‘What’s a nice thing a stranger has done for you that you’ve never forgotten?’ – 21 incredibly heartwarming tales about unsung heroes

If you were to believe all the folk you see yelling at each other on social media, you’d think the world was made up of entirely horrible people. But, while there are some bad apples, on the whole most of us are pretty nice.

Over on the AskUK subreddit, user franki-pinks shared the story of something good that came out of an interaction with a person they’d never met before…

‘What’s a nice thing a stranger has done for you you’ve never forgotten?’

And here’s the tale that prompted it.

‘When I was younger we were that poor we very rarely had any gas or electricity at our house and a lot of nights we’d have no food in the house either. One of these freezing wet and cold nights when I was around ten I was walking the streets looking for some loose change to try and get something when I found a 10p piece.

‘I went to chip shop and bought a cone of batter bits. I’d just started eating them outside the chop shop when a group of teenagers walked past and knocked them out my hand. I was on my knees crying to salvage them but I couldn’t.

‘I went and sat on a bench nearby and just sobbed. A drunk man came up to me and said “here you go kid” and handed me a b heavy carrier bag and walked off. I looked inside and there was a steaming hot parcel of food! I unwrapped it and there was a massive fish, chips, mushy peas, three sausages, potato fritter and a battered burger! I sat and ate all of it apart from the sausages and saved them for school the next day. I went to bed with a full belly and happy knowing I’d have something for lunch and breakfast tomorrow.

‘I think about that man a lot. I’d never seen him before or since. In the chip shop he was that drunk he was leaning on the counter to keep himself upright. Even in that state he could see how desperate he was and did something he probably wouldn’t even remember the next day but I’ve never forgotten it 30 years later.’

Excuse us while we dry our eyes. A lovely story, and one that prompted lots of other people to chip in with similarly wholesome tales about the kindness of strangers.

1.

‘Not done but said. I was on my usual morning jog one Saturday and a woman stopped me to say she saw me jogging very morning and wanted to say I was an inspiration. She had started jogging because of the number of times she had seen me pass her window over the years.’
–pajamakitten

2.

‘Almost seven years ago I (30M at the time) went out for my morning jog which I always start with a half mile walk to war up, during this a guy (maybe early 50’s?) drove past and swung around to tell me that life is worth living and whatever I was going through would get better soon.

‘I wasn’t about to do myself in but I was about two weeks into being a new parent and mentally exhausted from our baby being basically nocturnal at the time. It made my day that he would interrupt his schedule to try and save the life of a stranger who looked like they were struggling and I often think of that moment if I’m actually having a down day.’
–PassionNo5041

3.

‘I was in hospital with a bad UTI (second time in a week) and one of the ladies in the bay I was in had seen I had no visitors. We got to talking and she found out I’d have to walk home on my own (about an hour’s walk) when I got discharged. So when her son came to visit, she got him to bring enough cash to give me so I could get a taxi home instead.

‘I got home safe, with minimal pain and I’ve never forgotten about that lovely lady or her son who made a point of asking if I needed anything else (without prompting from his mum).’
–BlackCatWitch29

4.

‘I grew up poor in the 80s and 90s, my dad was a retired miner who couldn’t work for disabilities. One day we walked to the coast to try see dolphins and were sitting in the pier. My dad had been about 30 or so and this older bloke, maybe 60, called us over and gave us some old binoculars out the boot of his car. I have lost my dad now but still have the binoculars. That man’s kindness has inspired me to do my own acts of kindness now I’m an old bloke.’
–copypastespecialist

5.

‘Walking over the crossing mid-way Hardman St in Liverpool, 2005. I’m a skint student. Carrying my month’s rent in cash to go pay it. Somehow, I drop it. Notes go flying everywhere. The people passing by all stop and start picking it up. Then returning it to me.

‘Liverpool will always be special to me, for many reasons. Not a note was missing.’
–wowsomuchempty

6.

‘I was sent to the shop to buy a few things. Milk, tea bags, etc. I decided to treat myself to a scratch card, one of the £5 ones. Unfortunately, I was 50p short. As I contemplated putting something back, I thought better of it when I heard a voice. ‘I have 50p’, and a nice young lady handed me the money.

‘I did the scratch card right outside the shop, and I won 120 quid! Thanks in no small part to that young lady. I went back into the shop and told her to hold on. I cashed it in and said to the lady, ‘I won 120 quid, so here’s your 50p back.’ She insisted I kept it, so I did!

‘I’ve been married to that lady for 12 years.’
–Extreme-Composer8452

7.

‘I was 14, on my way to group therapy (for anxiety) on the metro. Somehow, while on the metro, I lost my paper ticket. Cue panic when i get to the other side and can’t find the ticket to get me through the barriers. This feels like the end of the world, I am on the verge of tears. I speak to the metro staff member who is manning the barriers, tell her I lost my ticket.

‘She tells me that I will need to give my details so they can fine me. I must have looked panic stricken so she said why don’t I go have another look in your bag? I tell her I have already checked everywhere, but she firmly tells me to check again.

‘Five minutes later of frantically searching through all my pockets and bag with no sign of the ticket, she comes over to me and lets me through the barriers. Apparently her bosses had been watching before, which was why she couldn’t be seen letting me through without a ticket. This was over ten years ago and I am still grateful.’
–outerspaceferret

8.

‘We went to Bodrum, Turkey for the day (day trip deal from Kos) Found a nice pub in the main shopping bit and sat down to have a coffee and a drink. Got chatting to another Brit. Just random crap. Where are you from, how are you enjoying your holiday, stuff like that (he apparently stayed there regularly). Went to pay and he’d already paid for our drinks. Really simple thing but made our day.’
–DarthScabies

9.

‘I’d just visited my MIL in hospital. She was dying and I’d never see her again, after her being a wonderful mum to me for 25 years. Got on a delayed train and needed to buy a ticket on it. Conductor who looked about 17 came along and asked if I’d had a good day. I burst into tears on him.

‘He was totally panicked but eventually stuttered he was sorry there was nothing he could do. Then inspiration hit and he said he’d sell me a ticket from the next city along, which would save me £20 and at least I could treat myself to something. He came past later and nodded and said he wished he could do more. Would I like to talk about MIL for a bit? Lovely young man, really helped at a horrible time.’
–DameKumquat

10.

‘When I was at uni, I got the dreaded call that my Gramps had had a heart attack and I needed to get there straight away to say goodbye. Taxis were booked so I sobbed down the phone to the operator and she managed to scramble someone to get me to my boat as quickly as possible.

‘I bought my ticket, was queued up for the boat and the ticket inspector came round. I was barely keeping it together and he stopped and asked if I was okay. I started crying again and managed to tell him what was going on. The thing to note is that on the other side is a bus to catch. If you were quick on the other side, you could sometimes catch one bus, if not, you had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one.

‘The ticket inspector sat me in the seat closest to the exit of the boat and I managed to catch that earlier bus. When I got on the bus the driver goes ‘you the girl with the grandad?’ Turns out the team had contacted the bus company and the driver had waited an extra minute or two to make sure I caught that earlier bus.

Pure humanity there. I’m so thankful to them all. I got to say goodbye.’
–TotalBananas1