Nice people stories, little things that make you happy

[kmemphis]

We've got the thread about people who piss you off, so let's have the opposite.

Besides, hearing/reading stories about little random acts of kindness makes me feel good when I'm down, and it's all about me.

I'll kick off with one from my senior year in high school - fall '05, American Government. My skin was bad and I could not sit, so I stood during class and while doing work (oy, my back!). Only one teacher complained, but she was mean anyways and did study hall, so phooey on her.

Anyways, I stood in this class, and I remember a girl I don't know very well coming and standing next to me, so I wouldn't be so alone. I think another student joined her, but I know she did it and I wish I could remember her name. (I doubt she remembers me or remembers doing it, but I'll never forget.) She didn't ask why I couldn't sit ("it hurts" was enough), and it's just nice.

[Ms. Chandni]

What a nice story, Kmemphis!  I like the idea of sharing stories of people being nice. 

Here's mine: Christmas was coming, and I was broke as usual.  I really lived hand-to-mouth in those days, and struggled all the time, but holidays were especially challenging: try explaining to a 5 year old why Santa isn't going to bring her very many toys.  So, one day, I got a Christmas card in the mail, and inside was a $20 bill.  It was signed Santa.  I had no idea who sent it to me.  A few days later, I opened my front door, and on the porch was a big garbage bag.  Inside were several toys, all wrapped up in Christmas paper and ribbon.  Just a note - "from Santa".  One of my neighbors had received a similar package on her porch, too.  I can't tell you how much $20 meant to me in those days (food for a week!), and the presents were such a nice surprise.  Months later I found out that a neighbor's stepmother, who I barely knew at all, had sent the money and dropped of the packages.  She understood how hard the holidays are when you have little kids and hardly any money. 

[kmemphis]

That is so sweet!

When my cousins stayed with us during the holidays in 2003, a year after their mom walked out, we got donations from the crisis center and the middle school. So they actually got better presents than we did that year. 2003 was a hard year financially - it started with my uncle's family imploding and him living with us, no I'm not, back and forth. Then someone had surgery, which meant the breadwinner had to miss work. Then 2 of our dogs got Parvo. One lived, but the vet bills, ow, stop gnawing on my foot and show some gratitude Mikers. Then my skin infection, which meant yet again mom (breadwinner) missed work.

The vet was really nice - we called all the ones in our area around 4:30-5pm (closing time) and our usual one said, "If he's positive, we'll just put him down."

So we were flipping through the phone book and called the one in the next county (only problem using them is they can't give us county rabies tags, just state ones. Oh the huge manatee. ) and they said they'd try. So we zoomed up there with him. He stayed there most of a week, was spoiled rotten, but they let us pay in installments. They also spoil our dogs ROTTEN when they stay the night/day for grooming - to keep our business, we can bring them by around 4pm the day before an appointment, because they open after mom's at work. One day, Dixie was behind the front desk, relaxing. Dogs.

Recently, Wickett tested positive for heartworms (annual check-up and monthly shaving) and mom was pissed at the vet (they want our money!), because Dixie tested positive a few years back, but nothing has happened. And we've seen the physical symptoms, we'd know if he was dying. For one thing, he'd be well behaved.

But no, it turned out they tested his blood 3 times (the other 2 times free of charge) because they know we give them their heartguard monthly, and they really care about our idiots. Heartguard is blaming it on us for not giving it to them within 5 minutes of the same day each month. Covering their asses - mom's spoken to dog owners who give their babies heartgiard and have gotten positives.

So they've gone above and beyond normal vet duty.

Another one - last spring, the side effects of Lyrica were wicked. My eyes were really messed up. I couldn't read, but I could still see. I had to hold things in front of my nose to just make them out. (freaked out the eye doc - uh, it's not her eyes (as dr ego said) it's the meds, her pupils aren't even moving!) So I had a first appointment with my therapist, and lots of boilerplate to sign and whatnot. I didn't want to put myself through the headache of trying to read it, so hey asking never hurt, and no one else was there, so I asked the receptionist to read it to me, and she did.

People are so nice.

Non-school example that confirms my weird little idea that true "southern gentle(wo)men" are more likely to be black than white (at least in the city) - I grabbed a cart at Kroger and the wheels were borked. No big idea, and it would have been nice enough if the older black gentleman just told me it was broken. It would have taken no time at all to grab another one. But no. He gave me his.

And for another old people story - not far from my dorm is an identical building, only it's part of an old folk's home. I was walking past it on the way to the library, and this white woman stopped me (and I was being a typical teenager with ipod on - BW playing of course!) and asked me how I got my skin so clear.

