What's the nicest thing you've ever done for a stranger

banie01

Donated my late wife's organs.
Have a card written anonymously from the lady who received her liver.
Thanking us for her extra time, her chance to be a grandmother and to help out her own children.

When we got that card, I hated her...
I hated that she lived and got time that my wife never had, that she'd see her grandchildren!
When my wife wouldn't even see our son's 4th birthday.

It took a long, long time for my bitterness to dissipate.
I often read that card now, with our son.
We hope she had, and still has a good life.
That her and her family shared plenty of joy.

DonalK1981

Seamai wrote: »

I raced up the street to find a shop to buy a parking disc in Cork for a distressed elderly French couple who didn't know what the procedure was when it came to parking. It's a flawed system as you might find a space but if you don't have a disc, you have to go searching for one, I realised that day that not many shops sell them, in the meantime you could get a fine.
I wouldn't take the couple of euro from them, telling them it was a present.

If they had French plates on their car they were okay!

I Am Nobody

Changed more tires for women young and old than I can count.When I worked security for a strip club,sometimes fellas paid for private dances at a hotel.I'd accompany the dancer and wait outside the door.Most times it went off with out incident.But one time the guy went crazy and tried to rape her.He got himself educated about touching.Aside from those I shamefully can't say where I really went beyond common decency to help someone.

Reading back over that Christ I'm not a very nice person.I've had strangers do more for me than I seem to have one for others.Karma is gonna be a very cruel mistress to me!

maestroamado

xxx

Rodney Bathgate

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Banged a few absolute swamp donkeys in my time.

I think you meant to post this in the ‘What’s the nicest thing a stranger ever did for you...’ thread.

Seamai

DonalK1981 wrote: »

If they had French plates on their car they were okay!

Well féckit anyway, at least my heart was in the right place.

Badly Drunk Boy

Not quite a stranger, but today I was a dirty ratten snitch. A neighbour has a refuse removal truck, but there were kids (11-14-ish) but they were basically outside my house, and also climbing into his dodgy truck. They could have hurt themselves, or they could have claimed they did.

Anyway, I rang my neighbour to make sure the kids weren't causing hassle/whatever.

An Ri rua

I had been drowned with booze one night around Baggot St during the dotcom boom. Free gargle all night.
I had brought £100 and never got to spend it and so, after buying some grub, I still had the guts of £80 on me.
I sat down beside a poor homeless divil who was asleep sitting up on a bench. This was a bitter December night and this was a man in his 60s easy. Beard like Santa.. I gave him a woeful fright unfortunately when I nudged him to wake him up. He probably thought he was going to get a beating. But when I spoke calmly to him and put a fifty pound note in his hand, you'd want to see his eyes light up. It was worth five times that.

Doing a good deed is a serious high. For me anyway. You've got to take all the opportunities you can. To balance the books and erase sins of commission or omission.

corner of hells

I did an I.D. parade/line up for the Gardai one Saturday morning after a night on the batter.
There I was , hungover and sweating like I escaped from the 'Joy .
In fact my hangover was that bad ,being arrested seemed like a good option.
Local Gardai even dropped me home , though I had a lot of explaining to do for the OH as to why Gardai brought me home.

My good deed ,helping the bloke who got a few slaps when being mugged and the Gardai.

cj maxx

Seen a woman lose her handbag , complete with purse, and managed to return it to her.
I also took a very very drunk young woman home and put her in bed and didn't take advantage of her.
Both women were very relieved.

branie2

Showed a German tourist a translation button on a tour bus in Barcelona.

Adyx

Posted a lost monkey to the US a few years ago.

saabsaab

Saved a car from fast incoming tide on a beach. Swam a dingy into shore that was drifting out with two people.

cj maxx

I took the blame for a fart.

