"Paying it forward"....acts of kindness done for you by strangers

[MissRose]

I've done alot for others over the years but I got to say my best male friend has done so much for me whenever I been over visiting (his way of paying it forward for me helping him and others)....

*First time we went out clubbing, and we had problems getting transport back to the hotel after closing time, and we had to walk several miles to my hotel (and i was wearing 3 inch spiked heels).  He made me give him my shoes once in the hotel lift then massaged my feet that were killing me big time.

*I didn't realize on the next visit to him that my tennis shoes needed replacement before my trip and the back of one came apart, and scraped my heel bad and gave me blisters after a day or so.  He made sure I had stuff for the blisters and scrape from the chemist plus some his mum gave me some feet soak, then took me to get a new pair of trainers cost around $70 US or 35 pounds UK.

*Last year, I got this nasty cold thing, and he sorted me out on some over the counter meds from the chemist that made me feel so much better.  Since I do have feet issues and get sore & blistered feet easily, he made sure I had plasters and stuff for my feet too.

[T'Mar of Vulcan]

When I first started taking the bus home from university (in 1988) I was rather clueless and bought the wrong ticket. (Back them you bought tickets for different amounts and 'clicked' off your ride as you got on.) Anyway, the first day on the way home a ticket inspector got on and saw I had the wrong ticket. He was debating with himself about what to do (I think procedure was to fine the person a certain amount) but I must have looked so innocent that he said, "Well, do you have money to pay for the ride?" I think I had two ten cent coins in my space case (pencil case). (I did not take money with me on the bus as I was afraid I would get robbed. I only took pens, paper and my university ID usually.) I fished out the coins and looked at him all panicked.

As he was telling me that he now had no choice but to fine me, the woman sitting in front of me said, "How much is it?" He said, "R1.70" (or whatever it was). She took out R1.70 and gave it to him. He was happy with this and left. I asked her to give me her phone number so I could get the money back to her, but she refused. I was extremely grateful and thankful.

Later it dawned on me that I could just have offered to click my ticket again - two clicks would have covered the cost of the journey. But as I said, I was young and clueless and not used to riding the bus. (I came to love going by bus later, had the timetable memorised and knew which tickets were for which areas. But not back then!)

[Outdoor Girl]

I was coming back home with a friend with the canoe on the roof of the van on Thursday.  It was extremely windy so even though I'd tied the canoe down securely enough to rock the van when I pulled on it, the canoe still shifted.

We stopped at a rest stop to tie it down even more securely.  We had lots of rope and I knew what and how to tie it on but a gentleman coming back to his vehicle beside us asked if we needed any help and offered us some more rope.

I thanked him, let him know we had lots of rope and carried on.  He double checked that we were sure and off he went.

So he didn't actually follow through on the 'act' part but it was nice to know that someone would offer.  And I definitely would have taken him up on the rope offer if we had needed it.

[rhirhi]

DH and I are in a rough spot right now. His job just cut his hours from 60/wk to 40/wk ($600/month less). We've been paying off debt like you would not believe! But, we have NO savings. We were to only have 2 debts come November, and the cut hours were out of no where- no other employee's hours have been cut, there were no disciplinary measures done before the cut in hours, DH is the 2nd highest paid technician and #1 in skill (the highest paid has been there more years, that's it) and new employees have been hired.

This week, they messed up his paycheck (the last one from the old hours, and something that, if DH handled the money like they think he does, he would not have noticed, so I'm thinking sabotage) and shorted us about $250. We had $30.65 in cash for milk for our son, formula for our daughter and diapers for both. (They are fixing the $$$, it's just the time it takes to send the remainder to us)

I was at WallyWorld, and the total for everything was $30.67- two cents off what I needed (and no, my WW won't help you with a penny or two) The guy behind be gave me the two cents to get the stuff for my kids. It's not very big, but after the week we've had- those two cents were just the best thing that happened to me. I don't think the guy really knows how much it meant, because w/o breaking down in the line, there wasn't too big a way to tell him; but I did thank him more than someone normally would over two pennies.

