It seems like all we hear about these days is bad news and terrible stories.
Well, today we’re going to do something totally different. You’re about to read some nice, wholesome stories about people being totally excellent and nice to complete strangers.
Because who doesn’t need a little bit of that in their life, right?
So let’s do it!
These folks on AskReddit shared their wholesome stories.
1. A nice experience.
“I once took my son to a local science center for a day of fun. I also have cerebral palsy. I get around well enough. Sometimes I use a wooden cane, but I’m alright unsupported.
I rock a mean limp and have terrible balance, but if you were to see me walking around most would just assume I had been injured at some point.
While walking around I spotted this woman with a young daughter of maybe 7-8 using a walker and sporting a pair of leg braces. The mother and I locked eyes a few times throughout our free roaming day until eventually our kids started interacting with the same exhibit.
We were standing there watching them and I turned to the mother and before I could even speak she said:
“Cerebral palsy. You too, huh?”
We ended up spending the rest of our day together chatting about our lives and experiences and going over the many advancements and therapies that have been developed since my childhood.
She ended up telling me at the end of the day that seeing me being a single dad to my son and being so independent in spite of my disability gave her a lot of peace of mind. She said she worried a lot about what her daughter’s future might hold in terms of her independence.
It was just an all around really nice experience.”
2. Homesick.
“I moved 1000 miles away from everything I knew after graduating college 16 years ago. Back then I was pretty homesick, struggling in my career and figuring things out so I felt pretty lost in life.
One day I was walking around downtown Orlando when an older man probably in his mid 80’s stopped me. He handed a piece of paper that he was carrying to me and said “You seem like a good person with a good heart. It will be alright.” Then he just walked away.
Looking down, that piece of paper was a copy of a handwritten page by him filled with dozens and dozens of sayings, illustrations and quotes from all over the world regarding love and hope. Tears came immediately and I put it away to read later that day. It stayed on my wall in my home for the better part of 10 years until I moved again.
Now it’s been 16 years since then and sure he’s moved on to the next world by now. I still have that page, take it out occasionally and think about that wonderful man from many years ago who taught me about pure and genuine random acts of kindness right along with love and hope.
He was an absolute blessing to me and to our world. Thank you good sir. You were a beautiful soul.”
3. Very cool.
“This happened when I was around 9 or 10.
I was out riding my bike with my mum, and halfway through the trail, my bike breaks down.Anyway we couldn’t carry the bike back home since it would take hours, so we were just stranded in that field.
There were a few people on the trail who saw our inconvenience, but either they didn’t have any bike knowledge to know how to fix it, or they couldn’t be bothered to care.
At least an hour had passed before this old man, and I mean like real old (he looked to be around 80) approached us and fixed our bike free of charge.
He got his hands down to the grease, and eventually after a few minutes I could start peddlin’ again. I thought that was a really wholesome moment, his kindness and coolness to our situation.
And that’s why this memory sticks to me I guess.”
4. It’s on me.
“My card declined at a fast food place a couple years ago.
The manager saw it happening and came up and gave me the food anyway.
It may have come from a “f*ck this establishment” mood rather than the unrelenting kindness of his heart, but either way it really made my day.”
5. He was right.
“I was in an abusive relationship and it ended with him beating me up very badly. Broken ribs, bruises and cuts all over me.
He was arrested, but the process and aftermath was hell. It was spring and the weather was warming, but for weeks I wore long sleeves and high collars to hide the cuts and bruises. Eventually everything healed and faded except one very deep bruise on my upper arm.
I had had enough of hiding them in shame so one day I said f*ck it and wore short sleeves. I was standing in line in Walmart and noticed this rough biker looking dude staring at me. I thought he was checking me out or whatever. Then he asked me how I got that bruise on my arm.
I stumbled answering and he outright asked “Did somebody hurt you?”. For some reason I decided to be honest and not lie in shame so I said out loud “Yes, somebody hurt me.” He looked at me me and in the kindest voice said “You did not deserve that. Whoever it was will get what’s due to them one day.” For some reason, that was a turning point for me.
I knew then that I was going to be ok. I knew that no matter how things turned out legally, that I was going to be ok. I never saw that man again, but I honestly think he was an angel sent to give me a message.”
6. A nice surprise.
“I had a knock on my door and when I opened it, there was a stranger with a gift card to a local garden store for me.
Apparently her kid had been stealing tulips from my garden every day to give to his mom and they wanted to pay for them, once they figured out whose garden they were coming from.
I had thought squirrels were doing it and had regretted planting them the year before, not being able to enjoy them! I spent the gift card on more bulbs!”
