Tell me about strangers/acquaintances for whom you have been thankful

[Element]

Someone did something for me this morning. It had a financial value of maybe $15-$20, but for some reason the value seems fivefold when someone you don't know (or barely know) does something for you for absolutely no reason. It reminded me of the things (sometimes big, sometimes tiny) that people have done for me that have inspired me to do for others.

 

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a random (or nearly random) act of kindness? (It is sometimes called RAOK, for those unfamiliar with the acronym.)

[Lady Florida.]

There's one that happened to me and one to my niece that both stand out in my mind.

• About 5 years ago, we were eating at a local Chinese buffet. When we went to pay, we were told that a gentleman already paid our bill. He had already left, so we don't know who he was or why he did it, and we couldn't thank him.
  

• When my niece's almost 5 year old twins were barely toddlers, she and I were out and about with the kids. We stopped at an Entemanns bread outlet. For every so many $ you spend, you get to pick a free item from a basket of items. The woman in front of us spent enough to get 3 free items. She looked at my niece and the kids and said, "Let her have my free stuff. She has little ones."
  

[In the Rain]

What a neat idea for a thread.

 

Mine is small, but it just popped into my head. On the day I was due with my first child, I was enormously pregnant, sick, and not anywhere close to being in labor. I opened the front door at one point to find a huge bouquet of roses with no note attached! I eventually figured out it was an acquantence at church. It really touched me that someone remembered my due date, and drove almost an hour each way to bring me flowers.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

What a wonderful thread!

 

I'll be forever grateful to a number of amazing Hive members who have held us up through various trying times:

 

1. We had a Christmas last year thanks to several Hive members.....it was amazing, and I will NEVER forget that generousity.....neither will my kids.

 

2. A local Hive member brought me some desperately needed items a month or so ago when I couldn't get them myself.....and this isn't the first time she's stepped up to help us out, or offer something.

 

 

There have been several other instances where a Hive member or members have stepped in and saved us from what felt like an impossible situation, which to protect their privacy, I won't mention in detal, but I strive for the day that I can do for someone else what has been done for us. I don't know if those who have helped us will ever know just how much it meant to us....or the impact it had, but I hope to someday be in a position to make others wonder the same thing!

[Element]

What a neat idea for a thread.

 

Mine is small, but it just popped into my head. On the day I was due with my first child, I was enormously pregnant, sick, and not anywhere close to being in labor. I opened the front door at one point to find a huge bouquet of roses with no note attached! I eventually figured out it was an acquantence at church. It really touched me that someone remembered my due date, and drove almost an hour each way to bring me flowers.

 

Wow! I've never received (or given) a "random act of flowers" but that sounds really thoughtful!

[bettyandbob]

Background: On Monday I was late getting to the bus stop to pick up my special needs ds. He rides the regular bus with all the neighborhood kids. My other kids are older and I don't know the moms of the younger kids very well (sn ds doesn't fit in for playing with them). He ran off the bus, but since I wasn't there he had to get back on the bus and go back to school with the driver. ds didn't ride the bus yesterday.

 

This morning, one of the moms approached me and said she'd take responsibility for ds on days I run late. In order for her to do this I have to send written information to school and school transportation. This would really be to fill in when I'm running up the street, but the bus driver doesn't see me. The bus driver needs permission for another adult to claim him.

 

It was so nice for her to offer and to just talk to me. I feel like such the odd man out at the bus stop. ds is the only child with sn. He's in 5th grade and this is his first year at the school. The moms at the stop all have young children, people stop coming to the bus stop around 3rd grade it seems.

 

Anyway, I've been thinking all day about how nice it was for her to offer to help me and just talk to me.

[Random]

I love this idea!

 

Once, I was 9 months pregnant and my truck broke down at a gas station. I'd turned it off to pump gas, and then it just wouldn't start again. I asked the two biggest guys I could find to push it away from the pumps, so it would be out of the way while I waited for my dad to pick me up. The guys pushed my truck out of the way and then worked on it until it was running again. I didn't know what they were doing....they didn't speak much English, but they kept wrenching on it until it was running. One of the guys looked at my belly and said, "You go to hospital now?" :laugh:

[TheReader]

Oh, I could sit and list things all day..... A few of the more memorable ones:

 

*when my oldest was a baby, he couldn't tolerate milk and was on a special (and pricey) formula. I was in line at the store, buying some + a few other things, and the lady in front of us told the cashier we were together and paid for my formula (and the rest, but it was mainly the formula). She wouldn't take no for an answer, nor any thanks.

 

*when my youngest was in the NICU, I was pumping for him so he could have breast milk. We lived 1.5 hrs from the hospital, and with 2 young boys at home (not allowed to visit except 2 days/week) we did not get to the hospital every day (please, no flames for that). So, I would bring in the 2 days worth of milk and pick up the next bag of bottles to pump into; since we were 1.5 hrs from the hospital, I generally had to pump within 30 mins to 1 hr after getting there. One time I arrived, the desk had no bottles waiting for me. I was near tears trying to figure out how on earth I was going to pump that time, let alone what to do about pumping for the next few days until I could come back, and thinking of having to pump & dump for not having the sterile containers the hospital wanted. A dad was there, his wife was in with their baby, and we'd never spoken before though I'd seen his wife in the pump room several times. Well, he had bottles in their locker and graciously gave me the bag full. So priceless.

