40 Wholesome Encounters With Strangers That Stayed In People’s Hearts

In a world often clouded by negativity and conflict, it’s easy to forget just how kind and compassionate people can be. But every once in a while, a stranger comes along and does something so heartwarming, so unexpectedly nice, that it shakes us out of cynicism and reminds us that goodness still exists.

#1

Image source: borderlinePbi**h, Pavel Danilyuk / pexels

Back in high school, I was admitted to an under-18 mental hospital due to some problems I was going through, and I had to stay there until they found it was okay and safe to release me.

During the time I was there, I ended up missing my prom and was really upset by it. The other people in the hospital with me – ranging from ages 10-18 – decided to surprise me with an in-hospital-prom.

We were going into the sensory room (which was a room that had lots of colorful lights and comfortable floors, and we’d play calming music for meditation hours) when the nurse in charge asked me what my favorite song on the radio at the time was. She then surprised me by playing that song instead of the calming music and told me the meditation hour was going to be spent at my very own prom that was organized by my fellow inpatients, and we’d have fun music and the cool lighting. We all danced and laughed together and it’s something I’ll never forget that these people – who I had only known for a day or two – got the nurses to agree to hijack the sensory room and surprised me with my own prom.

#2

Image source: indianamale7, EyeEm / freepik

I received a letter from the parent of a guy (inmate) at the prison where I worked. It said “I want you to know because of your kindness to my son he was able to spend his birthday with his brother and family for the first time in years. He told us you were one of the few people he could count on to treat him like a human. Your diligence in getting errors corrected by the court has helped him trust again. He is enrolled in school. Thank you sir. “

Very few people take time to do this and it made my day.

#3

Image source: anon, Clay Elliot / pexels

I had just dyed my whole head of hair a very obnoxiously bright pink, and my conservative family were just continuously putting me down about it, saying it’s because I want attention, that it makes me look like a clown, etc. I was starting to regret it after a bit but left it as it was fading making it turn light pink.

While at the store, a random elderly lady approached me and I was prepared for a lecture about how damaging dye can be, but instead she just beamed and said “it’s like cotton candy! How cute!” And then someone she was with gasped when they noticed and agreed, they said it looked amazing and how they wished they could pull it off the way I do. I wanted to jump up and down, I was so happy.

#4

Image source: -eDgAR-, wavebreakmedia_micro / freepik

I’ll never forget the impact this experience had on me.

When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about that was that you could get 10 books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which one I wanted to get and then decided after I’d gone through them all.

One day an older lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her a few of the books I found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse, handed it to me and said, “Promise me that you’ll keep reading.” I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home.

It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was over 20 years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.

#5

Image source: ffarwell83, The Yuri Arcurs Collection / freepik

Maybe my rock bottom moment?

I was moved from Los Angeles to New Jersey in the middle of winter to get thrown into rehab.

My family lied to me to get me to move. Said I’d have the place to myself, they had a condo right on the beach that I was going to stay at rent-free to get “mentally healthy again”

Oh no.

So just throwing it out there now,

Rehab is something the a****t needs to choose for themselves.

Anyway, it’s my 2nd day there, I’m losing my s**t because not only am I going through withdrawals but I’m there against my will in someplace I’ve never been, so I escaped.

I packed my bags. Walked right out the door, not even knowing where I was in the state… and started walking.

I was hoping to figure out which way the beach was, but I was in the middle of the snowy woods with no sense of direction.

I realized that if it took an hour to drive here from the condo, it’ll prob take a lot longer to walk, so I decided to play my luck further and stuck my thumb out to hitchhike a ride.

Not only did a person pick me up and not m****r me, but TWO cars picked me up and didn’t attempt to m****r me! (The first one took me a good portion of the way, the second one got me to the condo)

I, of course, was on my defense, had a pen in hand, ready to attack if anything got weird, but they were kind enough to let me warm up in the car and get me along as far as they could take me.

I thanked them both over and over for their kindness and marched my way up the steps to the condo, only to find no one was home.

When they left me at the rehab center, they took my keys and my phone, so I had no one to call, and no way to let myself in – cue the meltdown.

