Random acts of kindness to strangers

One time, wife and I had bought fish and chips at the new chippy in Saltburn. I dropped my fish on the floor before I'd even got it away from the counter. I didn't have enough money to buy another and to be honest, as much as I was a man about it, deep down in side was still the little kid who'd dropped his ice cream

Wife surprised me when instead of bursting into fits of laughter, she offered to break her fish in half for me. 'Hang on', shouted the chippy lady from the other side of the counter, and went and got me a new one for free.

 

So lovely to read all this at 7.15am in the morning. Thank you everyone,what a great bunch you all are,

Jenny

 

Fabulous post, Shiney

So, so true!

In my previous house, one of my neighbours was an elderly gentleman; sadly, his wife left him after 40 years of marriage. He never moaned, never complained; always had a smile and a moment to chatter (she'd been gone almost 2 years before I even knew it; just thought we'd not crossed the driveway at the same time).

Anyway, I'd read on the internet an amusing "12 days of Christmas" jokey gift idea and decided that he would be the ideal person to do this for. I knew his post box had a fairly large opening in its back and was perfect for sneaking in a gift per day in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Because it's origin is American, I had to adapt some of the items.

It worked totally: he had no idea who was sending these gifts We bumped into each other a few days after Christmas and the usual pleasantries: "Did your family have a good Christmas ... " and I asked after his ... at some point in the conversation he suddenly stopped talking ... did a mighty "It was YOU!"

Great fun; for the both of us

 

When me and wife wide were dating we used to meet in town. She was always late, so I would always be hanging around waiting. In the warmer months this was fine, but in the winter it was freezing so I used to go into McDonalds and get a hot chocolate. One day there was a homeless person who asked for some change. I went back into McDonalds and got him a hot chocolate and a burger. Every time I met my wife on the side of town where this was I would get him a chocolate and burger and have a chat. He even used to give out to my wife for being late.

Rusty

 

Yesterday, I went on a visit to a dear friend who I haven't seen for months (shame on me ). As I was leaving, I'd packed a small bag to take with me for her: some eggs and a novel I'd finished with and thought she might enjoy. Went up the back of the garden to say adios to Mr Mum and as a last minute thought, decided to snip some sweetpeas and a few sprigs of lavender. Carefully wrapped the stems in some moist kitchen paper, popped them in a clear plastic food bag and then turn back the top of the bag and tied some ribbon around the neck.

She was thankful for the eggs; we had a chat about the novel. But, the one thing she was totally thrilled with ... was that last minute mini bouquet of sweet peas and lavender! Interestingly, she has shied away from growing sweet peas because of a long distant memory of them smelling like (her words) pissypants So, now I am going to save her some seed from my sweet peas so she can grow some next year.

I have no hesitation in helping someone I do not know, but, I think there is a danger that we can take friends/family for granted, insomuch as we "expect" them to be kind to us and us to them; its those little, last minute touches though which can really make a difference - the ones they least expect.

 

When I fish the beach at Seatown I often find fossil Ammonites (Amazing how many Jewish tribes got fossilised in Dorset) I put them in my pocket & give them to kids that appear to be looking for fossils down there.

Trouble is, i'm getting fed up of the restraining orders.

 

Lovely little story Mr Shiney. I always by the Big Issue from a lady in the High Street who is from the Eastern block I think. I also do a monthly donation by D/D,

 

Shiney's homeless person tale just reminded me of something from years ago when I was about 13 or 14 year old.

We had a few tramps about town at the time, and as kids we had nicknames for all of them.

'Bag lady' was, as you might guess, a woman that took loads of bags with her wherever she went. 'Chip licker' was a very well spoken chap who earned his name for routinely retrieving from the public bins, the paper that chips come in, then having picked off the scraps, he'd then lick the grease off the paper before binning the paper again. 'Drunken Freddy' was an alcoholic who may or may not have been called Freddy, and 'Santa Clause' was a big fellow with a massive white beard who kept his worldly possessions in an old hessian sack.

