A Random Act of Love (Or Kindness)...Ever Given or Been A Recipient?

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
I've seen where people have "payed it forward" at supermarkets...paying for a person's groceries. A group of 12 young men in town decided to tip their waitress $100 each. A waitress received a $500 tip from her customer so she could go see a play she wouldn't have been able to afford. Even children get in on the act, some doing remarkable things to help others. If you've been a recipient, a "giver" or know of more stories, please share them.

And to help brighten up your day, listen to Al Jarreau sing about it. 😀

 

yes several times.. but I've written about this before on here, so I'll cut it shorter..


Many years ago on another forum I mentioned that I couldn't find or afford a certain very expensive Arran style cardigan , and a poster who I didn't know and had never even seen before on the forum, offered to knit if for me if I paid for the wool etc..,. It was a mammoth task, it was a certain design, and had to be a particular shade of red (unlike the usual cream or white) and very expensive .. She offered to do the work, and then bill me for the cost but just for the materials not the labour .. in superfast time around 2 or 3 weeks she'd finished the cardigan and asked for my address to send the bill for the materials..

Instead what arrived in the post, was the cardigan, and a beautiful note that I cherish today saying, that she wasn't leaving her contact address because she didn't want to be paid...
When a relative had been seriously ill, she'd promised that if they could be saved she would choose 3 strangers to do a good deed for in thanks ... her relative was pulled back from death s' door, and this lady ''mary'' went on to fulfil her promise to god , and explained that I was the third person and she felt her promise was fulfilled ...

I never knew her before, and she disappeared from the forum almost immediately after.

I still have that Cardigan and the letter , and it must be 15 years now, and I'll never forget that gift...
 

hollydolly said:
yes several times.. but I've written about this before on here, so I'll cut it shorter..


Many years ago on another forum I mentioned that I couldn't find or afford a certain very expensive Arran style cardigan , and a poster who I didn't know and had never even seen before on the forum, offered to knit if for me if I paid for the wool etc..,. It was a mammoth task, it was a certain design, and had to be a particular shade of red (unlike the usual cream or white) and very expensive .. She offered to do the work, and then bill me for the cost but just for the materials not the labour .. in superfast time around 2 or 3 weeks she'd finished the cardigan and asked for my address to send the bill for the materials..

Instead what arrived in the post, was the cardigan, and a beautiful note that I cherish today saying, that she wasn't leaving her contact address because she didn't want to be paid...
When a relative had been seriously ill, she'd promised that if they could be saved she would choose 3 strangers to do a good deed for in thanks ... her relative was pulled back from death s' door, and this lady ''mary'' went on to fulfil her promise to god , and explained that I was the third person and she felt her promise was fulfilled ...

I never knew her before, and she disappeared from the forum almost immediately after.

I still have that Cardigan and the letter , and it must be 15 years now, and I'll never forget that gift...
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This made me cry, thank you for writing it again. All we seem to hear about are the bad things in this world and because I am an animal lover I read more bad than good, so it is good to remember that there are those people like your knitter out there , and I know that there are many more , it restores my faith in humans, at least for a while.
 
I'm sure there have been some random acts of kindness that I have received in the past, but I can't really remember them.
I do remember some of the ones I've done for others.

Several years ago I had tickets to Phantom and my partner ended up not being able to go. I gave his ticket to my hairstylist at the time and she joined me.

I gave my current hairstylist a $50 Amazon gift card for Christmas and she bought a pair of boots with it. She was wearing them when I last saw her. I complimented her on her shoes and she said "you gave them to me".

The most random is that I had leftover coupons from the TX State Fair that can be redeemed for food, rides, etc. I gave them to the young lady at my pharmacy because she said she was going and she is delightful.
 
I saved a 10 year old boy from being struck and killed in a motor car accident.

I won't get into details, but afterwards I told the kid, "Man! Never do that again, son! You almost gave me a heart attack!!"

