Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Supermarket Checkout Operator with a Special Touch

I had posted an earlier story about a supermarket checkout operator who had risked her job to help an old man find his wife’s favourite talc.  Well, I was in her queue again today. In front of us were a woman and her young (maybe around 10 year old) daughter. As part of their shopping they were buying a DVD which had to be brought from elsewhere in the shop.   While the chechkout operator was scanning and bagging the rest of the shopping she chatted with the mother about Easter eggs, grandkids and other stuff.   I just happened to be looking at the daughter when another member of staff brought her the DVD. The girl’s face really lit up with delight and appreciation. Sad to say, it’s not a sight you see so often.   When it came my turn to be served I commented on the girl’s obvious happiness with her DVD. “She has ... Read Full Story >>

Parents Are Precious

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents. My parents left for our native land on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to ensure he experienced his first flight. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.  The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself for that day. We all went to the airport and eagerly enjoyed the ... Read Full Story >>

Adding A Little Sweetness To A Stranger's Day

Once a month on a Saturday morning I go to a local grocery store with some other people to ‘tag’ people with cookies. 

We set up in the parking lot and then we randomly choose people who are there to do their grocery shopping to ‘tag’. We give them two boxes of a dozen cookies each. We tell them that one of the boxes is for them and the other box is for them to pass on to someone else who might they think might like to receive a little bit of brightening in their day. We get a range of reactions varying from, "no I don't know anyone to give them to" or "I know just who to give them to!”

Each time I do this, I am reminded that there are people everywhere who may just need some sweetness in their day. It really motivates me to ‘step out of my box’ and do something that I may not have thought of doing or would have been to shy to do otherwise.

A Smile Campaign

Two days ago I decided I was going to embark on a campaign to get people to smile some more. I started by putting together my ‘tool kit’.  This consisted of juggling balls, a magic trick, some bits and pieces to hand out and lots of jokes that I had dug up.  Once my ‘tool kit’ was done I was ready to start my campaign.    I went out and approached random strangers.  I would say, "Hi! I'm on a campaign to get people to smile. Do you have a few seconds?” Many people were intrigued and would stop to see what was next. I would then use one of the ‘tools’ from the kit depending on what I thought would work best with each person or group.  I managed to get some nice big grins!   Then to finish off, the most important part - I would give them a ‘smile card’ ... Read Full Story >>

Home Is, Where Again?

This economy has really got a lot of people moving and not always by a choice they wanted to make.  My wife and I now find ourselves among those unfortunates feeling that pressure. You see, at the end of last year, our counseling and consulting clientele just dried up.  Having been self-employed meant not being eligible for unemployment assistance.  As we did the math looking at retirement savings that was half-gone and quickly draining away, we had to make the painful decision to close up our office and put our house up for sale.  We haven’t lived in the house for two years yet and figured it would be the last one for a long time.  How quickly this world economic mess is changing our lives! As I get older, I find moving less adventurous and more burdensome.  It’s not just the strain on my body that bothers me as much as ... Read Full Story >>

An Old Lady Finds A Way To Express Her Gratitude

Four of my neighbors are quite old, they are in the 80’s and 90’s.   Last year at Easter I spontaneously decided to give them each a nice bouquet of flowers. I hoped it would brighten their day and put a little smile on their faces. It did a lot more than that – it made them so happy! Every time I see them now they always remember the bouquets and thank me! Yesterday I finally got around to sweeping my front steps. As I was sweeping, I saw one of my elderly neighbors come out with her broom too. I thought she was going to sweep her steps and was going about to tell her not to worry about it and that I would do it when I was done with mine. But instead, she came over and told me that she was going to sweep my steps and that she had in fact been doing that ... Read Full Story >>

Filled by a Daughter's Love

While getting ready for school today, my 16-year-old daughter made a point of coming into my room to give me a big hug and kiss. When I asked her the proverbial question, "What do you want?" she replied, "Nothing momma. You always tell us to have a good day before we leave the house, but I was thinking about who tells you to have a good day and lets you know how much you are loved." I am so touched by the capacity of love and understanding that comes from my children. My 15-year-old son asked me last night if there was a way for him to get a summer job this year in order to help us pay our bills. Unfortunately, in our area, he must be 16.  When telling him "no," he said that was ok because he had a lawn mower and as long as the grass grows, he ... Read Full Story >>

Giving And Receiving Kindness On The Same Day

Several years ago while living in Pittsburgh, PA my husband and I decided to buy a new couch.  We put the old one in the truck to take to the GoodWill.

