Nice things

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Granted, bad things happen, and it’s sometimes fun to complain, but has anything good happened to you recently? I’m talking about the time you were desperate and some Good Samaritan gave you exactly what you needed and wanted nothing in return. I’m talking about the type of action that would bring tears to your eyes reading the story. I’m talking about the people who you’ll remember forever.

I’ve got some, here’s one.

One night I had a lot to drink. I don’t remember a good portion of that night. I do know that I wouldn’t have made it back to my room if some kind souls hadn’t found me outside and, to all intents and purposes, carried me up to my room. I never found out who they were, but I’m grateful that they did.

I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.

2

There have been a number of them. One that comes to mind was a number of years ago when I cut a tire on a freeway when I apparently ran over some metal object. I was dressed to the nines and not looking forward to tire changing duty. A couple stopped & the guy changed my tire. When I offered cash to buy themselves a burger or a drink, they delined saying that they were repaying a favor someone had done for them. Their request of me was that I stop to help someone in the future.

SDMB’s oldest living female!
Acclaimed author of: No Bad Brontosauri
365 Ways to Cook Sabertooth Tiger
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Wheel

3

Dressed to the nines? Dressed up?

I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.

4

True story. Happened last year.
I was coming back to school after winter break at home. Now, to get to my university from my home, I have to 1. Drive to Houston, Texas, 1.5 hours; 2. Fly to St. Louis, 2 hours and change; 3. Get a ride to Columbia, Missouri, 2 hours.
That time, though, my flight had been delayed and I had missed my bus. I was walking around the airport with my bags, looking for a likely chair to pass the night in (it was 10:30. last bus). This old guy notices me and says, “I’m going to Columbia. Are you going that way?”
Didn’t even think twice. I said yes, and 2 hours later he dropped me at my door. The only payment he asked for was that I do the same for a stranger in the future. Didn’t even get his name …

5

I was walking home from my waitressing job one afternoon (19 years old). I was tired and aggravated, and…I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I didn’t look when I headed across the train tracks. I felt something yank me back, and I don’t know if my heart stopped from that, or from the sound of the train. For the record, the train wasn’t at the crossing, but I was properly humbled just the same. I told the guy (construction worker, not railroad worker) where I worked, and when he came in, two days later, I gave him a burger and fries at my expense. I should mention that he recognized me as the waitress who always gave the hot, tired laborers preferential service, rather than the crabby, demanding corporate types. I guess it is possible to build up your karma.

If life were always like this…if they took your guns and left this stuff…we’d live a lot better.

6

Okay, since you asked…

I was once in Quito, Equador, it was rush hour, I had left my two hammerheaded male companions in a cafe and was making a quick trip around the block of crowded little shops looking for a pharmacia.

Well, it wasn’t until I thought about it later that I realised what I was doing wrong.

The shops are small and crowd out onto the small sidewalks, which were packed with throngs of people milling about. The road was one way and the traffic was coming up behind me on my right. I was in fact, going against the flow of the crowd, but I am nothing if not intrepid. All manner and size of vehicle seemed to be going by at screeching speeds. What I couldn’t see was a bus, which substantially over hung the curb on the tiny crowded sidewalk, coming up rapidly behind me. I was lost, totally rapt with the hustle and bustle all around me. Out of a thick crowd, came a hand and arm, grabbed me by the sleeve of my garment and tugged me sharply till I was clear of the bus which came directly behind me.It all happened so quickly I didn’t even see who did this. I was stonestruck, and all I could think to do was shout,‘Muchos, muchos gracias!!’ I swear this really happened to me and I had almost completely forgotten about it until you asked.

I was the only white face in that crowd, and no one even acknowledged what they had all seen occur. It was the most remarkable thing.

“Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.” Bob Dylan

7

Two days ago, I was driving home from my sister’s with my then-screaming-like-a-banshee son. I guess I was going a little fast in an effort to get home soon and was pulled over. I was crying (figuring Bons was going to be mad at me), Chris was crying, and my breastmilk was letting down and spraying my white T-shirt. (And I forgot to put the pads in my shirt that morning to boot!)

The officer asks me how fast I was going (like he didn’t know- he said I was 7 over) and I just said, “Just give me the ticket, Officer”. He was trying not to notice the spreading wetness of my shirt, and I said, “I’m breastfeeding. Don’t ask.” He then told me his wife was nursing their 6 month old, (and rolled his eyes), and told me he was going to let me off with a warning, but to drive CAREFULLY the rest of the way home.

