Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Acts of Kindness

I live on the top of a very very steep hill. So steep that the Stormtrooper sounds like a nuclear bomb every time I have to drive up into the extremely slanted parking lot. So steep that if there are more than three people in the car, the wheels just spin when we attempt to ascend the hill. So steep that when I park on the hill with the driver's side pointed toward the sky, I have to climb out of the car like it's a submarine.

This morning I was bringing a heavy box of items out to the Stormtrooper as I was leaving for work. On a few occasions, the person who has climbed out of the side of the parked car that faces downhill has accidentally spilled items that we've just purchased from the grocery store. Once something gets dropped in this parking lot, it begins an almost free-fall descent down onto the main road to then be run over by buses.

I was trying to be very careful with this heavy box as I slowly side-stepped toward the Stormtrooper this morning. And that's when it happened.

I lost my grip.


I watched as a dozen or so personal items quickly rolled down the hill away from me. Shoes. Toiletries. A bunch of small water bottles. Half a dozen Snuggies. Etc. Everything clicking and clanking and echoing off of the concrete apartment building. All of it rolling away from me.

It was like it was happening in slow-motion. But, sped up to normal speed. So it was like it was just happening at normal speed. Which it was.

I began running down the hill like a mad man, trying to stop anything I could. But I was doing that thing from every cartoon where as soon as I bent down to pick something up, it rolled farther away.

Within a few seconds, everything was funneled through the narrow entrance/exit of the parking lot and was ejected onto the street.

As I went running after my things with a panicked look on my face, a car quickly pulled over and a man and woman jumped out. The woman, seeing my border-line hysterical state, called over to me, "it's ok. We got this."

One more car that was passing by pulled over as well and the people in it hopped out and started collecting items. The next thing I knew, everything was placed into the box and someone was helping me walk it back up the hill to put it into the Stormtrooper.

That's twice this week that strangers have come to the rescue. Those people this morning and the people on Tuesday in the office supply store, who helped me build new boxes to meet the post office requirements, will probably never know how much I appreciate what they were willing to stop and do for me. And I'm so happy that some of my final impressions of Palau are going to be about strangers stepping in to save me when I was too tired and sweaty to think or when my garbage was rolling down a steep hill into the middle of the road.

So with that, I want to ask you: any experiences out there you want to share about a time you helped a stranger or a stranger helped you?

~It Just Gets Stranger

58 comments:

  1. Last summer I was driving from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole with a friend. In the Tin Cup area we found a broken down truck with a husband and wife and their niece on the side of the road. There was no cell reception so we drove the wife and the niece to a spot where they could call family and then we drove the family member back to the spot where the husband was waiting with the truck. It took and extra hour and a half but we were happy to do it.

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  2. Once I was in the grocery store--nine months pregnant and with a toddler. My son was screaming (he had an ear ache) and I was feeling so sick. My husband was on a business trip and that day the thought of getting the groceries and having to get them home and unloaded seemed like too much. An older woman saw me with tears in my eyes and came to the rescue. She picked up my son, carried him around the store calming him down, helped me get the groceries into the car, and then rode home with us and helped me unload. She then called a friend to come pick her up from my house to take her back to her car. This was about 15 years ago. I had never seen her before and I haven't seen her since but there probably hasn't been a week that has gone by since where I have not thought about what she did for me that day just because she saw me in need.

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    1. Wow, that gave me goosebumps. Thank you for sharing.

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    2. That made me cry..

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    3. I WORK in a grocery store. Had a mom come in and purchase a full cart of stuff while holding her infant son and keeping an eye on her young daughter (5-ish?)... The customer BEHIND her in line came around and bagged all of her groceries and then handed me a $100 bill to cover his own small basket, while he pushed her cart out to her car and loaded it - and then returned the cart to the store, rather than just leaving it in the lot!

      I've seen customers say, "oh, I've got a coupla pennies here" but NEVER did all that that man did, just to help out! It was awesome, and gave the next five customers a good conversation at my register.

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  3. Sounds like you'll have a lot to pay forward!

    I dropped off some fruit to a friend tonight and saw she was moving all her furniture because she's getting her carpets cleaned tomorrow. Her husband has a bad back and can't lift heavy things so I stayed and helped them move their stuff. It might seem like I was the one serving them, but they have done SO VERY MUCH for me and my family that I feel like I was finally given an opportunity to help back a little.