On the way, we came upon a woman with a flat tire.  She had just come upon part of the bridge system so her vehicle was against a high wall just a few feet away from rushing traffic.

We stopped.  She and I stood so traffic would not hit my husband as he changed the tire.  She offered us some money as he put her flat back into her vehicle.  We told her to give it to the Salvation Army and went on our way.

We took the couch to the donation site, drove up to purchase our new couch and were attempting to move the (much heavier) couch into the house.  An off-duty volunteer fireman saw us struggling in the house with it and helped us.

None of us knew each other that day but I'm sure we made each others' day!

Kindness At Second Sight

I watched a wonderful act of kindess today and also learned a very valuable lesson myself. My daughter has been ice skating for 2 years and throughout those years, during the 'Open Skate' session, I often noticed one particular teenage boy at the rink. He always seemed to skating quite obnoxiously. I learned he was on the skating rink's prime hockey team. Then reading flyers and announcements, I found out he was actually the 'star' member of the team and thought to myself: "That figures..." I  continued to view his aggressive behavior coupled with a sense of arrogance throughout this time. Tonight, my daughter began her first session assisting with the 'special needs skaters'. (I am soooo proud of her!) Imagine my surprise to see this boy there, helping out, as well. After talking with the advisor, she pointed out to me how proud she was of that particular boy - because he has been helping out with that program for 3 years.  She said he is her most dedicated ... Read Full Story >>

A Creative Way to Teach My Children an Important Lesson

I have two sons who are 5 and 3 years old.  They love to take walks outside and one of the walks we often do is along a cycle path through some fields. This path eventually leads to the local high school, so  there is always some litter scattered on the sides, even though the city's cleaning squad sometimes tidies it up.   One day an idea occurred to me, I decided to show my children that we could do something to make a difference.  The next day, we took a plastic bag and some rubber gloves with us and the children and I collected whatever litter we found on our way. My sons had so much fun, since at that age they love picking up things from the ground (and with the rubber gloves I did not need to be scared they would catch something) and it was a creative ... Read Full Story >>

Smiling with a Purpose in the Workplace

   Ever since I found this website and joined your wonderful group of 'SMILERS', I have realized the true power of a Smile.  Earlier, I used to smile a lot, (thankfully smiling has always come very easily to me), but after I joined this website, it has added a new meaning, and now when I smile, there is a purpose – to spread happiness - to keep on smiling until I receive a smile back. It so happens that I work in an ‘analyst department’ where the members are always ploughing away at their work quite seriously, clicking the mouse, typing in the numbers, searching the net... you know how it is.  Prior, to my joining the team there was always a loud silence, broken only by hushed whispers, mouse clicks or keyboard sounds.  But today, I must confess after more than six months of “smiling with a purpose”, I can see ... Read Full Story >>

Receiving a Call From My Step-Son's Lost Cell Phone

As I sat down to dinner yesterday the phone rang. It was a child's voice on the other end that I didn't recognise. He explained that they had found the phone he was calling me on. They had looked up "Home" in the contacts file and so they were phoning the number that turned out to be me. From their description I recognised my step-son's phone. He'd left it at the football pitch where he'd been playing. I asked them to wait a few minutes, put my dinner in the oven, and headed over to the location they had given me.  When I arrived I saw a group of five children, aged about 7-9 years old. They came running over to meet me and were just charming and well-spoken kids. They told me how and where they'd found the phone. They also told me some bigger kids had tried to take it but they hadn't let ... Read Full Story >>