I’m f*****g livid. Freezing. It’s 16 degrees outside and I’m stuck on the windy oceanfront with a duffel bag of clothes from California, and nowhere to go.

I’m thinking to myself- this is it. I’ve finally f****d up so bad, I’m probably going to die now.

Out of sheer anger at myself and my parents, I decide… I’m going to kick in this condo door and get warm.

But the front door was on a step, which was hard to get the right angle to get a solid kick into it, so I just tried slamming my body up against the door, but felt like I was only doing damage to my body.

Just as I was giving in to the sadness and ready to give up… the door next door opens.

It’s a neighbor I’ve never met who has no idea why some guy is trying to break in next door.

I try to catch my breath to tell him, I’m sorry – I’m their son, I’m just trying to get warm. Etc etc

He was an older man, late 50s, who was making breakfast for his daughter in their kitchen when he heard my kicking at the door.

He invited me in, gave me some hot coffee, started chatting with me while the daughter wanted to show me her school work and tell me about their plans for the day.

They were getting ready to go get her dress for some school event when he asked if there was anyone I could call.

I was able to get in touch with my aunt, who recommended I go back to the rehab center.

I was ready to plead with her there over the phone to let me stay with them, but something about this guy and the kid made me feel safer than anyone from my entire family.

I decided to accept my fate and asked the kind stranger if he could take me back, to which he was more than happy to help.

The car ride back to rehab was the exact opposite experience I had when going into rehab.

We talked about his brother who had similar problems to my own.

He spoke with such love for him, it broke my heart to think I was in the same boat, but he reassured me – if his brother could get better, so can I.

Something truly resonated that day for me.

I didn’t want to be a burden to the world from the pain my parents gave me – I wanted to be healed, and to help heal others like this guy.

The kindest stranger I ever met-

Thank you, Mr. Gray. 🙏

#6

Image source: AhhhItsMe, DC Studio / freepik

In February 2020, I met an angel. I still think about him. Here’s the story.

I had just sat down on an international flight home to see my unexpectedly ailing father when I got a call saying he was on a ventilator and may not survive the night. The man next to me very obviously overheard everything, but didn’t say anything.

On the flight though, he pulled out a snack and offered me some. This was his way of initiating conversation with me. He said he had overheard the call about my dad and repeatedly expressed a genuine desire for him to pull through. He also told me that I’d be okay no matter what happened. We hugged it out when we deplaned and he again expressed good wishes. If this stranger had not engaged with me, I would’ve spent the flight silently crying and being in my head. He made that two-hour flight bearable.

#7

Image source: AnastasiaTanguay, freepik

I was on the train home late one night, minding my own business, when this woman comes out of nowhere and sits her a*s next to me. “You’ll do,” she said and plonked down a bottle of wine (open), and two plastic cups. We spent the journey talking about her breakup, our lives and drinking her wine. Parted ways at the end of the line and have never seen her again. She was brilliant.

#8

Image source: thatchevyguy19, evgenia1964 / freepik

I had an very frail old lady ask to hug me at the mall once. As I’m not a monster I obviously obliged. I asked her afterwards why she wanted to hug me of all people , she explained that I looked just like her grandchild that passed away recently. That is a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

#9

Image source: atiredbitchthrowaway, ivankyryk / freepik

I used to work as a DSP, i enjoyed the work i was doing but it did not pay very well and I was struggling a lot financially. a lot of my clients liked to go out to eat on our days out and I usually just didn’t order anything when we did because I never had the money. i had gone with a client to a local pizza chain one day and when the waitress brought out their food they brought a personal size pizza as well, set it in front of me, told me it was on the house and asked if I’d like a drink to go with it. i nearly cried as i thanked her. i had no money and no food at home to eat, it was because of her that I ate that day at all and I’m still incredibly grateful for her kindness. she didn’t know I was struggling or how little I had the chance to eat, she just noticed someone didn’t order food and decided they deserved to eat too.

#10

Image source: BugabooMS, freepik

Once when I was still in my “paint it black” phase I went to the grocery store with my dad. (Keep in mind this is a very conservative semi small church culture town.) I am above average height and that day I was wearing high heel boots. So there I am with the black dress and the fringe and everything and this tiny old woman randomly approached me. My heart freezes for a second. I flinch inwardly. “You are so tall, my darling! And so very pretty!” (Rough translation.) This tiny a*s old church looking lady came over not to ridicule me but to give me a genuine compliment and my heart just melted. I still think about it regularly.