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  4. Recently, in high school, I've started to sit with on of the paralyzed seniors. He doesn't sit in the main lunch room, instead he's in one of the teacher's rooms. My friends stay in the cafeteria and one of my brother's friends goes with me and we spend an hour trying to come up with interesting conversation. It's harder than you'd think! But, my brother's friend seems to befriending me, too, so it's a good trade off. (: The paralyzed senior's aid seems really grateful that we do that, too; but really, it feels more like an obligation. No one should sit alone, no matter the circumstances!

    Also, I'm really so grateful people have been so gracious and kind. (: Makes me smile and want to cry at the same time. So much good in the world, even if it is overlooked sometimes. <3

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  5. I blogged about an experience I had with a lady who made my sandwich at Blimpie who was an angel on one of the worst afternoons in recent memory.

    http://hilarygthomas.blogspot.com/2013/03/to-lady-that-made-my-sandwich-at.html

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  6. My story is actually about Eli. He probably doesn't remember this but several years ago he was in my ward (local mormon congregation). I was going through a really terrible personal family tragedy that I wasn't sharing with anyone. I was really shy and didn't really have any friends and I was really struggling more than I ever have in my life. Eli was perceptive to that and even though he hardly knew me, he came over to my house one day with some cookies and told me he needed to get rid of them and wanted to know if I wanted any. He knew my name and I was so surprised. He talked to me for a while and made me laugh for the first time in months. After that, he would call and check up on me and stop by occasionally. Because of him I was able to make some friends and my whole life turned in a completely different direction. I will always be so thankful for that kindness and I have tried to pay it forward since then. This is "Bro-Bro" if you remember me.

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  7. Every morning on my walk to the office I pass this old man at a breakfast burrito stand and he calls out, "I can't believe they forgot to roll out the red carpet for you again!" I know he says stuff like that to everyone. But it never gets old. It always makes my morning.

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  8. I live in the part of New Jersey that got hit the hardest by Hurricane Sandy. All over my area, it was dead silent except for the sound of generators, and it was COLD. Our local grocery store, usually staffed by sullen kids, opened, without power, the third day of the blackout after the storm had passed and the roads were clear...and suddenly, those sullen kids were angels. My five year old was terrified of the dark, towering aisles. So one of the kids took his hand, gave him a flashlight, and led us through the aisles, suggesting to us what would be best to buy depending on whether we had propane, a gas stove, or no means of heating food. Everyone was patient and kind, and I have never been prouder of our hurricane-battered community as I was during the awful two weeks after the Hurricane.

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  9. Eli was kind enough to write back when I wrote asking him for advice about Bulgaria, where we were about to travel to meet our new son. Not only did he reassure me about travel there, but he also put me in contact with another adoptive couple who helped us put together a list of questions and told us what to expect. That kindness made a difficult journey much easier.

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  10. a friend once told me:
    Give without Remembering, Receive without Forgetting.

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  11. One time, we had taken a road trip to see my grandparents some 11ish hours away. On the way back, there was some horrible storm and a lot of the roads were flooded out. We were too far to turn around and not far enough to know where the heck to go... at one stop, there were a few men working on power lines or something, one guy told my parents how to get out of the area and back on our way home. My mom & dad checked their map (remember when we didn't have GPS?!) and looked up to thank him, and he was gone. And he wasn't back with the other guys working... my mom swears he was an angel.

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  12. This has been so uplifting.

    My mom left my dad when I was 12, leaving him to be a single dad of 7 kids from ages 2-14. The first December after she left, money was really tight, he was about to lose the house, etc. Someone came into the place where he worked and handed him an envelope. He set it on his desk and continued working for a few minutes. When he finally got a chance to look inside, he found it was filled with 10 $100 bills. He ran out of the building looking for the person who had left it, but it was too late. Still to this day (28 years later) he doesn't know who gave us Christmas that year. I will never forget that.