Turning Their Trash Into Our Treasure

Expert yard sale shoppers often say, “One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Our yard sale was a couple of weeks ago and we were blessed to have lots of friends donate lots of things. On “Sale Saturday,” I opened the garage door at 5:30 a.m. to start moving the empty tables out so I could fill them with merchandise. I listened for Marcy on the monitor until Kara arrived at 8:00 a.m. to watch Marcy so I could be free to care for customers shopping the yard sale. By then I had everything out and organized and had already sold half a dozen things. We had a steady stream of people all day.   Things started slowing down around 1:00 p.m. or so.  I'm guessing we sold a little over half the stuff we had available for sale. Marcy wanted to keep leftovers to put them in future yard sales, so I packed them ... Read Full Story >>

The Universe Provides Us With What We Need

Last night, I was about to pull out of the parking lot at the dojo where I study Aikido when I noticed a hitchhiker who was having no luck getting a ride.  I know that picking up a hitchhiker can be a dangerous endeavor but I have a hard time not doing so, as they may have a sincere need to reach their destination.  I rolled down my window and beckoned the man to my car.  I asked him where he was heading and he told me that he needed a ride to his doctors office which closed in 15 minutes.  I told him to hop in and he gratefully obliged.  Once he got in he continued with his story, telling me that the person who was supposed to give him a ride had a stroke earlier in the day (maybe I'm just gullible but he seemed sincere).  He continued to ... Read Full Story >>

The Happiness Pandemic: HP101

The 'WWO' (World-Wellness-Organisation) foresees billions of people becoming infected within the coming decade! Here are the most prominent symptoms of this wonderful enlivening 'disease': 1). The tendency to let yourself be guided by intuition instead of acting under pressure of fear, forced ideas and pre-conditioned behaviour. 2). A total loss of interest in:- judging others, convicting yourself and preoccupation with things that create conflict. 3). A complete loss of the capacity to worry: This is one of the most serious symptoms! 4). A continual pleasure in appreciating humans and things the way they are, which weakens one's tendency to want to 'change' others. 5). The desire to change oneself so that innate thoughts, feelings, emotions and bodily matters are managed in ways that facilitate only Health, Creativity and Love. 6). Repetitive attacks of smiling - a smile that says THANK YOU and stimulates being at-one with all those around. 7). ... Read Full Story >>

Beauty Tips for Your Soul

Here are a few primping tips to increase the beauty of your soul: A dear old lady was ... Read Full Story >>

Being "Present" and Spreading Smiles on the Train

I'm smiling happily and brightly, feeling grateful, standing in a packed local transit train during the afternoon rush hour in San Francisco.  Looking around, I notice that everyone looks so heavy and somber.  Then I say lightly and with a smile, "Everyone looks so serious."  Several people nearby look at me blankly, and one person smiles.  Then I say "Come on guys, this is San Francisco!"  Suddenly a few more smiles.  Someone who looked very somber moments before smiles and says, "It's worse in New York."  Another person smiles and says, "It's worse on the BART train (another transit service in San Francisco) too."  Then I smile even bigger and say in a light tone, talking excitedly, "Well, I don't know much about that, but we gotta redouble our happiness."  Suddenly everyone smiles as we approach the next stop.  A few moments later, someone says, "Well, let's go out and spread ... Read Full Story >>

Helping a Pregnant Lady

Two weeks back, one fine Sunday morning, I was awoken by a strange murmuring sound outside my house. I went out to check it out to see where the sound was coming from. To my surprise, I found a lady who was preganant just a couple of steps from my home. It appeared that she has lost her balance and slipped.  As it was Sunday, nobody was walking near by and she was helpless. The pregnant lady was losing her consicous slowly and murmuring as she was unable to get up. I felt stunned and helped her by taking her in my car to the nearby hospital. She was given treatment and was slowly getting back her consicousness. She looked at me in thankfulness and gave me her husband's number who was in home. I called her husband and informed him about what had happened and he rushed to the hospital. Everything was fine and I gave ... Read Full Story >>

Heartprints

No Better Time Than Now To Be Happy

"We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that ... Read Full Story >>