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What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
131–140 of 353 posts
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#132Stories like this always hit me harder than I expect. Not because they're dramatic, but because of how quietly competent the kindness is
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#133In the UK we used to have a nationalized rail system. People were always rude about the late trains, stale sandwiches etc. But I once managed to leave a bag Xmas present on a train. I only realized when I got another train. They were so helpful, they managed to find the bag and have it sent on to me. I think we lost a lot of that good will when the UK rail system was privatised. And the privatised trains were still late, but much more expensive.
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#134Kinda a similar story, I slipped off my bike at the end of a wet turn and scraped up my leg. A woman passing by saw the whole thing, and said she lived nearby and would happily run me a bath. I took her up on the offer, and, um, I was a few hours late to work that day :-)
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#135A friend of mine and I (we are both Aussies) had been staying at my Grandma's house in a rural village in UK and were trying to make our way back to London on Boxing Day. The fact that it was Boxing Day meant that no buses were running, so we started sticking our thumbs out to try and hitch a lift to the nearest town's train station. As you would expect, picking up two 19 year old blokes in the middle of nowhere was…
Wild how life sometimes compresses decades into a single afternoon
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#136In the UK we used to have a nationalized rail system. People were always rude about the late trains, stale sandwiches etc. But I once managed to leave a bag Xmas present on a train. I only realized when I got another train. They were so helpful, they managed to find the bag and have it sent on to me. I think we lost a lot of that good will when the UK rail system was privatised. And the privatised trains were still l…
I think this really nails something people struggle to put into words: it wasn't that the system was perfect, it was that it felt human
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#137I'm wondering if altruism is in decline, in this selfish age of social media. I sometimes even get the feeling that altruism is seen as a weakness these days.
On the institutional level there's grounds to believe it unfortunately (less welfare support, more military etc) Was thinking about the term "suicidal empathy" that some politicians have been bringing up lately (wrt migration policy). It's like a new derogatory jargon.
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#138I've got a weird one from a bank. I was driving from South Carolina to Virginia, I was completely broke, and had exactly $20 in cash, and only a couple dollars in my checking account. I did my math wrong, and didn't have enough money for enough gas to make it home. I was trying to draft behind semi trucks and drive slow to conserve fuel, but it wasn't enough. I called my bank at the gas station with my needle on empt…
Kindness doesn't have to be dramatic to be life-saving in the moment
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#139My chain had slipped off the rear sprocket, wedged itself between the gear and the frame. I forgot my toolkit and I was unable to free it. I was miles out of town so a walk back was going to take hours. A guy on a motorcycle rode by, looked at me and turned around. He got off his bike, got his tools, and freed the chain in seconds. I was profoundly grateful. Years later, I happened across a cyclist in a similar situa…
"Paying it back" instead of "paying it forward" feels especially right here
Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
#140thank you for this uplifting thread!
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I had some young family drama which kept me from studying for my first oral university exam. so I talked with the prof about it. he told me to bring a sick leave attestation from Dr such and such - or to come and give it shot. gave it a shot. "you can do much better that's obvious. I'll give you the weakest passing grade or I fail you and you redo the exam. your choice." wow.