I was in Jewel today (local grocery chain), in the bitter cold, thinking about how much every thing costs these days, and my husband being out of work by the end of the week, and other mundane, soul sucking things like my daughter not settling into college and #1 son not seeming to take school seriously, and #2 son following his brother’s footsteps, and my two jobs, one of which I hate, and what to make for dinner tonight… anyway, you’ll glean from this that I was most likely frowning at the carrots when a strange woman approached me and gave me a coupon for $6 off if I purchase $80. I had more than that in my cart already.
It changed everything about today. I thanked her very nicely and gave her a huge smile. She said she couldn’t use it today (she had about 4 things to purchase).
Here’s the nice bit: I have made a habit of this in the past few years. Jewel runs a special $10 if you spend $160. Sometimes I don’t make it to $160 and so I look for a woman (usually a woman, sorry guys–I just don’t see you in the store at 10 am on weekdays) with a full cart. If she looks ground down by life and has a toddler or two, so much the better, and I give her the coupon. It’s nice to truly experience “what goes around, comes around.” So, thank you, nice stranger lady.
Anyone else with a Kindness of Strangers story or a general thank you to share?
That’s a great story, riggs. I’ve been on both the receiving and delivering ends of random kindness. Each time I consider it one of life’s jewels to be tucked away for the rougher patches. Glad you got a jewel today.
I left my wallet at the checkout at Albertson’s on Saturday because I was buying two 30 packs of Tecate, and I guess I just didn’t have another hand for my wallet! (They were on sale from $27 down to $19). At least three people handled it before I got it back the next day, and it still had the $4 I had left in it. Losing your wallet sucks, I’m really glad I got it back with minimum hassles!
I always let people go ahead of me in line at the store if they have less stuff than me. I did it a lot this weekend - seems like stores are becoming more and more under-staffed. I’m usually NEVER in a hurry, and it’s the sort of karma I hope to get returned every so often.
Also, I am once again blown away by the kindness of Dopers. Even though we “know” each other, it’s a very big board and we’re all strangers, for the most part. There was so much outpouring of sympathy for jsgoddess at the loss of her husband. And really, any time someone organizes a donation drive, it just goes spectacularly well. It really, truly warms my heart.
For two years, my computer engineer hubby was hideously under-employed, which is to say he was making ~20K a year, to support a family of four. Even in a low-cost area like this, things were grim. But it seemed like every single time things looked really, really desperate, something or someone came through.
Now that times are tough for a lot of people, and he has a good-paying job, I do everything I can to “pay it forward”!
PS: here’s a hint; if you donate food to food banks (we made use of these during really hard times), donate good stuff. Name brand stuff. It makes the people who have to use the food banks feel like less than the cast-offs of society!
My company went through another round of lay-offs yesterday. One of my vendors heard about it yesterday morning, and sent me an email just to see if I was ok. After I told him that I was “on the list” so to speak, and he kept up the emails all day with funny distracting stuff, and into today too…just to keep me talking and cheer me up.
This is a guy that I had previously only talked to about late payment on invoices. I don’t know if it counts as a stranger or not, but he really made a difference in my day.
I was at the local grocery store just yesterday. The woman in front of me was short and started asking the checker to take things back. I asked her how much she was short. It was less than $5. I told her to get what she came for and I would make up the difference.
I live in a very small town and she says “I’ve seen you around town. The next time I see you I will give it back.” I told her not to worry about it. I’ve been in there many times.
I will say, the checker was much nicer to me than she usually is.
I have been a pedestrian (mostly) since my vehicle broke down last April, and I could not afford the necessary repairs. This means that I have had to walk from my home to the local train station in order to get to work every day. The distance is about 1/2 mile each way, and this is no big deal when the weather is nice. However, when it is many degrees below zero, or if there has been a heavy snowfall, it can be unpleasant. Often the sidewalks aren’t cleared and I have to walk in the street. On a couple of occasions I have had motorists stop and give me a lift as far as they could. I always dress warmly, but the gesture is definitely appreciated (and accepted). Unfortunately the offers have all been in the morning on the way in, and not at night after working late. (Not sour grapes, I pomise!)
I remember once years ago I was at the grocery store and there was a little old lady standing out in front with her little pulley cart of groceries. Assuming she was waiting for someone, I exchanged smiles with her and went inside and got the few things I needed. When I came out she was gone. Well, at that point it started to rain. As I was leaving the parking lot I saw her trudging along so so slowly, pulling her groceries behind her in the rain. I pulled over and asked if she needed a ride. She only hesitated a minute before agreeing. We had a nice little conversation as I drove her home. It was a good three miles and a lot of it was uphill. Poor little thing would have been completely soaked and exhausted by the time she got there.
My supermarket is quite close to me. If you stand on my porch and turn your head to the right, you can see it.
However, one day, when I had a particularly large order. A woman in an old Chevy pulled up and asked if I needed a lift home. I didn’t. But I truly appreciated the gesture, and I hope I let her know it!
