Kindhearted Lot

[laurence2]

With all the troubles etc going on in the world, I would like to find out what is the kindest/most generous thing you have done/given

Ps, apologies if this sort of question has been posted before, as new to this site

Thankyou

[pugwash52]

At the risk of sounding a bit corny, I genuinely think that one of the best things you can give anyone is forgiveness.

[natalie_1982]

I'd agree with pugwash - good answer but a thing that always stuck in my mind was something my boyfriend did when we very first started going out....

There was a little old chap getting off a bus we were getting on one day and I'd already paid for us but the old fella asked my boyfriend if he'd help him off the bus with his heavy shopping, my superman went one better than that and carried the old fella's shopping all the way to his home, what made it even sweeter was that the old man kept trying to shove a pound into his hand to thank you! Awwww. Also, my fella is rugged looking bloke, with shaved hair and I think most people would have looked and thought that he was making off with the old man's shopping rather than helping him!

We both donate monthly to Cancer Research, NSPCC and RSCPA but that was, I think, one of the kindest things I can remember.

[4getmenot]

I give blood, so I've saved a few lives :-)

[andy-hughes]

I stopped to assist two damsels in distress in the early hours of one morning. They'd run out of petrol miles from anmywhere, and were walking hopefully to find a petrol station. I took them to the petrol station, got them some petrol, took them back to their car, and put the petrol in the tank for them. I also refused the �5 they wanted to give me, and asked them to donate it to a MIND collection box when they sext saw one.

[loopyc]

its only something little but it seemed to make a difference my nan is in hospital i go and visit every day, well the little old lady next to her has family but no body goes to see her, so i brought her some flowers and she cried her eyes out i felt slightly bad because she cried and when i told her she said they were happy tears. just doing small things can make a person very happy i think more people should try and do at least one nice thing a month a bit like pay it forward(a film very good too)

[4getmenot]

Oh my god pay it forward, one of the best films ever. Makes you think and also cry your eyes out.

[gessoo]

We live on a country road, but a very fast road too with no pavement or verge. One day when coming home on our bikes on a boiling hot bank holiday a very old man was staggering down our road, very red in the face and obviously very distressed. All the cars were just shooting by him. We stopped and spoke to him and he was obviously extremely confused and said he was off to see his brother in a town about 100 miles away. We coaxed him to come back to our house, saying that he ought to have a cup of tea and something to eat before he continued on his journey and during the next few hours chatted to him hoping to find out where he came from. Eventually, we decided he had walked five miles from a local old peoples home before we found him. We phoned the old folks home to tell them he was safe and then took him back safely.

This isn't so much a story of our kindness, but more an example of how unfeeling and uncaring some people can be, i.e. not bothering to stop and help him.

[iluvcatz]

My son and his friend were just leaving work one evening when they saw an elderly lady in distress having just had her bag snatched. They spotted the guy and legged it after him, he obviously realised they were going to catch him up (they are both pretty fit) so dropped the bag. They got it an returned it to the lady. She was so pleased. I felt very proud of them.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Hmm, you've asked a tricky question here. A question along the lines of "What's the kindest thing that's ever happened to you" seems to be posted about once a month on AB but this is the first time I've seen a question asking about the kindest thing someone has done for someone else. (Congratulations on being different!).

Sometimes I think I must have a split personality. I strongly believe in 'survival of the fittest'. For this reason, I don't believe in the NHS. I don't believe in social security. I don't believe in the minimum wage. I do believe that an employer should have the right to hire and fire his employees (with zero notice and no right to claim for 'unfair dismissal'). I also believe that a landlord should be able to evict his tenants, purely on a whim, with a few days notice. So, I'm definitely a 'nasty' person, yes?

[Buenchico]

But what if I see someone trying to hitch a lift? There are a few occasions when I can't help (e.g. I'm only going a couple of miles and I can't change my plans) but normally, I'll stop. (I've picked up drunks. I've picked up tramps with B.O. that pervaded my car a month later. I've picked up people at 3 in the morning. Basically, I'll pick up anyone). I won't just take them a few miles. Wherever possible, I'll try to get them to their destination. (I've done unplanned round trips of a couple of hundred miles on many occasions. I've once done a 500-mile round trip). If they're short of cash, I'll stop and buy them a meal and, quite often, I'll give them �10 or �20 when they get out of the car. So maybe this qualifies for your definition of 'generous'.

I've also stepped in a few times to help people being assaulted (including putting myself between a knife-wielding man and his drunken girlfriend).

When I was teaching, I was proud that my class was the only one which always had every child going on every school trip. (If it was a sports tour, every member of the school team would go). The reason? Simply because if I couldn't get the school to finance a child from an impoverished family, I would pay myself. (Between 10% and 15% of my salary was ploughed back into the school and its activities).

These days my finances aren't too good and I don't drive that much. (Although I did an unplanned journey, to help a hitchhiker, of about 150 miles, just before Christmas). So how do I help people? Well, I spend 20 to 30 hours per week trying to sort out people's problems here on AnswerBank.

Nasty or nice? You decide!

Chris