    Luckily, life is filled with opportunities to give and to receive. Eli, you've got angels watching out for you. :)

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  13. About 6 1/2 years ago, I brought my sister and brand new baby girl grocery shopping while my dad and husband were working. We lived in a small, but busy, ski resort town and it had just snowed. My hubby and I had to live with my dad because we couldn't afford our own place yet, and we pitched in where we could. With money from my hubby and dad, we had only $150 to feed all 7 of us for 2 weeks. So I put the money in my pocket and headed to the store. We shopped for an hour or so, and when we got in line and reached for the cash only to realize it was gone. So we spent another 15 minutes walking up and down the aisles trying to find it. A man approached me and asked if I lost something. I told him about the cash, and he said that he had found it, but didn't want to announce it because everyone would have tried to claim it. He sat in the store for an hour, waiting for someone to miss it. He handed it over to me and gave me a hug, then told me to never keep cash in pocket. Since then, I always put it in my wallet, zipped in my purse. That man will never understand how stressed I was, how upset I was at the thought that my family wouldn't have groceries because I foolishly LOST the money. And I'm still so grateful.

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  14. When I was pregnant with my daughter, it was NOT an easy road. Long story short, I was sick round the clock for 16 weeks, at 17 weeks, I was diagnosed with placenta previa, at 2 weeks, put on bed rest, and at 33 weeks, I was put into the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy. It was a really, really hard battle (worth it, but hard.) My grandmother was talking to her pastor (we're Catholic,) and was telling him that I was in there, and asked him if he was visiting the hospital, if he could pop in to say hello. One day, after a bunch of testing, and things not going the way that we had hoped, I was having an awful day. My husband took the day off of work to stay with me and I told him that I felt like God just forgot about me (told ya it was awful.) As soon as those words left my mouth, there was a knock on the door, and this man, who I had never met before, came in and introduced himself. He stayed for maybe a half an hour, and then had to leave, but I will never, ever forget that day.

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  15. I came home from work one day to find the dreaded 8 1/2 X 11" bright red notice on my door that the city was going to shut off the utilities. Discouraged and embarrassed, I removed it and came into the house, not knowing what I was going to do. I got a phone call from a woman in my ward (congregation) telling me not to worry about it - she had seen it on her walk that day and gone in and paid the delinquent bill. I pay it forward whenever I can, even if I only have a cheerful disposition to offer a crabby world.

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  16. Years ago, I was pregnant and in Nursing school, and had 3 kids at home, and was bartending evenings and weekends. 8 days after having my baby, via emergency C-Section, during which I almost died on the OR table, I was back to school. The stress was awful. Then my boss called, and said that I wasn't welcome to come back to work, as they needed to bring in more business, and wanted someone "Fresher, younger, skinnier and hotter". I was devistated. We almost lost everything. One day in school, I broke down in tears, when a good school friend of mine (A Mormon, BTW...) asked what was wrong. I sobbed that we had no food, and I had no idea how we were going to even survive, I was almost out of formula, and I hardly had the gas to get to school. He and his wofe showed up shortly after, with boxes of food, and the numbers to several places I could go for help. I still want to cry with sheer amazed gratitude, every time I think about it. I am not Mormon, but, whenever the Mormon missioneries come to my door, I let them stay as long as they want to. :-)

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  17. This probably made them late to something.

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    1. Yes but in Palau that probably didn't matter, right? :-)

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  18. My 13 yr old son and I lived alone in a small apt. My husband left us, when I got cancer and we had to move to a smaller place. My light was out in our bathroom for 3 days, and I had been to sick from chemo to go out to the store. A church that was nearby, had came by one late afternoon on a sat asking people in my building if they could change the light bulbs for them. I know it may not seem like much, but I was so grateful. It is one thing to have to get sick 15 times a day, but to do it in the dark is another. Some say that is odd.. I say it was God :)

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  19. My family moved to Spain before my junior year in HS. For my senior year, I decided I wanted to come back the States and graduate with my friends (I'd been in the same school with many of them since second grade). So my parents packed me up and shipped me back. One day I was in the grocery store, tired and stressed (finals were approaching, the horrible woman I'd been staying with had locked me out of the house....long story, etc). I got all the way through the check out and then my credit card wouldn't work and I had no cash. I was on the verge of a complete breakdown, and the older gentleman in line must have sensed it. He pulled out about $40 and paid for my groceries. It's been almost 20 years, and I've never forgotten him. Almost every time I'm in a line in a grocery store, I remember. And if I ever have the chance to return the kindness by helping someone else in a similar predicament, I'll gladly do so!