And of course, today somebody assumed I was 15. I'll be carded until I die!

[kmemphis]

Another example from the bad old days, when I'd heard a few Bollywood songs, but was still far from obsession.

August 2007, my first or second week as a college freshman at the U of M. I have an appointment at Dr Ego's office with one of his coworkers just to get some prescriptions refilled. It was decided that I would give MATA (Memphis Area Transportation Authority - buses and trolleys) a try. I am in Memphis now, after all.

I called them and told them where I was going and from where, including the date and the general time. Got directions.

They were all wrong, starting from where I was supposed to stand, so I had to jog along (in PANTS what was I thinking with my backpack bouncing) to the right stop.

Luckily, the bus drivers were nice. Even nicer was the older black gentlewoman, who gave me some advice about how to get there. Looking young really has some advantages, and the backpack ID'd me as a student.

Also,I encountered two southern Gentlewomen at Kroger last week. Both said "excuse me" back. But the second woman, in a scooter, said, no, excuse me precious. And she sounded sincere.

And in the school world - I e-mailed my French prof to say I'd be missing today. In the reply, he said (for the millionth time this semester) that he would help me in class if I needed any help. He also let me have my phone on during presentations, because doctor phone tag is the worst game ever.

My professors have been really accommodating, which is a good thing, because I miss a lot of days.

And I even had to have my phone on and out during a test (nurse called after the test), but I cleared it with the professor, offering to sit elsewhere to show I wasn't cheating or anything.

Another thing my French prof did was he was very serious, "oh shit, I flunked the test" I thought (I got a C on it). For one answer, I'd just put a definition of naive, because I hadn't done the reading. He was worried it was connected to my illness, but no, it's just me being flaky. His concern is so touching.

Last semester, I came back after Thanksgiving to full on assault from the heaters. I had to sic my mom on the dorm people to get them to contact someone who could do something (call us any time! they said, and now I've lost the number) that day, because hello, I'm sick, I need to lay down and I can't effin breath, even with the window open and fan on. (80 F in our rooms!!)

So the night before class was miserable - waking up gasping for air, soaked in sweat. The short walk to Arabic was nice. But no, the classroom was an oven (and the class two doors down was probably an ice box - the building is so weird, you can only tell how a class will feel once you're in there) and I told the professor that I wouldn't be able to go to class, I had to get out of there. But I still needed to meet with him. He offered to meet with me OUTSIDE (and it was a crisp, "cold" day for "normal" people I suppose). We didn't, I found a place that wasn't too suffocating, but the offer itself is beyond sweet. He also let me pass the class with an A- despite not doing the final at all.

Going back to my sophomore year - I sit in the front if I can, I like to participate, though I don't raise my hand just before they let us out and hold us back 10 more minutes. Anyways, it was a boring class, but I'd been able to stay awake most of the time. Not this time, and the professor noticed. Rather than be a jerk and ask if I need a pillow or make a loud noise, he asked if I was okay.

That semester, I also spent most of an English class crying. (I didn't like this character but I identified with her and defended her... because everyone else hated her.) And I kept sobbing for an hour or so after. I don't know why I e-mailed my prof, or if she contacted me, but we went out to Chili's. Because she was worried about me.

People worry about me a lot.

[mala]

kmemphis, I especially like your first story about the girl who stood with you in class. 

This isn't really a random act of kindness, but it was a little thing that made me happy.  I have curly hair that I often straighten - not tight curls, but large ones that get quite frizzy.  Well, one lazy day I let my hair dry exactly how it was coming out of the shower, and didn't bother even running a comb through it or tying it back, before I left the house to go grocery shopping.  I was at the cash paying for my things, when this random woman comes up to me to say something.  I didn't hear her, and was kind of caught off-guard.  Grocery stores are where a lot of the meanness in people comes out.  So I must have looked quite worried when I went "huh?"  She repeated herself that she just wanted to tell me that my hair is gorgeous, and she didn't mean to scare me.  That put the biggest smile on my face for like, the rest of the day. 

It may seem like a small deal that a stranger thought my hair pretty, but my hair is something that I've sort of resented for much of my life for various reasons (frizzy, difficult to manage, ... )  So on a day when I had done absolutely nothing to it and was being carefree about it, to have someone say that to me felt good. 

[leaf]

kmemphis, I especially like your first story about the girl who stood with you in class.  

This isn't really a random act of kindness, but it was a little thing that made me happy.  I have curly hair that I often straighten - not tight curls, but large ones that get quite frizzy.

