Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Struggling to Make Ends Meet

While I was shopping at the Family Dollar Store I noticed a young mother with her daughter struggling to pick out items she needed because she counting money in her hand.  She got behind me at the check-out counter.  As I began to pay for my items, she began to put a few items back after realising she did not have enough money left in her hand.  She had shampoo and I saw her put the conditioner back.  The lady looked like she hadn't bathed in weeks and her child was also really dirty.  

My heart really went out for this poor lady and her child.  I paid for my items and then I passed the clerk a $10.00  bill and a smile card.  I told her to wait until I left the store and then to give the money and the smile card to the girl behind me.  I hope I made a difference in a small way.

Goodies for the Children

Lately it seems I never have enough time to get everything done. I recently found out however that a lot of local children get three meals a day but but nothing more because their parents cannot afford treats, such as cookies. So, I decided to hold a baking workshop. This workshop was for children ages four to 16. - sixteen. I offered it free of charge of course and got them to make LOTS of different cookies and desserts, complete with icing and sprinkles and cherries of course!) We spent all day baking. A lot of their mother's also helped out. When we were finished each child -- there were 14 in all -- got to fill an ice cream bucket with goodies. All the left overs were donated to a local church bake sales. We all had a blast and I have promised to do this again next year. I can't wait, it was soooo much fun!

The Gift Of Listening

Last week, as usual, a friend of mine was having trouble with one of her children. I listen each week to her woes and try to support her anyway I can.  Many have turned away from her saying she is like a broken record with most conversations centered around this child and the new drama caused.

Though I do not have children myself, I put myself in her shoes knowing that if I had a wayward adult child who was so unreliable, always needed assistance and getting into trouble, I would want at least a few true friends to comfort, advise and just plain offer "ears" to listen....

I heard somewhere that even sharing or talking about your burden with a loved one or friend, lessens it..  That is what I hope I am doing. What comes around, goes around and a sympathetic listener is a great act of kindness to share.

An Unexpected Tip from an Unlikely Customer

This happened to me years ago when I was a waitress, but I still remember this specific incident so vividly. As the end of the night was approaching, fifteen minutes before our restaurant closed, a gentleman came in.  I was the unfortunate waitress who got to stay after closing to take his order and serve him his food. The customer was impeccably difficult was quite openly upset with how his food was prepared, slightly overdone, perhaps a medium rare when he had requested rare. He sent his order back twice. When it eventually arrived to his liking, he needed a pot of coffee brewed fresh. Meanwhile, my managers and our cooks were breathing down my neck, as they wanted the last customer of the day to finally leave so that we could close up shop and go home.   At this point I was frustrated and tired. I had stayed 45 ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness is Contagious

Today my mom called and said how sad it was when people seem to avoid or ignore people in wheelchairs. While at the grocery store she saw a young gentleman in a electric wheelchair looking around trying to make eye contact with somebody. My mother said many ignored the man and didn't seem to want to look at him.
She walked over to him and asked if she could help him with anything and apparently he couldn't reach something down on the very bottom shelf. My mom asked what had happened to him and he said a car accident had left him paralyzed from the waist down. After a little bit of chatting, mom continued her own shopping.
At the checkout counter she saw the man pushing his cart from the wheel chair to the line. A women who had witnessed my mom and what she had done continued the kindness and put all his groceries on the conveyor and another person saw that and put everything in a bag for him. How cool is that.

The Long Life of a Short Friendship

My son's day care provider experienced a tragic sudden death of a friend. She had just met this fellow and had sensed a deep connection before dropping him off at his car. He had a car accident that night, and was killed. Deeply moved by the sadness that my friend was experiencing, I was compelled to write her some comforting words about being able to see the positives of how her friend had influenced her life and suggested that he possibly came to her as an angel of change for her life. This trajedy, impacted her deeply and encouraged her to reevaluate her life, as tragedy often does. I encouraged her to look past the normal conditionings that would have us concentrate on the drama of a trajedy and suggested she instead reflect on the positive message this friend's life gave her and the people around her. This approach would ... Read Full Story >>

Withdrawing Kindness

Whenever I withdraw cash from any ATM machine, I put a smile card along with a gift certificate to a local restaurant or a coupon in the slot.  I watch the driver of the next car pull up through my rear view mirror and you should see their faces light up!

