The Kindness of Strangers

[seXieleXie]

no, i'm not channeling blanche dubois. i don't have much faith in the kindness of strangers, but it does happen.


when i was in DC i left my address book by the payphones. someone found it, made a long distance call to the first name i had in the book, and tracked me down. he's from oregon, and he's going to send back to me, and he doesn't want me to pay him back.


have you ever recieved kindness and generosity from a stranger? have you ever been the person performing a good deed for someone you don't even know?

 

[Jim_Henson]

I had my wallet appear at my place 6 months after I lost it when I was 8.

Still had all the money in it.

I've never done anything on that grand a scale but, all the little things add up.

 

[pondman]

 

[Willing and Unsure]

I found a cell phone in the bathroom last school year. I looked through the phone book and found a number for mom and called it. I gave the phone back to the girl and what I found to be really almost ironic was that she didnt even say thank you. her mother spent about a half hour telling me how much of a saint I must be for wanting to make sure she gets it back.

 

[seXieleXie]

when i was 9 my parents went away for a weekend and left my brother and i to take care of ourselves. my parents us $20 and trusted me to hold on to it. i lost my wallet on the bus going home. when i realized that i had lost it i started crying because i realized that 1) my brother and i no longer had money for dinner and 2) i was sure to catch a beating for this.

a woman stopped me and asked why i was crying and i tearfully explained. she gave me $20.


about two weeks later a man called and left a message on my answering machine that he had my wallet. i got it back within a few days, with the twenty still in it.

 

[medjay]

Years ago in college I took a nasty spill off my bike. I broke my wrist and my thumb. Afterward I got up I staggered into the student center and sat on one of the benches. I sat there panting and sweating until this girl walked up and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing. Just fell off my bike, that's all."

"You don't look too good. You should go to the hospital! It could be broken!"

Being macho and not knowing anything was broken, I said, "Nah. I'll just go home and soak it in some Epsom Salts."

"No! You're coming with me."

This girl made me follow her to the hospital and sat with me in the waiting room for over an hour. If it weren't for her I might not have the use of my right thumb today.

 

[Mistress]

A person I had known from a online game for almost two years sent me 800 US dollars (she was from Canada and it was part of her college fund) when I had some family problems. The money ended up becoming handy for the bills I owed after that. She did not leave a return address and when I spoke to her in game and on IMS she still wouldn't let me send the money back..now after three years of knowing her she has only just recently sent me a picture of her...she's a very private woman. I love her with all of my heart, and I did even before she sent the money to help me out....

 

[seXieleXie]

in middle school i found a guy's wallet. i looked at the money in it, was tempted, but returned it to him anyway.

turns out there was about $500 in cash in the "hidden" pocket.

he gave me $50 as a thank you. i was glad i didn't realize how much money was actually in the wallet. i like to think i would have made the right choice, but i'm not entirely sure.

 

[Cibo]

tag for later

 

[SweetCherry]

Well, once I found a wallet with $200 in cash, several credit cards, a military ID and a drivers lisence in it. I turned it in to the cops. I was about 18 and my cousin was with me. he kept saying "Just take the cash and leave it. Nobody will know!" I merely looked at him and said "I'd know."

 

[Bigdog]

I am a performer of good deeds.

Found a purse in while in Hawaii. There was nothing to identify where she was staying, but she lived in California (as do I) so I brought it home with me. I was able to track down a phone number, talked to her son and shipped it to the address on her driver's license. She got back all her credit cards, prescription glasses, personal effects and $50 cash. Too bad she never even thanked me.

Found a cell phone in the median strip of a local street. Battery was dead so I couldn't pull up the number, in addition it was a strange brand (Qualcomm) that I couldn't charge. Spent about 4 hours looking on the Internet and calling the major cellular carriers. Finally found a local Verizon store that had a charger for that model, drove across town to plug it in and pulled up the woman's phone number. I called and left a voicemail hoping she was checking her messages from a landline. She was and called the next day, came out to my work and picked it up. She at least thanked me.

Just last week, a woman was out of gas during rush hour in the middle of a major street. I could see she was having difficulty with the gas can (California and their stupid gas can law) so I doubled back into a parking lot and waded thru traffic on foot to help her. I got most of 2 gallons in, which was enough to get it restarted and across the intersection to the gas station. Had it come to it, I had a tow cable in my truck and would have towed her across the street.

These are some of the highlights, there are other, smaller things I have done to help strangers. Even though all the examples I gave involved women it is pure coincidence, I help men too. My philosophy is simple: you can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

Don't even get me started on animal rescues.