OT, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I have the same hair and it's often mentioned how sad it is my brother inherited my mother's silky, smooth hair. I oil my hair (shampoo it off later obviously) and keep my wet hair wrapped up in an Indian towel (I think it's called a gamcha) for an hour or two after washing it. If you're going out right after just put it up in a knot under your hoodie. I never put product in my hair, but my hair has become so much more controllable. Since I like my hair's natural structure, I don't straighten it hair very often, and then, only enough to take off the frizz, so I've found my method pretty useful.

ETA: Keeping it relevant. This was in high school. I was rushing to class during a passing period and I almost walked into this guy as I turned a corner. He steps aside and says, "Sorry there, little lady." He was a student too, so probably not much older than I was, but I was so charmed by his calling me "little lady". I'm sure I'd hate it if a co-worker called me that, but it sounded so quaint and adorable coming from this hipster, high schooler.

[kmemphis]

Mala - I love compliments from strangers. They mean more, because you don't know them and they're not buttering you up to do something. ("Oh you're the best sister ever... flatter flatter bs bs bs gimme")

I also love complimenting people's clothes, though I usually keep it on the campus, because there is this "why is a stranger talking to me?" thing... it feels safer to do it in the dorm, where there's a (most likely fake) feeling of security.

In 2004, I was getting sunblock or something, and the salesclerk was just like ga-ga over my skin. Since I don't *do* anything to it, I usually don't have an answer. Um, thanks? I got lucky genetically in one area? Then mom chews me out for not being more "graceful".

I love going to bed with wet hair and waking up with big soft curls... and horrible knots, of course, that must be brushed out, which means bye bye curls.

[mala]

OT, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I have the same hair and it's often mentioned how sad it is my brother inherited my mother's silky, smooth hair. I oil my hair (shampoo it off later obviously) and keep my wet hair wrapped up in an Indian towel (I think it's called a gamcha) for an hour or two after washing it. If you're going out right after just put it up in a knot under your hoodie. I never put product in my hair, but my hair has become so much more controllable. Since I like my hair's natural structure, I don't straighten it hair very often, and then, only enough to take off the frizz, so I've found my method pretty useful.

ETA: Keeping it relevant. This was in high school. I was rushing to class during a passing period and I almost walked into this guy as I turned a corner. He steps aside and says, "Sorry there, little lady." He was a student too, so probably not much older than I was, but I was so charmed by his calling me "little lady". I'm sure I'd hate it if a co-worker called me that, but it sounded so quaint and adorable coming from this hipster, high schooler.

Cute story!

And thanks for the tips - I will try it out.  It`s sort of similar to what I normally do - keep it in a towel for a while, and then let it air dry for the rest.  But invariably, I feel a need to put some kind of product in it.  It would be nice to not use any products, because my hair gets greasy at the roots from them, and of course washing it every day to solve that problem dries out my actual hair even more  .  I think I should do like you do, and use oil before showering and then skip the products, and see how that works for me.

Mala - I love compliments from strangers. They mean more, because you don't know them and they're not buttering you up to do something. ("Oh you're the best sister ever... flatter flatter bs bs bs gimme")

Agreed!

[kmemphis]

Something sweet -

My sister's boss died this week. He was the owner of the Sonic she worked at. (She's away across the state, but on payroll on "extended unpaid leave" lol.)

So Beck's in town, lots of drama etc etc.

But the nice part is about tomorrow, the funeral. They can't *close* Sonic, but the workers want to be there for his wife, for each other, for him.

So Sonic cooks and carhops from all over the area are coming in so the Sonic won't be closed but people can still go to the funeral.

[corbie]

I remember once I had managed to forget my billfold as I change purses with the different jobs I do. I never have done that again. But I needed gas as I might not make it home and when I pulled into the gas station and discovered I had no money or credit card I was calling my husband saying help when a very nice guy gave me $5 so I could get gas and get home.

I was so stressed as it was when my fil was dying.

He would not give me his name or anything to pay him back.

I now have emergency cash in my car and have never let it go that long again.

[kmemphis]

That is so sweet!

My uncle always kept a couple dollars clipped to his visors in the car (you know, you pull them down when it seems like you're about to drive into the sun) because on Sunday, all over the area, there are guys selling the paper.

nevermind he already had a copy, he always bought one.

[kmemphis]

Somebody (or a group of somebodies) has vandalized the campus walkways and stairs with chalk messages.

Most of them are compliments!

The first time I saw it, maybe Tuesday morning?, it was on a set of concrete steps, with 2 sets of numbers on the steps, one going up, the other down. At the bottom it said you can do it, and at the top it said "you did it!"