[M-theory]

I'd like to share the act of kindness that was offered to my sister.

This would be about 15 or 20 years ago by now.  She had been living with a man (whom she later married then divorced) who was an airline pilot.  With no notice, he was transferred from the SF Bay Area to Phoenix, and had to start working from the new hub right away.  This left her to do the move by herself.  She boxed up everything they owned, packed up the back of her pick-up truck and his compact car, then hitched the car to the back of the pick up, and headed to Arizona.  After driving for 11 hours, she unloaded, slept for two hours, then got back on the road for another 11 hour drive back to Cali.  The last load was another truck full of boxes, plus the horse trailer, which had her horse on one side, and the BF's motorcycle in the other.  She headed out for the 11 hour drive AGAIN, having only a few hours of uncomfortable sleep in the old apartment (with no bed or even a couch). 

Unfortunately, her poor old pick up had seen better days, and it gave out on her in Los Angeles.  In the middle of the night.  Being as she had a live animal with her (not to mention her BF's 'precious' motorcycle), she couldn't really just hike up the freeway, and leave it behind.  So, she propped up the hood of the truck, and waited for a Highway Patrolman.  And waited.  And waited.  After a couple of hours, the sun started to come up, and she was trying to figure out how to find some repairs.

It's at this point that a man stops on the highway and offers his help.  Unfortunately, his offer was not genuine, and my sister ended up running (literally) around the truck/trailer combo trying to get away from him.      Luckily, she was pretty fit, and managed to get into the cab of the truck and get the door closed before he caught up. 

More time has gone by, and she's beginning to be convinced that she'll be raped and murdered on a Los Angeles highway, with no one even noticing.  So, she decides that she'll bridle the horse, and ride her to a gas station (bareback, of course because the saddle went in the first load).  As she's coming off the closest exit, an angel came over the overpass!  A wonderful old cowboy stopped to find out why "a little filly" like her would be riding a horse on the street.  After hearing the story, he got his horse trailer and loaded the horse in.  He brought my sister and the horse to his home.  She was able to home, and we called my Aunt & Uncle, who really lived only about 20 minutes away from where she'd been stuck.  Aunt & Uncle got the truck repaired, and made her stay and sleep until the next morning.  That wonderful cowboy boarded and fed her horse overnight so that she wouldn't have to worry.

Thank God for cowboys!

Wow. Just wow. Someone should make a TV movie out of that story!

[Moss]

I've had various forms of kindness extended to me in my short lifetime and not all of them I can remember off the top of my head. But there are some that stick out in memory. In particular, when I was six and just learning to count properly, me and my little brother wanted to buy a couple of little trinket type gifts for my hard-working, highly stressed single mother with the pocket money we'd been saving. I miscounted the cost and the lady behind me paid the difference. That lady's kindness remains with me almost twenty years on.

Another example was when my notoriously disorganised father caused us to be extremely late for a flight (when I was five) - our first and only holiday as a whole family. According to all the  regulations, the plane should have left long ago but the staff held on for us anyway. When we finally got there, all the passengers were extremely irate (according to my mother) but the staff were very understanding. I paid back this act of kindness a couple of years ago when I convinced my reluctant DF to hop off a plane that had too much fuel on it (and was thus too weighed down). I looked around at the many young families and other people on that plane and figured that it would be better for us to get off. I spent eight miserable hours in that airport waiting for another flight, but I don't regret it. 

[abfabmom]

I'd like to share the act of kindness that was offered to my sister.

This would be about 15 or 20 years ago by now.  She had been living with a man (whom she later married then divorced) who was an airline pilot.  With no notice, he was transferred from the SF Bay Area to Phoenix, and had to start working from the new hub right away.  This left her to do the move by herself.  She boxed up everything they owned, packed up the back of her pick-up truck and his compact car, then hitched the car to the back of the pick up, and headed to Arizona.  After driving for 11 hours, she unloaded, slept for two hours, then got back on the road for another 11 hour drive back to Cali.  The last load was another truck full of boxes, plus the horse trailer, which had her horse on one side, and the BF's motorcycle in the other.  She headed out for the 11 hour drive AGAIN, having only a few hours of uncomfortable sleep in the old apartment (with no bed or even a couch). 