Purple Mountain

I was driving on a road approximately 5km from my home and I came upon a suspicious sight. There was a dog wandering the road and a car stopped beside it with 2 young men in it who looked like they were trying to coax the dog into the car.
They drove away when I came along.
I drove past but I had an uneasy feeling.
I was afraid they'd come back for the dog so I turned back and tried to see if the dog would go into any of the houses on the road, he didn't.
There were a few houses on the road so I couldn't know which one was his. I stopped and asked at one house to see if they recognised him, they didn't.
I got the dog into my car and brought him home.
It was late evening so I put him in a shed for the night and fed him.
Next day I rang the radio station and I put an ad in the local shop.
Later on, my plumber was here and he saw the fog and recognised him as belonging to an elderly man who lived on that road.
I immediately put the dog in my car and went to the house.
I introduced myself to the man, explaining who I was and what happened. He was so happy to see his dog.
He went inside and came back with money for me, I said absolutely no way and went home.
Next day, he arrived at my door with a box of biscuits.

cj maxx

Adyx wrote: »

Posted a lost monkey to the US a few years ago.

?????:)

corner of hells

Adyx wrote: »

Posted a lost monkey to the US a few years ago.

How did you know the monkey was lost ?

guitarhappy

corner of hells wrote: »

How did you know the monkey was lost ?

He was holding his map upside down.

Ted_YNWA

Adyx wrote: »

Posted a lost monkey to the US a few years ago.

corner of hells wrote: »

How did you know the monkey was lost ?

guitarhappy wrote: »

He was holding his map upside down.

He was looking for Australia then.

punisher5112

In the bad snow and ice 2010/11 I removed many a vehicle stranded with my pajero and bright neighbour to hospital a few times as taxi couldn't get to her.

Tig98

Something that sticks out for me is one night when I was about 20 and worked in a rural petrol station.

It was just me on and it was after 9pm at night so getting near closing time, when a woman in her mid 50s or so came in for petrol and she seemed very flustered trying to get money out of her purse. I started chatting away with small talk and realised her accent was from way up North, maybe even near the border (this happened in Cork, like). I asked her what brought her so far out of her way and she said that her husband and adult children had all forgotten about her Birthday, I got the impression it was even a few days past her birthday and still no one even said it to her.

I was all "treat yourself, dead right" and asked how long she was down here for and where she was staying, she said it didn't matter how long she was there because obviously no one would miss her and that she hoped to find a B&B but didn't. She just sat in her car that day and drive off, no plan. She didn't have a smart phone / Internet so I googled numbers of the two nearest guest houses and wrote them down for her on the back of her receipt, I also spent a while telling her nice things she could do or places she could go while she was down our neck of the woods. I circled the shop phone number on the receipt as well and told her to ring at any time if she wanted more info about anything I suggested. I waved her off and that was that. I was off the next day but my coworker said a middle aged woman came in looking for me and asking about local things to do

Given the context helping her out was a very simple thing to do but I think it was of huge importance to her, just the right place and the right time. I always thought when serving customers that you'd have no idea what anyone is going through, and it could really make someone's day to be that small bit more talkative and friendly.

Never forget your mammy's birthday

An Ri rua

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I was driving on a road approximately 5km from my home and I came upon a suspicious sight. There was a dog wandering the road and a car stopped beside it with 2 young men in it who looked like they were trying to coax the dog into the car.
They drove away when I came along.
I drove past but I had an uneasy feeling.
I was afraid they'd come back for the dog so I turned back and tried to see if the dog would go into any of the houses on the road, he didn't.
There were a few houses on the road so I couldn't know which one was his. I stopped and asked at one house to see if they recognised him, they didn't.
I got the dog into my car and brought him home.
It was late evening so I put him in a shed for the night and fed him.
Next day I rang the radio station and I put an ad in the local shop.
Later on, my plumber was here and he saw the fog and recognised him as belonging to an elderly man who lived on that road.
I immediately put the dog in my car and went to the house.
I introduced myself to the man, explaining who I was and what happened. He was so happy to see his dog.
He went inside and came back with money for me, I said absolutely no way and went home.
Next day, he arrived at my door with a box of biscuits.

That is priceless stuff. You literally kept a lot of pain, likely loneliness, out of someone's life there. Seriously well done, at every step.

Purple Mountain

An Ri rua wrote: »

That is priceless stuff. You literally kept a lot of pain, likely loneliness, out of someone's life there. Seriously well done, at every step.

