gone through some tough times together, and four years ago we were at the lowest we’d ever been. When the housing bubble burst and the recession hit hard, we had to give up the house we had worked so hard to buy. It was our pride and joy and we were devastated so we decided to move to a new city and start fresh.

By the time Christmas came, we had been in our new place for just under a year and we were still struggling. I was an emotional mess, was only working part-time, and had taken fewer and fewer clients in my small consulting business. I had saved up enough money to buy a nice Christmas dinner for us plus some other groceries for the week, and that was a huge deal since we’d taken to visiting the food pantry when we had no other choice. So we shopped carefully to stay within our budget and when we got to the register, our card was declined. I’d done the math wrong and tried putting a few items back but the card would just not work (I found out later that we were charged erroneous fees and our account was negative). All of the groceries I had so carefully planned out had to be put back and I had no idea what we were going to do for food. I tried hard not to cry but I had just had enough. We started to leave, embarrassed and broken-hearted and we must have looked pathetic. The woman behind us in line spoke up and said “Where are you two going? Your groceries are all right here!” I told her there was a mix-up with our accounts and she saw right through it. She said, “No – I don’t think so – it works just fine.” And just like that she paid for our groceries with her own credit card. Even my husband cried. We hugged her and she said “Stand up straight – we’ve all been there. Just remember to do the same for someone else whenever you’re able.”

I’ve always tried to give a little extra here and there, like buying a meal or two at the grocery store to be donated to needy families during the holidays but this changed me. The effects reached far deeper than just dinner that night. I learned first-hand how an act of kindness can change someone’s perception of the world when all they’ve known for so long is losing in a hard-fought battle of life.

THANK YOU SHANNON, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

A Little Bit of Home

I can only think of today’s, I work at a local family-owned hardware store. One of my regular customers bought a bunch of Fannie May chocolates as it’s Valentine’s tomorrow. I helped him get the best deal, pointed out the buy 1 get 1 free etc. He asked me what my favorites were because he was tired of choosing and women know chocolate. I’m a Seattle native and told him I loved the mint meltaways because they reminded me of home.

Been a sh*t weekend, my parents have COVID and my mom ( vaxxed and boosted) was doing REALLY bad, with a couple of trips to the ER. So not much sleep and lots of worries.

Took my guy up to the cashier and went back to see who to help next. Next thing I know he was giving me a box of my faves because “everybody needs a little home sometimes” he had no idea how f*cked up my weekend was. I was so touched, I had to go take a break to cry. It was such a sweet, sweet, gesture that I REALLY needed it.

The Milk Must Flow

I went home after picking up my baby and everything was fine till he got hungry. I went to the cupboard to get his formula and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I called my roommate and asked if she had seen it and apparently she had spilled it so she threw the whole thing away. She just never bothered to call me to tell me even though I walked passed the store on the way home and stopped in before my babysitter brought him home.

So here I was in the store buying formula with a screaming infant because he was hungry. Of course, it was a busy time and I was in a huge line. The lady in front of me turned and asked if everything was okay. I stammered out the issue and she just turned around. The next thing I know the huge line in front of me just parted like the red sea and I got pushed to the front of the line. I was being pushed by the first lady and she smiled at me and said go get that baby fed. It meant so much to me as a first-time mom who was embarrassed at the moment and terrible for my kid who was starving. Wish more people were like this.