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  20. I went to the hardware store to buy mulch on what had to be the hottest day of the summer. I had two small children, and was pregnant with number three. A young employee walked over as I was struggling to get bag #1 of mulch into my cart, asked if I needed anything, and before I could properly respond, nodded his head and walked away. I was sort of upset, but told myself that I was a strong capable woman and kept going. Five more bags of mulch later and my cart was ridiculous, and I was sweating, and my kids were fighting, and I was done. They talked me into buying some plastic ball to play with and I at that point I had no resistance left, so we got it and went out to the parking lot. Where it was at least 100 degrees hotter on the black tar. They dropped the ball and it rolled under the car. And then I really just wanted to sit down and cry. It was too hot and I was too tired and I was too big and pregnant and I didn't want to crawl under the car for that stupid, stupid, stupid ball, but both my kids were crying that it was gone. Then the oldest, sweetest man came by, scurried under my car, popped back out with it, and went on his way. Suddenly, the mulch was not that heavy at all. That one tiny simple thing, and I felt like I could do anything again. Thanks, old man.

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  21. When my oldest child was still a baby (about six years ago), my husband and I went out to eat for my birthday. We rarely ever went out because, like many new parents, we were broke. We went to a steak house before the usual dinner rush (in case of a crying baby...didn't want to disturb anyone). We ordered waters and split the cheapest thing on the menu, but we were happy to be out of the house. When the bill came, the server brought over a huge dessert instead and said that another anonymous couple had covered the bill. May not have been much to that couple, but it's something I'll always remember and be grateful for.

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  22. I was at a concert in Maryland with two friends that had taken six hours, two buses, a subway and cab to get to. It was very far from our home in DC and we thought we would have to take an expensive cab ride to an expensive train, to a bus. Fortunately, some very kind people with a pick up agreed to give us a ride home. They took us all the way back to our neighborhood and refused to take any gas money. Instead of getting home in 5 hours, we got home in less than one!

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  23. My friends and I were vacationing in Japan and were trying to locate the little B&B we were staying in. The problem with Japan is addresses are listed according to when the building was built, not really based on how far east or west a place is. (Made me miss SLC's grid system like crazy). To make matters worse my friend had something crazy happen to her ankle where it was swollen and broken out in hives, but she still had to walk because of the area we were in, which was making it worse. This Japanese girl riding by on a bike must have seen our lost tourist look and took pity on us. I used my broken Japanese to explain where we were going and she led the way. When we arrived at our B&B, our host's wife immediately took to helping our poor friend with her ankle even though it was quite late and she had kids to look after. She did some kind of Asian medicine magic because the next morning her ankle was MUCH better. That's a part of the reason I love Japan, they have some of the world's best people who are very patient and kind to tourists. :)

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    1. I still can't figure out that grid system! I have to use GPS to find addresses!

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  24. This really won't sound like much in comparison with all of the other wonderful stories but sometimes its the little things that help the most, so I'll share anyway.
    I just got out of a serious relationship a few days ago. I was absolutely blind-sided by the breakup and completely heartbroken. Since then the 3 girls I live with have been in constant prayer for me, and gone out of their way to cheer me up (getting me a cute little bamboo plant, buying me icecream, etc.) and a few friends that were originally friends with my ex have really reached out and comforted me, listened to me as I explained the pain I've felt, and just been such good friends to me. I cannot even begin to explain how blessed I am to be at a Christian university with such a loving student body!