 

[WaxNWane]

(Subtle hijack: There's a great song by American Analog Set that shares the name of this thread.)

 

[Carp]

Hmmm

I was driving in South Dakota, from Aberdeen to Sioux Falls (not that most of you care) and stopped to pick up a hitchhiker in Mitchell. Turned out to be a guy I went to High School with. Small world. Well, it was South Dakota, and there weren't many more than two of us in the state at the time, but still...

 

[SkyBluAngelEyes]

I found a cell phone in the bathroom last school year. I looked through the phone book and found a number for mom and called it. I gave the phone back to the girl and what I found to be really almost ironic was that she didnt even say thank you. her mother spent about a half hour telling me how much of a saint I must be for wanting to make sure she gets it back.

I find this somewhat disheartening. I'm sad she didn't have the gracious manners or courtesy to say "Thank You". What you did was a good thing. Believe her mom. You are a saint!

 

[SkyBluAngelEyes]

I had this stray dog in my yard one night. This dog was huge. He was an Old English Sheep dog and oh so very harry. Well, I fed this dog for about a week, when I was at work, and asked a friend of mine that lives about 5 miles from me if she knew of anyone who'd lost their Sheep dog. As I live in such a rural area, it wouldn't be really that hard to find the owner.

Well, come to find out, she said that one of her husbands friends had been over looking for this dog. He lives about 10 miles from me and I surprised to learn that this dog traveled that far for fun.

So, I call the number that she gave me, talked to the owner and was almost accused of stealing this dog. They'd had reward posters up which I didn't see, as I rarely venture into town, offering $250 for the return of this dog. Well, they came and got him. His formal name was Prince Oscar or something of that nature. No offer of money was made and no thanks were given.

It's not my conscience that's gonna bother me on that one, but geez, a thank you for taking care of my dog, making sure he was fed, warm and not hit by a car would have sufficed.

 

[La Huesera]

A lady yesterday backed her minivan up..rolled down her window.. and told me I had left my purse in the Wal-Mart shopping cart. I am very grateful she did that.

 

[Parklife]

I just got back from Burning Man where the kindness of strangers happens more times than I can even care to remember...

 

[celiaKitten]

When I was 19, I got into a pretty serious car accident on a busy highway. The other driver was at fault, for not yeilding the right of way (he had come onto the highway from the shoulder at a slow speed about 50ft in front of my van).

The older man, got out of his car, and before asking if I was ok, he started screaming at me for hitting his car .. how dare I not give him room.

I was 19 - all I wanted to do was call my Dad. A woman, who had narrowly avoided being a part of the accident, pulled over as well. She immediately told him to back off - that she had seen what happened, that he was at fault, and how dare he yell at a young, scared girl.

This woman stayed with me until my parents came nearly 2 hours later. She told the police what happened including his verbal tirade, made sure the other driver stayed away from me .. basically played surrogate mom to someone she'd never met. She didn't have to do this .. she was late for a party .. she could have drove off. But she didn't.

I have much faith in the kindness of strangers. Too many times it has proven to be a help to so many.

Man is a fickle being .. but the species is ok sometimes

 

[peachykeen]

on a flight to Vegas last October I found a man's wallet in the loo containing about $900 American. (Yeah, I counted it.) Was very tempting but would not have been able to live with the guilt. And, was convinced that if I kept it my bad karma would be immediately activated in the form of a fiery crash, so not altogher altruistic of me. Plus I had seen the guy and he was HOT.

Years ago at the very first Lollapalooza tour one of the guys I went there with lost his wallet. didn't have loads of cash but his DL, cards, etc. Someone mailed it back to him the next day, missing only $5 and with a note that said "sorry but I needed the money to mail it."

 

[Bluesboy2]

A Chicago cabbie of all things!

Last flight outta Chicago I left my fanny pack in my house. He drove me back only to discover my roomie was gone. He was willing to drive me back to Ohare to see if I could find her. I had no cash and no way of getting in the house to pay him. He didnt care. he just wanted me to make my flight.

 

[Starfish]

have you ever recieved kindness and generosity from a stranger? have you ever been the person performing a good deed for someone you don't even know?

Yes, regularly, and I try VERY hard to be that person you describe.


It isn't rare. It is just that we aren't always in need, and then so often do we have horrible things happen, like having your car broke into, or your wallet stolen, and we'll tend to focus on that as a conditioner about what people are 'really like'.


Most people are only that way because they have the fear that others are, and they have to 'watch their own back'. It is refreshing to try and focus on the good, and it seems to be more and more, then more I look for it.

hum...