Kindness seems to be difficult to come by these days.
It seems like our news feeds are flooded with incidents like MAGA lovers mocking Native Americans, or helpless women being raped by their caretakers.
It is an era of people proclaiming #MeToo and attempting to hold people responsible for decades of abuse. So it's no wonder that we could all use a little love in our lives right now. One Reddit user realized just that.
Two days ago, Redditor naturalenergybyproxy posted a simple question to the subReddit, AskReddit.
from AskReddit
Since they posted their query, the post has been upvoted over 34,000 times and has received more than 8,800 comments.
People have posted their personal stories of when they received random acts of kindness.
There seems to be no limit to the who shares their kindness or to what lengths they will go to help a stranger out.
The stories range from thoughtful gestures to emotional accounts of people being helped out during impossible times.
Who knows whether or not naturalenergybyproxy knew that their post would strike a cord within so many, but we are all so thankful for the reminder that there is kindness all around us.
This one shows that no one is too old to be kind.
"I was at a bar with my then-girlfriend. Seated next to us was an older gentleman who was alone and looking forlorn. After a time, he tapped my girlfriend on the shoulder and said, 'I like the way you two talk to one another. Here's what I'm going to do - I spent a fortune on these tickets for my wife. Unfortunately, she can't go anymore, and I just don't feel like going without her. So I'd like you two to have them. The only catch is that the concert starts in twenty minutes'."
"He didn't elaborate, nor would he accept payment. He asked only that we go, enjoy ourselves, and keep being good to each other. He paid his tab and left."
"And that's how I got front row seats to Prince." - DukeOfCheddar (Reddit)
Or too young.
"A really small thing, but I hope I remember it forever..."
"My son was probably 2 or 3 and we went to the mall for some reason. My son liked looking at displays and stuff. Well there was a model train set in a case that you could put a $1 in and watch them go around for a while. I was pretty broke If I recall and never had cash on me regardless."
"He was content just looking at the display. A group of loud mall teens come through and go past. One of them comes back and puts a dollar in the machine and says "I always liked watching trains too" then hurries off back to his friends. My son lit up. I never would have expected that action from a stranger, let alone a teen with his friends in a mall." - ess0ess (Reddit)
Some people keep an eye out for the little ones.
"When I was around 8, I was crossing a street without much looking. As soon as I started crossing, a stranger pulled me back by my shirt. Of course, a car flew by the same moment. Thank you, stranger." - jkovvv (Reddit)
"When I was 11, I was stupid enough to cross in front of a bus with only a cursory glance backwards and I missed the minivan that had just started to overtake the bus. I got hit by the left hand corner and flung across the road, injuring my legs (my knee still hurts sometimes all this time later) and splitting my lower lip."
"As I lay there, a lady who I had seen on the bus a few times, came over and helped me over to the curb, checked me over, made sure my parents were called, made sure an ambulance was called and generally looked after a scared tearful hurt little boy." - DigitalRoman486 (Reddit)
She was wonderful and I still see her around to this day and she always gives me a big smile when I wave helloOthers realize it's actually the adults that sometimes need a little extra care.
"My first wife abandoned us when my son was an infant. It was rough but I survived. One evening I was at dinner with some friends. I had to change the baby, there was no table in the men's room. I asked a lady leaving the ladies room if it was empty and she checked for me, gave me the okay."
"While I was trying to get my diaper bag sorted she came up and offered to change him. I told her I had it but she insisted, and put her arm around me. Apparently I'd been holding in a breakdown the whole time and she saw right through it. I cried for a minute while a total stranger changed my infant son, thanked her profusely, and went back to dinner with my friends carrying a little less weight on my shoulders."
"No clue who she was, but she was an angel to me that night." - PrintError (Reddit)
This person realized how stressful traveling can be.
"My flight out of Syracuse was cancelled and when I finally made it to the front desk they told me it would be two days before I could get home. I decided I'd rent a car and drive to NYC to catch a flight out of one of the airports."
"As I was getting to the counter a woman, who's flight had also been cancelled, announced she was driving to NYC and welcomed anyone to join her. On an impulse I said yes and we started the journey to NYC."
"She turned out to be one of the kindest people I've ever met. While calling AA to figure out my next situation, the customer service person was incredibly rude and refused to do anything - eventually hanging up on me. Seeing I was frustrated/upset this wonderful woman proceeded to call customer service agents over the next two hours. I would explain my situation and she would pretend to be my mother and ask for a solution. Ended up getting fully refunded and booked on another flight the next morning."
"I was planning on just sleeping in JFK until my flight but she offered her couch in her apartment and a hot shower. I refused at first, but the prospect of a hot shower after such a stressful day was too much for me to pass up. On the way to her apartment she even asked the cab driver to go a little out the way to swing by some famous sites in NYC because I'd never been."
"I still think about her often and wonder if she realizes how big of an impact her kindness had on me." - dicyclopentadiene22 (Reddit)
These guys knew that a little sweetness would go a long way.
"I was once feeling really down cause of school and just life in general. I stopped at a convenience store on the way home to pick up a bit of chocolate to make myself feel better. The guy at the register must have noticed how miserable I was looking, because he let me have the chocolate bar for free. It was a really simple act of kindness, but it almost made me tear up in that convenience store and instantly improved a shitty day." - angry__donkeys (Reddit)
"My birthday one year was really sucking. I decided to go buy myself a cake at the grocery store and get it decorated, because it was my birthday and I wanted something nice. When the guy at the counter asked who it was for (in retrospect he meant what name to put on it) and I said it was for me, he was incredulous that I had to buy my own birthday cake. I just kind of shrugged and went out to finish shopping for groceries. He said my cake would be paid for at pick up."
"When I came back to pay for and pick up my cake, a different person was at the register and she said my cake had been paid for. It was also decorated a bit more than I thought it should have been. I have not seen that guy working there since and in my head I've called him the cake fairy."
"It was a good cake. I still cried eating it because the entire day sucked, but it was a good cake." - mamblepamble (Reddit)
For some, their received act of kindness didn't happen so long ago.
"Here in upstate NY we just got a foot of snow Saturday. Came out to snowblow my driveway to my driveway already having been plowed. It's a long ass driveway."
"Anyways whoever did it didn't leave a note or anything, no idea who did it."
"Thanks stranger." - cactusbanger (Reddit)
For others, it is a distant but lasting memory.
"When I was 9 or 10 I missed the school bus. This big guy picked me up and run towards the bus screaming to try to make the bus stop. It eventually did and he put me inside of it and then dipped, I couldn't even say thanks. And I was a chubby one no less" - sowydso (Reddit)
For all, these acts of kindness have made a lasting impression. Remember that as you go about your daily life.
We can all be that stranger for someone.
