An act of kindness on the street.

[Rayotech]

We have a great bunch of folks here on the B&B. When it comes to kindness, we are not lacking!

But out on the street in the area we live, work, shop and play. Courtesy and kindness seems to have disappeared.

Out on the street working, most of my customers are decent, a few fall into the kind category but it is rare these days.

Going to the local shops, flee markets, and grocery stores, seems everyone has a bit of an attitude. You hold a door open for someone and they look at you like your nutz! Bewildered! You say excuse me to get through a crowd and everyone looks at you like you have committed a crime and then they just stand there.

The world has changed drastically in these short few years, so have a lot of folks! Just when you start to think there is no hope or that we are completely lost a little bit of humanity peeks it's head up and says Hello.

Last night me and my wife were grocery shopping at one of the local chain stores. The place was busy and everyone acted like they were in a hurry. So in the middle of all this I am trying to get a gallon of milk out of the cooler and fumbling with the grocery list at the same time.
Got the milk in the cart but my list and pen went sprawling on the floor. I started to bend down to get them and all the sudden I heard a voice say, Sir I got them for you. A young man probably mid twenties grabbed them up and handed them to me. Saying here you go sir. I thanked him! We all went about our way.

Now what's real crazy, I just cannot get what happened out of my head! What that young man did, well it kind of floored me!
Not used to being the recipient of something like this out on the street. Yes it was a small gesture but his actions melted my heart! My wife witnessed this from across the isle and about cried when it happened.

After a hard week at work, what happened in the milk isle, well that there made my week a good one.

Crazy us older folk would be moved by such a simple thing.

 

[Rhody]

Maybe things are not that bad after all kindness is there! Great story!

 

[Lightcs1776]

That is a young man who likely had parents that modeled this type of behavior. My folks would likely take me to task if I had an attitude towards the general public. My father opens the car door for my mother and I open the car door for my wife. If my kids, all adults now, have someone walking into a store or church behind them, they hold the door open. It is basic manners that need to be passed on.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

I know the feeling. About once a year this happens to me...

I drive a fuel truck. Deliver fuel to fuel stations for a living. Im the guy people complain about because Im (my truck) is in the way. I m not like the Pepsi guy who can park anywhere. I have one place I can be to do my job and its usually right next to the pumps so i put out orange cones to keep me safe and you from driving in my safe area.

Once a year I will have someone come to me and say
"thanks for delivering the fuel as i know its a dangerous job and we are having a shortage of fuel truck drivers".

It makes a guy feel good knowing that some people think about more than themselves now and then.

 

[Billski]

A person who goes to church every Sunday will find some very kind people. I just came from a place called the Central church of Christ. They gave a Thanksgiving meal to people over 50 years of age. We were told to sit down, and then we got served a meal . We were also allowed to take food home. A person will run into better folks like these if he will go to these churches for fellowship.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

This is very true. But finding Kindness on the everyday street or store is sometimes scary. But enjoyable. Almost makes you wonder what that person wants from you. LOL.

I try to be kind to folks in thinking about others in my everyday travels. The world would be a better place if more people did this. And I'm far from being a perfect person or without issues of my own. Just an older generation I think.

 

[taffy]

There are good people about, wherever you live

 

[BradWorld]

I see acts of kindness and general friendliness every day, every where I go. If anything has changed, I think that the post-pandemic world has made people a little bit friendlier than they were. We live in the burbs, and do a ton of RV camping out in the country, so we find people generally friendly for the most part. At least until they get behind the wheel of their vehicles and start driving like rude careless lunatics.

 

[ctr]

Kindness is often contagious. One hospital I previously worked at wasn't so much. Went on a one man crusade to change it. Simple things like saying hello and smiling as you pass people in the hallway can enact big change. Within a few weeks most folks were smiling back. A few weeks later I would ask there name and introduce myself. Then greet them by name going forward.