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  25. I have had so many similar experiences, but I think the trip to DC was the most memorable. There were a lot of things that went wrong that first day in DC as we were trying to figure out how to get around riding the trains. My sister gets motion-sick easily and we ended up on a packed train facing backward at the end of the day. She started feeling sick within minutes and was trying really hard not to vomit. When we got to our stop and found our car, it wouldn't start. We didn't know what to do. We had already had a couple of unhelpful encounters with natives earlier in the day so the kindness of strangers did not seem likely. My sister who doesn't cry over anything, just burst into tears and said, "Do something!" I am very much the follower. Tell me what to do and I'll do it, but put me in charge and we're sunk! Reluctantly, I got out of the car and started walking back toward the parking entrance looking for anyone that looked even remotely friendly to ask if they could give our car a boost and see if that got us going. A man probably in his 40s was walking quickly with his face buried in his cellphone right toward me. I stepped in front of him and surprisingly he didn't bowl me over and keep walking. He did look a little confused. I explained we were having car trouble and hoped he could help us. He said he would be glad to. He helped us push the car out away from the concrete walls so he could get his truck near enough to hook up the cables and and boost off our car. He was truly a God send. I have never been so thankful for the kindness of strangers as then. Far from home in a hostile environment to find a kind stranger is a miracle.

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  26. I had to discipline my little girl in a grocery store (a spanking, ok?). Well, that's a no-no in my part of the world. It was like a movie, where people screeched to a stop to give me dirty looks and shake their heads. I felt myself turning red, but I reminded myself that what she had been doing before was very dangerous and she was ignoring my command to "Stop jumping out of the cart!" for the last 20 minutes. Seriously, she would jump out into oncoming cart traffic.
    Well, this older woman was staring at me, and I just looked down and muttered, "Let's just go," to my daughter (who wasn't crying btw).
    The woman walked over to me and said, "You're a good mom."
    I looked confused and she said, "Yes, I saw what you did. You're a good mom. You have to teach your kids and sometimes it means you do something unpopular."
    I mentioned that people feel spanking is abusive. She shrugged and said that anyone could see my daughter wasn't abused, was well-loved, and was happy.
    I teared up and said thank you. I've never forgotten that and try to be kind and understanding when I see other parents struggling.

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  27. A few years back my engine blew...like kapow!...on the off ramp getting off I-95. I'm trying to push the car(5 foot female, although I'm strong, not that strong)out of the way and not into oncoming traffic. People began to honk to get me to move faster...about the 5th or 6th person to come up behind me finally stops and helps me push it out of the way so I could call a tow truck.

    Another car issue... at 16 I was driving my sister's car back home from the beach (about 2 hours away on roads with pastures on each side) The car just stops, no warning, nothing. I walked (no cell phones at this time) to the first house I could find. Nobody home. 4 houses later and exhausted, each house had a driveway that was a 1/2 mile long, someone finally answered that door. I freaked out! It was a man with no shirt one, he noticed my reaction and quickly got his wife. When they invited me in I hesitated, but they let me use their phone to call my parents (still at the beach)at the hotel. When they did not answer they drove me to the car and tried to jump it. When that didn't work they drove me back to the beach where my parents were (about an hour away). Thats when my parents freaked!

    Everything worked out!

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  28. Our car broke down in downtown Salt Lake City, and we were at a loss for what to do (and were trying to call people for help) when a car full of kids from California stopped and helped us jump it. They had this cool little generator thing, and got us back to running. It seems like a small and simple thing, but it's impossible to describe how much it meant to us, and how impressed we were by those young adults.

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  29. As poor newlyweds, my husband and I took our very sick puppy to the vet. He needed, of course, a bajillion dollars worth of tests and medicine and as we tried to make a responsible decision with tears streaming down our faces an elderly gentleman told us he was paying all of the expenses for us. I'll never forget that and always try to pay it forward!

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    1. While I was tending my 3 year old nephew Zach, his cat ran into the road and got hit by a car. An elderly couple were right behind the teenager that hit the cat. While the gentleman helped me calm the cat and get her into a box to transport to the emergency vet clinic 20 miles away (it was a Sunday), the lady talked to the teen who was also extremely upset and calmed him enough to send him on his way. They then drove me to the vet and offered to paid the bill. There was nothing that could be done to save her. I had to make THE decision. The whole time Macey was crying in pain and distress. It was awful! I was so grateful for those strangers who held me and patted me while I cried over the decision to have Macey put to sleep. One of the saddest days of my life, but that couple made it bearable, truly Angels.

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  30. They weren't strangers but our church helped us out when I was a kid. My dad worked construction and had been laid off for months and months in the late 80s. There were 5 of us at home so that's a lot to feed! Our church had a "pounding" for us! This is an old fashioned term. It is based on the idea that everyone brings a pound of something to help a family out. Sugar, flour, butter, meat, etc would be the old fashioned items. We were blessed with piles of food and even goodies that we young girls had been missing the most. It was wonderful!

