Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Passing on Good Fortune

Suppose you only have two items to pay for, but the person in front of you has a shopping cart full of groceries and you are hoping they will let you go before them, since only one cashier's lane is open?  I usually luck out when it happens to me, and yes, people have usually paid it forward, and I have received the good fortune of being told to go ahead of a full cart as well. But this day was different!  This time, I was getting ready to pay for 2 items, and the woman BEHIND me had a full shopping cart of food, but I happenned to  notice a woman behind HER only had one item. Once again, only one cashier line was available, and it was obvious the woman with the one item was anxious and disappointed that she was behind someone with a full cart of food!   The woman ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Act But A Big Reward

I was in a big hurry today, I had to be somewhere before noon and the traffic was terrible.  As I was making my way through the traffic I saw an old man ahead standing by the side of the road.  He was standing on one leg and trying to gesture to the passing cars, with the hope that one of them would stop.  No one stopped.  He looked very sweet and my heart felt so sorry that he had to stand like that in the terrible heat.  As soon as I approached him, I put my hazzard lights on and pulled over.  He was surprised to see a woman, and was reluctant to even peep into the front window when I lowered it. I called out to him: "Baba where do you want to go? Why don't you get inside.  It's so hot for you." He still seemed a little shocked ... Read Full Story >>

A Day Of Miracles, Cupcakes And Smiles

One evening in July, a few friends and I decided we would get together to brainstorm an idea for a local Smile Card event in London -- something we could do as a group to share smiles anonymously and cultivate kindness in our hearts.  We came up with a few suggestions and then picked an idea that got everyone excited and moved ahead with planning it – we were going to bake and decorate 200 cupcakes, buy a bunch of sweets, make some fun smile posters and give it all away at Hyde Park!  Our little team of 6 people spent a month planning every fine detail from inviting friends to get involved, baking cupcakes ahead of time, buying supplies, getting t-shirts that say SMILE and a banner with a giant Smile Card on it and visiting the park ahead of time to find the perfect spot for the event.   A special thanks ... Read Full Story >>

The Seed That Never Grew

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - one very special seed.  I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.  I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO." One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, ... Read Full Story >>

50 Cents And We Were Both Happy

Just a little thing...but it felt good.

I was in line at the grocery store and putting my items up on the belt to be checked out. The lady in front of me was waiting to pay the cashier. She noticed that I had bought some yoghurt she had heard about, but kept forgetting to try.  She asked me if it was good.  I said, "YES it's really delicious."

I offered her to take one. She said, "I've just finished shopping and paying right now." I told her to let the cashier scan it to my order and to just take it.  She said, "Are you sure?" "ABSOLUTELY SURE," I said with a SMILE.  You would have thought I was giving her a lot of money the way she was so grateful.  So 50cents is what it cost me, but we both were happy -- me to GIVE and she was happy that I gave her a chance to try it for free :)

A Chance To Be Unselfish On A Hot Summer Day

Last week, on the way back home from my daughter’s school, I was feeling a little down. No particular reason but I was in a dialogue in my mind about this society, the daily crime news, selfish behaviours of our close relations. I was just wondering why relationships have no purity and unconditional love. These thoughts were disturbing my mind.  I was waiting at a traffic signal on a hot afternoon. Suddenly I saw a middle aged woman looking for a bus or vehicle to reach her destination. I just smiled at her and asked her if I could be any help. She came to me and asked if I could drop her at the next corner. I happily opened the door of my car. She was full of sweat and looked very tired too. When she came inside she was more relaxed. She just closed her eyes for two minutes. I ... Read Full Story >>

Would You Like A Piece Of My Heart?

There are so many people that for one reason or the other, are sad, alone, and spend many a night in their homes, behind locked doors, and in need of comfort. As you walk down the streets of any city, you might meet a homeless person with his only bed being a cardboard box, spread out on the hard concrete or under an overpass. He might have lost his family, or his home, or his job, and yet we walk by ignoring him, instead of attempting to comfort him or help in a small way. There are just as many sad people in homes and outside of homes, as there are happy people, and yet, we tend to ignore the sad, and team up with the happy. It’s our nature I suppose. There are some who are truly ailing here on the helpothers online community too. Please remember them in your hearts and know ... Read Full Story >>

You've Been Upgraded

My life currently requires a fair bit of travel but I was definitely surprised by my latest flight as when I walked in I realized that my ticket was in 1st class!  This is seldom the case and so I thought it must have been a courtesy upgrade due to frequent travel.