#11

Image source: Nicolas8600, Timur Weber / freepik

I got back from a class trip and had to go home from the train station. On my way I had a homeless guy come to me and asked me if I had some money for food and drinks… I got myself my last 20€ and we went to a restaurant and had lunch together and had a great time. He told me everything about him and I did too. Still seeing him on the streets today, still greeting each other when we see each other.

#12

Image source: anon, EyeEm / freepik

My family was driving through Mexico in a motorhome after my high school graduation. We came to a fork in the road, but there were no signs. So we were stopped there for a bit, as we pulled out maps and tried to figure out which road would go to Mérida. (This was before cell phones, never mind GPS.)

No one noticed the commuter bus behind us until it honked. So we pulled over to let it pass. He pulled up beside us and asked if we needed help. We explained where we were heading, and the driver told us to follow him.

We followed him for about 10 minutes before he motioned for us to pull up beside him again. He gave us the last couple turns we needed and then explained he needed to head back because his route actually goes the other way at the fork where he found us.

I couldn’t believe he took his whole bus 10 minutes out of the way just to show us the way. I looked at his passengers and not a single one even seemed upset. A few even waved and smiled as they departed. I loved all of Mexico, but the people in the Yucatan were amazingly friendly. Since then, I’ve always tried to help strangers to my city.

#13

Image source: TeacherPatti, Dragana Stock / freepik

I hate flying. I’m terrified of it. Back in 1995, I was flying home from grad school, short flight. We are landing so I’m thinking YAY, I’m still alive when suddenly s**t starts bouncing around. I know we didn’t fall super far but it felt like we were falling pretty significantly. My seatmate’s drink spilled, an overhead compartment opened and stuff fell out, people were gasping and there were some yells. Outside the window is sort of greenish grey. At some point, I calmly took my seatmate’s hand–total stranger, older white guy. I said how scared I was and he immediately started telling me that he flies every week and trying to explain about turbulence.

We went back up in the air and got rerouted to another city about three hours away from where we were supposed to be. Dude is super nice, trying to distract me by showing me pictures of his kids, talking about his job and family, asking me things. We land after being told we have the option of taking another flight back home. No way in hell am I getting on another plane. Dude says he is going to rent a car and can drop me off since he lives near where I was living with my mom.

48-year-old me would be telling myself OMG THIS GUY COULD BE CRAZY, KIDNAP YOU, K**L YOU but 23-year-old me was like, “Sure!” Dude drives us back shows me his CAR PHONE like holy cow what sorcery is this?! Calls his wife, I meet her over the phone, everything was awesome. I tried to pay him for gas but he wouldn’t hear of it.

It’s kind of sad to say how thrilled I am that nothing untoward or pervy or anything weird happened other than that a very nice man gave me a ride home. I had his business card and sent him a thank you note to his office. I will never, ever forget that extreme act of kindness.

#14

Image source: pineappledaddy, pressmaster / freepik

A long time ago a woman’s card declined while buying groceries, so she was doing that whole remove an item and swipe again thing. I got extremely frustrated, but every other line was long so moving wasn’t an option. I said f**k this I wanna go home and eat, I paid for all the groceries to make my life easier, and get home after a long 12 hour shift.

She asked for my phone number so she could eventually pay me back. I gave it to her but told her to only text me when she had paid it forward because I didn’t need the money.

I randomly received a text a few years later that said, ” I finally paid it forward”.

Was lost, thought they had the wrong number, but they specifically saved it to tell me they were doing well enough to pay it forward finally. At that time I was going through a really rough time, and that text actually brought me out of the funk I was in.

#15

Image source: herebekraken, EyeEm / freepik

I pulled into the mall parking lot and heard something snap in my car, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Did my shopping and came back. The car would start, but I couldn’t shift out of park. A man and his daughter pulled up and saw me craning under the steering wheel, and came over to ask what was wrong. The guy took a look at it. Turned out a wire had wrapped around the drive train and snapped when I turned the wheel, and for safety reasons the car would not drive again until it was fixed.

