(A number of years ago my young twin cousins belonged to a “Twins Group” that was doing a Santa’s Workshop. My aunt had talked my dad into being Santa that year. When my dad went over to get the costume my one cousin had thrown a truck at his twin. Later that day, my cousin is sitting on ‘Santa’s’ lap.)

Santa/My Dad: “Have you been a good boy this year?”

Cousin: “Of course!”

Santa/My Dad: “Then why did you throw that truck at your brother this morning?”

(My cousin goes absolutely bug eyed.)

Cousin: “You do know when we’ve been bad or good.”

(I have driven my SUV onto a median on New Year’s Eve. It has hit in such a way that the tires are on either side of the median and thus useless. No one stops to help, until a woman and her niece pull over.)

Woman: “Hi, I’m [Name] and this is my niece. We noticed you guys were in a little trouble there. Would you like a hand?”

Me: “It’s all right; the car is totally stuck. We’ll just have to wait for a tow truck.”

Woman: “We can at least try. We’re pretty strong; it runs in the family.”

Me: “You two are very kind, but it’s a big car and very heavy. Even I couldn’t budge it. Go on home and have a great New Year!”

Niece: “C’mon, sir, at least let us try. Get in and put it in reverse; my aunt and I will push.”

Me: *reluctantly* “Okay…”

(I get in the car and put it in reverse.)

Woman: “Okay, [Niece.] 1… 2… 3!”

(The two start pushing on the car, and somehow, it moves. After a minute, they’ve pushed it clear off the median and back into the road. It’s somehow undamaged.)

Me: “Thank you, thank you, thank you! What can I give you guys for this? How did you even do that?”

Woman: “No need to give us anything. This is what we do. And I told you: it runs in the family. Have a great New Year!”

(They drive away. The way they showed up at the right moment and pushed the SUV off the median undamaged, even without the use of tires, was nothing short of miraculous. To this day I wonder if they were just two very strong women, or were they something more.)

This story is part of the make-you-smile roundup! This is the last story in the roundup, but we have plenty of others you might enjoy!

2023 Roundup: The Best Feel-Good Stories Of The Year!

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(I am texting a boy from my school, who I am not very close to.)

Boy: “Hey… I really think we would work well together. I love spending time with you. Will you go out with me?”

(I am freaking out, because I barely even know him! But I want to be polite and kind to him.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but I think we should just be friends for now.”

Boy: “Oh, that’s okay. Worth asking. So how have you been?”

(Personally, I think it is very uncomfortable to continue a conversation with him after I have just turned him down. I don’t want to be rude to him so I reply and we keep talking for several hours. Eventually we get on the subject of nicknames.)

Boy: “Hey! You should make up a nickname for me!”

Me: “Um… I’m not really very good at it, but here goes?”

(I give him a nickname that is just his last name with ‘ie’ added to it.)

Boy: “That’s great! And your nickname can be Stirrup!”

Me: “Why would that be my nickname?”

Boy: “Because your last name is Stirrup!”

(My last name is not Stirrup. Not even close. At this point I am a little frustrated that he tried to ask me out, considering he doesn’t even know my last name!)

Me: “Um… No. It’s not. It’s [totally different last name].”

Boy: “What? Wait… Who is this?”

Me: “[My Name]…?”

Boy: “Crap! All my contacts got deleted and I thought this was someone else! I’m so, so sorry!”

(At this point, all I can do is laugh. We had been talking for several hours and he thought I was someone else! Moral of the story: DO NOT ask someone out over text!)

(We are family of three geeks, two of us over 40 and one nine-year-old. We don’t have much money, so we’re a bit technically behind the times. I set out to find a good Christmas present for our young one and turn up an inexpensive used Playstation 2. It comes with over 100 games, many that we don’t want. I take these downtown to the big games shop.)

Me: “Hi. I’d like to see what kind of trade-in value I can get for these?”

Employee: “Sure!”

Me: “I also have two store cards, one for me and one for my partner. I’d like to ask if the points from one could be transferred to the other to consolidate them, enabling us to throw one card away?”

(The employee puts the cards in front of the cash register. He stares at them, and starts to sweat a little, showing obvious signs of panic. This reeks to me of ‘new hire’, maybe even ‘first day’ material.)

Employee: “I’m sorry. I don’t remember how to do that. Please give me a moment to look that up.”

Me: “No problem. Absolutely.”

(The employee whips out a book and looks increasingly stressed as he studies several pages of literature. He gives me a helpless, encouraging smile. Then he turns around to the manager and asks him how to do it.)

Manager: “I’ll show you in a few minutes. Would you help these people?”

(The manager and employee switch places. The manager quickly fuses the cards. Then he glances in the direction of the games.)

Manager: “Playstation 2 games would fetch you maybe 20 cents each if I do them there. I would try an online classifieds site.”

(I nod, and put them back in the bag.)

Manager: “Or maybe [New Competitor] would want them.”

(The manager proceeds to give me directions. I have always loved the service at this store, and obviously this day is no different. I go back to thank the new employee before I leave. I head out into the chaos of the Christmas market and fight my way towards the other store, in the tiny, narrow street behind the immensely crowded square. The guy there was the owner and sole employee of a tiny hole-in-the-wall used-game shop that I love immediately.)

Owner: “For that pile of games, I can give you about €8.”

Me: “Great! Maybe I could trade them for something for my son as a Christmas present?”

(I look around and find two little Pokémon collectible stuffed animals.)

Me: “What is the price for these?”

Owner: “€5 each, but screw the extra €2. I could trade the games for those. Sweet.”

(These three people turned a jaunt that was already turning into a nightmare into a pleasant experience. Merry Christmas to them!)

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(I play a few rounds of a team-based online game that has REALLY not been kind to me lately, pitting me with completely incompetent allies. I promised my wife after one game I would watch cartoons with her. After a particularly bad game I head upstairs to find her playing ‘The Sims.’)

Me: “Come on. Save it. I need to watch cartoons before I strangle something. Not you, of course. Just, something.”

Wife: “Hang on. Just doing this.” *completes a few more actions in her game* “If that game frustrates you so much, why do you play it? I would have stopped ages ago.”

Me: “I can’t do that. It would be like admitting defeat, that it beat me.”

Wife: “But I has de-feet already!”

Me: “Wha…?”

Wife: “On the ends of my leggies!”

Me: “Reconsidering strangling you…”