I was traveling with my colleague and remembering a story I had read a few months ago, I quickly decided that I was going to offer the seat to someone else.  I mentioned this to my colleague and his response was to do the same!  So together, he and I made our way through the plane, Smile Cards in hand, looking for an unsuspecting person to tag.  Towards the back, we found a couple unsuspecting young folks and offered an upgrade.  They jumped at the chance :) 

Once we sat down in our new seat, the woman on the other side of the aisle looked at me and asked 'why would you give up comfy seats to strangers so you can sit back here?'  I responded, 'So I could see a couple people smile, and they're not strangers, they're family!'  She liked that answer :)

Don't Say You Are Not Important

Don't say you are not important,

It simply isn't true,

The fact that you were born is proof,

The universe has a plan for you,

The path may seem unclear right now,

But one day you will see,

That all that came before you and me,

Was truly meant to be,

The book of life is one that you are writing,

That's all you need to know ,

Each day you are alive,

Is meant to be a best seller,

So be proud of who you are,

Your character is important,

In this book you are the star.

A Ride To The Station, When We Were Running Late

A few days ago, I was going to the railway station to drop off my husband for work. We were late that day and he was about to miss his train. Unfortunately, the traffic was terrible as well. While we were driving, we saw a man walking alongside the road in a hurry. We stopped the car and asked him if he was going somewhere and whether we could drop him off on our way. He said he was going to the station and he was about to miss his train. He didn’t have a car. Apparently, the man had recently moved from India, had a small girl and he couldn’t afford the expense of a car. A friend who had been regularly giving him a ride was out of town for a week. He was walking almost half an hour every day because there was no bus stop nearby. He ... Read Full Story >>

An Opportunity Lost, In Just 5 Minutes

It’s been a number of years now, but I still remember it - I suppose I always shall.  I was driving around downtown one afternoon in the winter making a few deliveries.  I was listening to a band, rocking out, cruising around, and minding my own business… I came up to a red light and stopped… waited.  As I looked over to my left, I saw a young guy, about my age at the time, standing there.  He was a little scruffy, pale in the face, and holding a cardboard sign with some writing on it.  Generally, I had always just glanced over these signs as I passed them, flicked over anything written on them, and then moved on… As with most major cities, I’m sure when you’re in the heart of downtown, it’s pretty common to have homeless people on every other corner, holding a cardboard sign with something standard written on ... Read Full Story >>

A New Christmas Tradition

This year for christmas we decided to do something different, and many of our family members have signed on as well. We decided we'll each donate our Christmas shopping (and wrapping!) budgets to a charity or something similar, then we'll all get together at Christmas time, have stockings and yummy treats and dinner and family time, and share what we were able to achieve with the money. We'll ask others to refrain from buying us gifts, donating the money they would have spent as they choose, if they choose. It's a bold experiment for a bunch of consumer-happy U.S. citizens, but we're commited. We sponsor a young girl in the Philippines. Her name is Mary Joy, and she's now 16. She writes often to tell us about her life and family. Recently we got a letter that said she has finished high school and is unable to go on to college as ... Read Full Story >>

Sweets and a Dozen Bananas for an Old Woman

My mom went to the vegetable market today. It was crowded, very hot and quite chaotic.

My mom was standing next to an old women selling vegeatbles. The old woman had difficultly hearing and so people were taking advantage of this to buy vegetables from her at very low prices. She was totally at a loss since she was very old she was not in state to fight back with people.

My mom was appalled by this and said to the people buying vegetables from her "can`t you see this old woman is very confused? She can't hear very well and is not strong enough to be able to fight with you.  You are taking advantage of her.  Don't you have any kindness?"  The people didn't pay attention, they just walked away without saying anything.

My mom felt a lot of compassion for the old woman.  She asked the old woman whether she wanted anything to eat. The old woman refused.  My mom  bought some mittai (Indian sweets) and a dozen bananas for her anyway. The old woman was so happy to receive this. She hugged and kissed my mom many times and she kept on saying "thank you" over and over again.