I've had people help me when I was in dire straights, so I've always paid it forward usually in the form of helping strangers with car trouble or people in need of a lift.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I've seen where people have "payed it forward" at supermarkets...paying for a person's groceries. A group of 12 young men in town decided to tip their waitress $100 each. A waitress received a $500 tip from her customer so she could go see a play she wouldn't have been able to afford. Even children get in on the act, some doing remarkable things to help others. If you've been a recipient, a "giver" or know of more stories, please share them.

And to help brighten up your day, listen to Al Jarreau sing about it. 😀

Click to expand...
What a wonderful topic, @OneEyedDiva !
 
hollydolly said:
yes several times.. but I've written about this before on here, so I'll cut it shorter..


Many years ago on another forum I mentioned that I couldn't find or afford a certain very expensive Arran style cardigan , and a poster who I didn't know and had never even seen before on the forum, offered to knit if for me if I paid for the wool etc..,. It was a mammoth task, it was a certain design, and had to be a particular shade of red (unlike the usual cream or white) and very expensive .. She offered to do the work, and then bill me for the cost but just for the materials not the labour .. in superfast time around 2 or 3 weeks she'd finished the cardigan and asked for my address to send the bill for the materials..

Instead what arrived in the post, was the cardigan, and a beautiful note that I cherish today saying, that she wasn't leaving her contact address because she didn't want to be paid...
When a relative had been seriously ill, she'd promised that if they could be saved she would choose 3 strangers to do a good deed for in thanks ... her relative was pulled back from death s' door, and this lady ''mary'' went on to fulfil her promise to god , and explained that I was the third person and she felt her promise was fulfilled ...

I never knew her before, and she disappeared from the forum almost immediately after.

I still have that Cardigan and the letter , and it must be 15 years now, and I'll never forget that gift...
Click to expand...
That was a beautiful story, @hollydolly!
 
Beezer said:
I saved a 10 year old boy from being struck and killed in a motor car accident.

I won't get into details, but afterwards I told the kid, "Man! Never do that again, son! You almost gave me a heart attack!!"

I've had people help me when I was in dire straights, so I've always paid it forward usually in the form of helping strangers with car trouble or people in need of a lift.
Click to expand...
What a wonderful story! You were his 'angel' that saved him.
 
seadoug said:
I'm sure there have been some random acts of kindness that I have received in the past, but I can't really remember them.
I do remember some of the ones I've done for others.

Several years ago I had tickets to Phantom and my partner ended up not being able to go. I gave his ticket to my hairstylist at the time and she joined me.

I gave my current hairstylist a $50 Amazon gift card for Christmas and she bought a pair of boots with it. She was wearing them when I last saw her. I complimented her on her shoes and she said "you gave them to me".

The most random is that I had leftover coupons from the TX State Fair that can be redeemed for food, rides, etc. I gave them to the young lady at my pharmacy because she said she was going and she is delightful.
Click to expand...
Your wonderful acts of kindness, @seadoug, help our world become a better place!
 
palides2021 said:
What a wonderful story! You were his 'angel' that saved him.
Click to expand...
It was just lucky timing, really. I was in the right place at the right time.

After I secured the boy, he braced himself against a tree and said, "HOLY COW! I almost died there! You...you....you saved my life!"

I still got a kick out of this young boy. He almost died and he didn't even swear after he lived to tell the tale...instead he just said ,"HOLY COW!"

lol! What a peach!
 
On this same subject.

Today on the neighbourhood app.. someone in the next town posted that she'd been on the train platform with her bike, and some guy stole the bike and cycled off while she was waiting for the train. She ran after him trying to get her bike back, and no-one on the busy platform tried to help ( I'm not judging)... so the guy got away with an expensive bike. However in her dash to chase him, she left her briefcase with her Laptop and everything behind, and she was on the App, to thank the people who picked it up to prevent it being stolen and handed in to the Police.

She never got her bike back.. and within minutes of her posting this on the neighbourhood App.. a neighbour from yet another town, a complete stranger, offered her the use of a free bike until she gets her own again..

How kind.....just when you almost give up on humanity...
 