Works often enough. The one exception was a staff member who refused to get off the elevator to make room for a patient transport. That person I referred to HR.

Focus on the good and we often find it. Just be prepared to deal effectively with the bad.

 

[@ngel]

At my workplace we made it a costume to spontaneously bring breakfast/lunch to share with everyone, we don't appoint who will bring what/when or plan anything, just out of nowhere someone will bring donuts, breakfast burritos, someones wife will cook a meal for everyone, or just out of nowhere our boss will cook burgers for lunch and we would invite anyone crossing the street, vendors or providers, truck delivery drivers.

It makes the day enjoyable, we don't have to befriend our coworkers, at the end of the day is just work, but sometimes we forget that we are people and not just another producing machine at work. Making time to enjoy a meal together and share a bit of our lives remind us we have a life and we feel more protective of each other, safer when we work with each other, and definitely more productive as we don't feel like looking for another place to work.

If we were to apply kindness everywhere the world would certainly be a lot better!

 

[dmshaver]

Great story, thank you for sharing. Now I need to give a random act of kindness to a stranger.

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

A couple of thoughts...

A few years ago as my hair began turning gray it was so interesting how people began behaving differently. The bag boy at the grocery started offering to help carry my groceries (somewhat insistently! ) and he had not been before. People opening a door and stepping back to let me go first. Small niceties of deference that I had never experienced before. Mind you, the only difference was my hair color. It was not that I exhibited any signs of needing assistance.

This was heightened when recently visiting relatives in Iowa. Much the same but now they address me as, "Sir." I kept thinking, "Okay, this is what it would have been like if I was in the military." I was visually older but otherwise the same. One stranger after another addressing me as, "Sir." I started thinking, "Okay, I must be on Candid Camera - what the?"

A second thought...

"Do a good turn daily." It has been years since I was a Scout but it is fulfilling to find those opportunities all these years later. Nothing monumental but gestures that are considerate of others. At the root of it is selfish vs. selfless. To be selfless puts others first and is slightly less convenient for you. But it is immensely more rewarding to extend a helping hand.

I am surprised at how often this happens at my local post office. Not long ago an elderly lady had gotten back into her car which was parked in a handicapped spot. Her driver's door was open and she was seated in the car. She was mostly in the car except for her left leg. I had an armload of boxes to drop off but for some reason I paused. She was not in trouble but just sitting there. "Hi, can I help you out?" She looked up at me and said, "Why, yes I need help getting my leg into the car." So I set the boxes down and lifted her leg into the car so she could close the door. Goodness, she was so grateful and it was such a simple thing.

Highly recommended: You get to meet a stranger, help out as needed and feel great all the day long. Win / win!

 

[Ron R]

There are times when I just instinctively just do things that seemed right.
I remember one cold windy day(-25C) going home from a call in to help out at work on a piece of equipment and noticed a person walking along side the road so I slowed down thinking who in their right mind would walk out on day with a wind chill factor of (-40C) with a blue jean jacket on no winter boots and was almost hesitant to help thinking this is very strange.
Then I thought maybe she had a fight with boyfriend and she was young and dumb walking out there so I pulled over and backed up to see what is going on, I told her I was going into town and if she needed a lift. She told me to drive her to the gas station to make a phone call, 6 miles down a secondary remote kind of road, so OK I said.
Poor young girl was shaking like a leaf in my vehicle so I turned up the heat and drove her there, she said thanks and last I saw of her, I often wondered what happened to make her walk down a road with minimal winter clothing but she survived another day. Where I live there are folks who freeze to death every year in our county because of alcohol.......

 

[oc_in_fw]

I know that it is customary for older generations to go on about how everything is going to hell. About a decade ago I decided that I didn’t want to become a grumpy old man. When I am out and about, I look for the good in people, and I seem to find a lot of it. There is even a lot of good youngin’s out there. Look for good, you’ll find it. Look for bad, ditto. Sure, bad is still there, but I don’t dwell on it. It has always existed, and always will. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Old Hippie]

T'other day I was at the bank in town. The branch I use is one that gets a high turnover rate in the tellers because they seem to train there before moving to larger branches. Sometimes that leads to some tellers standing waiting for the branch manager to come get them out of trouble, and the lines can begin to get long as tempers begin to get short.