I was pretty much in despair. I was a broke college student with no money to have the car fixed, let alone towed and then fixed.

But this dude was not just a dad. Oh no. He was a SuperDad™. Not only did he have the know-how to fix my car, he had all the tools in his truck.

There were complications. Twice he and his daughter took me to AutoZone to get parts I needed. He worked for a few hours, finished as it was getting dark, and once they were sure my car worked, he and his daughter left without having set foot in the mall.

This was a couple of years back and I don’t remember their names, but I’ll always remember what those two did for me.

#16

I had a really polite kid (I’d say 8 or 9) come up to me when I worked fast food who wanted to know if we had specific toys from the current set. (Mario Kart.) I asked him what he already had, and managed to complete his set for him.

The next day his Dad came in and said that his son wanted the toys to give him for his birthday which was the day before, because Mario Kart was their thing.

Image source: anon

#17

Image source: yakkmeister, yakkmeister

Just today, my daughter and I were rushing our foster kitten to the vet … but we had to walk because my wife had the car at work and wouldn’t be home until far too late. A cab was out of the question since Christmas basically left us broke.
Now, the kitten was very much going to die unless we got her to the vet in time – we didn’t even stop for decent footwear and were trudging about in gumboots.

I attempted to flag down every passing car as we hurried along – many cars just drove on by as our little kitten’s life ebbed away in my daughter’s hands … but one stopped. A wonderfully kind woman pulled over and drove us directly to the vet – cutting the trip from 30 minutes down to about 3.

If kitty survives, this kind stranger is her saviour.

[Update] I got a call from the vet nurse today – little Hera is eating, playing and yelling for attention, as is propper. She’s not out of the woods yet … but everyone is expecting a full recovery. No word on what the problem was but it’s not uncommon for kittens to catch a little something that causes them to crash. The trick, the vet mentioned, is to keep them warm, hydrated (vets can use an IV for this) and apply a bit of antibiotics and they’ve got a good shot. Hera will be with the vet another night … so hopefully I have news of her return tomorrow!

[Last update]

Hera is home with a clean bill of health!
Above link is a pic each of the 3 kittens – just back from a check-up and a bit scraggly. Hera definitely needs a bath!
We found out that Posiedon has very mild hydrocephalus, which is certainly interesting, given his name!

In a twist of Brisbane-ness, the lady who gave us a lift happened to be at the vet, too! She’s been invited to visit any time.

#18

Image source: MrFunktasticc, Brent McQuery / pexels

Went away to the mountains with the wife before our second kid was born. Wakes up in the middle of the night with bad pains says we need to get to hospital ASAP.

Height of the pandemic they won’t let me in and we are far from home. I end up trying to sleep on the floor. In the morning they tell us she needs to be kept for observation. My exhausted a*s needs to drive back and get our stuff.

Besides the stress and exhaustion, it had snowed and I was driving through slippery, winding mountain roads that hadn’t been plowed yet. At one point the car starts drifting and I can’t regain control. Pass the double lines and into a snow bank. Car is covered to mid windows and I pass out.

I was woken by a stranger that was following a little behind. I got out of the car but had no cell service so he took my info and drove to the base of the mountain to call AAA. No luck. Another dude with a pickup stopped and they helped me dig up my car and pull it out.

The car was pretty covered with snow. Not sure if anyone would see me if the guy wasn’t immediately behind me. Maybe I would have woken up or maybe I would have just frozen to death. Some other people stopped while I was working on the car and showed me the best part. I went left – had I gone right I’d have rolled off a cliff and 100% died.

Instead I got to hold my daughter a few weeks later. Those dudes were my guardian angels and all I got ‘em was some Amazon gift cards….

#19

Image source: schwarzmalerin, Ahmet Yüksek / pexels

Crashed with my bicycle and the chain came off (I was fine), random cyclist stops, lifts my bike, and with three quick moves puts the chain back. It happened so fast. I didn’t even see what she did. I wanted to at least give her some money for a coffee but off she went. What an absolute pro. Thanks random stranger.