Yes, gotten many times and given many times over the years. One example is that about 25 years ago I decided to take a ride just to clear my head. I just kept driving and driving and I was on this very dark isolated road when my car broke down. So I called AAA and told them where I thought I was.

Somehow they or I didn't realize I was in another county outside of where I lived. I waited about an hour for a tow all alone on this very dark road. I called AAA again and they said they would send a tow . So I waited another hour.

A man in a pick up truck pulled up behind my car and came to my window. He asked me what happened and I told him I was waiting for AAA tow. He asked me if I'd mind if he sat in his truck and wait with me. I told him ok because I had a good feeling about him.

Sure enough he waited and waited with me for another 2 hours. The tow truck finally came. I thanked him and he left. He is a person I think of whenever I think people don't care. Who knows what could have happened to me if I had to wait all alone way out who knows where on an unlit road. I thank God for Angels like him.
 
I do remember one exceptional random act of kindness that I experienced many years ago.

I was going on a cruise. I took a taxi from Ft. Lauderdale airport to the pier. When I went to board the ship I realized I had left my travel wallet with my passport in the cab. I received a call from the cab driver, who was almost in Miami at that point, saying he had it and he would bring it back up to Ft. Lauderdale. It was so amazing, and he got a huge tip in return.
 
When my daughter was 14.I had a cheap old ford estate car . I was a single (divorced) parent with little money then, but I was always determined to make sure my daughter didn't go without, even if it meant going without myself.

She wanted to go to the coast , and so I drove her there, but as we came off the exit on the motorway for the coastal town 50 miles away, the car came to a juddering halt..

As we sat there wondering what to do, 2 guys in their 30's ( same age as I was then)...stopped, and said they were mechanics and did I want them to have a look. I had no choice , I had to let them, terrified at what they were going to find.

they lifted the bonnet, and after about 5 minutes tinkling they had me start it.. and I asked them how much it was going to cost. They said ÂŁ50.. which was a half week's wages for me then.. and as I went to pay them, wondering how we were going to eat the next week... they both laughed, said they were kidding.. and told me to go on my way...

*Phew*.. I've never forgotten those knights in Shining armour...
 
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Thank you for the reminder, OED.

Back in the '80s, a situation occurred that left us "financially challenged". One day, in our mailbox, I found a very generous gift card. There was no indication of who had left it. Both financially and psychologically, that act of kindness gave us the boost we needed to get through.

Since that time, we've paid that kindness forward on numerous occasions, but your post made me realize it's been a while . . .

We'll be on the lookout now for opportunities to do this again.
 
Lilac said:
Dad was a truck driver & many times over the years he would give rides to hitch hikers. He also would buy lunch for some of them because he said he just knew they had no money.
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I hitch hiked in my youth. While in Spain my friend and I had our bags stolen which contained our passports and all our cash. Luckily we met two boys from Switzerland who drove us in their car to Amsterdam, there my parents were able to send money which in those days they could not send to Spain. I've also encountered bad experiences but this was a good one.
I pay it forward in other ways but I do not pick up hitch hikers.
 
I flew 110 missions for Angel Flight West, taking patients to far off appointments that would be hard to go by car. I paid for the aircraft out of my own pocket for all those flights.
I still have saved some e-mails from a few of those patients expressing their gratitude.
 
I did save a few lives while on the job. I even delivered a baby, even though I only had 1 day of training 10 years prior to doing it.

My wife and I have paid for a few dinners in restaurants of younger couples and we had 1 of our meals paid for from another couple sitting nearby. I met my wife for dinner one evening while I was working, so I was in uniform. Some, or a few people still like to reward police and fireman, or soldiers in uniform with a meal or whatever.

Most convenient stores and fast food restaurants let police, fireman and soldiers in uniform eat and/or drink free. I ate a lot of Chick-fil-A while on duty. They didn’t allow tipping. I tried to tip a few times and they refused to accept it. I was told it was against company policy. The one kid working behind the counter told me that employees aren’t supposed to say “thank you” either. Instead, they say, “My pleasure.”
 

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