One funny one I saw today was written on this rectangle of concrete that's newer than the surrounding, and looks like it was just placed on top. "What is this?/Why is this here (couldn't get a good shot)? Oh well, you're awesome!"

I'm also a good dresser with sweet shades and cool hair. And I'm beautiful. And I have been warned to watch my step right next to a crack.

It's so sweet and funny. The non-complimentary messages say "Lady Gaga was here" and "visit the T-Den, they're lonely" (since the UC opened with new dining options, people haven't been eating at the Tiger Den as much, so it's nice and empty and always easy to find whatever kind of seat you want - even near noon.)

[Ranranbolly]

I was 16, at my first Anime convention...and incredibly excited. My mom had given me 200 dollars to enjoy the weekend with my friends. It was the most money I'd ever had, and I wasn't sure what to do! So I decided to try some karaoke. An hour and 5 loud, bad singers later...I left the room. And then discovered that my wallet was missing. I looked all around the hotel, and in the evening went to check in at the desk. Someone had turned it in...and hadn't taken any of my money. I was so overjoyed that there was someone who'd turned it in for me without even taking a 'reward'.

When my uncle was 6, my grandmother gave him money to spend at the market on his lunch. So he ran to a butcher and asked for bacon. They gave it to him...raw. He left the building crying, because he thought it would be cooked. A stranger nearby asked him why he was sad and he told the guy, so the man took him to a nearby restaurant where he worked and cooked it for him...even put it in a sandwich.

I collapsed at work one day when I worked at a convenience store. The teenager who was at the counter trying to convince me to sell him beer did not take it, but instead called the hospital and waited beside me the entire time until they came.

[kmemphis]

^Those are so sweet.

And the last two highlight the fact that we're not really jerks, SOMEONE nice will stop and help.

How scary, so glad the kid did the right thing.

Did you give him beer next time? Did he even try, or just come by to check on you?

[Ranranbolly]

^Those are so sweet.

And the last two highlight the fact that we're not really jerks, SOMEONE nice will stop and help.

How scary, so glad the kid did the right thing.

Did you give him beer next time? Did he even try, or just come by to check on you?

No, I didn't give him beer. But he asked if I'd been drunk that day 

[Bhangra_Bangle]

A friend of mine works at a local college where a lot of students come from abroad. Being college students, they obviously don't make a lot of money, and also being from abroad, they don't really have a family. So every so often, she hosts a huge dinner at her house when she invites all of the kids from abroad over for a home-cooked meal, and they enjoy it so much.

There was also one girl who didn't have anywhere to stay, and she was dealing with an abusive relationship, so this woman took the girl in and let her live in her own house while she was studying in college.

The list for the wonderful things this woman does could go on and on forever, (she adopted a child, she has 4 shelter animals, she raises money for struggling musicians, she holds benefits for an orphanage in Nepal...) but just having her in my life brings an added joy.

[corbie]

We have fairly new neighbors and I have been a bit leery of them. They are feuding with the newer people on the other side of them. Long story, but I am on their side. But it means they are the feuding type. They have a karaoke set up and aim it full blast into the other yard at night. But always before 10 pm 

The newer one moved in with 6 kids, went up and down the block announcing she is a "good Christian woman" and proceeding to open a day care center in her house and call the police on the other people because their dog was barking during the day. Not much barking, just some. But at the overabundance of kids teasing him through the fence.  And the noise from her 6 kids and daycare is unbelievable. So the feud started.

She won't talk to me anymore as when I trimmed back the rose bush  after she moved in she noticed my Buddha statue in my rock garden under the window by the front door. The rose bush was kind of hiding him. A relief actually. It also keeps the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses away.

Anyway, there is a beautiful crab apple tree between the houses and it is in full bloom. Husband has been trimming it back off our roof for several years now. It is beyond what he can do now and his balance is off so I don't want him on the roof anymore.

So I mustered up my courage and went to ask them to trim their tree. I could just see a feud starting if I asked or one if I hired someone I can't afford to just do it.

He showed up yesterday with is 10 year old son, they got up there, trimmed it beautifully, took the branches away and cleaned out our gutters!

[los angeles]

OT, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I have the same hair and it's often mentioned how sad it is my brother inherited my mother's silky, smooth hair. I oil my hair (shampoo it off later obviously) and keep my wet hair wrapped up in an Indian towel (I think it's called a gamcha) for an hour or two after washing it. If you're going out right after just put it up in a knot under your hoodie. I never put product in my hair, but my hair has become so much more controllable. Since I like my hair's natural structure, I don't straighten it hair very often, and then, only enough to take off the frizz, so I've found my method pretty useful.