#20

I work at a hospital and was walking back from lunch when I see this lady, a little older than me crying super hard. I saw everyone quickly walking past her as if she wasn’t there. I felt in my heart, I can’t be like them, she needs someone. I sat down by her, asked her if she’s ok and she fell into my arms, I held her and let her cry (both of us women for context). She told me how she flew out there just to say goodbye to her dying father. I just held her and listened to her and didn’t leave until she stopped crying a bit. I just needed her to know she wasn’t alone. It stays with me because that’s what we all need, is to know we are not alone.

Image source: Gimmeamango

#21

Oh I nearly forgot about this,
I was at a second hand shop once and overheard a girl trying on a wedding dress. She was asking the price of the dress and when they told her she asked if they could hold it because she didn’t have the money right now and really wanted the dress. The employee told her they didn’t so I saw her put it back.

I then heard her talking with her partner Saying that she was so upset because that was the only dress that fit her and she really liked it. So I grabbed the dress and her and her fiancé and bought them the dress.

They were both blown away and I love the thought that I got to help be a small part for their big day.

Image source: curiouscreator

#22

My wife and I were travelling in Tokyo and we were looking for a good non-smoking restaurant (a lot of them still allow smoking unfortunately) in the neighborhood we were staying. Most restaurants in that neighborhood were only advertised with discrete Japanese signs. We are white Europeans and looked obviously like tourists.

This Japanese guy comes out of nowhere, asking if he could help us, so we tell him what we are looking for. Turns out that guy had been working in Germany for a few years, so he could speak English fairly well. He helped us find a traditional, upscale restaurant only visited by locals, hidden on the 8th storey of a skyscraper that we would never have found in a lifetime.

The best part is that he obviously liked to chat with us, it reminded him of his life in Europe., and asked if he could join. We gladly accepted, and he helped us with how to behave and take our order. It turns out that guy was a high-level consultant for an accounting organization, and he insisted on paying the bill, so we got to eat in a very high-end restaurant that no tourist would have ever found, and didn’t even pay for it!

Image source: ConsciousnessWizard

#23

Image source: nzdanni, syda_productions / freepik

I was in the supermarket years ago and the operator scanned a pack of biscuits that wasn’t mine. It was the only thing the guy behind me was ordering so I was like meh, i’ll just pay it. It wasn’t a big deal at the time and it was like $1. I randomly bumped into that guy about month later on the bus and he had felt so warmed by the experience. He said he went to the petrol station on the way home from the supermarket and there was a guy who’s card declined and couldn’t pay for his gas, so he had paid it for him as a way of paying it forward. It was cool to think that what started off so small and irrelevant could spawn into something more wholesome.

#24

I put off changing my name after getting married until my son was born a year later. I had to trudge all over downtown with a newborn in tow to get a copy of my marriage license, go to the DMV, and finally social security office. It was at the social security office that my son decided it was time to eat. I started to discreetly nurse him and a security guard looked in my direction. “Hey, you can’t do that here!”

Two women jumped to my defense before I could even look up. “That is a federally granted right!” “She is feeding a baby! Are you against babies eating?!” “You keep nursing that baby, honey! It’s a gift!”

The security guard gave them a weird look and tapped on a lady’s shoulder in a seat two rows ahead of me. “Ma’am, you cannot make phone calls inside.”

It wasn’t even about me, but these two ladies jumped to my defense. I greatly appreciated it. I thanked them profusely.

Image source: recyclethatusername

#25

Image source: ShoanGachi, EyeEm / freepik

Walking through campus at night, snow everywhere. I like making snowballs and throwing them at trees or sings as I walk around. So as I turned a corner, I saw a guy holding a snowball, I also had one. We stopped, looked at eachother and proceeded to have an impromptu snowball fight. Fun times.

#26

Image source: wasabiwasabi_, wilsonkjc / freepik

I was working the counter at a coffee shop and this girl asks if she can draw me. I’m super skeptical because I’m chubby and have only ever been the butt of a joke. I say sure, but with an inflection that made it sound unsure, if that makes sense?

The girl perks up and says ‘thank you so much, you’re so doughy!’ I was super confused because I thought she was calling me fat so I say ‘In a good way or bad way?’. She gasps and says ‘oh my gosh I’m so sorry! In a good way, you’re gorgeous!’ Turns out she meant ‘doe-faced’ not ‘doughy’.

