There we were, at the big Halloween carnival/fair/etc thing. My poor 3-year old son was having a bad moment; Too much light/noise/input, and we were on our way out.
So this guy at one of the “Throw a Dart, Lose a Dollar” trailers waves me over, and hands me a cute stuffed Nemo doll for the stressed out little one.
Thanks, man. You made our day.
Sometimes a stranger can really make your day.
I remember when my son was about that age and we took him to Geauga Lake. He was on a kiddy ride and he was less than impressed with it to say the least. The ride operator started running around the side of his little airplane car and was talking to him and making faces. Within seconds he was laughing and smiling as my mom recorded the whole thing on tape.
I will never forget that day. The ride operator went out of his way to make sure my son had a fun experiance.
Thanks airplane ride operator guy!
Nemo is stuffed with Smack! He was using you to avoid getting busted! He’s COMING FOR IT TONIGHT!
How is your “Audrey Hepburn” impersonation?
My kid benefited from a random act of kindness this summer. She just turned 9 and still refused to learn how to ride a two wheeler, had various reasons why she didn’t want to try. I didnt’ push the issue and she was happy trying to keep up with the other kids on herbikeboard.
Until a new neighbor saw her day after day trying to keep up and he offered to give her one of his kids old bikes. It was pink and kind of beat up but she wanted it and got on it a I’ll be damned if the kid didn’t hop right on it and ride off into the sunset without a wobble!
What a wonderful story! 
Yeah, for the carnival dude! May he get a nice surprise from a stranger when he needs it…
I’m glad this has a happy ending, my first thought was, uh oh, some carnival dude ran off with their GF/Wife/BF/Husband
We took the kids to Busch Gardens a couple of years ago for Christmas. The kids had decided to buy us gifts at the park, and had saved up their money.
Well, Ivygirl’s $80 fell out of her pocket somewhere along the way. She was crushed. (Hell, I would be too…$80 is $80.) But she was more crushed because it meant she couldn’t buy her father a gift. She and her brother decided to go back to where she’d last had it out, a drink kiosk, to see if anyone had turned in $80 cash. (I know, I know, but she was 13 and still naive to the ways of the world.)
No such luck, and she calls me on my cell phone to say she’s coming back empty handed. She’s in tears, I’m trying to comfort her, when I hear her gasp, “Wait, what are you doing?”
Turns out a little girl and her father had overheard my children looking for their missing $80 and the girl had run up to my daughter with a $50 bill, with the wish that they hoped her vacation wasn’t ruined. Profuse thank yous followed, and we left the park that afternoon very happy with our fellow man.
Man! The carnies this year were hotties! All these college-aged German guys! I guess they figured people were a little uneasy with the usual crew.