>Years ago coming back from a vacation (Jamaica!) a blizzard had hit the Detroit area. We drove home from the airport not sure how we would get in the driveway or to the door for that matter. We got home and a neighbor (whom we only knew casually) had plowed our driveway, sidewalks, everything!
>When my mom passed away, our next door neighbors got up early, made breakfast, and brought it over for us. They knew we would be busy and have company, so they made breakfast for like 30 people. Huge pans of food. We were friendly with these people, but not too close.
>A few years ago on a Saturday, I went up to the local bar waiting for my wife to get off work. On the way I saw an old man standing at the bus stop with a few large bags and knew he missed the last weekend bus. My wife called me and said she went home first and could I pick her up. I drove past the bus stop again and saw the old man still there, except now it was raining. Shit, I thought. I picked my wife up and said we had an errand to run. He had started walking down the busy road and I pulled over, got out and asked if he needed a ride. I always remember him looking at me and going “for real?” I was worried he could be nuts, then realized he might be thinking the same thing. I convinced him we weren’t crazy and gave him a ride to his adult care facility. Turns out he was an Iranian immigrant who had a doctors appointment that ran late and he had been trying to get home for hours (there is next to no public transportation around here).
Yes! But I’m enough of a ‘curmudge’ that I don’t have anything to add… yet.
I’m off to do a Small Random Kindness so I can contribute here.
Oh! I forgot one…a few days ago I was delivering papers and saw one of the nursing home employees trying to chip ice off her windshield with her fingernails and elbow. (Crack! with the elbow, chipchipchip with the nails.) I gave her my ice scraper and told her to just leave it for me inside the next day.
Unfortunately she forgot and now I have to buy another ice scraper. But I decided I would buy a bunch of cheap ones and then I can hand them out to strangers as needed. 
I’m always seeing people scraping their windshields with non-windshield scraper items. (I have a spatula in my car as we speak.)
In November my mini-fridge died. I mention this on another message board and a member who I’ve know for about ten years but have never met in real life, bought me a new one.
There has always been hope for the Himans, Humans I’m not so sure.
Oh yeah, I did that for someone last summer. They were scrambling for a quarter to pay the meter. I had some much change in my pocket that it was making me walk funny. They did me the favor of relieving me of it.
In Chicago, the parking meters are one central device on the street that spits out a sticker that you put on your dashboard. Whenever I have time left over, I stick the sticker on the meter in case anyone can use it. I even gave it to someone once when I had 30 minutes left on it.
My car was acting up, and I was following my dad to the repair shop when I reached an intersection, and it just DIED. I was still going through the “is the parking brake on? Will it turn over? Am I giving it enough gas? What am I doing wrong?” checklist in a left turn only lane when the green arrow came on. There were multiple cars behind me, my dad was ahead of me and had pulled over when he realized I wasn’t behind him. Just as I was about to panic, the two men in the truck behind me hopped out and started pushing. They got me across the street and into the parking lot there and then jogged back to their truck like it was something they did twice a day.
I am the queen of typos…
Another little sweet thing someone recently did for me… I bought a couple of model horse ‘bodies’ from a fellow collector I casually know from a model horse message board. (bodies are older, beat up model horses good only to use for repainting)
When the box came the other day, the 2 I had bought were in it, along with 2 ‘freebies’ she she thought I might like! It was a really nice surprise.
And something I did for someone else recently, a FaceBook friend that lives about an hour from me found a stray dog, in poor health and terribly skinny; she posted asking if anyone had a dog house she could borrow for him. I had 2 that my dogs never use, so I gave one of them to her.
Two days ago I put more quarters in, then folded and neatly bagged someone’s laundry, that was left overnight in the laundry mat, attached to my friend’s store. The person was most grateful!
Whenever I watch the store for them I always say, “that’s okay, I’ll put the rest in!” If someone is just a little short, and just put a couple of bucks in the till at the end.
I was once browsing at the Humane Society (not buying, I promise!) and this little old man was adopting a dog. His old dog died and he was alone. While he was filling out the paperwork, I paid the adoption fee for the dog.
StG
A guy on the train had dropped his phone and got it wedged between the seat and a partition. There had to be half a dozen people trying to get that phone out, offering parts of their clothing as tools to fish it out, attempts to find the person with the skinniest arms, etc. I wasn’t really involved since I only had a suggestion and it didn’t work, but even so when the man got the phone back,* he went around thanking everyone who helped or who offered any suggestions. It was a nice moment.
*It actually took a maintenance guy taking the partition apart at the bottom to get it out.
Very nice!
I was doing laundry once, but all of the washing machines were in use. One was finished, but wet clothes were still in it. I took them out and put them on the table. I hate doing that, but I needed the machine. As I started to walk away, I figured that the clothes might be happier in a dryer than on a table. After I put them in there, I figured I have enough money on my laundry card that I may as well rack up a little karma and start the dryer.
I truly meant for it to be an anonymous favor, but the guy caught me about half an hour later. He was very thankful and insisted that I take a couple of bucks for it. I tried to refuse but he was pretty insistant. I ended up taking them. Dammit.
I am always trying to do nice things for people.
Every Thursday I buy the coffee for the person behind me in the drive through.
I help people when they are shopping (such as the woman who couldn’t find a pair of size ten black boots on Saturday. I managed to find three pairs for her.)
I help people carry their groceries (this applies to people who look like they have more than they can handle be they older, have kids to wrangle or just a lot of stuff).
I hold doors, help clean off windshields
I try to be constantly aware of those around me so as not to be in the way or hold anyone up.
I also do home organization for anyone who will have me.
How do you know what they’re going to order?
I’ll have you!
Your post actually made me tear up a little. Isn’t that silly? You paying that fee allowed him to get some really good dog food and some nice squeaky toys. 
Doggone it, StG! You made me cry happytears!
Okay, I can’t come anywhere close to the dog story, but I’ll throw in my 2c:
I’ve been shoveling snow from the houses on both sides of us this winter. And we’ve had a number of blizzards-- deeeep, heavvvvy snow.
We live in between two older widows. One’s grateful, the other one always shouts out “I can do that myself, you know!” Sure, what’s 12" of slushy snow to a 92 year old?
A colleague I worked with had a daughter dying from a neurodegenerative illness. He was caring for her and her young children. He was laid off his full time job and was a part time lecturer at my college. Nicest man ever. Since we don’t celebrate Christmas I went to target and bought a slew of gifts and clothes for the grand kids (he told me sizes and wishes) so they could have Christmas. They got to open them around their mother’s bed.
I was home two days after having my second child and was overwhelmed with a newborn and three year old. My friend just appeared, knocked on our door, packed up the three year old for a day at the Zoo and gave me a break. She didn’t ask if I needed help. She just knew and did it.
Yesterday we ran out of gas and a nice lady not only picked my husband up and drove him to the gas station, she waited and brought him back to the car. How sweet!