We’re huge fans of kindness, and strangers on the internet inspiring each other with their stories. Here is one of the most heartwarming Twitter threads you’ll read about acts of kindness.
A writer named Nicole Cliff posed a simple question to her followers:
What is the kindest thing a stranger has done or said to you?
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 4, 2019
And BOY, did Twitter deliver. We dare you to try to read these without tissues.
This story about how one night in a bookstore:
Oh God I can’t even tell this story and not cry.
I used to manage an LGBT bookstore, when bookstores were still a thing. One night, a caller says he thinks he might be gay and is considering self-harm. We were not a crisis center!
But as long as we’re talking, he’s safe, right?— 💁🏼♂️ (@TweetChizone) March 4, 2019
So I talk to this guy and I answer questions, and I try to be encouraging and I’m maybe sounding a little frantic and I’m definitely ignoring the 4-5 customers in the store, and this angel of a woman puts her hand on my shoulder and asks for the phone.
“My turn,” she says.— 💁🏼♂️ (@TweetChizone) March 4, 2019
And SHE, this 50-something lesbian talks to this stranger on the phone. And a LINE FORMS BEHIND HER. Every customer in that store knows that call, knows that feeling, and every person takes a turn talking to that man.
That story comforts me so much to this day.— 💁🏼♂️ (@TweetChizone) March 4, 2019
This story that could have been about road rage but wasn’t:
Dude in truck honked at me at intersection while I waited for older woman to cross street. I gave him the finger. He honked again. I gave big middle finger wave. He followed me to parking lot. Blocked my car. I got out ready to throw. He got out. HUGE MAN. I thought I’m dead. 1/2
— Paul Bae (@MrPaulBae) March 4, 2019
He put out his hand to shake. Explained he honked but noticed his error when he saw the woman so honked again to say sorry. He followed me to personally apologize so he wouldn’t ruin my day. We shook hands. Changed me forever. And I was glad he didn’t waste me. 2/2
— Paul Bae (@MrPaulBae) March 4, 2019
This story about someone noticing another person in pain:
[suicide tw]
Getting off the Subway in Toronto, I stopped for a minute to stare at the big suicide prevention hotline poster. I have a long history of dealing with That Stuff, but was okay, just reflecting–but this elderly Somali man saw me staring…
— elaine marilyse: art school bitch (@ourladyofcoffee) March 4, 2019
He came up to me and with the GENTLEST VOICE IN THE WHOLE WORLD asked me if I was okay, if there was anything bothering me, and if there was anything that I wanted to talk about.
— elaine marilyse: art school bitch (@ourladyofcoffee) March 4, 2019
this is so touching!!!
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 4, 2019
I know, it was SO wonderful. :’) And the thing is, I WASN’T in danger at that moment, but there were so many times when I WAS in danger like that and nobody was there. It felt like being saved retroactively, if that makes sense.
— elaine marilyse: art school bitch (@ourladyofcoffee) March 4, 2019
This story about a man who heard a woman being body-shamed:
I was at dinner with someone and we were trading horror stories about hurtful comments from family members. I talked about standing up at a friend’s wedding. My friend wanted maroon dresses, and my mom said, “You’re going to look like the side of a barn.”
— Nicola Cameron 🔱 (@YesItsNicolaC) March 4, 2019
(Welcome to my childhood). At that point, a hot British guy from the next table stood up, came over and said very firmly, “I just want you to know, I think you’re beautiful.” And he walked off. Never forgot that much-needed support.
— Nicola Cameron 🔱 (@YesItsNicolaC) March 4, 2019
This boss who gave an employee the space to grieve:
I had a miscarriage 2 wks into a new job, no PTO, same deal. I told my brand new boss, “I need to not come to work and I need you to know this has never happened before and will never happen again.” He said, “I have the utmost faith in you and we’ll never speak of this again.” ♥️
— Sadclown Megan (@ThunderTheft) March 5, 2019
This man who gave up his seat on a flight for a young mom:
When I was married to my first husband, I had a year-old baby and it was Christmas, and I was flying Delta from Montgomery AL to Columbus OH. Ex was deployed in the UAE and I was tired and depressed and a mess. The flights got delayed due to snow, then cancelled.
