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What's a random act of kindness that's stuck with you? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by Dalacos@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For context I am in my early 40s.

When I was 18ish, I was running for a bus. I missed it by the most narrow of margins. (Also, the bus driver was kind of a dick for not sticking around when it was pretty obvious... regardless...)

As it just so happened, there was a taxi a couple cars behind that bus that saw me running for it and it driving away.

That taxi driver waved me in with nary a word, drove me a stop or two in front of the bus, and without charging me, dropped me off so I could catch the bus. (To be clear this was in an area where the bus route was LONG and the taxi driver obviously knew it'd be an hour or so before the next one.)

Ever since that day, for over two decades now, that random act of kindness has stuck in my mind. We literally never said a word beyond my panicked "THANKS" as I ran out at the end. No names, nothing, just wild gesticulations and gratitude.

Love to hear some more.

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[–] spongebue@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

I have a friend who worked in Oman for several years. My wife and I went to visit, and the three of us were going to get dinner somewhere. We ended up parking somewhere that wasn't free, but wasn't horribly expensive either (honestly, paying for parking is pretty uncommon there from what I saw). Payment was only done in coins or through mobile. Paying with our phones didn't work, and we only had paper bills, so I went into a small shop asking if they could give me coins for a small bill.

I can't remember what the shop was for, but it wasn't anything touristy. Oman is very highly developed, but I'm always mindful about the privilege I have to travel internationally as an American. They said I could pay through mobile, which I said didn't work. The employee walked outside, asked which car was ours, and plugged our license plate into his phone. How long will we stay? Couple hours. Ok, you're all set. Cool! How much do we owe you? It's ok. No, we can pay you. No, it's ok.

He just would not take payment. Even if it was a small thing, the context and optics meant so much to me at the time. If you ever get a chance to go to Oman, I would strongly recommend it before the tourists take over.