What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#81

Post by jimt1234 » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:40 PM UTC

Not sure if this qualifies as a "stranger", but a nurse at the UCLA Cancer Center in Santa Monica helped my family and I when my sister was on her last days, dying of cancer. It was a bunch of little things: she got us into a single-bed room; she cleared out a maintenance closet for the family to meet privately with doctors; she did some sort of meditation with my sister that helped calm her; she "translated" what the doctors were telling us; she told the other nurses (and the security staff) to leave us alone (visiting hours). Mostly, she was a human to us, not just someone doing their job. I'll never forget the horrible experience of watching my sister dying, but Nurse Suzanna made it so much better. She's an amazing person, and I'll be forever grateful to her.

BTW, here she is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-travis-rn-ocn-reiki-cert...

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#82

Post by gastonmorixe » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:40 PM UTC

I met a Tesla engineer on Reddit a few years ago. We got talking, he referred me to Tesla, and I ended up getting an offer for what was basically my dream role.

He was a complete stranger and incredibly kind, supportive, and helpful throughout the process. Still grateful for that. Small acts like that restore a bit of faith in humanity.

It also reminded me of a Steve Jobs quote:

“Most people never pick up the phone. Most people never ask. And that’s what separates, sometimes, the people who do things from the people who just dream about them. You have to act, and you have to be willing to fail. If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.” - SJ

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#83

Post by rconti » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:40 PM UTC

tetris11 wrote: post #3

Kinda 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 :-)

Are you Val Kilmer? :)

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#84

Post by fsckboy » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:41 PM UTC

donatj wrote: post #39

I live in Minnesota and do not own a snowblower. Probably my mistake, but I always joke that I get most of my exercise in the winter. Snow is really heavy for those without context. A couple years ago we had a particularly bad snowfall. The plow has a nasty hate filled habit of dumping all its snow in my driveway. I had a drift at the end of my driveway about 4 feet high and 6 feet deep. Literally up to my chest. I h…

>Snow is really heavy

after a nar nar day in pow pow cuttin freshies up to your nippy nips, you'll change that assessment!

(my email address was once inadvertently put on a mailing list for the planning of a bachelor party ski weekend, people I did not know or have any connection to, and that's the way they talked. i enjoyed it so much i didn't confess till they demanded to know why i hadn't RSVPed yet)

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#85

Post by capncleaver » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:43 PM UTC

This is my earliest memory. When I was two, and did not yet know how to swim, I was visiting with family who had a place right on the river Thames near Henley. I was running around with my seven cousins, but I was the youngest and at some point found myself alone. I wandered out onto the towpath beside the river, where they had a small jetty.

Earlier an older cousin had been out in the canoe and it looked easy enough. I put one foot in and realised my error immediately, toppling into the water. I remember clearly the water bubbles going by and thinking 'Oh dear, my mum is going to be so angry about this.' I came back up and saw a couple now running up along the path -- they had seen me go in.

I don't remember anything else. I'm told the man fished me out and then there was a great kerfuffle as I was hung upside-down and coughed a bit. My cousins got a massive earful from my mother, who was furious with the eldest in particular for losing track of me. My father taught me to swim.

The man was thanked profusely, but we don't know his name. I hope he had a wonderful life and I'm grateful for mine.

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#86

Post by rconti » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:43 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #38

I'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.

People seem to be more helpful to strangers in smaller communities, where there are fewer other people who could render aid, and where the consequences are perhaps more dire.

In a big city, meh, there's always someone else who could do it.

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#87

Post by yesthisiswes » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:43 PM UTC

I live in a neighborhood where every street has a cul-de-sac. Outside our neighborhood is a busy road. About 6 months ago our 100lb Great Dane escaped out the front door while we were bringing in groceries. My wife and I chased her around the neighborhood trying to get her back. We lost sight of her and she eventually ended up in the middle of that busy road. A young college aged kid saw her in the road stopped his car and chased her back into our neighborhood. We cornered her and I grabbed her collar. The guy headed back to his car after the dog was caught. I should have got the guys name. I was so angry at the dog I didn’t really know what to say to the him but I am still so thankful. It could have been a very sad day for our family without his help.

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#88

Post by tibra » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:47 PM UTC

I was backpacking in Australia in 2008. I talked to a girl when I was driving up the east coast und she gave me her brother’s numbers and said to call him when I was visiting Perth (west coast). I did, he invited me to live at his house for six weeks for free. After that, I was invited by a German to live at her house in Melbourne for another two month. I was so short with my money and that both were incredibly kind to me.

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#89

Post by TheAceOfHearts » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

I'm continuously delighted by the whole open source software ecosystem. I'm using nixOS with KDE and this setup has made me feel incredibly powerful and excited about computers once again. I'm very grateful to the thousands of open source contributors that have made this possible.

Re: What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

#90

Post by cmckn » Sat, Dec 13, 2025, 6:51 PM UTC

proee wrote: post #72

Eating at nice restaurant with my entire family. When we finished the meal the waiter came out with a dessert and said that someone across the restaurant paid for our entire meal. I was shocked, I looked around and I think I might know who it was, but they were already gone. That was probably a $150-$200 dollar check. I'm still shocked to this day.

A few years ago, I was in the drive through of a Starbucks on the east side of Seattle. A very shiny Porsche 911 was in front of me, and I was kind of rolling my eyes. Who needs to drive a Porsche to Starbucks? Douchebag.

Whoever it was paid for my order. Kind of a record-scratch moment, just completely changed my mood and was a good reminder to not be negative for no reason.