Your hair looks so pretty in photos! Yea I wouldn't change it too much.

I flew into a Los Angeles Trader Joe's after rehearsal the other day and I was running late and slightly stressed-out trying to finish a ton of errands all over town, and on top of everything else, I had spilled diet soda onto and inside of my re-usable TJ canvas shopping bag. The guy ringing me up was six foot five and kind of intimidating looking and I was slightly embarrassed, I asked him to just put my boxes of vegan cookies in the bag anyway, that I'd clean it up properly when I got home. He went to the back room and re-appeared with a clean towel and some sort of spray stuff and he proceeded to clean out my reusable bag completely before loading my groceries inside And he was so nice about the whole thing! He totally didn't have to do that. I was so surprised I was like backing out of the store saying thank-you like three times in a row. What a cool thing to do though, that guy made my day!

[kmemphis]

LA, that is so sweet.

Something that makes me happy while confusing me - the pharmacy can't fill a prescription because the insurance says wait a week. So they call a phone number from the insurance company that I got, and it's filled right away and they charge me the insurance price. If they couldn't fill it because of insurance, why does a call to insurance change everything? oh well, it was changed.

I'm house-sitting for a family friend, and I've watched her house and dogs a zillion times. (On twitter, it's the pomeranian and labs.)

Every other time, in the nightly call, she would ask me if I was eating. "Of course!" Then after I went home, she'd call my mom asking if something was wrong with her food - because I didn't eat all of it! I'd want some damn food in my house after a week long trip, but hey. Whatever works for you!

This time, I was just going to watch movies online (no problem) and not bring DVDs. Well, a couple days later, I asked my mom to bring my 3 from Netflix. I texted the friend to ask about the DVD player. Her response: "The dvd player is way to complicated. I will let u buy a movie if u want on demand. Duz that work?"

Oh Em Effin Gee, she is so sweet. (and she is paying me a lot of money to eat her food and play with her puppies) I texted right back saying forget it, but still.

[Ms. Chandni]

Kmemphis,  she's probably so happy to have someone reliable taking care of her dogs, she'll do anything to make you happy.  Do you ever take your dog-sitting service on the road?  I need to put my pooches in the kennel later this month, and I really wish I could find someone like you to stay here instead. 

[kmemphis]

Kmemphis,  she's probably so happy to have someone reliable taking care of her dogs, she'll do anything to make you happy.  Do you ever take your dog-sitting service on the road?  I need to put my pooches in the kennel later this month, and I really wish I could find someone like you to stay here instead. 

Probably not, since the pay won't be enough for me to get to Pennsylvania and back.

But ask around - don't ask your daughter's friends, ask their parents and your friends that have kids over 16 or whatever, they can say who's trustworthy, who's good with dogs, whatever.

[Manturo]

This weekend, some friend's kids said to me: "You look the same from your photos from years ago; it's like you don't age."

Bless the children. I love them!

It's nice to hear that when you're 50lbs overweight and 34 years old.

It made my day!

[mala]

I volunteer at a hospital...  One particularly busy day, as I'm walking back to the ER waiting area, a little girl who was standing in line at triage with her parents sees me and starts exclaiming something.  At first, I'm not sure what she's saying and assume it's something not so nice.  But it turns out, she was saying "Hey look it's Jasmine!" (Parents: "No sweetie, she's not Jasmine.")  "Yes she is.  She's a princess!  That's Jasmine."  (Me: "Awww, no, my name's ***, not Jasmine.")  "Yes you are, you're a princess."

LOL.  And she kept going like that for quite some time, pointing and exclaiming.  Everyone around us laughed.   It didn't stop until the parents decided the wait time was too long and left (I think).  At first, I was completely weirded out by it, but then it kind of made me all happy.

[los angeles]

^ Awww Mala that is sooooo cute!! I can totally imagine a little girl doing that, and how adorable and sweet that must've been. Thanks for posting and sharing that

[Vinita]

On the first day of our trip to England last year, hubby wanted to go to London.  So, with jetlag setting in and my brain a mush, I agreed.  I put my passports in the safe but I carried all our money in my wallet.  Needless to say, my wallet was stolen by the lovely thieves on the train from London. 
We realized this the next day when my hubby asked where the wallet was.

NICE PEOPLE STORY

When we called the credit card company, they told us that someone had found my wallet the night before and called them and canceled my credit card.  He also left his number with the credit card company. We called him back and he agreed to meet with us in London to return my wallet. We only lost the cash money.  All the cards, including my credit card and driver's license were still in the wallet.  We thanked him and asked him how we could repay him.  He said our thanks was enough and wouldn't take anything from us.