Teaching My Child a Lesson in Giving

We were at my son's elementary school helping out at their annual fundraising event. In the course of the evening, somehow my family ended up winning not one, not two, but THREE separate raffles! We were so surprised! Since I had given the raffle ticket money to my son in order to purchase the raffle tickets, I decided that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to learn the joy of doing a kind act and handing out a smile card to someone. The family at the table next to ours had been there all evening.  They had purchased many more raffle tickets than we had, and, of course, they hadn't won any of the raffles. So, I let my son pick one of the prizes that we had won -- all were gift cards for restaurants that he liked, by the way. After deliberating a long time (he's an only ... Read Full Story >>

Crossing a Path with a Purpose

I was having one of those days where I felt like I was just going through the motions... tired, a bit bored, nothing on the agenda but work to be done.  I was in my car returning home from picking up lunch, and saw a woman standing with a sign at the intersection.  I could only make out two parts of the sign: the top said "Happy Holidays" and the bottom said "Help". At first, I just felt my spirits sink further, which was the last thing I wanted to feel. I watched her walk slowly by each of the cars. I realized that I had an extra piece of bread in the meal I had just purchased. I waited for her to approach my car, wondering if the light would stay red long enough for me to offer her my bread. The woman in the car in front of ... Read Full Story >>

Low on Money but ...

Well when I first came to this website, I didn't grasp why people were telling about their random acts of kindness. As I got to know some of you better I realized this is a group of very lovely people. Anyway I dont frequent drive-thrus very often, since my husband is away money is very tight. But this morning after putting $30 dollars worth of gas in my truck on my way to work, I had $13 left and decided I would treat myself to coffee and a sandwich at Dunkin Donuts. When going through the drive-thru all you lovelies came into my head and I decided to pay for the lady behind me. I could see her. I had no idea what she had ordered but I had plenty of gas for the week and ... Read Full Story >>

Biker Dude At The Grocery Store

The other day I was shopping with my four-year-old son, Jacob.   We had been in the store quite a while, so his patience was already wearing thin when I mentioned that I had forgotten to get soup.  As I turned the cart around and headed down the soup aisle we saw the biggest, baldest, most bewildered looking biker dude staring at the cans.  I thought he might be threatening them to jump into his basket!  Like most children his age, Jacob is still learning to not shout out his observations about people in public.  As we approached the man, Jacob yelled, "He rides a motorcycle, I bet!  Do you think he looks mean?" I was mortified, but the biker smiled and won Jacob over with a high five.  The biker sheepishly asked if I could help him out.  There was a single mom with small children who lived next door ... Read Full Story >>

The Daily Paper

I live in the suburbs of Chicago and go into the city daily during the week. My brother owns a newspaper stand and every day an elderly lady named Dotty walks over from across the street to buy her daily paper.  

For a few days, it had been snowing continuously and I saw Dotty look out of her window sadly and walk away from the window back into her home. I decided to buy a newspaper from my brother and take it over to her.  When I gave it to her, it looked like she was young again!  She told me that her grandson played football for the University of llinois, so she read and kept each article about him. 

Drive Thru Disbelief!

Last week, while at my favorite Mexican restaurant's drive thru window, I paid for the person in the car behind me in the drive thru line. You should have seen the cashier's face! She actually went to get her manager to come to the window and "approve" the transaction. She had never witnessed anything like this and absolutely couldn't believe that I didn't know the girl in the car behind me!

I explained what I was doing and handed her the smile card, but she still looked at me like I was an alien or something. It is so sad that this girl had never seen or imagined something like this simple gesture of kindness. I will make sure that I do this again soon...and at the same restaurant!

