There can be perks to being a human. Yes, there are a lot of downsides, and I'm sure we all sometimes wish we could trade our lives with a dog, but there are positives. All of the wholesomeness that comes with helping others, and putting good energy into the world, deserves some recognition. Here are some of the best stories of people helping out their fellow man.
u/TheGingerGlasses asked: What's the most wholesome thing a stranger has done for you?
I can relate to the second part.
The guy next to me on a plane once woke me up when the flight attendant came around with ice cream AND got an ice cream so that I could have 2. I'll never forget that man.
I have done this for someone before! Except the person asleep next to me was my husband. And I didn't wake him up. And I ate his ice cream.
So cute.
GiphyWhen I was working as a cashier an older man pulled out a dollar and asked if I wanted to see something cool. Slightly skeptical, I said sure. He folded it into a little shoe and gave it to me and it was the cutest thing. Then he told me, "well you cant just have one shoe!" And folded another into a second shoe and I still have them on my desk because I didn't have it in me to unfold them.
There is good in the world.
My daughters and I were living in a homeless shelter after leaving my abusive ex. The shelter rules were that we couldn't be in the building between 8am and 3pm, so every day I'd strap the kids in the stroller the shelter had given me and we'd either walk to the library, the park, or Walmart. Each of the three was at least a mile away. One day it was raining pretty hard and I really didn't want to walk that far in the rain so I went into a diner that was close by. I had about $100 to my name and I really didn't want to be spending it in a restaurant but I also really didn't want to be outside in the pouring rain with my kids. I found a cheap $8 meal on the menu and ordered it and took my sweet time slowly dividing it out and feeding it to my kids while watching the window to see if the rain would let up soon.
Partway through, a woman who had just finished her meal came and said she had some towels in her car and asked if I'd accept them. I said yes and she went out to her car after paying for her food. She ended up getting in her car and driving away and I just thought ok guess she didn't have them in her car after all. Well she came back about 10 minutes later and handed me 2 brand new towels. I wrapped each kid up in one and thanked her. Then not long after, another stranger, a man this time, came over and without a word put a $10 bill on my table before he went to the counter to pay for his own meal and left.
I don't know if either of them had figured out we were homeless or if they just could tell something was wrong, but those two acts of kindness meant so much to me and made such a huge difference in terms of my being able to feel like things would be ok.
Sunburn is the worst.
Not me but my sister. She got severely sunburned while on holidays in Sri Lanka. We thought she was feeling better as she spent the whole previous day in bed. We went on a trip to a waterfall in the jungle (we were friends with locals who brought us). After swimming in the water her skin starts burning to the point where she is in tears and won't let anyone touch her. We have nothing to help her.
Maybe 5 minutes later some local villagers appear with aloe vera plants and proceed to gently rub it onto her skin. Total strangers who saw the situation, went to their house and brought the aloe vera. It was so kind I couldn't believe it. We ended up talking to them and they made us all dinner which we ate together from a bucket in the middle of the jungle. Unforgettable.
How about that?
GiphyHe helped me change a flat tire. Recommended a place for me to go to the next day to get it checked out. When I got there the next morning he had stopped by to drop off his business card and to tell them to take good care of my vehicle. When they called me to tell me that the car was ready they also told me that he had paid for the new tire. Still can't believe it. You don't get people who do that for someone they have never met before.
A kind stranger.
A guy in France I asked for directions. Not only he walked me to the place, but he also kept me company and chatted while I visited it.
He left after 15 mins though because he had an appointment.
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Customers can be cool sometimes.
There's a spot in the building I work at that nobody wants to work in. It's the coldest area in the building because there's an opening that doesn't close and doesn't have heat so you can't even eat food safely because the wind will blow it away. I was moved from where I usually am and wasn't prepared for how cold it would be there. I could barely handle money because my fingers felt frozen.
A customer noticed how cold it was and without even asking if I was cold, he took off his gloves and gave them to me. I have no idea what his name was but it was the most thoughtful thing a complete stranger has ever done for me. I still have the gloves too.
Awww.
GiphyA stranger who used to be a customer at my job took me aside once and told me she has seen my journey over the years and is so proud of me. She started crying and gave me a hug. I wish I could tell her how much that meant to me.
Not a stranger, but a classmate in some college classes. I knew them when I was in the middle of an abusive relationship & was still in school when that relationship ended. That person saw me when I was miserable and then saw me processing life/healing after, and when that person graduated and moved, they told me "I've seen you glow up these past few months. You look great, you're absolutely glowing." Still one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said.
Math brings people together.
I am a college math tutor and I have had strangers at random places tell me I helped them.
It is one of the greatest feelings to exist.
They are not aware, but they helped me more than I helped them.
A good deed.
A year or two ago I was on a long road trip, doing about 90 on the highway. There was a guy behind me for at least two hours, not tailing me but we were both going about the same speed. Out of nowhere he speeds up like crazy, cuts me off and then slows down to the speed limit right in front of me. I had to slam the brakes and I was really pissed off.
Not even a minute later we drove past a cop. After we pass the cop he speeds up to 80-90 again. He must have been using a GPS that alerted him to police on the road; and he was nice enough to cut me off so I wouldn't get a speeding ticket. Was really awesome!