Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Smile Deck: Ace of Spades

I recieved my new Smile Deck (a deck of cards with a unique kindness idea on each card) from HelpOthers.org.  I have distributed a few of the cards (asking, of course, that they be returned to me as soon as the mission on that card is completed).  I have not yet heard back any stories from the cards I sent out but I look forward to hearing them and to sharing them here with all of you. :) I drew one card myself.  It was the Ace of Spades.  The task on the card was to make signs about conserving water and distribute them in public places.  I used 'Word' to make the signs.  I put a pretty picture of a leaf with water droplets on it at the top and then listed 5 easy practical ways YOU can conserve water and then printed off a few copies.  I posted one in the laundry matt near where I ... Read Full Story >>

An Extra Smile with Lunch

I have a soft spot in my heart for the young and the elderly.

A few days back, my husband and I went out for lunch. We sat across the way from what I assumed were a father and daughter sharing their time by having a meal together.

Before returning to the car, I stopped at one of the many gumball and candy machines located near the exit. I placed two quarters in the machine and out came a plastic ball containing a toy. With toy in hand, I stepped back and placed the toy in front of the little girl and said, “Have a nice day!” She smiled big and said, ''Thank you!”

I hope that made her time with her father a little more special. :)

Car Kindness

One of my friends needed practice to prepare for her driving test to receive her learner’s permit.  She did not have much practical experience because no one would let her borrow a car to practice.

Desiring to give, I offered to help teach her using my car, and she accepted.  However, to complicate things, one of her friends told her (as a joke) that the driving test would require her to drive in reverse in a straight line at 30 MPH! Thinking this was true, she attempted to do so in my car and hit the curb in a parking lot, causing one of my tires to pop and go flat.  She offered to pay to replace it, but I insisted that this was not necessary.

Notwithstanding these challenges, my friend passed her driving test with flying colors. Even though I came out of the situation with a flat tire, I am glad this helped her achieve her goal.
 

Blessings From A Special Lunch Guest

Today I had a special person over for lunch. I returned home this morning, after a week long trip to Pondicherry. I had come down with a fever and was resting. I woke up with a knock at my door and realised my land lady had come over.  While she was entering, I heard her asking someone,"Why are you sitting here?" An old frail voice replied, "Madam gives me food, so I am sitting here waiting for food."  My land lady came inside. I went out and wished the old lady "Amma" well and enquired about her welfare. My land lady was giving me questioning looks whilst watching my interaction with Amma. When lunch was ready, I asekd Amma to come inside to eat, but she refused, she said that she sits out daily and that was okay for her. I told her that as I was at home today and that she was a guest in my home, she should come inside.  Amma came in and had lunch. I told her to rest in the room. ... Read Full Story >>

Paying Forward A Little Bicycle

A couple of weeks back, my friend had a yard sale, and she offered to sell some of our stuff for us.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to clean my 7 year old son's room and get rid of some toys that he had long outgrown.  We agreed that whatever we sold in toys would be his money. The night before the sale, we loaded up the truck with toys and a little bike that he was now too tall for.  He had taken the bike for a final spin before we left home but happily put it on the truck for the sale.  This little bike had had at least 2 previous owners that we knew of.  It was not in the best shape and it certainly was not shiny new but it was still a bike, and the tires were still good.  We put a price of $10 on it but it didn't sell.  So, after the ... Read Full Story >>

An Opportunity to Offer A Little Bit More

I have been learning sign language, and was on my way to my sign language class.  I was running late so I skipped dinner to make sure I made it in time.  I stopped at my local corner shop to pick up a snack, on the  way to the bus stop.  When I was waiting for the bus, I noticed a homeless man sitting under a doorway. It was really cold and it was raining and I realised how lucky I am to know I can head home and have hot food and a warm bed and a hug from my mum... I went up to him and started chatting to him.  I didn't have any change so I gave him my chocolate, drink and some  other stuff I'd picked up at the store.  It wasn't a massive donation, but it was pretty cool to be able to give something to this warm and friendly man that wasn't the last cents at the bottom of my pocket. And it was great to have a smile to return. So I was pretty happy!

