" It was such a small act , but it almost made me cry hard for the kindness shown to me by a complete unknown . "
Recently, weaskedtheBuzzFeed Communityto share their most memorable good samaritan stories. Here’s what they had to say:
1.“I’m a nurse and had been working in a cardiac ICU unit. A lot of my coworkers left to take travel assignments over the years. We would often have going away parties at bars and restaurants when people left. One nurse threw a going away party at a local distillery that was close to the hospital. She had her family there and a bunch of coworkers. We all brought board games and were having a very intense game of Pictionary when the bartender came over to tell us that all our tabs had been paid by a man who owned the business next door.”
2.“When I was younger, I’d often bike through this one dangerous intersection without stopping. I was in a really dark place and figured I’d either get through it or I wouldn’t, and neither one bothered me. One day I was nearly hit by a speeding car in that intersection. If I’d locked up my brakes I’d be dead. I skidded across the road and crashed in the driveway on the other side. The elderly lady who lived in that house came running to make sure I was okay, told me it wasn’t my fault, and asked if I wanted her to call my parents or anyone.”
" She had no idea that it was at least in part a suicide endeavour , but her concern for a complete stranger stayed with me ever since . I still pedal through there at times , but I have n’t seen her in a farseeing metre . I wonder about her a lot , and wish I ’d had a opportunity to thank her , and to tell her the whole chronicle and that I ’m get better now . "
— area51official
3.“About three years ago myself, my dad, and my two siblings were on a long drive. We pull up to go through a toll on the turnpike. He looks at me in the passenger seat and goes ‘wanna see something funny?’ And then pulls out two dollar bills. Hands it to the lady at the booth, and tells her to use the second dollar for the person behind him. We pulled away and he seemed just totally chuffed of himself.”
4.“A police officer paid for me to have lunch after I had a bad day.”
— Anonymous
5.“The person in front of me at the coffee shop paid for the $750 order of coffee and pastries for my daughter’s 13th birthday.”
6.“My 5-month-old daughter and I were coming home from taking care of my mom several states away after surgery. She couldn’t drive so we got a ride from a neighbor to the airport near her house and were going to rent a car to drive to the airport we were flying out of that was about two hours away. Long story short, I didn’t have a credit card so I was unable to rent a car. This was before Uber, so we were pretty much stranded.”
" As I was on the phone with family , in tears , with an infant , trying to estimate out what to do a woman and her teenage daughter came over and offered us a ride to the other aerodrome . entire strangers , just overheard me and offered to aid . They drive us two hours out of their manner , get us to the drome on time , andrefused any form of payment besides a thank you . "
— jbird2706
7.“I recently went for a job interview and was a nervous wreck. The lady who took me up to the manager calmed me down before I went in. It took her two minutes. It made me feel so much calmer.”
8.“I had to move home after some serious mental health problems and was pretty crushed about it. A friend of a friend reached out to me on social media and asked if I fancied a coffee. It turns out they had had the same problems, but were ahead in recovery.”
" Since then , we ’ve become friends and they ’ve explained so much to me and my family about how to recover and what the journeying looks like . I ’m not there yet , but as presently as I feel able , I ’ll be aiming to help someone else . "
9.“When my twins were about eight months old, my ex-husband and I went on a babymoon to the UK for nine days. Midway through, we got a taxi to the train station and departed one city for another. At the train station, I realized I couldn’t find my phone anywhere. It was on airplane mode, so I had no idea where I had lost it. I was a wreck trying not to cry in public because in my mind I had just lost precious photos and videos of my miracle babies after several miscarriages and fertility treatments. This amazingly kind German man came up to us and asked if I was alright. I gave him a quick rundown of the situation and he lent me a phone to call the taxi service who had it in their car.”
10.“This is something that I only found out recently had happened when I was a newborn. The pay-it-forward part, not the story context. My uncle has a best friend who I’ll call Randy. He has a wife I’ll call Rachel. (Not their real names). They live in my dad’s hometown which is 10 hours away from where my parents live. My parents LOVE this couple and I never understood why they were so close with them despite the distance until now. Back when I was a month old our house burned down. We lost everything but the two cars, a jukebox, some photos, and the clothes on our backs. I’ve known that story since I was a kid.”