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  31. I was 35 weeks plus pregnant with twins when President Hinkley passed away. My husband being a convert this was the only Prophet he had ever know and wanted desperately to go to the viewing. We made the decision to go and bring our 2 year old daughter with us. Being so pregnant walking was difficult as was standing and just about everything else. We knew the lines were long and the wait over two hours and that it was very cold outside being the end of January but we had faith that the Lord would make all things possible. We found a parking place quickly and made our way to the end of the line. A elderly missionary came over and started to make small talk with us. After about five minutes of chatter she asked me when I was due and if it was a boy or girl. I proudly told her that we were having twin boys that were do anytime. She excused herself and came back a few minutes later asking us to follow her without telling us where she was taking us. We followed her through a series of halls and elevators occasionally catching a glimpse of the long line that we still thought we had to wait it. The last elevator opened up to the room where the viewing was being held. She took our hands and congratulated us on our upcoming birth. She then left us. By the time we had arrived to SLC to the time we left SLC was a total of 20 minutes. I went into labor 2 days later. She was an angel to me.

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  32. About 20 years ago, my grandparents and all twelve of their children were driving through Utah when their car broke down in a small town. A man who worked at the local A&W gave them free food, let them spend the night in his family room (He lived in a small house and also had lots of children, so it was very crowded.), and gave them his car to drive until theirs was fixed. I don't know how many people would be willing to take in 14 complete strangers, feed them, and let them stay overnight at their house. My grandparents still tell this story every year and will never forget that man's name.

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  33. Just last weekend I found a lost and injured stray dog. His ears had been cut off and were very infected. He was dazed and just standing in the street. I live in a pretty bad area so it is safe to say he was dumped there. My heart broke when I saw him and I immediately pulled over to try and get him in my car and take him to a shelter. Unfortunately that proved a little difficult. I followed him down the street and stood in the street trying to direct traffic around him cause I couldn't get him to move. I called every resource I knew but no shelter or service would help me. I was in tears the entire time because not a single county "resource" could help me and I was alone in a bad area with an animal in pain. I felt so helpless. After a few minutes of me standing in the street, distraught, a younger couple came out of their house to help me. They brought food and water for the dog. When the dog wouldn't drink the water, the man tried using a turkey baster to pour the water in his mouth. Finally, they were able to get the dog into my car and I was able to take the dog to get some help. I was so thankful for these strangers and it is so nice to know that even in my crappy neighborhood, decent, kind-hearted people exist. Not only did they help me get the dog in the car, they helped me feel not so alone and helpless.

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    1. *LOVE* I did that for a pigeon that I saw hit a car window. I had my kids in the car, I was running late for work but a poem came into my head from grade school. I stopped the truck, stood in the road, directed traffic as it was still alive and moving. I coaxed it to the nearest tree. Later that day after work, I check that tree and the bird was gone. I'm sure it just needed a little rest.
      I don't know what the poem is called but it raining real hard and there are frogs all over the road. The guy stops his car and pushes all the frogs to the side, when the guy in the car says "why are doing that?" the old man says "They've got places to go too."

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  34. I was planning a service trip to a foreign country and didn't have enough for the airfare. Someone anonymously donated the exact amount I needed so that I was able to make the trip.

    People are amazing.

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  35. Last year a young lady who'd just got her licence decided to park her car in a disabled space (as in, double-wide). I watched as she manoeuvred her car up on to the pavement, the passenger side hard against the sign that said 'Disability Parking Only". Her backing and filling only made the situation worse. In the end, I walked up to the drivers window and asked if she'd like some help parking. English was not among her first 3 languages, so it took a while for her to understand. I backed the car out of the space, then reparked it a couple of spaces over in a legal park. She gave me a gold-wrapped chocolate Easter Bunny in thanks.

    A couple of months ago in the supermarket, there was a young Maori woman laden with baby, toddler and a handful of shopping. She only had $10, had miscalculated the total cost, and was trying to return items. I told the checkout operator to put the whole lot thru, and paid the difference. She seemed stunned that a Pakeha would help her out. Told her to thank the Lord, and pass it forward when she could.

