The kindness of strangers

[Seasha]

Today I went to the drug store to pick up some meds. I parked in the handicapped zone which was on a slope. I got out my rollator and my hung my purse on the handles. I was getting something else out of the car when the rollator started rolling down the sloped parking lot! I just starred at it in disbelief. There was no way I was going to be able to get it. The parking lot was practically empty so there was no one to ask for help.

Just then a tattered man came out of no where pushing a grocery cart full of bedding, etc. (I think he was homeless as it's a common place for them to congregate) ran up to me and asked if he could help. He ran after my rollator and promptly returned it to me. I was sooo thankful! Never judge a person by their looks but by their actions! Oh, and remember to put the brakes on before doing another thing!

Just thought I'd share. Do you also have a story about the kindness of strangers?

[loopey]

What a great post! There have been many times in my life where I experienced the kindness of strangers. When I was very young and my husband was in the service I had the opportunity to fly to England to meet him. When I got to the station where we were to meet he wasn't there. I was in a panic. The stationmaster asked me if everything was OK and I started to cry. He got his wife on the phone and had her tell me he would take me to his house and they would track down my missing spouse. At their house I remembered a place where we thought we might stay. The wife called them and they said he wasn't there but if I called they were to tell me he was down the street at another place. She got a taxi and escorted me to the hotel and made sure I was OK with him before she went back home. My first trip overseas was saved! By the way, I was at Kings Cross bus station; he was at Kings Cross train station a block away.

[pennstater]

Have many a time been the recipient of a stranger's kindness.

We were in Ireland and our rental car had a flat on a rural road on a Sunday afternoon. After emptying the trunk, we discovered there was no spare or patch kit.

My husband and brother walked about a mile to a farmer's house and he called a tow truck and drove them back to the car.

The tow truck left his family dinner, looked at the tire and said it couldn't be fixed, but needed a new one. Since Sunday dinner time, no garage open. He started calling local inns, b&bs, and hotels for accomodations for us. He would argue with them and haggle on the price. He wound up getting us a fantastic place to stay with beautiful grounds and gardens to explore for an unbelievable low price, which includes dinner, not a meal usually provided. He also managed to get us free ride there.

He told us he would have the car back by 8 am Monday, and sure enough, it was. And after all that, he only brought us the bill for the tire. He didn't charge us anything for his time or labor.

We may have lost our going to our planned destination that night, but we had a great time.

[502E79]

....Have many a time been the recipient of a stranger's kindness....

Hi Kathy,

Your post (along with Seasha & loopy) was lifting and appreciated. Outstanding acts of kindness by others have been rare in my life but since MS I have benefited from doors being held or opened often with a smile!

Little things like this thread serve as a reminder that the truth is we cannot take with us anything we have received, only what we have given.

[pennstater]

Hi Kathy,

Your post (along with Seasha & loopy) was lifting and appreciated. Outstanding acts of kindness by others have been rare in my life but since MS I have benefited from doors being held or opened often with a smile!

Little things like this thread serve as a reminder that the truth is we cannot take with us anything we have received, only what we have given.

Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can brighten someone's day. I try to remember to always smile and be kind to anyone working, regardless of their attitude, as you just never know what kind of day or life someone is having.

And how true, giving always lasts. A few favorite quotes of many I like about giving and kindness:

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. " - Aesop

“Giving does not only precede receiving; it is the reason for it. It is in giving that we receive." -Israelmore Ayivor

“Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting." - Brian Tracy

[Seasha]

Amen to these truths you write about Jer and pennstater!

We, in turn, can gain much by practicing the art of receiving and asking for help with grace. I don't know who wrote these words of wisdom, but it resonates with me:

"Receiving with ease, gratitude, and a sense of grace allows us to maintain both a strong sense of independence and feeling connectivity to others. It asks us to strengthen receiving as a skill, and also to recognize that asking for help is not a weakness, but instead a chance to allow others to give us the gift of their knowledge. By trusting ourselves when we have doubts or suspicion, we learn to establish boundaries and set expectations. Receiving gracefully ultimately asks us to believe in our own self-worth and to know that we are all part of a larger community trying to do the best it can, alone and together."

