I was heading to training for a new job. We were told from the beginning that if we missed a day, we'd be let go. I'm driving on the freeway when suddenly my van starts pouring white smoke. I pull off..turns out a coolant hose burst. A man stopped in his work truck, proceeds to take the hose off, cut it at the break and re-attached it. Then he put some more coolant and water in my van. I offered him money for it. He said "That's ok. You remind me of my daughter and, if she were in trouble, I'd want someone to stop and help her." He was a great influence as I've stopped to help many people with disabled vehicles since then. I'm just sad I never got his name.

I was temping in the City Hall area of New York City when I was hit with a high fever (before Covid). It was 105 by the time I got to my house in NJ. With the fever I got confused and couldn't find the subway. A man asked me if I needed help. He walked me to the subway. There was a woman coming in and he asked her of she was going uptown. She said yes and was informed if my situation. She brought me downstairs and helped me onto the crowded train. She yelled to ask if someone was taking the train to Port Authority. Another woman said yes. She was informed of my situation and helped me off the train onto the transfer. She then asked the crowd if anyone was headed toward my terminal and a man said yes. He was informed of my situation and walked to my bus stop. There was a woman standing there. She was informed of my situation. She helped me onto the bus and sat with me until we reached my stop where my husband was waiting to take me home. New Yorkers are the kindest people on earth

I have two such stories both involving old ladies: 1. You know they say Parisians are rude, right? I was in Paris on a metro train which terminated unexpectedly and the driver announced we all had to leave and board another train on a different platform. I couldn't speak French well enough so was a bit confused until this immaculately dressed old lady (roughly 80 years old) saw me, grabbed me by my hand, walked me to the other platform and made sure I got on the right train. 2. The other one was when I was flying to the US from Rome and was sat next to an elderly Italian lady who, it turned out, was absolutely terrified of flying. She was talking to me all the time in Italian (I don't speak Italian) but I just let her speak as I could tell it gave her a bit of a relief... Just before take off she grabbed my arm with both hands and snuggled up to me so that her head was on my chest. After take off, the flight attendants told me that I was doing a great job looking after my Grandma ;-)

Its latenite and winter,, I had just pulled through my apt gates and came to a sudden stop. My lights had reflected off an black, elderly gentleman laying on the ground in the middle of the road. I stopped my car and ran over to help him up. I noticed he was frail and had a catheter hanging so I called the paramedics. They took him to the hospital because he knocked his head when he fell and was bleeding a lil. The whole time I'm helping this gentleman, a random neighbor had parked in front on my running car(and my driver door was still open) and watched over my car while redirecting traffic around it. 🥰

In the 1980s, I was travelling around France and Italy, visiting friends studying abroad. In one city, I arrived to find my friend out. A beautiful day, I sat in a local square and played my guitar. Soon, some teenagers came over to me, and asked me (in French) where my money was. I was a bit worried, until one boy took off his cap, and put it on the floor. They thought I was busking! I said I was just playing for fun, and they looked horrified. But then they all sat down around me, and the guitar started passing around, with everyone singing or playing something. Twice, the boy with the cap went round to other people in the square, and it was clear they were being generous. The boy came back and showed the contents to his friend, and they walked off with the money! But after 20 minutes, they came back, with bread, cheese, meat and bottles of water, and we all had a picnic, there in the square.

Groups of teenage boys seem like a trend in this post.

40 yrs ago, staying w/inlaws in chicago while hubby was deployed & i was waiting for base housing to open in california. never been to chicago before. trying to not only keep 4 yr old entertained plus see the city, decided to take bus to go to the zoo.ended up in 'bad' part of city. realizing i had to go back to correct mistake, got off & was waiting for another bus. across street was a guy who was blatantly doing drug deals w/his buddy. they stared at me & my son; i prayed for bus to come quickly. one of them comes over & asks me what i am doing in 'his hood'. told him going to zoo but took wrong bus. he walked back to his buddy; i'm thinking trouble is coming. instead, he comes back over & waits w/me. then, when bus comes he tells me he will get me to the zoo. while on ride he asks were i live. gave him generalize area. he then tells me which busses to take back home when i leave the zoo w/ comment 'make sure you leave zoo before dark because it's not always safe at night on the bus"

xmas 2019 I see a woman on a riding cart in the walmart parking lot and assume she can't find her car. I stop to help and she could not find the neighbor's car that she drove with. I went inside to have them page the girl and she was gone. With this lady's purse in her car! So I drove her home to the next town over. When I was stuck once in a dangerous area late at night a nice man stopped and helped me and welded a part for my car right in his van on the side of the road.

It’s lovely to read about ordinary, everyday, common kindness. I am blessed to live where these acts of generosity and goodness are the norm amongst people and are so common that I believe that most people are good, and that mean, nasty people are actually pretty rare. It’s only the mainstream media that gives the impression that the world is mostly a dark and dangerous place because it sadly believes that only bad news is newsworthy.

I was once on a train when a woman with a large case and even larger German Shepherd got on in floods of tears. Turned out she was escaping from an abusive relationship. The train car was full of slightly drunk and loud guys celebrating their football team winning. They quietened down when they saw her and asked if she was ok. When they heard her story they insisted we all have a party to celebrate her new start. Every train stop they’d run out to get more booze and food for the whole carriage, then dive back on the train before it pulled out. They had her laughing and singing football songs within minutes. Reassuring her that no one deserves to be treated badly by their partner and that she was brave and smart for getting out. The whole 4 hour trip was a blast and she left with a smile on her face and hope in her heart for her new life. I’ve never forgotten their kindness and concern and I’m sure she never did either.

I was driving homewards alone after visiting my daughter. I was peckish so was eating a chocolate bar containing peanuts. Of course, one went down the wrong way and I was choking. Not life threatening, but certainly very uncomfortable. I noticed a mobile home ahead that had stopped in a layby for a break, so I pulled in and asked if they could spare a cup of water. Not only did they give me water, but also made a cup of tea for me, before making sure I was OK to continue on my way.

I needed this. I get chest spasms (not heart-related thank goodness) a lot when I'm cycling, and looking back over the past three years, I can count on one hand with three digits left over the number of fellow cyclists who have stopped to ask if I'm OK as I'm doubled over by the side of the path with my hand pressed to my chest to calm the spasms. So reading these is lovely :) ♥

I was in Dallas a few years ago, waiting for my sons train to come in. I was with my sister, we had a little time to kill so we set off, walking and laughing when I tripped and fell. And out of no where, came three large men, one from his car, another ran across a busy intersection and the third just materialized. They asked if I was alright, helped me up and before I could thank them their just disappeared. The worst that came of it was a bruised shoulder, and ego, and the heinous murder of a bottle of Mtn. Dew. But, there are still, good, kind, and thoughtful people out there. And angels unaware. If you are out there and it was you. Thank you.

My husband and I were having marriage issues and I was taking the bus from Minnesota to Nevada where my family was. We stopped in Nebraska and I was trying really hard not to cry in front of people in the terminal but was not being very successful. Three men who did not speak English that well came over to see if I was ok, I said yes and thanked them. They sat with me the whole time until our next bus got there. I had to use the restroom, they walked me over and waited outside the ladies room until I came out and escorted me back to our seats. I will never forget their kindness at a very difficult time in my life.

This was a great post. Cheered me right up!