Christopher fell asleep in his carseat several blocks later. :rolleyes:

It was nice to have a police officer be a little understanding of a minor violation like that. :slight_smile:

Prairie Rose

If you’re not part of the solution you’re just scumming up the bottom of the beaker.

8

A few months ago, the man I love and I decided to call it quits. I was having a rough time getting thru the rest of my day at work without breaking down and crying and was online because I needed a distraction. A friend from SD, that I had just met and added to ICQ noticed that I was not being my usual self, and when I explained why, he spent the whole day, distracting me with conversation about anything and everything. He even offered to drive 2 hours in a horrendous rain storm just so I wouldn’t have to be alone. I couldn’t let him do it, but I know that if I had needed him, he would have been there. That’s just the kind of guy he is. I feel very lucky he considers me a friend.

Thank you, what you did that day meant a lot to me.

I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature!

9

I met the woman of my dreams a few months ago. Truly, she’s the greatest woman I think I’ve ever met. It’s like winning the lottery (only there are no messy taxes to take of). I love her with all my heart, and that love grows more and more each day. Thank you, honey!

10

My son and I were at the grovcery store last summer. We had just missed the bus home and it started pouring. We had no raincoats on.
I announced to him, Now what? Some guy who’d just came out of the store asked what was wrong. So I told him, and he offered to drive us home. I hesitated; you never know, he Was a stranger. So I accpeted, and prayed the whole way home.
He stopped at the pizza place across from our apt. and bought us a large pizza!
How nice.

11

My husband and I made a cross-country move and double career change with a two-month old a few years ago. We had been searching for new jobs, living on savings, for a few months when we got a call to start work at a new job that started on Monday (this was Friday). They wanted both of us, and the hire was so sudden we had made no childcare provisions. We got a list from the YMCA and went to look at the available daycare centers, taking our now 5-month old along. Well, I’m sure the centers were all set up in accordance with the regulations, but the idea of leaving an infant in any of them was really depressing. I cried myself to sleep on Friday night.

The next day we got a call from the priest in our church. He had the name of a woman who had been babysitting for years and had taken care of 40 kids. Well, she was thinking of retiring–she was over 60 and her husband was sick, but we went to see her anyway. She held the baby and after a while Hannah just sighed and went to sleep on her shoulder. She agreed to take on “just one more” and we’ve been with her ever since. She’s as close to the kids as their grandparents and they are just crazy about her. (Yes, “just one more” was stretched to include our son a couple of years later.)

She gives the kids handmade gifts every holiday. About once a week she sends us all home with homemade Portuguese chicken soup, or homestyle canned tuna, or sweet bread. They just don’t make them like her any more.

12

I was driving from Kansas to Ohio with my 2 children (my son was only 6 weeks old at the time) to visit my grandparents. I was about one hour away from their house and the kids were both sleeping and I was singing along with the radio and not paying attention to my speed… well I was going 80 mph in a 55 mph Work Zone!! The cop pulled me over and I thought I was screwed. I had my gun loaded and sitting in the glove compartment and just knew that somehow he was going to find it and arrest me (what can I say, I was driving alone with 2 children and felt safer having it with me!) He asked for my license and registration and asked me where I was going. I told him we were going to Englewood, Ohio to visit my grandparents because my grandpa wasn’t doing well and they had not met my children yet. He must have felt sorry for me or something because he just gave me a warning and told me to slow it down! Thank God!!

That John Denver’s full of shit man!

13

Wonderful stories, all. I have three in particular.

My Mom was dying up in Richardson<outside Dallas> in Jan.'88. When she died late on the 10th, I was asked to go back to San Antonio to start the Memorial Service stuff, whil my brother and wife stayed to take care of the cremation<what Mom wanted>. I flew back late at night the next night. Only to discover that my closest friend<since 12yo> had flown up to Dallas from Houston to be with me. After talking to my brother, finding where I was, he flew down to SA and sat up with me all night long, holding me while I cried, just so I wouldn’t be alone. <hubby was working nights>. sigh They don’t come any better than that.

