Another nice person steps up to help. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/true-showmanship-kindness-stranger-leads-horse-after-owner-faints-over-own-entry-896404
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Thanks skydy. That’s what the world needs more of. Really nice to read.
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That was super sweet. 
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What a stand up human he is! I’d like to think that he wasn’t the only person who might have done that, as I am convinced people are more kind and generous than we are led to believe by what we see and hear on SM. What a lovely story.
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That’s a feel good read right there.
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I think because we hear about all the awful things that people do every day, we forget how many very nice people there are in the world. Kindness doesn’t often make the news.
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That’s sadly true.
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But I see kindness every day, sometimes you just have to look around you, and that gives me hope and reminds me that most people are good.
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That’s a good point. We all need to be reminded to look. And I always tell myself when something nice happens with, for instance, a business, that I need to write a good review or tell the management about the good service. It’s so easy to only review negative experiences.
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Absolutely. A kind word can go so very far. We have no idea what burdens people are carrying.
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I see people holding doors for each other very often and I hold doors as well.
I was in line behind a man who was trying to buy one tall can of beer and the lady owner of the store was explaining to him that the store didn’t run cards for purchases under $5.00. The man didn’t have cash. I was mentally preparing to add his purchase to mine when the owner told him it was “on the house”. He was very grateful and when he left I told her that I was prepared to pay for his. She said “he’s a good customer, and what are we here for if not to treat our customers well?”
Not long ago when I was in town there was a car stalled in the middle of a busy intersection. From every direction people were jumping out of their cars to help push the stranded motorist to safety.
I could go on and on, but you get the gist. 
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I don’t review online as a rule.
I do always send a good review about the Amazon delivery drivers since I learned (on COTH I think) that it only takes a few bad reviews for them to be disciplined or fired.
Poor online reviews apparently can have serious repercussions for people who may be working under poor management and in poor working conditions.
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Makes sense. I’ve only reviewed restaurants…and even then, it could have been a bad day, so I don’t “trash” them. Just tell of my experiences. But I try to do positive reviews as well.
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I’ve had so many strangers do nice things for me, from small stuff to some pretty major things. The one that will always warm my heart is the help my first DH and I received when the popup trailer we were towing got hit by someone going over 80 in a 55 mph speed limit (who had fallen asleep). We had two dogs in the back of the truck in a camper shell, which disintegrated on the first roll (we flipped four times). This was on what seemed to be a totally empty I-40 near Winslow, AZ. Like magic, several truckers stopped to help us and we asked for people to find our dogs (or their bodies). Somehow, both dogs survived, and one guy dropped his trailer and went after the one visible dog, and brought him to a vet in Winslow while we went to a hospital by ambulance. No one could find the other dog at the scene.
A motel owner in Winslow invited us to stay for free with the one dog we’d found, and the railroad offered to take us back to LA in a caboose, but then had to withdraw the offer due to the dog. The vet donated his services (although we tried to pay for everything we received, no one would take our money).
We were frantic about the other dog, and went to ask the motel owner how far it was back to the highway where we’d crashed. When he found out we wanted to go on foot to search for the dog, he got up from eating Thanksgiving dinner and took us out there. There was a housing development visible in the distance from the crash site, so we tried there. Amazingly, we found the other dog lying on a Navajo family’s front porch. They’d cleaned him up and fed him. He was still a bit muddy, but the motel owner never hesitated to open the car door for him.
Of course I tear up writing about this, even though it happened nearly 50 years ago.
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What a story!
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One particular moment of strangers being kind sticks out to me. I had a flat on my car while driving to a horse show in Bend, OR about 20 years ago, well before cell phones were a thing, (even now, there are spots out there with poor service), and with virtually no shoulder on the road side. Miraculously, it happened a few hundred feet from one of the few pullout spots on Hwy 97. No sooner had we gotten out of the car (I had a junior riding along with me) to see what was going on, when a man pulled over going our way. Then a log truck (empty) pulled over going the other way. Both men helped us change the tire-- my jack apparently was not the one that actually went with my used Subaru, and didn’t fit-- so the log truck driver lifted my car onto the jack!!! We thanked them profusely for their help and kindness, and paid them in freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that were had made for the show. I’m not sure what we’d have done without them.
This incident has made me stop and help folks many times over the years, at accidents, parks, restaurants, stores. An offer of even the smallest amount of help is appreciated and so easy to do.
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Not very dramatic, just a small (and appreciated) act of kindness to report.
Into my 70s, and my DH has been encouraging (read demanding) that I go to our local Y to work out. He set me up with a trainer to come up with an exercise program that wouldn’t damage my injured parts further but would strengthen muscles to increase and maintain function.
The other day I went to work out after spending hours doing yard work (storm clean up). I went to do one of my assigned exercises to find that someone had left the equipment loaded with heavy weights, much more than I could use. I tried to take some off, but it was way beyond what I could lift. I felt, and must have looked, totally defeated.
A young woman who was on a treadmill jumped off, came over and helped with just a kind smile. I thanked her and did my workout. I was touched that she noticed and helped. Her mom would be proud!
PS: none of the preening young men (one of whom probably left the weight on) offered to help.
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Very very different circumstances here, but my barn had a crab feast/open house today. As soon as I arrived, a new rider at the barn that I had met once before told me that she had a gift for me. I was there for her first lesson and I showed her around, helped her find the right tack and also just did not hover. I was there if she needed help, but as she’d owned horses before, I assumed she had an idea of what she was doing. She did have questions, and she’d never used a riser pad before, and I was happy to answer questions and fix the riser pad for her.
We did have a couple of minutes to chat, where I learned that she’d recently lost a horse. I empathized especially since I’ve got a semi-retired guy who has a terminal diagnosis.
I think we talked for less than fifteen minutes total. But the gift she gave me? I expected it to be a bag of horse treats or similar. Yeah, no. It was two pairs of breeches and a top from a very trendy, not cheap equestrian brand. Still with tags. And new student and I are very different sizes and there’s no way this is stuff she’d bought for herself. She bought all of this for me, to give to me, to thank me. She also acknowledged that it might not fit me or be my style, so told me both verbally and in writing to feel free to pass things on to other horse friends who might like it or fit it better.
There was even a card where she thanked me for my kindness but I’m also thinking that she is extraordinarily kind and generous herself.
And honestly, I’m still just flummoxed that a person I had only met once gave me such a generous gift (retail is over $400!) especially since I don’t think I did anything extraordinary - I showed her around the barn, just like others had previously shown me around the barn and answered my questions.
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