— Elizabeth Sampat (@twoscooters) March 4, 2019
We ended up sitting around the gate sharing sob stories. One guy was in the army and headed home post-deployment for Christmas to see his little girl. We got to chatting and he was very kind.
Then the announcements: a bunch of people got seats for the next flight, but not me.
— Elizabeth Sampat (@twoscooters) March 4, 2019
My tired daughter was crying; I kept it together and was barely not crying with her. Then the airline rep called my name and gave me a ticket.
Army guy gave up his seat for me. I tried to insist he take it to see his family: “Any military husband would do the same for my wife.”
— Elizabeth Sampat (@twoscooters) March 4, 2019
I was able to spend Christmas with my family. He didn’t.
I’m still choked up about this 15 years later.
— Elizabeth Sampat (@twoscooters) March 4, 2019
These young women who showed solidarity to little girl who was being teased:
I was 8 and at the park district pool and boys were making fun of me for being fat and as I started walking away crying this gorgeous college-age woman sprung to my defense and got them kicked out and then she had me come over to hang out with her gorgeous coed friends
— rachel (@madamradams) March 4, 2019
They were so sweet and patient with me. Who was like. Deeply anxious and needy and abused and unloved and all sorts of things. But they just shared their tab and trashy magazines and painted my nails blue and told me I was pretty and they liked my bathing suit.
— rachel (@madamradams) March 4, 2019
This woman’s parents who stopped to help a pregnant woman on the side of the road:
can I cheat and say something I watched my mom do for a stranger? we were driving past a mall in Jax, FL, and a woman by a car was trying to flag someone down so my parents stopped. she and her sister(?) were Latina and didn’t speak ANY English, but the second woman was-
— Lydia Albano (@LydAlbano) March 4, 2019
in the late stages of labor and my mom straight up finished delivering her baby in the front seat of her car, tied the cord with my sister’s shoelace, found a clean towel to wrap the baby & hand her to the mom, and waited until EMTs arrived to take them to the hospital.
— Lydia Albano (@LydAlbano) March 4, 2019
Getting blessed by a crowd of construction workers:
I once sneezed while walking past a construction site, and then received a loud chorus of “bless you!”s. It was awesome.
— *knits defiantly* (@beamish_girl) March 4, 2019
Sometimes you just need a hug:
I was stranded in an airport alone when I was 17 after my connection was cancelled, I was clearly distressed and needed my mom. This woman came over and asked if she could give me a hug, and I just bawled into her arms, and she told me it would be ok. I’ll never forget that.
— Rebecca Kalant (@rebecca_eh) March 4, 2019
This couple who offered encouragement to a stressed out family:
Ex and kid and I had just gotten off a red-eye flight during which the baby was overtired, feverish and crying much of the flight. Couple in their 60s sidled up to us at baggage claim and the woman said “You two are doing a great job” and I promptly burst into tears.
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) March 4, 2019
Now whenever someone I know grumbles about babies on planes I try to explain that there is *no one* more cognizant of/desperately trying to mitigate other people’s anger and discomfort than the parents of those babies
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) March 4, 2019
This man who helped a person having a mental health issue instead of calling the cops:
I’ve told this story before but it remains the best: One time when I was living in San Francisco I had a panic attack downtown and a kindly hipster rescued me and escorted me home, concerned that I might get even more lost and freaked out.
— s. e. smith (@sesmith) March 4, 2019
The best part of the story, though, is that his friends kept saying he should just call the cops and he said something along the lines of ‘we don’t call the cops on people in mental health distress, it isn’t safe, I’ll meet up with you guys later.’
— s. e. smith (@sesmith) March 4, 2019
Thank you, Nicole Cliffe, for helping to restore our faith in people. So, now we pose the question to you: what is the kindest thing a stranger has done or said to you?
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