I'm ashamed to admit that as kids we weren't very considerate of their feelings, and would occasionally mock them in a futile attempt to get a chase. Then one day one of my older mates (he was probably 15 or 16 at the time) totally surprised me when he suddenly said, 'we're horrible to them you know, they're just people with nowt really'. If that had come from someone in the 20s or older, it wouldn't have surprised me, but it surprised me because it came from my mate who was a bit of a sod at that age. One of the things we mocked santa for was his completely pointless shoes. The soles were literally hanging off so when he walked, the best he could expect was that he'd be walking in his filthy socks, but more usually he'd manage a few paces before the hanging off soles caused him to trip and nearly fall over. We rode our BMXs up to santa, and pulled over. My mate said to him 'sorry for all the mickey taking we've done'. Santa graciously accepted the apology which at the time surprised me. We then chatted for a few minutes and my mate and I were surprised to realise we were talking to a perfectly ordinary bloke who'd had a perfectly ordinary life, up until the point where his ex wife had destroyed his life. Obviously we couldn't fix his life for him, but my mate suddenly asked him what size shoe he took. 8 or 9 came the reply. 15 minutes later we were at my mates house, collecting a pair of trainers that were old, but still had a fair few miles left in them. We rode back to santa's doorway and gave him these trainers. santa was over the moon. Over the following months it was quite funny to see this big old santa bloke dressed in dirty rags, but a nice pair of Nike Airs on his feet.

 

A kindness done to me: When I was a feckless student I was on a train somewhere late in the evening. A pleasant-looking lady was sitting opposite me and I must have looked a bit hungry because she bought me a coffee and a pie. When I thanked her she said it was because she was thinking of her own daughter (who I guess was travelling) and hoped someone might be looking after her in the same sort of way.

Last year I was driving down my road when I noticed a man and a girl in a little alcove near the chippy. The man was shouting at her hammer and tongs. Oops, I thought, a bit of a domestic. Somehow it didn't look quite right so I drove round the block again to get a better look. Not good, the body language was very threatening. I wound the window down and asked the girl if she wanted a lift somewhere. She didn't need asking twice.

She was distraught, phoned her boyfriend and sat in my car shouting down the phone "A foo*in' stranger's just picked me up!" over and over again. I didn't get told the full story but I gather the man had been making some pretty vile threats. Maybe it was some kind of gang/drugs issue - I'll never know.
I dropped her off at a petrol station where her bf was, and felt that I'd done the right thing.

Thinking back, once when I was being harrassed in a public place by a violent bf, (long gone!!) a group of women from the local lesbian community came out of a restaurant where they'd seen the whole thing and protected me - so I owe a few things back.

 

i never thought it was kind at the time, but the right thing to do.

when i was single, after my first marriage ended, there was a young lass that used to come into the shop. it transpired that her then hubby had left her for another woman, leaving the young lass 37 weeks pregnant. she obviously was devastated, and because she was on maternity, the pay was not enough to even pay the mortgage.

she was penniless, and with a new baby things were hard for her. her family were helping out as best as they could even to the point of food parcels. her hubby didnt want to know her or the child so she was basically on her own. she was very proud, wouldnt accept "charity" in any form.

i was out in blackpool with my mam visiting some friends, and we went to a shopping centre. i noticed a baby clothes outlet and it had a sale on, so went in for a looksey. came out with a years worth of clothes for this lass' baby in different seasons and ages upto 18 months. stuffed everything into the boot, went home, bagged them up in black bin liners, drove round to the lasses house and left them by the front door.

she knew who did it and phoned me up, went round for a brew and basically said ok, you wouldnt accept anything, but at least the little un will be ok for clothes for a while and its something i wanted to do.

weve been friends ever since, the lad is 11 now nearly, and has now got a nice fella who looks after her and the lad and treats him like his own. they are engaged and are talking about the wedding date

 

I was in Derby not so long ago an elderly man was leaning up against a shop wall near a taxi rank, he clearly was struggling to stand nevermind walk, he gestured to a couple of passer-bys to help him to a taxi but his plight was ignored, I couldn't however and went and helped him to a taxi, he was very grateful, even offering me a fiver to go buy and a drink, I naturally refused, I was just doing what so many people sadly find hard to do these ~ help someone in need..