A $5 Kindness Journey from the Harbor Tunnel to Walmart

The other day I was driving through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.  I was about 2 minutes away from the toll, and somehow I managed to get myself in the E-Z pass only lane, and of course I didn’t have an E-Z pass.  I was trying to switch lanes and no-one was letting me through, so I did something very unlike me - I cut the car behind me off, to spare me the E-Z pass ticket that I seemed almost destined to receive. I noticed that the driver of the car I cut off was a maybe late 30s male, who just looked like the world was on his shoulders. As I approached the toll booth, I handed the lady $5, and told her I was paying for the car behind me as well as mine. So the guy gets to the toll booth, and next thing I know, he’s speeding ... Read Full Story >>

Spreading Love on Labor Day

On Labor Day last year my husband went out for a meal at a restaurant.  After we had finished, I asked him if he'd ever given a waiter/waitress a 100% tip.  He gave me this funny look (probably because he was thinking about how much our dinner added up to be!) and said he hadn't. I said that since it was Labor Day and our waitress was working this holiday, it would be fun to give her a 100% tip and see what her reaction would be.  He told me I was crazy but agreed anyway! Our dinner bill came to $32.18 so that's the exact tip we left, $32.18.  We tried to hand her our dinner bill folder but she kept telling us to leave it on the table and she would get to it.  So we left and we never got to see her reaction. I wondered off and on, and still do to this day, what ... Read Full Story >>

The Little Things That Make A Difference

Today my husband and I spent some time at our local park. We were going to have a little picnic and also walk our dogs.  We go to this park often and we know that there are some homeless people who sometimes hang out on the benches that border the pond.  We brought along some apples, oranges and a few bottles of water to share with the m.

We had our picnic and  enjoyed our sandwiches, then headed for the pond to walk the dogs. Sure enough, we came across a few people with shopping carts holding all they owned. They seemed to be happy to sit and watch the ducks swim and didn't even notice us as we approached.  I smiled and handed them the brown bag with the treats inside. They thanked us and said God Bless you for being so kind.

Little things can sometimes make the difference.

Kindness Co-Conspirators

My roommate and I are co-conspirators in kindness.

We hold the door open for people in our apartment all the time.  We saw a girl wheeling her trolley with tons of things and helped her move everything.  In addition, we helped a lady move some items from the elevator to her house, took the groceries to an old woman’s apartment, and washed our friend’s car anonymously (he had helped us several times :) ).

Today, we saw an old woman fall down at the bus stop. We stopped to inquire whether she was alright, got her some water, and made her laugh by telling her about times we fell.  :)

It is so much fun having a roommate who is a co-conspirator in Random Acts of Kindness!

'Paying Forward' a Haircut

I teach 11th grade at an alternative school.  I started the school year by watching the movie "Pay it Forward" with the class.  We have started talking about doing random acts of kindness, or paying it forward, and I made a bulletin board so we could post all of the kind acts that we have either been doing or receiving.

Last night I took my boys out for hair cuts and as I was waiting a woman came up to me and gave me a coupon for a "buy one, get one" free haircut.  I was thrilled, not only because she saved me $16.95, but because it  was a real life example I could share with students.  I, in turn,  gave the hairdresser a bigger tip as a way to pay forward the generosity I had received.   

Boxes Filled With Compassion

Today we spent the morning going through our personal belongings. We were looking for items to give away for free, at a local park. Not just any items but things people really needed. We came up with blankets, soaps, food, and clothing. Our aim was not to find things we no longer wanted, but things we use everyday that would be useful to others. For some of the items we used and needed we split the amounts in half.  We kept one half and added the other half to the pile of things to give away. We made up boxes with the things we believed would be useful and added some small toys.  We added a list of local addresses and phone numbers of local helping agencies. Inside the boxes a simple letter was placed. It read….. “Please take these items and know that your life is important. Times are difficult but these days will pass. ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of Home Cooked Meals for an Old Lady

I sometimes see an elderly woman along the road across from my house. Finally, I have been able to reach out to her with daily meals. At first, I would giver her some money everyday to get some food from a nearby shop but I realised that did not suit her.  I thought that maybe this old lady needed home-cooked food, so now I provide her lunch everyday instead.  Today, I got meet this woman. I sat with her on the road to just check how she was.  The moment she saw me approaching, she wished me well with folded hands and I said "namaste" to her. I introduced myself and she said she knew I was the one giving her food.  We talked for 30 minutes. She told that she came to Delhi in 1974 to work as a domestic helper to an Anglo-Indian family from Bangalore. After some years, the family moved abroad and she continued working in different houses. Seven years ago she met with an accident and used up all ... Read Full Story >>

An Opportunity to be a Good Samaritan

I was on my way home one evening when I saw someone walking on the side of the street.  I recognized him as one of the people that works at one of my favourite resturants.  I pulled over and offered him a ride home.  He said that would be great and got in.  

His truck had broken down earlier in the day and he could not find anyone to help him get it started so he started walking home.  He had been walking for hours by the time I got to him and was exhausted. I took him about 10 miles the other way to his house. 

He thanked me many times and said he would get me some free food next time I was at the restaurant but I refused and said that wasn't necessary. 