Repaying a Stranger's Generosity

This story was brought to my mind after reading some of yours :)  It happened several years ago but I have never forgotten it.  My husband and I were going through some bad times financially.  We had both lost our jobs and were trying to catch up on bills by cutting grass for extra money on the weekends.  We got up one Saturday morning and loaded up the little flat bed trailer that we carried our lawnmower on and headed out.   About 15 miles from the house the trailer started swerving and we realized that it had a flat tire.  Luckily, we were close to a little store and pulled into the parking lot.   The tire was in shreds, so my husband took the truck back to the house to see if he could find another tire for the trailer.  I stayed with the trailer at the store.   I had ... Read Full Story >>

Moving a Table Upstairs

I was working as a summer camp counselor last summer and during one of my shifts with the kindergarteners, my partner and I noticed a table with a note on it asking anyone to move it upstairs because it was too heavy for the nuns at this Buddhist summer camp. My partner and I read the note and we knew what we had to do.
Though the table was incredibly heavy, we took it step by step and eventually we were able to get the table to the second floor. Later on that afternoon, the nun who had posted the note passed by where we were sitting and exclaimed, "smeone moved the heavy table! Do you guys know who did it was?" My partner and I just smiled and told her that we had done it because we were young and strong and had a spare minute. We had moved the table not for recognition or anything, but because it was the right thing to do.

Summer Camp Superheroes

Volunteering at a summer camp is not an easy task, especially when you're not being paid to do it. However, I find myself going year after year to be a counselor because it's just so much fun. However, this story is not about what I have done but what others have done for me. During summer camp there are a number of parents who attend because their children are too young to be dorm students or simply because they want to spend time with their kids in the Buddhist monastic environment of the camp, hoping to maybe take a breather from the toils of everyday life. From the moment they arrive these parents seem to be everywhere, working so hard to help in the community by washing dishes, taking nuns to see the doctor, buying groceries, ... Read Full Story >>

How to Avoid a Mugging

How could I have avoided being mugged in a subway stairwell a few weeks ago? I could have used another subway entrance, one that was not so empty and silent in the middle of a beautiful spring day. I suppose I also could have listened to that small twinge in my gut when I passed an angry-looking man on my way in. And of course I could have taken more martial arts classes, and maybe reacted faster when I heard him running back down the stairs behind me. I might have been able to jump out of the way before he shoved me with both hands down the stairs. But then what? So what if I had somehow evaded that instance of violence? Yes, I'd be happier without a broken wrist, black eye, and bump on my head. And I will do those things that will in the short term make ... Read Full Story >>

A Stroller and Stairs on a Rainy Night

I was in downtown Paris one evening and it was a breezy and even a bit rainy. We were in front of the metro, trying to decide where to head next when I saw this woman pushing a stroller with a baby. She was headed down the stairs of the metro and she spent awhile trying to figure out how to get the stroller down without disturbing the baby. She was trying to go down the stairs backwards and I knew that I had to help her. So i ran over to her and lifted the end of the stroller so that we were carrying the stroller down instead of bumping it against the stairs, step by step.
It was a small act but the lady was very thankful and I felt very good to be able to do something good :)

From the Bottom of My Heart...

Today has been a great kindness day for me. I brought an extra banana on my drive into the office and gave it to the homeless man at the corner. I bought coffee for the hurried woman in front of me, who smiled and had a little bit better day if only for a few moments. I sent 5 thank you notes to people who have done simple things for me in the past few days. And my daughter and I made smile rocks and sent them to a special friend in need.

How does this pertain to you? Because every single one of my acts today was because of something I read here! A special friend made a difference for me today when she sent me a great note and some karmabucks. A special thank you to her for making my day today!

Your comments, stories and kind acts make all the difference, even when you don't know it. Your words touch more hearts than you know and cause others to pass it on. Keep it up everyone! I am a better person having had my life touched by you all. I plan to continue following your lead and look forward every day the inspiration you provide to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!

Compassion in Action at a Nursing Home

A few years ago, I was working "on loan" to a company grocery store, as they were short-handed during the Christmas Holidays. I was not used to the management nor the clientele at this unit.  As I was checking groceries that morning, an elderly man in a wheelchair came through my checkstand with a basket filled with candy, cigars, and a few trinkets. As I finished ringing up his purchases, I told the man the dollar amount and he presented an out-of-state check from his son. He explained to me that his son had sent him the check for his Christmas present and he wanted to use it to purchase gifts for the friends and wonderful staff at the nursing home located a few blocks behind the store where he resided. Since this was not my "home" store, I needed to have the check approved prior to accepting it. When ... Read Full Story >>