" What I did n’t know was that when Randy and Rachel discover out what had happened to their best friend ’s niggling brother , they did n’t waver to give my parents anything they needed to get them on their feet . They hardly bonk my parent because we live ten hours away , butmy parents NEVER forget their benignity . "
— cristiandelgado
11.“My boyfriend and his friend had been looking forward to attending a concert, and it’s one of those indoor shows where you have seats but everyone is standing and dancing the whole time. Day of, the friend ends up getting unexpectedly let go from his job. To try to lighten the vibe, both decided to get merch right when we got there. Normally, I would have thrown everything in my purse but the handbag policy only allowed me to bring my wallet/clutch. Everything had to be shoved in coat sleeves or held. Near the end of one of the opening acts my bf goes to the bathroom, but is taking forever so I go to check and see what’s up (taking his merch with me). He’s in the lobby chatting with people he ran into and right when we are about to go back to our seats the friend comes out but left his stuff at his seat. By the time we got back, his merch is missing.”
12.“I was in college trying to fly home for spring break. The only available flight home was at 5:30 in the morning, so the only way I could make it to that airport was if I stayed in a hotel. The next morning I catch an Uber, pay $40 for it, and go to check my baggage for my flight. Turns out my flight was canceled in the middle of the night and I never got a text. So my 19-year-old self is stranded in an airport at 4:30 in the morning with my parents not answering the phone because it’s 1:30 a.m. for them.”
" I finally detect a way back to the hotel and ask if I can still have my room . The receptionist say ' yes . ' I ’m bawling my optic out . I ’m exhausted . I say , " can I grab a water ? you could shoot down it to my room . ' She say ' oh no , love . Go get your water . No charge . ‘It was such a small human action , but it almost made me cry harder for the forgivingness shown to me by a sodding alien . "
— scjameson1
13.“I had a seizure in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language. A stranger accompanied me to the hospital in the ambulance, translated everything, and stayed with me for hours. Then he made sure I was safely in a taxi back to my hotel and had enough money to pay for it.”
14.“This happened to me and I’ve never forgotten it. I was getting out of an abusive relationship. At the same time I was working, going to school, and caring for my young daughter. Life was overwhelming to say the least. I was leaving school one evening and I just lost it when I got into the car. I started crying and really losing my s–t in the parking garage. I pulled myself together to drive home and as I checked out with the usual parking attendant he asked me if I was okay.”
" I started crying again , and he started tell me how he treasure that I was always kind and chatted with him on my way out . He was just very , very kind when I was at one of the lowest points in my living . It was the pick - me - up I needed to get through that consequence and keep go . "
— elizabethg20
15.“I was checking out of the hotel after my daughter’s wedding, and there was an elderly lady at the front desk trying to get a room, but they were sold out. She was saying that it was too pricey anyway, and she didn’t have much money. As we left, I was sobbing, listening to her story, and I gave her the only money I had, a $50 bill. She was very happy to get it. I often wonder what happened to her.”
16.“I was 18 and had just gotten my driver’s license. I was informed to go and pick it up on a specific day. When I went there, the people responsible for handing out my driver’s license could not find it and insisted that I made a mistake. I showed them the message saying that my driver’s license is ready for pickup, so they let me wait there until their shift was over. At some point, they even gave me all the records to look myself and find my driver’s license. After spending my entire day there, they told me that my license was lost and that I should pay again to get a new one.”
" A driving instructor ( who I never met before ) was nearby and heard the whole conversation and he jumped in pretend to be my dada and start up sound off to them about their mistake . After hour of arguing for my event , he finally managed to make them prepare a new driver ’s license for me for free and acknowledge that it was solely their fracture . I never got a chance to ask for his details but I will always be grateful for him bear up for me and avail me out . "
17.“My mother has a disability and was going to physical therapy for her back injury for some time. It was not covered by our insurance and my mom was faced with an over $400 bill. She looked through her wallet frantically and tried multiple cards for a few minutes, only to be declined each time. She was on the verge of tears when the lady taking our payment behind the desk took out her own card and paid for my mom’s PT appointment. I started tearing up. What a good person.”
18.“I was in the checkout line of a dollar store with my niece and we were buying snacks before going to a movie. I was a college teenager, she was about seven. I called my mom and asked her to put $20 in my account to buy the movie tickets since my niece’s gift card was for the wrong theater.”
" The gentlewoman in front of me , with four small tyke around her , pass me a $ 20 placard as she left and state ' merry Christmas to you and your baby . ' In her defence , the kid does look just like me . That was the nicest matter a stranger has done for me , even if there was a slight misunderstanding . "
— bananagrapes
mention : Some responses have been edit for duration and/or clarity .
If you or someone you eff is in immediate danger as a result of domesticated violence , call 911 . For anonymous , confidential aid , you’re able to call the 24/7National Domestic Violence Hotlineat 1 - 800 - 799 - 7233 ( SAFE ) or confabulate with an advocate via the website .
Dial 988 in the US to attain theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline . Other international felo-de-se helplines can be happen atbefrienders.org . The Trevor Project , which provides aid and suicide - prevention resource for LGBTQ youth , is 1 - 866 - 488 - 7386 .