Unfortunately, her poor old pick up had seen better days, and it gave out on her in Los Angeles.  In the middle of the night.  Being as she had a live animal with her (not to mention her BF's 'precious' motorcycle), she couldn't really just hike up the freeway, and leave it behind.  So, she propped up the hood of the truck, and waited for a Highway Patrolman.  And waited.  And waited.  After a couple of hours, the sun started to come up, and she was trying to figure out how to find some repairs.

It's at this point that a man stops on the highway and offers his help.  Unfortunately, his offer was not genuine, and my sister ended up running (literally) around the truck/trailer combo trying to get away from him.      Luckily, she was pretty fit, and managed to get into the cab of the truck and get the door closed before he caught up. 

More time has gone by, and she's beginning to be convinced that she'll be raped and murdered on a Los Angeles highway, with no one even noticing.  So, she decides that she'll bridle the horse, and ride her to a gas station (bareback, of course because the saddle went in the first load).  As she's coming off the closest exit, an angel came over the overpass!  A wonderful old cowboy stopped to find out why "a little filly" like her would be riding a horse on the street.  After hearing the story, he got his horse trailer and loaded the horse in.  He brought my sister and the horse to his home.  She was able to home, and we called my Aunt & Uncle, who really lived only about 20 minutes away from where she'd been stuck.  Aunt & Uncle got the truck repaired, and made her stay and sleep until the next morning.  That wonderful cowboy boarded and fed her horse overnight so that she wouldn't have to worry.

Thank God for cowboys!

Wow. Just wow. Someone should make a TV movie out of that story!

Yeah, and then her BF had the nerve to yell at her that it was her fault.  Red flag number seven-hundred sixty-two!

[Kiara]

Have one from yesterday. 

Stopped into Panera to get a bagel and coffee on my way to work.  It's POURING rain.  On the way back out, my hands are full with my umbrella, the bag with the bagel, my coffee, and I'm trying to find my keys to unlock my door in my purse.  I'd resigned myself to getting wet, or the coffee cup getting wet, or something, when....Enter Good Samaritan parked next to me.

He rolls down his window and asks if I need some help.  I asked if he could hold my coffee while I opened my car, and he said sure, that I looked like I was going to need some help, so he waited to pull away.  I got the door open and thanked him, and he said we all need to stick together.

Really made my morning.

[Samantha]

Just yesterday, I had a random act done for me.

I was driving home from the store, and on one of the local county roads (one that sees a good amount of traffic, for being a two lane road). The county police had a vehicle pulled over on my side of the road, and the officer had his car still mostly on the road, so he was blocking the way. There was a string of over 10 cars coming the opposite direction, spaced JUST right, that I couldn't pass the officer.

One of the vehicles saw the situation, stopped far enough back that I (and the line of cars that had formed behind me) could get through, and waved at us so that we would know they were allowing us to pass. Since it was gorgeous outside, we all had our windows down, so I called a THANK YOU!!! to them as I drove by, as well as waving.

It really brought a smile to my face, knowing that someone took a few moments out of their day to help not just one complete stranger, but several of them, to get to their destinations.

[cheyne]

B/G:  I haven't owned a cell phone for over a year...

OK, mine happened today.  I was in Champaign Ill. on business.  We let out at 11:00 am so we could begin the drive home.  I am from Western Minnesota (it's about 700 miles from Champaign). 

125 miles North of Champaign, my engine quits while I'm on I-39 on the bridge over the Illinois river!  I was able to slap it into Neutral and coast the vehicle off the bridge and on the side of the road.