[REG53]

Three wonderful stories of kindness. Thank you for sharing.
Love your quote's 502E70 and pennstater. So true.

[msnana]

I have experienced many of those times, but I will not forget the time I was in a large casino and fell, all the men turned around from their seat and just looked at me, it took a lady to help me up. I'm sure these men were not going to give up their position, I told them all thank you and almost thought it was funny.

[Kimba22]

When my son started kindergarten, he was supposed go to latchkey after class. I taught in the same school district, and knew how important it was to know – especially for the younger grades – where or with whom students were supposed to go with after the school day. Latchkey was also supposed to take attendance, and check to find out why student who was supposed to be there wasn't.

A few weeks into the new school year, when I got to latchkey to pick him up, I was told he wasn't there! I called family members to see if possibly one of them had picked him up, and they hadn't. The teacher was gone and the school office was closed. You can imagine how worried I suddenly became wondering where he was! After looking around the school, driving home, and driving around the neighborhood looking for him, I went back to the school.

That's when I saw him outside on one of the playground areas with another parent and her daughter who was in his class. (We met at open house, after my son noticed their daughter crying, walked up to her, and asked her why she was crying. She told him she didn't have any friends there, and he said he'd be her friend. They quickly became best friends after that.) This mom could see the back of the school from her house, and wondered why he out there was alone. She went back to the school with her daughter and younger son and stayed with him until I showed up.

The next day I went to principal and told him what happened. He said he would talk to his teacher (who was new that year), latchkey, and assured me it wouldn't happen again. I knew him from working with him in the past, and had always thought highly of him. I knew he was very concerned that this happened with one of the students in his school. He agreed with me that the school would've been responsible if something had happened to him.

That parent then offered to watch him at her house after school. She invited us to their house that weekend so we could get to know her family better, and turned out her husband lived in the same neighborhood I did growing up. He was a few years younger than me, and I didn't know him that well, but knew he was seriously injured when a car hit his house when he was in first grade. He recovered, but missed almost a full year of school.

I became friends with his wife and she watched my son after school for three years. She never would accept any money for it. We stayed friends until they moved 7 years later.

By the time my daughter started school, I'd been diagnosed, and had stopped driving. I stopped after I suddenly couldn't feel my foot and accidentally pushed the gas pedal instead of the brake. I did manage to hit the brake, but still ended up on a neighbors front lawn. I didn't want to risk harming anyone.

My daughter wanted to be in girl scouts, and my MIL or dad would pick her up after their meetings after school, and my husband usually drove her for other activities. At a parent meeting, the group leader came up to us and asked if there was anything she do to help (I was using a rollator for balance). We said we'd let her know, and after not hearing anything from us, she called and offered to drive my daughter home after the meetings. She did this for the seven years both our daughters were in girl scouts. She also offered to help so she could go to various activities throughout years. She took her under her wing when they went to girl scout camp and St. Louis for their last big trip. It also turned out her husband works at the same company as my husband, but a different dept. We still keep in touch, after all these years. Sure is a small world sometimes!

There were other parents throughout the years who helped with my kids in various ways. I never asked, but so many of them were willing to help anyway they could. Will always be grateful for that.

Another time, it involved the inpatient rehab hospital staff. I was in inpatient hospital rehab after a bad relapse. While there, my son graduated with his bachelor's degree from college. I had to miss his graduation ceremony, and pretty bummed about that. We'd also planned a graduation party for him later that day. We only live a few miles away from the hospital, and the staff let me leave a short while so I could go home. A therapist watched as my husband transferred into me into our vehicle, and told me what time I had be back. Later I learned it was against the rules for me to leave, and they could've lost their jobs!

"... Receiving gracefully ultimately asks us to believe in our own self-worth and to know that we are all part of a larger community trying to do the best it can, alone and together."

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. " - Aesop

... since MS I have benefited from doors being held or opened often with a smile!

Little things like this thread serve as a reminder that the truth is we cannot take with us anything we have received, only what we have given.

So true!

“All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.” Mr. Roger's

[Seasha]

Wonderful stories, msnana and Kimba!

Kimba, you won the lottery when it came to neighbors (and now friends) helping. I bet you were so relieved when your kids had help during those times. Guardian angels all!