The camaraderie between guys can extend beyond friendships as even strangers can communicate a non-verbal understanding shared between people of the same gender.
It's called "The Bro Code."
The unspoken set of rules in a bromance assures one has the other's back.
They include making sure they're honest about their opinions on a new date, being a reliable wingman, and, in a blatant form of respect, engaging in the fist-bump to show acceptance or appreciation in any scenario.
Curious to hear more about the dude etiquette, Redditor skyp1llar asked:
"What’s the most 'bro moment' thing you’ve ever quietly done for somebody else?"
Whether friends or strangers, these guys showed up for each other.
The Favor
"Got on a bus reeeeal slowly when I saw someone running towards it. He gave me a nod when he got on."
– Livid_Lengthiness_69
"Different kind of scenario, but your story reminded me of the time a guy decided to get off the bus at my stop, because the driver decided a good way to try to get my number was to refuse to open the door to let me off."
"I was so grateful to that random dude who inconvenienced himself to make sure I could escape safely."
– BlondeAndToxic
Dedicated Friendship
"Not me but my 'bro'."
"Was getting divorced and instead of my best friend seeing it on social media from my ex I called him. We talked and he could tell I was devastated, asked me if I wanted him to come into town, I told him I'd be fine but thanks."
"Noon the next day there was a knock on my door. He got the first flight out the next morning, he flew 1500 miles because he knew I needed a friend."
– JohnnyBrillcream
A Postman Takes His Time
"It was the day before my visa application had to be submitted; otherwise, I'd risk having to leave the country. I had to express post my last form to my lawyer. I was frantically writing the address on the overnight express envelope and the postman that was collecting the express letters was picking them up one by one and examining them."
"I was so stressed I was shaking and just blurted out, "Please wait, I'm nearly done." he just smiled and said, " I don't normally take this much interest in the letters, mate."
– thepaintingbear
Preventing Termination
"I was night manager at warehouse. Young fellow (22 M[ale]) was great on forklift stuff, but obvs had a rough life and didn't particularly care for me so we rarely interacted. He missed work for 3rd time in a month and Senior Manager was happily looking forward to firing him."
"I intervened and said 'is ok, he called in sick, I forgot to mark it down.' Next shift, the young fellow practically cried and told me he was so grateful, no one ever took his side on anything, that he would never miss work again (he was on a bender LOL)."
– LMN724op
Philanthropy Forges Friendships
"A neighbor who I didn’t really know well lost his job. I knew that they didn’t have a lot of money and he had a wife and young children. I’m retired, live alone, and don’t have many expenses. I knocked on his door, and I handed him $1000 in an envelope and $300 worth of groceries."
"They have since become like family to me, and have helped me when I needed it ."
– DadsRGR8
Here's The Story…
"Girl started hitting on me at a party while I was in a relationship (she didn't know). Walked directly over to a new friend I made, brought him over and did a 'haaaaaaaave you met Ted?' They ended up in a long-term relationship."
– MrFunktasticc
These guys received kind gestures, just for being fellow dudes.
Sharing Some Laughs
"The opposite but one time, I was …in the stall. This was pre-iPhones. I was bored out of my mind, and the guy in the stall next to me, who was reading a newspaper, flushed and on his way out just handed me the comics page of the newspaper beneath the door."
"No words exchanged. Forget about the hygiene part, that was a bro moment."
– oAgK
Completing The Task
"A guy boarding a subway dropped unstamped letters he wished to send (I hope) on the platform unknowingly. Train departed with him in it, I picked up the letters, bought stamps, mailed them."
– Kipsydaisy
Bonus Nuggets
"When I worked at McDonald's in high-school, I added an extra nugget or two to every order. Probably hooked up thousands of kids and adults."
– TheSpiralTap
Loading Up The Car
"Okay so I deleted this and will post again. It went something like this..."
"I went to IKEA one night, I put my items in the car and as I was about to leave I noticed a guy struggling to put his items in his car so I went over and spent 40 minutes or so helping him. We tried loads of combinations, and we essentially played Jenga for a while, bouncing ideas off one another."
"He kept saying he was sorry for keeping me and that he would just return some items, but we eventually got all the items to fit. The sense of joy and accomplishment was amazing."
"He offered me money, but I just took a handshake. We didn't exchange names, and we went our separate ways. I hope he's doing well."
– Forceptz
People show up for each other even in the darkest of times.
Grieving A Pet
"My best friend's dog had a life-ending episode; He called me at work to tell me he was driving to the vet to put his buddy down. I bailed from work and beat him to the vet's, together we said goodbye to the good boi, and then went and had a pint."
– Signal_Bench_707
"This is the bro-est of the bro type of gesture. Losing a dog is f'king brutal and you were there for him. That probably meant the world to your friend."
– GreyFoxTheRanger
Respect For Privacy
"My best friend, who was single, had an extensive adult video collection. He had two of those big storage bins for Christmas, full of burned CDs with nothing but porn on them. He always told me that if he died before his parents, that I had to get his collection out of his house before his parents found it."
"His parents are pretty religious and would have freaked the f'k out after figuring out what was on all of those CDs."
"Well... He died unexpectedly in a car wreck. I went straight to his house after leaving the hospital, spent some time just hanging one last time in his space, grabbed his storage bins and left."
– sh**ty_mathematician
"Saved a bro from beyond the grave. Legend."
– OP
Santa Exists
"I was an admin for my local buy nothing group, and had gotten acquainted with a single mother who was mildly struggling. I say mildly because she could make her rent and keep food on the table, but couldn't afford Christmas gifts for her children."
"After looking through the group a little bit and learning what her kids were interested in, I bought them a handful of gifts."
"Because I was an admin, and I'd exchanged things with her before, I had her address. Wrapped all of the gifts and labeled them 'to [kids name], from buy nothing santa', dropped them at her door knocked, and booked it to my car around the corner."
"To this day we are still friends on Facebook, and I don't think she knows it was me who did this."
– Jillmanji
The examples above prove that humanity still thrives in these trying times and that the smallest acts of kindness go a long way.
More of this, please.