It was the first time someone has complimented me. Ever.

#27

Image source: thrown12212020, freepik

Was waiting at the airport for my flight, it had been delayed 2 hours. It was a full flight so almost all the seats near the gate were taken. There was one last empty seat next to me, so this older woman (Mary) asked if she could sit there. She was very friendly and we ended up talking about life and our relationships for almost the entire 2 hours.

My mother had been a very cold and toxic person. Mary’s daughter had passed away from cancer years earlier. It was a very cathartic 2 hours for both of us. She shared stories and life lessons she hadn’t had the chance to tell her daughter before she died. I told her about things I could never have told my own mother, and she gave me very honest, compassionate advice.

Wish I’d gotten her number or an email, but I was afraid of overstepping at the time.

#28

I was going through some stuff and was standing on the street waiting for a bus. I wasn’t crying, but I must’ve been giving off a vibe of distress. An elderly lady came up, put her hand on my arm and just said “this too shall pass.” Then she walked away, and that’s when I really started crying.

Image source: ennuiismymiddlename

#29

Image source: anon, True-Paint5513 / reddit

A Native American from a local tribe gave me a homemade leather pouch with a natural remedy inside and said, “For the anxiety”.

I was on break, at my first job. It was so thoughtful.

#30

I was in Europe for a series of meetings and lost my wallet. I had prepaid for my hotels and transportation but I was very low on funds. I had enough money so that with the free meals I’d get at the meetings and breakfasts that are included I could get by. When I checked into my Hotel in Cologne the person at the desk asked me if I wanted to upgrade to the VIP floor that had free hors d’oeuvres and drinks in the evening. I said I would love to but I had lost my wallet and couldn’t pay for it since I didn’t have a credit card. He didn’t say anything to me but when I went to my room he had comped me onto the VIP floor. I went back later to thank him but I didn’t bump into him again. He earned some major positive karma that night.

Image source: Cancin26

#31

2…one where I was the good guy and one where I got helped by the good guy.

1. I was on a flight from Europe to the US. We were flying with our 6 month old baby. Flight was fine, baby slept most of the time and I struck up a conversation with some Swiss dude sitting next to me. We land in DC and have about a 4 hour layover. A couple hours into the layover, while wandering around, some guy runs up to us. It was the dude from the plane…we had forgotten our baby’s blanket on the plane but he had remembered that we were flying on to Oklahoma City so he had taken it to the gate for our next flight and given it to the staff with a description of us. Super cool dude.

2. Once I was walking home from work and saw this little girl, probably like 8 or 9 years old standing on the sidewalk. She was alone, crying and looked distressed. I asked if she needed help and she told me that her band practice or whatever had ended early but she couldn’t call her mom to come pick her up because some bullies had stolen her cell phone. I live in a busy city and felt bad because people were just walking by and not helping her. Luckily she knew her mom’s number so I called her mom, explained the situation, gave her the phone so that she could talk to her mom and then waited there with her until her mom got there to pick her up.

Image source: mejok

#32

In a mosh pit by myself (I happened to catch a show while on vacation), I’m a 5’2 tiny chick so while I can and do hold my own, sometimes the crowd…squashes me. And this one was one of those “push in tight” pits, and I was literally getting squeezed. Two random dudes who were each a foot taller than me grabbed me up and got me between them and acted like human barricades while I caught my breath.

They were total gentlemen and did it just to be awesome, but one of them them was really cute and I seriously wished I had been single at that time.

People at hardcore and punk shows are way nicer than people outside the scene might expect.

Image source: I_DRINK_ANARCHY

#33

Image source: capicopa, jjeffer10 / reddit

I was wearing bob squarepants socks and a homeless man started singing the intro, I joined, then another homeless man, we sang it all, it was epic.

#34

I was walking along a sidewalk in midtown when there was a sudden heavy downpour.

A kind man nearby shared his large umbrella with me all the way to my destination 9 blocks away.

It was a simple act of sharing and kindness that I’ll never forget.

