People are telling stories of the kindest things strangers have done for them
Twitter users are discussing acts of kindness they have experienced from total strangers.
Writer Nicole Cliffe started the discussion by posing the question: “What is the kindest thing a stranger has done or said to you?”
I was standing, covered in puke, holding my now only diaper-clad baby & trying not to cry while business travelers glared at me, and then a flight attendant took my baby and gave me a pair of yoga pants from her carry-on & wrote her address on a napkin so I could mail them back.
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 4, 2019
She gave the example of a flight attendant who helped her out when one of her children was ill on a plane.
One Twitter user recalled being taken back to safety when they were drifting off into the ocean on a raft.
I was drifting off onto the ocean with my cousin on a rubber raft when I was like 12 and we both didn't know how to row so we were panicking and crying, then some teenager on a surfboat paddled towards us and continuously pushed our raft towards the beach, to safety https://t.co/CjUKSrcJLu
— tempu 🐢 i wish i could read (@tempurastick) March 5, 2019
Journalist Eric Umansky recalled a well-timed act of kindness from a restaurant owner.
My mother had just died after a brutal fight with cancer. I walk aimlessly & eventually wandered into a Mexican diner. I had delicious green chilaquiles, and then realized I didn’t have my wallet.
The owner told not to worry.
It was exactly what my mom would have done.
— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) March 5, 2019
There were numerous tales of good Samaritans who helped out when people were having car problems.
my first summer in L.A., my transmission went out on the 134 Freeway. No smartphones yet, and I had no idea where I was or what to do. A dad with three kids (all in car seats) saw me crying, pulled over, called AAA and stayed with me to calm me down until the tow truck got there.
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) March 4, 2019
i was driving in a snowstorm in rochester As One Does, but wasn't used to the car and slid into a snowbank some 12 feet from the driveway i was aiming for and got stuck. a stranger pulled over in traffic and helped me dig the car out, then went on his way. https://t.co/QtYIhONMTW
— a shell of a leyla (@leylses) March 5, 2019
Years ago, I had to go into the city on one of those days where the kids were crying and clingy. As l was paying for parking, l realised that I had no money and the credit card wasn't working. Just as I was dreading loading everyone back in the car, a lady came and paid for me https://t.co/s3Bmm4p5IJ
— Lanie (@LaniAlai) March 5, 2019
Back before cell phones my car died at the end of an interstate on ramp. It was the alternative which means ZERO lights. At night. On a southern highway. Alone. Maybe 18 years old. An old white couple in a van stopped, drove me ALL THE WAY TO CHARLOTTE MAYBE AN HOUR & HALF AWAY https://t.co/HnJBmDKgHC
— The Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) March 5, 2019
Sometimes kind words or a shoulder to cry on were all that were needed.
Ex and kid and I had just gotten off a red-eye flight during which the baby was overtired, feverish and crying much of the flight. Couple in their 60s sidled up to us at baggage claim and the woman said "You two are doing a great job" and I promptly burst into tears.
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) March 4, 2019
This woman literally rolled her cart between us, stood close to that woman and looked me in the eye and said "I THINK YOU LOOK GREAT." Then glared at the woman and rolled away.
— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) March 4, 2019
I was parallel parking and when I got out of the car a homeless guy yelled "HEY… you did a really good job parking"
— Zoe Louisa Lewis (@zoelouisalewis) March 4, 2019
I was stranded in an airport alone when I was 17 after my connection was cancelled, I was clearly distressed and needed my mom. This woman came over and asked if she could give me a hug, and I just bawled into her arms, and she told me it would be ok. I'll never forget that.
— Rebecca Kalant (@rebecca_eh) March 4, 2019
This act of kindness took place in a mosh pit.
At some point, I noticed a sizeable decrease in how much I was getting jostled. So I looked up and saw this HUGE BEEFY MAN had made a U shape around me with his arms so he could protect me w/o hugging me in a creepy way. He nodded at me and I went back to (nervously) rocking out
— skelehime (@skelehime) March 5, 2019
But the story that most struck a chord with Twitter users came from a former manager of an LGBT book shop, who once received a call from from someone who thought they might be gay and was considering hurting himself.
So I talk to this guy and I answer questions, and I try to be encouraging and I’m maybe sounding a little frantic and I’m definitely ignoring the 4-5 customers in the store, and this angel of a woman puts her hand on my shoulder and asks for the phone.“My turn,” she says.
— 💁🏼♂️ (@TweetChizone) March 4, 2019
And SHE, this 50-something lesbian talks to this stranger on the phone. And a LINE FORMS BEHIND HER. Every customer in that store knows that call, knows that feeling, and every person takes a turn talking to that man. That story comforts me so much to this day.
— 💁🏼♂️ (@TweetChizone) March 4, 2019
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