Stories of Kindness from Around the World

One Saturday, I got a phone call about electrical problems. Since I am not an electrician, I quickly realized that the woman on the line had the wrong number. The woman on the phone sounded extremely anxious as her electricity wasn't working.  Her husband tried to replace a wall switch, but now some of their lights wouldn’t turn on, and the heat had shut off.
The woman thought she was calling an electrician who has done work for her in the past. I had just recently changed my number and she got me instead. I'm not an electrician but I do work with electricity.
 
I informed her that she had the wrong number, and I didn’t know what her old electrician changed his number to. She apologized, and we said goodbye. After I hung up the phone I thought maybe I could help her so I dialed *69 and found out she was just one town over.
 
When I got to her house, I told her I would help her, but I would not accept any money. This confused her and she asked why I would bother if I wasn’t getting paid.  I told her it was an act of kindness and to "pay it forward.”  Dorothy and Jacob, who were both retired, seemed surprised and said they never met anyone like me.

I had to run to the local Kmart to get a 3-way switch.  They seemed worried I wouldn't return but I assured them I would be right back.  Her husband had installed the wrong switch which was causing a short.  After I got the lights working and reset the breakers I re-lit the pilot light to fix the heater.
 
After I was done, they thanked me and tried to give me some money.  I told them I wouldn’t accept anything, and that the best payment would be to find someone else to help out.  I also said if you can't find someone else to repay then just be extra nice to each other. They were both incredibly happy that I managed to solve their electrical problems quickly, but I think I was even happier at the opportunity to help them.