7. A fuzzy memory.
“I was using crutches at the time after an ankle injury.
Got off the tram to go to university and hobbled straight into a surprise Melbourne spring storm. Guy with very limited English walked me from the tram stop to my class, holding an umbrella over me the entire walk (about 10 minutes).
One of those lovely, warm fuzzy memories.”
8. Pay it forward.
“When I was 16, I’d taken my mom’s old Pontiac Bonneville to the movies and I was in such a hurry that I forgot to turn off the lights.
When I came out, the car was dead but someone left a set of jumper cables on the hood with a note that said, “I hope you make it home safely”.
I’ve never ever forgotten about that. Since then I’ve tried to pay that kindness forward anyway I can.”
9. Suddenly gone.
“When I was 18 I had a friend in the hospital with brain cancer.
His time was limited. I visited him when I could. He was kind of hippie alternative punk. I wore a leather jacket and had long hair. I walked to his room, a nurse saw me.
Without saying a word she walked to me and gave me a long comforting hug. That’s how I knew he passed.”
10. I’m drunk!
“I was really drunk and started puking in the trash can in the women’s bathroom since there was a line to get to a toilet.
One of the girls in line held my hair up and rubbed my back, telling me I’d be okay. I drunkenly told her I loved her; I may also have been crying.
Wherever you are, Bathroom Girl, I still love you.”
11. Frantic.
“I have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and anxiety and I was at the pharmacy trying to get my meds filled but my card kept declining.
A couple of the meds have major side effects if I skip a dose so I really couldn’t go without them.
I was frantic and trying to figure out what was wrong with my card when another lady smiled and swiped her card for me so I could get my medication refilled.”
12. A helping hand.
“I was in London and was supposed to be flying home that day. Walking down the street with my two suitcases towards the tube station nice and early on my way to Heathrow with plenty of time.
Silly me didn’t realize that when the signs said there is going to be a tube strike on the day you fly home, that means the tube is COMPLETELY CLOSED. I thought it just meant delays or something. I don’t know. I start walking toward the bus station a few blocks away desperately trying to come up with a Plan B.
A young man comes up to me and offers to help carry my suitcases. He asks where I’m going, and I say Heathrow which is an hour away at this point and time until my flight is running short. It starts raining. He says you’ll never make it there on time on the buses.
He calls me a cab, then finds a little awning where we can sit and wait for the cab and stay out of the rain. He lets me use his phone to transfer money to pay for the cab (mine didn’t have service outside my home country).
We just sat and chatted for 30 minutes waiting for this cab, and he made me feel so much less panicked. I just couldn’t believe the kindness he showed to some random person on the street, and I’ve never been able to find him again online to thank him.”
13. Incredibly grateful.
“I was traveling from the South of England to the North of Scotland to start a new job the next morning.
I had taken a train up to London and was supposed to get on an early morning flight from Heathrow. The bus to the airport however, was cancelled and I had to make my own way using a series of night buses. However it was about 2:30 a.m. and my phone was dead, and I had never used London’s night buses before.
I was young and a little scared, standing in the middle of Victoria trying to figure out the faded bus schedule when a woman came up to me and asked “Are you alright love?” And I explained through tears that I thought I was going to miss my flight and didn’t even have an oyster card.
She looked up my route on her phone, wrote down all the possible variations of buses and trains that I would need to take, including the times. She waited with me the entire time, like twenty minutes, THEN when the bus came up she paid for my fare( no cash on London buses).
I got out and looked to her and she shrugged and said ” oh I’m not getting the bus, you just looked like you needed someone.”
I think about her every once in a while, and I’m incredibly grateful for her.”
14. Sick in the hospital.
“I was in the hospital, knowing I’d be there for at least a week, and possibly more.
I was sick of hospital food, so I went downstairs to go across the street to the hospital Subway. I was pretty far back in the hospital – sixth floor, backside of the building, labyrinth of staircases and hallways to get out the front door. The walk from there to Subway took almost fifteen minutes, even though it was just across the street.
I waited in line, got up to the counter to order, and realized I’d left my wallet in my room. (I ordinarily keep my wallet in my back pocket, but there was no need to in the hospital since I was in my room most of the time.)
I was exhausted mentally by that point from the stay, told them I’d forgotten the wallet, and turned to make the trek all the way there and back again. All of a sudden, a nurse behind me bought my food for me, saving me the trip (and the money). I thanked him profusely.
That was years ago, but I will never forget that act of kindness.”
How about you?
What’s the most wholesome thing that’s ever happened to you with a stranger?
Talk to us in the comments!