I was driving back home from visiting some close friends in Boston. I’d stopped somewhere in Connecticut for gas, and as I was pumping away this van pulls up to another pump and a young guy steps out and heads inside to prepay. I finish up and wander inside to get some snacks to continue on my way and I walk into the store where the young guy is stressing out. It seems he forgot his wallet, and didn’t have enough gas to drive home and get it. After paying for my snacks, I handed the guy a fiver. It wasn’t a lot, and in the van he was driving it wouldn’t get him far but he acted like I’d just saved his life. I felt pretty darned good the rest of the way home.
Years ago, I was driving to my Aunt’s house for the annual family get-together Christmas dinner. Having never been there before, (Orange County, CA) I was thoroughly lost. I stopped at a supermarket (closed) to use the pay phone and call for directions. Got re-oriented and started walking back to the car.
Two rows over in the empty parking lot, I saw two women park a V-Dub. It had a flat tire. The driver had a hip-to-ankle leg cast, and was trying to pull the spare from the front compartment. “CRAP!”, I said to myself. “Now I really AM going to be late.”
I walked over and offered to change their tire for them. Their spare was bald, and they didn’t have a jack. Luckily, I, too, had a V-Dub, and got all the tools necessary to change the tire. I admonished them to replace both the flat and the spare, and sent them on their way.
I finally arrived at my Aunt’s, horrendously filthy to my elbows. My father laid into me for being so late, and why was I so filthy? I took it calmly, then smiled and said, “Just being a Boy Scout.” I’ve never explained what happened, and probably never will.
BTW, I’ve never been a member of the Boy Scouts, but was an active-duty Marine at the time. I take pride in that.
Years ago I was in a motorcycle accident. I was seated behind the driver, and we were bumped by a car.
Next thing I know I’m seated on the curb, kind of groggy. My shirt is torn, my left pant leg is too, and the back of my left hand is rubbed raw. I peer around me and see a number of people standing around, just staring at me and the driver. He was trying to get what was left of the bike off the street, so it wouldn’t be a traffic hazard.
Then one gal sits down beside me. I was shaking and wanted to cry, but for some reason I couldn’t. There wasn’t much the stranger could do but she took my good hand and held it, speaking soothingly all the while. I can’t remember a thing she said, but I do know it helped.
When the ambulance came she left. I never knew her name and so couldn’t find and thank her later. I hope she could tell how much she helped.
We went to Busch Gardens one Christmas. The kids had saved up their money, and decided between themselves to buy me and their father souvenirs.
We had a wonderful time, the kids were old enough to run around the park by themselves, hitting all the roller coasters, while Ivylad and I enjoyed the animals, especially feeding the lorries. We meet up so I can ride a roller coaster with the kids when my daughter realizes, horrified, that she’s lost $80 in cash. Now, she can’t buy her Daddy a souvenir.
She and her brother run back to the kiosk where they’d bought drinks, and asked if anyone had turned in $80 cash. (I know, I know, but she was 14 at the time). She calls me on the cell phone, crying, I’m trying to console her, when I hear her say, “Wait, what are you doing? You can’t do that!”
I, of course, being Mom, think the worst. It turns out a little girl had overheard my daughter and son at the kiosk, and had run up to my daughter to give her a $50 bill. Her father came up, said that she wanted to do it so their vacation wouldn’t be ruined. Gratitudes ensued.
I was walking home in the snow and fell down and fell asleep in the snow bank before I could get up. I had not eaten that day and was not eating enough for weeks before that. A homeless man woke me up and offered me some change to get food. I told him I had some money, and he told me to go across the street and get some food and eat or I was not going to make it home. He was probably right, and I followed his advice and bought a packet of cookies from the drug store with my change and ate them before walking the rest of the way home.
One day during the week before Christmas I was at the Starbucks drive-thru on my way to work at 6:30 in the morning. I ordered at the speaker, and there was one car in front of me at the window. When it was my turn, the girl working the window handed me my coffee and told me the car in front of me paid for my drink and wished me a Merry Christmas. It totally made my day.
A homeless guy once approached me, begging for money, and I kicked his ass. Man, that felt good.
OK, OK, I am so totally kidding. I love this thread. I have done and received countless small things to and from strangers in my life that I count myself blessed.
Most recently, I was driving home from work and realized I needed gas, so as I was waiting in the turn lane to pull into the gas station, I noticed a car where a lady was sitting behind the wheel pounding her fists against the dashboard. She had kids in the car and her car was blocking the intersection, so I approached her and she told me that her car had just run out of gas (she was also trying to get to the same station as I was).
So, I left my car idling and started trying to push her car up the incline into the gas station, but the weight of the car started to become too much for me to get it up the little hill and into a spot at the station. So as I stood there, with countless people waiting and watching me to get her car out of the way, I’m holding the car from rolling it back yet can’t get it any further, a cop suddenly pulls up, he jumps out and together we got her in the gas station.
I felt like a citizen that day, and she was very appreciative. It was hard, pushing that car, but if the giving isn’t hard, then is it really worth anything?