Image source: anon

#35

I was on the train going to see my friend after a fight with my partner. I thought our relationship was over, and I couldn’t stop crying. A lovely woman came up to me, gave me a tissue, offered me a hug, and asked if I was OK. I told her what had happened, and she comforted me.

It turned out she was a refugee from Syria – she’d just come over in the last couple of months, and hadn’t seen her family since. She had lived through some truly awful things, and there she was trying to make me feel better about a spat. I will never forget her kindness in stopping to see whether I was OK, despite everything she had gone through herself. There are some truly amazing people in the world.

Image source: poppingcandylights

#36

I went for an interview for a residency program. The programs usually interview multiple people per day at the same time. Everyone is so nervous sitting around prior to the interview, that no one talks. For one of my interviews, there were only two of us. The other girl came up to me and we both started talking about how nervous we were. She hugged me and said “Well, you seem really nice. I hope we both match here and get to work together”. After the interviews were over, she hugged me again and said she knew we would be friends in the future. It was an interesting interaction to say the least. Funny thing is, neither of us matched at that site, but ended up matching together at another program. She is one of the nicest/kindest people I have ever met. Definitely my work bestie.

Image source: Pharm-Poet

#37

Image source: starwsh101, EyeEm / freepik

Last summer I and a random dad with his son was waiting for the same local bus outside my towns biggest grocery store.

15 min after the bus should have arrived the dad started to complain, me too, where the f**k was the bus?! So we actually looked at the d**n bus schedule and we realized that we had missed the last bus. So for me it was around 1h walk home, for the dad and his son was it 2-3h walk home.

The dad asked if I wanted to ride the same taxi home. I explain and said to him that I could take my own taxi(taxi is expensive af here, 10-15min ride is 20 dollars) since I lived x and they lived y.

“no no no” said the dad “we should share, it’s better for the environment” so I said ok. I was fully prepared to pay my share of the ride, but when it was my time, the dad said “no no, you don’t need to pay anything”. I was stunned of his kindness, “are you sure” I asked over and over. And he said “yes ofc it’s ok”. So I thanked him, got out from the taxi and walked home. In awe of his kindness.

the end.

#38

A few years back I was flying alone from the us to the uk with my 18month old son as a lap infant (the most daunting thing I’ve done tbh). Found my seat next to the window when two ladies (perhaps late fifties, early sixties) took the seats next to me. The first words were ‘aw look a baby’ I replied to say don’t you mean ‘oh no a baby’ (no one wants to be on a flight with a baby right?). Wrong I guess because they were literally the kindest people. They were on their way to uk and then Spain for a girls holiday (life goals). We chatted the whole flight about our lives. And they took such care of me and my boy. They called themselves my kid’s aeroplane grandmas 😭

Cannot remember their names but they were from Connecticut, I will never forget them.

Image source: kayelles

#39

Image source: Imaginary_Prior, freepik

When I was 5, I saw a woman standing with a priest in a graveyard. I was curious because she was crying and I didn’t yet understand death. I went up to her and held her hand for little over an hour. She told me she would’ve been blessed to have a son like me with her husband. I later figured out he died and they were both all alone. Very sad and wholesome at the same time. I think about it every day.

#40

I was trying to get to this village of like 60ish people. As you can imagine, not a lot of traffic in the area. So I’m walking in 40°C weather on this road forgotten by the world itself that stretches from the previous “bigger” village and all the way to the one I’m trying to get to with another one in between, somewhere along the way.

I’m straight up about to pass out when this janky 90s ford shows up at the horizon rolling towards me. I saw they were packed so I didn’t even try to hitch it, but they stopped anyways. They took me in even though we had to basically climb on top of each other (7 people, small ford. We probably looked like a clown car.). They were this super sweet family on their way to pick an onion field in the village before mine. I told them they could just drop me off there and I’d walk the rest, but they absolutely refused and insisted they drive me all the way. They told me all about their crops, their life in the countryside and how everything was simpler there and asked me about the city. They asked me why I’m trying to get to the middle of f*****g nowhere and when I told them, getting all emotional in the process, they offered me compassion and a word of advice.

It was incredibly wholesome. I hope they’re doing well these days and their onions are flourishing!

Image source: ApprehensiveStatus13