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  36. I was in Peru when I was seven, with my mother, her friend, and her friend's granddaughter. We were on a tour bus coming back from walking around Machu Pichu all day, when her granddaughter started feeling sick. Every single person on that bus, all strangers, tried their best to make her feel better. Out came candy, snacks, cough drops, everything you can imagine from their pockets, and a young couple even grabbed her a cup of tea when we stopped at a tiny store for a few minutes, but she was too sick to get out so we stayed in the bus with her.


    When I was about fourteen, my mother and I went to Texas. She was a travel nurse and my dad had recently left us, so everything was new and strange. I had to go and shop by myself in a strange town during the day while she was sleeping. I am a complete introvert, and even looking someone in the eye caused me serious distress, at that time. All of the people there were so kind to me, it really changed me. One sweet elderly woman helped me shop one day, because I couldn't figure out where everything was. The kindness all of those strangers showed me helped me to get over my shyness, and shaped me into the person I am today. I'll never forget a single one of them.

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  37. My wife and her roommates from when we were just dating used to do what they called "Quarter Deeds." They would look for opportunities to assist people with as little as a quarter. This ranged from leaving a quarter by a pay phone to giving a quarter to somebody at the laundry mat who was short on quarters. They would challenge each other to continue to do quarter deeds, and then they would post about their quarter deed on the blog they shared together. It became a great service opportunity for all of them.

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  38. Last year sometime in high school, I was coming back from the office and opened the door to go into the other part of the building, only to notice 4 elderly ladies close to the doorway. I stopped and held the door for them, and one of them said, "Your mother is raising you right." It was simple thing, but I'll never forget the smiles on their faces.

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  39. Even today, my hear melts when a man of any age will hold the door open. So I teach my boys the same thing.

    I was at 7-11 with my boys getting Slurpees and saw a lady with about 4 kids, 1 in a carseat (which suck to carry) and another on the way. I got back out of the car and told the boys to stay there. She was trying to jungle them all and pay for the kids drinks. I offered to take the baby in the car seat and the 2 younger ones and get them in her car. She thanked me and I told her that I've been there too. When I got back in the car my son said "do you know her?" No. "Why'd you do that then?" Because she needed a hand, that's all.

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  40. This short 6 minute TedTalk matches all of these stories perfectly: http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership.html

    You never know how one little thing you do (that you won't even remember you did later) will affect someone. For real. Watch it.

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  41. Just Last Saturday....I was trying to get in one more 100 mile bike ride before Lotoja in two weeks (206 mile bike ride from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY). I was out in Magna (7800 south and close to 8000 west-who knew there WAS an 8000 west), and my tire hit an asphalt lip created by paving the road but not the shoulder and it sent me flying into the lane of traffic.
    Earned myself a new helmet (glad it wasn't my head that broke), nasty road rash and awesome bruises, not to mention messed up my shoulder.
    BUT..to the sweet woman who was the ONLY person who stopped their car to see if I was ok, wouldn't take no as an answer to her offer of a ride home, and spent an hour+ of her families afternoon to take me from Magna to Holladay, THANK YOU!!! I probably had a mild concussion and still had adrenaline in my system when they dropped me off so I know I didn't properly thank them for their kindness.

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  42. While my two brothers and I were serving as missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my family was going through serious financial trouble. One of our former church leaders went to a high council meeting one night and told the brethren there that our family was in trouble and he was going to raise some money for us. My parents hadn't told him or anyone really about the difficulty. From those 12 or so men he raised $5,000 that he took to my parents. When I got home and heard that story I couldn't keep from weeping.

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  43. My mom, sister, and I had gone out to lunch one day over Christmas break. Upon our return to our car, we discovered that the car was stuck in the snow/ice, and there was no way it was moving without some serious help. As luck would have it, my sister was pregnant, and my mom was recovering from a back problem. That left me to push the car out. There was no way I could do it alone, but I gave it all I had. I finally realized that it wasn't going any where, and I needed help. As we were getting ready to call my dad to come help, a car full of girls stopped and came to push us out. It was such an unexpected surprise and we were so grateful for their help. Within a couple of pushes, we were out of the snow and on our way. We will never forget their kindness. I hope I can repay the gesture one day!