Thanks. Maybe the young lads weren't going to lift the dog, maybe they were trying to coax him off the road, I'll never know but I felt better not taking the chance.

SaltSweatSugar

I was getting a train a couple of years ago and an elderly lady getting on it ahead of me was struggling with her walking frame so I offered to carry it up the carriage for her. In the process I managed to drop my coffee. I cleaned it up and got her to her seat, gave her the walking frame back and went to my own seat.

5 minutes later she comes toddling back to me and gave me a few euro to buy a new coffee as she saw I had dropped mine. I tried to give it back to her but she was having none of it.

So we both did nice things for strangers that day.

Helped a lad who was robbed by a junkie, the guy ran after the junkie, I rang AGS and while they were on the line to me kept in sight of the chap until they picked him up on their street cams. Squad car came along then. Unfortunately the junkie had thrown the money somewhere so the poor chap didn't get that back.

I dropped him home then as he was going to have to walk otherwise.

I have paid for shopping for someone, I have given two different teenagers a small amount of money because where I live is very affluent and it hard to be the only one with no money when you are a teenager. I paid for a flight to the UK for someone who was in a bad way.

You cant take your money with you so why not help if you can.

Alex86Eire

I've paid for a number of trips/bus tickets/lunches/stationery sets etc for kids in school.

storker

Giving someone my pay-and-display parking sticker with plenty of time still on it.

unhappys10

storker wrote: »

Giving someone my pay-and-display parking sticker with plenty of time still on it.

I usually stick it back in machine for next person if no one about

o1s1n

Found 50 quid rolling around on the ground in a slight breeze the other day outside a shop, so sat in my car across the road and waited to see if anyone came out looking for it.

About a minute or so later a very worried looking woman ran out of the shop, eyes darting all over the ground.

Got out of my car and walked over, asked did she lose something.

'Yes!!! 50 euro!!!' /continues to scramble around

'here you go'

I'm not sure whether she looked more confused or relieved - I think for a moment she thought I was actually giving her 50 euro rather than handing her own note back!

.anon.

Chased a man out the door and across the forecourt of a petrol station with four €50 notes that he forgot to take from an ATM machine machine. And then a staff member came running after me because he initially thought I was fleeing without paying for a Twix, a can of Club Rock Shandy and a packet of buffalo flavour Hunky Dorys. When he realised what had happened, and that I wasn't a really unambitious shoplifter, he profusely apologised and gave them to me for free.

Adyx

cj maxx wrote: »

?????:)

corner of hells wrote: »

How did you know the monkey was lost ?

The monkey may have been a stuffed toy. :pac:

The owner left him in the bar I work in and continued her holiday on to Wales (They'd been all over the world at this stage). I posted him to her address in Washington state I think it was. Didn't cost that much but never heard if he ever got there.

SlowMotion321

Adyx wrote: »

The monkey may have been a stuffed toy. :pac:

The owner left him in the bar I work in and continued her holiday on to Wales (They'd been all over the world at this stage). I posted him to her address in Washington state I think it was. Didn't cost that much but never heard if he ever got there.

Did you spank it first?

glenfieldman

I watched as two family homes burned down in May.
We didnt know the familys but I set up a GoFundMe pageand with a lot of friends and neighbours that I didnt know we all rased €7,000
I still dont still know the familys, apart from concating them regarding transferring the money

Airyfairy12

mariaalice wrote: »

I have paid for shopping for someone, I have given two different teenagers a small amount of money because where I live is very affluent and it hard to be the only one with no money when you are a teenager. I paid for a flight to the UK for someone who was in a bad way.

You cant take your money with you so why not help if you can.