One of the tellers was trying to help an older man and his wife with some minor problem with their account statement. They'd just about wrapped up and the wife heads out to the car while the man finishes up. He's been standing there for about 20 minutes at this point and looks a tad wobbly. As he's trying to fold up all the papers and put away his pen he drops the whole shebang on the floor and also knocks over his cane. He stood there looking down at the mess. I was about three back in the line at that point, but I said "excuse me" to the folks on either side and stepped forward to him. "I've got this, sir" and scooped everything back up and handed it to him. He thanked me and left and that was it.

I noticed that the people in line with me quit looking so darn impatient at that point. Even got a couple smiles.

I keep reminding myself, "My turn will come."

O.H.

 

[Ron R]

I know of a couple who are church leaders but are some of the nicest folks I have ever met and they are very successful farmers and hard workers who have always supported good causes.
With the Ukraine war out break they have helped 3 couples with children over the last 5 months settle in the Northern part of Alberta Canada and I'm sure other families all across North America are doing the same but it is nice that folks are helping in this way.
There have been a lot of Ukrainian's since the 1940'-50's that have settled in Alberta from other conflicts that where not very nice over in their homeland and they are mostly decent folks and looks like history has rhyme of repeating its self.
Thanks for folks who help the needy when they are down and out.

 

[ctr]

My neighbor locked himself out the other night. Left dinner on the stove and drove him to a friends house across town. The friend had a spare key. Was happy to help out a neighbor in need.

 

[FarmerTan]

T'other day I was at the bank in town. The branch I use is one that gets a high turnover rate in the tellers because they seem to train there before moving to larger branches. Sometimes that leads to some tellers standing waiting for the branch manager to come get them out of trouble, and the lines can begin to get long as tempers begin to get short.

One of the tellers was trying to help an older man and his wife with some minor problem with their account statement. They'd just about wrapped up and the wife heads out to the car while the man finishes up. He's been standing there for about 20 minutes at this point and looks a tad wobbly. As he's trying to fold up all the papers and put away his pen he drops the whole shebang on the floor and also knocks over his cane. He stood there looking down at the mess. I was about three back in the line at that point, but I said "excuse me" to the folks on either side and stepped forward to him. "I've got this, sir" and scooped everything back up and handed it to him. He thanked me and left and that was it.

I noticed that the people in line with me quit looking so darn impatient at that point. Even got a couple smiles.

I keep reminding myself, "My turn will come."

O.H.

Sooner than I thought, mine did!


One thing I see less and less of at the bank:

Young people. Unless they are tellers, ha!
Seems we have already "taken the Mark of the Beast" and no one batted an eye!

 

[gpjoe]

Great story, thank you for sharing. Now I need to give a random act of kindness to a stranger.

This.

We can hope it's contagious.

 

[gpjoe]

This thread reminds me of something that happened to me and a work associate, years ago.

We were working in engineering at a rather large defense contractor, and had a meeting to attend. On the way to the conference room, we stopped at the men's room.

While exiting to the hallway, my buddy saw a guy approaching, and held the door for him. We had seen this guy before and didn't know him, but he had a disability that required him to use crutches.

Now, my co-worker was just being kind, but the disabled man was having none of it, and responded with:

"Are you going to hold my d*ck for me too?"

We were floored.

I get that this man felt that he didn't want to be treated any differently because of his disability, and that he was capable of opening the door, but my co-worker was doing exactly what he would have done for any able-bodied person, and merely showing courtesy.

Yikes.

Sadly, we learned to never show this person any sort of treatment that might be construed as special, which actually meant we treated him differently from everyone else, and feared showing him any kindness.