I waited 45 minutes on the roadside with flashers going and hood up ( I even had a white flag on the antenna).  No State patrol, county mounty or sherriff went by going either way.  This area is where 2 interstates meet, and not a cop in sight!

A small pick-up pulls up.  The truck isn't new, it's dirty, and there is a motorcycle club bumpersticker on the back window.  Large guy with full beard gets out, looks at me and says "Ma'am, are you alright?"  He lent me his cell, and drove me 2 miles to the local Casey's to wait for the tow truck. 

C.J. if you're out there, thank you again!

[kitty-cat]

My story isn't really big, but it did happen every year for about 4 years. 

When my brother and I were in elementery school, when the Texas State Fair was happening, well we, uh "got sick" one day.  (and half the school before the fair was out "got sick" too so the admin didn't mind too much.)  Well, every year as we were going into the fair, one group of random people would stop my mom and tell her "Ma'am, we seem to have too many tickets, would you and your kids like them?"  My mom gladly accepted them (the last year we went it was like 8 tickets to ride the big ferris wheel) and thanked the people, had my brother and I thank the people and we went on our way.

We would have fun and spend most of the day there-but mom always made sure to hold onto a few extra tickets.  As we were leaving and the people comming for the nighttime fair were arriving she would go up to someone and ask if they wanted extra tickets.  And they would take them, thank mom, then be on their way.

It was always diffrent people who stopped us when we were entering the fair, and always random people we stopped on our way out, but we did the passing of the tickets for all 4 years.  And if I was to go to the fair this year- I would do the same as I was leaving. 

[geordicat]

One I remember.... I had gone to the grocery store for regular food shopping.  I was suffering from a *bad* migraine and cramps, not to mention I hadn't slept for a few days.  My then-bf was starting fights with my son so he could whine to me about how eeeevil my son was and how I should put him away in military school.  Work was intensely busy.  It was just not a good day.  I was tired and cranky.  I got all my stuff I needed, and was standing in line.  I know I looked like death on toast.

A very sharply-dressed older lady got in line behind me with a small basket of things and a bouquet of yellow roses.  I offered to let her go in front of me.  She accepted, after the "no, it's ok"  "No, really, I have a lot more and have to write a check" thing.  She went, paid and left.  I got rung up and paid, and as I walked out of the store that lady was waiting for me.  She handed me a single yellow rose and said "I just wanted to say thank you again" and left. 

That single flower meant so much to me at that moment.  Just than simple gesture of kindness was what I needed right then.

[MegSong22]

So, this one happened to me Yesterday. A coworker and I were going out to the movies with some of her friends and I mentioned in passing that the next two days I would be riding the bus into work-normally mom drives me. (College student living at home no license yet) She has already promised me a ride home today but says that if I can be ready at 730, she can pick me up on her way to work.  Which makes life much easier as due to the bus routes, it's about two hours for ten miles, which switching lines and all. If You're on this site, THANK YOU AGAIN!

[Wulfie]

I got to the doctor's office yesterday to discover that my debit card was not in my wallet. I had taken it out to get lunch yesterday and realized I must have left it on my desk.

I got into work today. Nope, didn't leave it on my desk! DARN! So I called the bank.  They said that someone had discovered it on the ground yesterday and called them to cancel it. (Thank you if you are reading this!)

I was a bit frustrated at myself for losing it because my bank doesn't have any tellers except for at the main branch which is really hard for me to get to. I asked if there was some way to expedite getting my new card here as I have no cash on me and no way to get any until the card arrives.  The phone banking person told me to just go into the service center a block from where I sit right now and she will have them create a temp card for me!  She is my new hero!!

[Namárië]

Wow, these stories really warm my heart! I'm glad this thread was resurrected.

My pay it forward story is short: one awful day when I was dumped by my best friend and bawling my eyes out in the ladies' room, a stranger offered me a hug. That hug meant so much to me, as I felt so alone and friendless. I always offer a hug to girls crying now. I've been told that I give wonderful hugs.