You can give some to me if you want

Thinking about it, I havnt done much for strangers,
Bought homeless people food, found bank cards on the road and dropped them into the bank, chased a man up the road to give him back a tenner he left behind him in the cash machine.
Kind of indirectly stopped a man from killing himself, saw him about to jump into the river, ran to the garda station that was nearby and told them, they were over to him within a few minutes and pulled him back over the railing.
Broke up a few drunken fights on nights out. Carried an old ladies shopping bags down some steps in a shopping center.
On a number of occasions ive stopped women leaving public bathrooms to inform them of toilet roll stuck to the bottom of their shoe.
Woke up strangers asleep on public transport while getting off at the last stop.
Saw two young teenage lads annoying an old lady in a supermarket, she had mental illness as she was having a full blown conversation with herself and the little ****s were making fun of her, calling her weird and crazy. I stood by her, inconspicuously as I didnt want to make her more nervous but they noticed me standing there and fecked off.
... Normal common decency stuff, that said, I havnt done anything bad to any strangers that I know of, not purposely anyway.

I have tried to do a lot for strangers over the years and some has been good and some worked out not so good. But I think the top three that make _me_ feel good are:

1) The christmas of the "Big snow" That had 100s of people stranded at Dublin Airport. So I hopped in the car and went there and picked up 4 random people and brought them home to have a few days of Christmas with us rather than in the terminals sleeping on the floor.

2) I met a girl in a chat room who was falling on hard times and since I have an empty granny flat thing on my land I moved her and her brother in there for nigh 2 years rent free until they sorted themselves out. To this day - still great friends with them - they live in Galway now and all doing well.

3) I currently run a "Jedi school" training thing for a group of local kids who were on a bad bad path in life and although difficult and weird at times it has probably been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

IamMetaldave

Driving up to Drogheda years ago, mental rain and saw 2 ladies ahead starring at the wheel of their car on the side of the motorway. Pulled in to see if I could help. Sorted their flat out and got them back on the road for their mother /daughter shopping day in Belfast.

saabsaab

Deleted User wrote: »

I have tried to do a lot for strangers over the years and some has been good and some worked out not so good. But I think the top three that make _me_ feel good are:

1) The christmas of the "Big snow" That had 100s of people stranded at Dublin Airport. So I hopped in the car and went there and picked up 4 random people and brought them home to have a few days of Christmas with us rather than in the terminals sleeping on the floor.

2) I met a girl in a chat room who was falling on hard times and since I have an empty granny flat thing on my land I moved her and her brother in there for nigh 2 years rent free until they sorted themselves out. To this day - still great friends with them - they live in Galway now and all doing well.

3) I currently run a "Jedi school" training thing for a group of local kids who were on a bad bad path in life and although difficult and weird at times it has probably been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

You sound like a fine human being. The world could do with more like you.

worded

An Ri rua wrote: »

I had been drowned with booze one night around Baggot St during the dotcom boom. Free gargle all night.
I had brought £100 and never got to spend it and so, after buying some grub, I still had the guts of £80 on me.
I sat down beside a poor homeless divil who was asleep sitting up on a bench. This was a bitter December night and this was a man in his 60s easy. Beard like Santa.. I gave him a woeful fright unfortunately when I nudged him to wake him up. He probably thought he was going to get a beating. But when I spoke calmly to him and put a fifty pound note in his hand, you'd want to see his eyes light up. It was worth five times that.

Doing a good deed is a serious high. For me anyway. You've got to take all the opportunities you can. To balance the books and erase sins of commission or omission.

Did he have an English accent by any chance? I think I gave him a 50 one time :-)

Purple Mountain

saabsaab wrote: »

You sound like a fine human being. The world could do with more like you.

I'd love more details on the airport situation. Like how you picked the 4 random people? And were they suspicious of a stranger coming up to them looking to take them to their home?

Schnooks

Found a lady's wallet on the street a few years back. Wasn't immediately outside any shops as such, so decided to do some detective work. There was about €100 in cash and a couple of bank cards with a lady's name, but no other identifying information. Rang the bank the cards were from, explained how I found it etc and left my contact details.

They rang me back a few hours later asking if it was ok for the lady to call me, which I said was fine. Spoke with her on the phone and we arranged to meet next day in a local hotel car park. She was quite emotional that I had gone to all that trouble to return her wallet with all contents intact, and related how she was going through a tough time with some recent bereavements.

A nice touch from her was the 2 bottles of wine in a carrier bag that she thrust into my hand, despite my insisting that it was not necessary. It was a nice feeling to get her wallet back to her, and I raised a glass of the wine to her that evening.