Being a Blessing to Someone Else Everyday

Today, it was over 100 degrees out.  Horrible humidity too.  While driving to get my tire fixed on my van I noticed some homeless people wandering around in this heat.  My heart sank. As soon as I was done at the garage I went to the store and picked up some gatorade, ice and bags of trail mix.  I headed home to pick up my 3 kids (1, 2 and 16 years old), loaded the van with the cooler and went off to pass them out.  We found 3 homeless guys walking in the heat with the weight of their backpacks and gave them ice cold gatorade and bags of trail mix.  The best part was seeing the look on my 16 year old's face as he handed them the drinks and hearing my 2 year old say 'God bless you!' from the back seat.   Awesome.  This is how my kids and I ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Karma on a Nightshift at the Hospital

I was working a nightshift at the hospital one day, and usually there are only four staff working during the night .  Fortunately, I was working with my mates that night -- all except one colleague who I didn't get along with mainly because he's always been EXTRA nice to me, which creeped me out.   A few days prior he had done something I didn't like and I had slapped him, which I later thought was a bit over the top, for me. Anyways, I had decided that no matter what, I would do my best to be nice to him from now on. So this night, we all decided to have Subway sandwiches for dinner and I took down everyone's order to go and get it.  But, before I left I couldn't find that one colleague of mine, who I didn't get along with, to take his order. When I got to Subway, I figured this was my chance to ... Read Full Story >>

An Untold Story of Gratitude for an Everyday Hero

I live in India and this incident is just a small example of my day-to-day interactions with ordinary people, which leave behind unforgettable gratitude about the greatness of such people thoughout our lives.

It was the day that I was getting out of the hospital after winning a battle with a failed surgery. To make matters worse, when I left the hospital they told me that I was not supposed to climb any stairs to reach my house and I lived on the Ist floor (now I had to be carried like a corpse!).

We took a rickshaw from the hospital to our home and when we arrived, my brother and the rickshaw driver, who drove us home, carried me to the Ist floor and into our home.  My mother paid the rickshaw driver some extra money in addition to the actual charge for his kind gesture.

He left, but then came back and returned the extra money to my mother.  He said, "I don't need this extra money, she is like my sister."   My heart cried with tears of gratitude and till this date I still vividly remember that rickshaw driver.

Seeing a Need and Helping, No Questions Asked

One day, I was coming out of the Dollar Store and noticed a beaten up little car, crammed full of stuff...clothes, boxes, and who-knows-what.  I then realized that the owners were in the front seat, one eating from a can of chili, the other from a styrofoam cup.  I assumed they had split the can of chili and it was probably cold.

I started to drive away when their situation hit me.  What if you had to live out of your car?  What if you only had enough money to buy a dollar store can of chili and split it with your son who has special needs?  What if you didn't have enough gas to get to your next destination?

I turned around and hopped out of my car with a $10 bill in my hand.  I tapped on their window and the lady rolled it down very cautiously.  I handed her the $10 and said this is for you.  She asked why and I just said "God Bless You!"  I drove off, not knowing their story but seeing a need.  Maybe that was the way they chose to live, or maybe they had a million bucks in their trunk, who knows?  I didn't want to leave it to chance. 

Taken By Surprise By A Course In Miracles

Arriving in a new city last Thursday, I had the strangest first week of graduate school. I fell and broke my leg within 48 hours of arriving there! I was really amazed by the kindness shown by my new roommmate, someone who I had only just met. "We are family now", she said when she found me lying in my room with a swollen leg, unable to move, in a strange city with no family except across three oceans. She took me to the student health center by cab to get my leg examined. The cab driver was so nice and said to me how lucky I was to have a friend like that.  After that, my roommate didn't stop helping me - she made me amazing meals and brought them to and made me comfortable despite my insistence that I could do things on my own. When I protested, "I really like helping people", she said , "I believe ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of Love, Strength and Endurance from an Amazing Sister

From the Soul Curry Column in the Times of India (April 9, 2010) My mom was nearing 40, my dad a few years older and there were their three lovely children just getting out of their teens — it was picture-perfect, that is, until I decided to come along. She was just 20 when I arrived, but from the moment she put her finger into my little palm, I cottoned on to it and knew I had found a friend. She smothered me with love, sang sweet lullabies, soothed a fevered brow, gently scolded and cajoled me out of the cradle and into the walkie-talkie world. My first words were little songs and bits of nursery rhymes. School was a bit hard, because my parents were always mistaken to be my ‘grandparents’, much to my dismay. But she was there and told me that I was not to worry about what the ... Read Full Story >>