A Baby's Unconditional Trust and Love

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment. I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.  We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose ... Read Full Story >>

Fourth in Line at the Grocery Store

I went grocery shopping today. Isn't it always the way that when it's time to pay all of a sudden the lines are long?  I saw one that wasn't too long and quickly jumped into it.  I started loading up my things onto the belt. I had a ton of groceries. As I was loading, I happened to look behind me and saw an elderly couple with a few toys. I told them that they could go ahead of me.  They couldn't thank me enough because they were on their way to their great grandchild's birthday party.  As I continued to unload my groceries onto the belt I heard someone ask, "Miss, would you mind if I went ahead of you also?" I took a deep breath and said "Sure, you can go ahead of me".  I smiled and thought to myself "if he asked he must have to be getting home ... Read Full Story >>

Two Helping Hands When I Really Needed One

Back in 1999, I bought a cheap beaten up car for $200 so that I could drive up to Alberta Canada to attend Art School. The car  was in pretty bad shape.  The gas gage was broken, it didn't have a tape player, and for some reason it wouldn't drive over 50 miles per hour. On my way to Art School, I stopped at a gas station somewhere on the Alaskan Highway to buy some gas.  When I stopped there I found out that my car needed a small repair - the back passenger wheel was rubbing on the car and they had to weld part of it off so that I didn't wear my tire down or blow it.  I had spent the last of my cash on getting my car fixed.  So when, 2 miles outside of Fort St. John, I ran out of gas - my only thought was... “Oh Lord ... Read Full Story >>

A Valuable Lesson Served at a Soup Kitchen

Every year while I was in high school we organized a class retreat. It always involved some sort of service component – usually going to an elementary school or helping out at a nursing home. The class would vote on the type of project we wanted to do, and then our Campus Ministry Coordinator would organize the project, transportation, dates, and specific location. For our senior year, our class voted to volunteer at a soup kitchen so our CM Coordinator, Mrs. Krupitzer, set up a date for us to go to Gleaners Food Bank. We arrived on a Saturday morning, ready to prepare food and serve meals, wipe down tables, and clean dirty dishes. When we got off the bus, the food bank organizer took us on a tour of the facility. Then he turned around and said, “okay it’s time for lunch everybody!” Unbeknownst to us we would be eating ... Read Full Story >>

Turning Panic Into Gratitude

I was stopping at a Subway restaurant near my house for some dinner and a confused-looking Asian woman wandered in, asking for directions.  

"I'm lost," she said, shaking. The woman behind the counter was older, and mind you we live in the South, meaning she had a very thick, heavy accent that the woman asking for directions could hardly understand.

The woman was nearing panic, when I turned to her and said, "North Meridian Road? I'm headed that way, actually. You can just follow me." I was actually going the opposite direction, but I had time to kill.

The woman was overcome with relief. She thanked me, and I took her to her destination.

That made my day.

Cupcakes, Smiles and the Spirit of Baraka

It was 8.30 am on Sunday morning. I woke up exhausted from a very hectic weekend, but had a smile on my face at the thought of our first London Smile Card Activity!  The weather was brilliant, it was going to be a fantastic day! I grabbed my batch of cupcakes which I had made the day before...this was my first attempt at baking, and my husband warned me that taking on this feat of making 50 cupcakes for a public audience was overly ambitious. I bought a box of pre-made cupcake mix in trepidation, but decided the day before that I wasn't going to use it. I was going to do it from scratch, and do it with a heart full of love because that was the only way. After burning the first 3 batches, I started getting the hang of it...process of trial and error seemed to be ... Read Full Story >>

Having Faith in the Power of Doing Good

Two of my friends and I were coming back from a youth meeting when a woman with three children, who were looking unclean and unkept started speaking to us.  She said she and her kids needed money to eat, as they had not eaten since morning and it was already evening.  I had three hundred naira with me and I wanted to use it to buy credit to recharge my phone.  I was tempted to ignore her and tell her I had no money to spare -- even my two friends told me that we should go and I should not give her anything, that she is a fake, pretentious fellow.  But, I decided not to listen to my friends and gave her all the money that I was planning to use to recharge my phone without any hopes of getting more money to top-up my phone for a few days.  I was so shocked when I saw the woman burst ... Read Full Story >>