The next one happened several years later. There we were, 4 days from payday, I had maybe $10 to my name, hubby gone on a TDY trip, and no food in the house to feed my small children. My next door neighbor came over that morning to ask if I wanted to go to the commissary with her. I reluctantly told her no, I couldn’t. That I didn’t have the money til payday. Next thing I know, she called her teenage daughter over to babysit, all but dragged me with her to the commissary, and bought me $100 worth of food, so we, especially our children wouldn’t go hungry. Her comment on payday when I tried to pay her back has stayed with me ever since:“Some time, somewhere you’ll have a chance to help someone else. Do it for me, as a thank you. Pass this on.” One of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned.

The last one: just happened a couple of days ago. A very dear friend and I had a HUGE fight, and I was so blue, cried all night long, and wasn’t able to find my smile the next day either. Another dear friend called on AOL IM and quickly picked up that I was upset. He badgered me til I told him what happened, and he’s spent the last two days talking to me almost every minute while he’s at work on AOLIM, to cheer me up, and he keeps telling me how special I am, what a wonderful friend I am, all of the things I needed most to hear right now. I an now smile and hold my head up again thanks to him. Thank you my dearest, from the bottom of my heart, for loving me and believing in me, even when I didn’t. snifff They don’t come any finer.
Sorry this was so long, just had to tell my stories. Thanks.

Seen on billboard near home:
Don’t make me come down there.
God

14

The international story: I was in Romania working at an orphanage or a month in 1994. Basically, I just gave the babies attention; there was a 1:30 ratio of nurses to infants, so they were largely unattended (they were unfortunately tethered to their cribs–without supervision available, it was a crude way to make sure no one climbed/fell out).

There were five infants/toddlers (aged 10mos-2 years) in the room I frequented, and one, Floritina, was a complete doll. She loved being held, chatted with her sweet babble, and was overall a dear–nothing at all like the bleak pictures 20/20 had painted in my memory. I worked in this hospital for 4 days before I got bronchitis, and was bed-ridden for the rest of the week. But when I returned, Floritina squealed when she saw me, threw her hands up in the air to be picked up, and smiled the most luminescent grin I have ever seen. Hell, I’m tearing up just remembering it. She welcomed me back, and I welcomed her to my arms. I’m afraid to wonder what’s become of her.

When a former boyfriend broke up with me, two of my best gal pals appeared on my doorstep with a teddy bear–they had christened him “Romeo”–telling me I needed a real man to cuddle with. I still sleep with him every night. (Well, every night my real Romeo isn’t there. :smiley: )

Most recently, I was very sick with the flu a few weeks ago. The sub I had called in was a friend of mine, and she not only carried out all of my lesson plans, she graded all of the papers. I could have kissed her for that! That’s the worst part about having a sub–coming back to the mound of paperwork you are now behind on. I was still very sick when I returned, so that favor was richly appreciated.

There’s tons more…maybe I’ll be back. :slight_smile:

Teaching: The ultimate birth control method.

Poster You’d Most Like to Date–Female
Second Official SDMB Awards

Laura’s Stuff and Things

15

For no apparent reason, my girlfriend sent me a box full of cards and pictures and letters. At the bottom, I found about 200 construction paper hearts, that had little phrases written on them. When I read them all I was thoroughly bewildered until I got to the bottom the pile.
There was a final piece of paper that said “Reasons why I love you.”
I knew then and there that we would be together for a very very very long time.
So far, so good. :slight_smile:
PS feel free to steal this idea as it works well for making that special SOmeone feel like about a gigabuck.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.”

16

I was cycling a few years ago. I hadn’t intended to be out long, but I was about 12 miles from home. Got a flat. No kit. No spare. I’m in cycling shoes, which, if you don’t know, are hard to walk in (they have little cleats on the bottom). I take my shoes off and walk on the pavement in my socks. I’m about 1 mile and a half from the nearest store/telephone and I’m trying to hitch a ride. I walk most of the way to the place when a guy with his toddler son in a truck picks me up and offers a ride to the store. A good thing because my socks have holes in them by now and I’m wearing nice blisters on my feet. When we get to the little market he tells me he’ll wait until I get a hold of someone I know. Luckily I have my calling card number memorized because I end up calling every number that I remember. It’s a beautiful Sunday so no one is home. The guy offers to give me a ride all the way to my house. I take it.

I offer him cash for his gas and time, but he refuses and requests that I just do the same for someone else one day. And I have.
#2 Watching my son learn new things almost everyday. He’s 16 months and it’s just amazing to watch him. I’ll be watching him play and I’ll start to tear up a bit at the wonder of him. Then he’ll catch me watching him, he’ll grin really big, then come running up to me and throw himself into my arms. My day is made.