 

*shortly after we moved to Brazil, probably within the first week, we were shopping for a few things. We found what seemed to be juice and were discussing, in English, about what flavors to get. Someone overheard us, spoke English, told us that we were actually looking at flavored yogurt-based drinks, directed us to the actual juice *AND* told us where to find the big grocery store so we could buy more than a handful of items at a time (we were in a hotel and had limited fridge space, but also we'd been shopping at a convenience store as we had no idea where a grocery store was). That was the first kindness done to us in Brazil (but definitely not the last) and it was so reassuring and comforting at the time. A tiny thing, but meant so much.

 

I could go on, but those are the 3 that really stand out.

[TheReader]

Background: On Monday I was late getting to the bus stop to pick up my special needs ds. He rides the regular bus with all the neighborhood kids. My other kids are older and I don't know the moms of the younger kids very well (sn ds doesn't fit in for playing with them). He ran off the bus, but since I wasn't there he had to get back on the bus and go back to school with the driver. ds didn't ride the bus yesterday.

 

This morning, one of the moms approached me and said she'd take responsibility for ds on days I run late. In order for her to do this I have to send written information to school and school transportation. This would really be to fill in when I'm running up the street, but the bus driver doesn't see me. The bus driver needs permission for another adult to claim him.

 

It was so nice for her to offer and to just talk to me. I feel like such the odd man out at the bus stop. ds is the only child with sn. He's in 5th grade and this is his first year at the school. The moms at the stop all have young children, people stop coming to the bus stop around 3rd grade it seems.

 

Anyway, I've been thinking all day about how nice it was for her to offer to help me and just talk to me.

 

oh, that is so very sweet. ((hugs to you)) I'm so glad that mom reached out to you.

[soonermomma]

My husband, my kids, and I had just left a softball tournament and stopped at a gas to use the restroom and get something to drink. We were in line to check out and the lady in front of us paid for our stuff with a twenty and left us the change. So sweet!

 

My twins were born on December 19th and were preemies in the NICU over Christmas. You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff that we received. Homemade Christmas bibs and burp cloths (from an elderly lady who loved to sew), an angel ornament (from a church), a small stocking with hand lotion and candy (from a previous NICU mom) and a gift basket that had a disposable camera, snacks, bottled water , note pad and pens, chap stick, and a gift certificate for a massage just to name a few of the things we received. The NICU is hard place to be, especially on Christmas and those little things brightened my day. I still have them tucked away in the twins NICU box!

[poiema]

Great post!

 

I was checking out at the market with my 6 year old and my bank card wouldn't go through. Well, it turns out it had just expired THAT DAY! I had no other form of payment on me, and I was in a hurry to go pick up my 4 year old from preschool. It was my own fault, so I told the checker to just hold the food in the cart (frozen and all) and I would be back to pay after I picked up my son and went home to pick up payment. The young lady behind me then swiped her card and said she would take care of it. I was astonished! After asking her several times why she would do this for me, I finally just thanked her, gave her a hug, and told her how much she had blessed me. What she did for me was so kind, but it meant even more to me than $108. My husband had been laid off 4 months before and, although I wanted to trust in the Lord, I was struggling with worry. That stranger's act of kindness was like God saying--don't worry, I told you I would provide.

[Spryte]

I think of this every Christmas. :)

 

When I was 19, I lived in my first apartment, worked 2 jobs and was putting myself through school. I had not seen my family in almost a year, and made a point of seeing them on Christmas. I *had* to drive home Christmas night to be at my job early in the morning the following day. Being young and silly, I put off leaving until very late, and had a 5 hour drive Christmas night. I was exhausted, but happy.

 

Around midnight, I hit a patch of ice and lost control of the car. I still *hear* the crunch of metal as my car ran off the road and through the guard rail, and can feel the almost physical, "NO!" that every fiber of my being shouted.

 

Somehow, I cannot tell you how, my car didn't go off the road as I thought... I ended up facing the wrong way, into oncoming traffic - on the shoulder.

 

A family stopped to help me, they were out late driving home from a church function. The Mom came to help me, and the Dad ran to help the people in the other car (the other car that they all saw run off the road, through the guard rail)... But there was no other car after all. Just me. And the crazy, right-angled skid marks left by my tires in front of the guard rail.

 

I was so shaken up, and this family was so sweet. They helped me drive to their house, which was right off the next exit, pumped me full of coffee, and sent me on my way with a thermos of coffee to keep me going. Of course, looking back, I can't believe I was so shaken up that I went to a strange family's house at that hour, and I realize that I was lucky on so many levels.

 

Over the years, I looked for their house again and again, to get the address so I could send a thank you note. Never found it again, though I saw the skid marks till they faded away, whenever I made the trip to see my family.

 

It's been more than 20 years, and I still think of that family every Christmas!