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  44. I was on my way to work at 3 in the morning last winter. I live in Logan and it was right after this crazy freezing rain had come through and every surface was super slick. Like to the point where you couldn't take a single step without feeling like you're ice skating. I live on top of a hill so you have to go down a hill to get anywhere. I started extremely slowly down a hill and started spinning, ending up in someone's front yard. About 5 minutes later a car came up the hill (who obviously had superior tires and 4 wheel drive). They stopped, slid down the hill to me, and offered to help me out. They got me out, but I said that I still didn't think I could get to work without going off the road. This incredibly nice man offered to drive me to work in my car and have his friend come pick him up after.

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  45. You think the people of Palau are trying to help you but really they know that when you go, Leotrix goes, so they're really just desperately trying to get rid of you for the well-being of their future posterity.

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  46. 2 months ago i was in labour and went to the hospital to give birth. tragedy struck and we lost our baby girl. i was grief stricken and didn't know how i was going to get through this ordeal. after a few days at the hospital i came home. i looked on my Facebook only to find that a knitting page i follow had posted a hat with a violet on it (we named our baby girl Violette). This made me smile and it was the first time in days that i had smiled. I wrote to the lady knitter to let her know that she had made my broken heart smile. We wrote back and forth for a bit (she lives on the opposite side of the country), she is knitting loads of newborn baby hats to donate to the hospital where I gave birth and she has now created the Violette Project in memory of my baby girl. This stranger has done more than she can ever imagine for me. She was an angel sent by God in my time of need. I too am an avid knitter and I am finding that knitting is helping me heal, and all of my knits are being given away to people (everyone has their own struggles and maybe a little knit object can bring a smile to their face like it did mine). For those of you interested in reading more about the Violette Project here is the link: http://www.smashleestitches.com/Smashlee_Stitches/The_Violette_Project.html

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  47. Love that reading through this helped me remember the kindness of strangers in my life.

    First one: I had recently had twins, and we had a 2.5 year old. We went to the chiropractor, and then next door to dinner because I was too tired to cook. I was doing my best to nurse and care for the twins, and manage the two year old at the restaurant. A gentleman came by and complimented us on our beautiful family, which lifted my heart. He was dining alone. Later our server came by and said that the same gentleman had paid in advance for our dinner, and instructed our server to encourage us to order dessert as well. We were so touched.

    Second one: I was taking our babysitter home in a vehicle with the alternator going out. As luck would have it, I got to wait at a long light at the edge of our neighborhood and the vehicle stalled. It needed jumped to get restarted, and I was blocking the exit from the road. Several people drove past me frustrated by the impedance. I kept trying to call my husband, but he didn't answer any of his phones. (Turns out, he was in the shower.) I tried to push the car out of the intersection myself, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Finally, a couple people stopped behind. They helped me push the car back out of the way. Then another lady stopped to check on me. She listened to my situation and then offered to come back and help after she picked up her husband. Finally I got hold of my husband, who came by and jumped the car, and switched me vehicles so I could get the sitter home. The second lady was true to her word; she came back to check on me, and make sure my husband had arrived to help me.

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  48. About 18 years ago, I was in 7th grade. I was extremely shy, and I didn't really have any friends. The ride on the bus to and from school was especially hard - everyone around me would be talking and laughing with their friends, and I would just sit there. One day on the ride home, a girl I didn't know came and sat with me and talked to me on the ride home. She was a couple years older than me and only rode my bus once a week so she could go to her music lessons. It was something really small and she never did it again, but I've never forgotten it.

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  49. I lived in Nepal for a few months a couple of years ago on a missions trip and we spent one particular weekend in a village that we managed to get to during an oil shortage by riding on the roof of a bus with thirty other people up the side of a mountain on a rocky dirt road for four hours. More ridiculousness ensued which ended with us walking back down the mountain because our guide failed to tell us beforehand that there would be no busses going back. I fantasized about pushing our guide off a bridge during that walk down the mountain and by the time that we stopped to catch a bus I had never felt more enraged in my life when a sweet Nepali woman asked me "What country?" Wanting to know the nationality of the girl sitting on the ground outside her shop, and after she had exhausted all of the English that she knew, she brought me a tiny stool to sit on. I could have kissed her.

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