(My husband comes home from a hospital stay after nearly dying. He is still very tired and weak. I am with him most of that time, except when I am at work, so I am pretty exhausted myself. I am walking through the store, talking to him on the phone about what we can afford.)

Me: “Okay, I checked at the pharmacy. If we hold off on buying [Medicine #1] until our paychecks hit tomorrow, we can afford to get some fast food so I don’t have to cook. The kitchen is still messy from the other day, anyway. They can’t fill [Medicine #2] until tomorrow because of insurance, and they only had a little of [Medicine #3]. They will get more of that on Tuesday, but they only had enough in stock to last until Sunday. I’ll have to head into [Bigger City 40 min away] sometime tomorrow to get some at the [Store] there. Crap, that means I need to get gas; well, I’ll cook after all tonight. It’s not that big a deal.”

(I am also type 1 diabetic, and as I get to my car, I realize my blood glucose level is low. I have to eat some sugar and wait until my glucose comes up to be able to drive. As I’m staring into space, barely awake, there’s a tap at my window. A scruffy, dirty, tired looking man in his late 20s is standing there with a gas can.)

Man: *with a heavy backwoods accent* “I heard you on the phone earlier, and I seen you sitting here eatin’ them sugar pills, so I figured I had a minute. I got some extra [Medicine #3] from when my blood levels was low, and I just won $50 on scratch offs when I was thinkin’ about that, so here. Y’all can have these.”

(He hands me a prescription bottle with just enough of the exact right dosage of the right medicine to make it to Tuesday and starts to put gas from the one-gallon gas can into my car.)

Man: “I know how much hospitals’ll charge you, and sounds like you just need a little help to get through till tomorrow. This ain’t much gas, but it’ll get you home and this way you won’t have to drive to [City]. Oh, and here’s some coupons for [Christian fast food chain] if y’all wanna get dinner from there. Have a blessed day!”

(Stunned, I could barely stammer out a “You too, sir,” before he got in his dented 80’s pickup and left. Thank you, sir, for helping a stranger out in time of need! I hope to pay it forward someday!)

(It’s evening at a point when the bus frequency drops quite a bit. We’re on a bus when a couple who are looking a bit lost get on.)

Man: *to the driver* “Does this bus go to [Destination]?”

Driver: “No, it doesn’t.”

(The couple looks disheartened and goes to get off.)

Driver: “Hang on a second. You can’t get to [Destination] from this stop. Hop on; I’ll drive you to the bottom of the road and you can get another bus from there.”

(They smile and thank him and sit down. We get to the bottom of the road and they go to leave the bus.)

Driver: “That’s the bus you need that’s just pulled away.”

Man: “Never mind, we’ll get the next one.”

Driver: “The next one isn’t for at least 30 minutes. It could be more like an hour. Hang on, stay on the bus, we’ll chase it and see if we can catch it. Stay at the front so you can jump off quickly if you need to.”

(The couple try to protest but the driver pulls away. He chats to the couple all the way up but we can’t catch up to the bus in front.)

Driver: “The next stop is the last one we both stop at. Either way, I’ll have to let you off here but at least you’re a bit closer to home.”

(The bus in front indicates to pull over; our bus driver gets past him and goes to pull over in front.)

Driver: “I’m going to block him in so he can’t pull out. The second I stop, run back to that bus, wave and jump up and down so they see you. I’ll wait until you’re on to pull away.”

(The couple thanks him profusely. The driver opens the doors while he’s still stopping, the couple run out waving at the bus behind. The driver watched until they were safely on before indicating to pull away. Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver, for caring about people getting home and restoring my faith in humanity.)

(Ever since I was a child, I’ve always been a bit of an outcast. I was bullied when I was young and never could get along well with family. I’ve been having a bad day; many of my friends have cast me aside and refuse to speak to me. Just as I feel like shutting off my computer and running away, I get a message from an old friend I’d had problems with.)

Friend: “Hey, [My Name]!”

Me: “Hey, [Friend].”

Friend: “How are you doing?”

Me: “Meh.”

Friend: “Oh, listen, I was wondering if you wanted to play [a game revolving around being a mouse getting cheese] with me and some friends tonight?”

(This friend was an odd duck; she often lashed out at people for very silly reasons. Her heart, however, was always in the right place.)

Me: “Sure, I guess.”

(I was then invited into a call on Skype with her and several individuals whom I either barely knew, or didn’t know at all. We played this game clear until three am because we were having so much fun just finding different ways to break it. Those people she introduced me to are now some of my closest and most amazing friends I could ever have asked for. They may not know it, but they’ve all saved my life more times than I care to count with just one simple message.)

Them: “Hello, [My Name]!”

(I make decals, by tracing fabric paint on glass.)

Me: *throwing yet another frame away*

Neighbor: *walks up* “I noticed that you are constantly throwing frames away.”

Me: “Yeah, I use the glass for my craft but I step on them and they break.”

Neighbor: “Well, what kind of glass do you need? Does it need to be framed?”

Me: “No. I would like to have something that won’t break when I step on it, though.”

Neighbor: “I can get you something that will work.”

(A day or two later:)

Neighbor: “Here you go.” *hands me THREE pieces of thick glass, 12×14* “This shouldn’t break when you step on it and if it does it will break into large pieces so you won’t cut yourself.”

(Turned out he worked with windows and cut pieces of glass made for windows for me.)

(I work in a well known major grocery store on the registers. I’m not particularly fond of my job but I always go out of my way to go above and beyond for customers. This happens on my usual Saturday shift. A lovely old gentleman is buying some salmon that’s on special.)

Me: “Your total comes to $9 for those two packets, sir.”

(The older gentleman counts his money a few times before looking at me in despair.)

Older Man: “I’m awfully sorry but I seem to only have $8. How much is a single packet.”

(The special is $8 for two packets or $6 each.)

Me: “It’s $6 for the one, sir.”

(He counts his money again just to be sure he doesn’t have the needed dollar.)

Older Man: “Okay, I will just get the one today, then.”

(He looks so miserable that I make him an offer.)

Me: “I have an idea; I have a spare dollar here. You give me the $8 that you have there and I will throw in this dollar for you.”

Older Man: “Oh, you don’t have to do that! I will just get the one for $6.”

Me: “Nonsense! It’s too much of a good deal to pass up!”

(I finalise the transaction and he’s on his way. I continue to work for another couple of hours when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see the old man.)

Older Man: “I can’t let kindness that you showed me go unnoticed. I went home and got some more money and a present for you.”

(He hands me the dollar coin and a handful of instant scratchies.)

Me: “Oh, sir, that’s so lovely of you but it’s not necessary!”

Older Man: “You helped out an old man for no reason today. This is most definitely necessary. You have a lovely day, dear!”

(I spent the rest of my shift smiling, and I managed to win $10 on the instant scratchies!)