(I’m on a bus trip around parts of South Australia’s wine region with 22 other young adults from my church from around Australia, only six of whom I know from Western Australia. Others are from Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, and South Australia. It’s our first night, and we jump on our tour bus to go to dinner. I sit next to a young woman from Melbourne and we start chatting.)

New Friend: “Hey, I’m [New Friend]. I’m from Melbourne; where are you from?”

Me: “I’m [My Name]. I’m from Perth. I love Melbourne, especially the Dandenong Ranges where my Aunty [Aunt] lives. My Uncle [Uncle] lives somewhere there, too.”

(She gives me a quizzical look.)

New Friend: “What’s your uncle’s last name?”

Me: “[Last Name], why?”

(She starts laughing.)

New Friend: “Hello, cousin.”

Me: “Wait, what? Are you serious?”

New Friend: “Yep, your uncle’s wife, [Aunt], is my aunt.”

Me: “Holy crap, that’s so cool!”

(We all had a great time on the trip, and thanks to Facebook, my cousin and I are able to keep in touch. Gotta love random family encounters.)

My friend’s boyfriend is deaf but prefers to read lips rather than sign. I was at his graduation party, and he was reading the cards and opening the gifts in front of a few of us. He came across one card from one of my friend’s relatives.

When he opened the card, James Brown’s “I Feel Good” started playing. Some of us chuckled, some of us danced and sang. The boyfriend asked what was going on. We explained that it was a singing card, and he politely chuckled and thanked the relative, who wasn’t present that day.

Another friend turned to me and said, “Did they really give a music card to a deaf guy?”

(My roommate comes up to me one night and says she has to tell me this wholesome story about her day. She explains one of the employees at her work’s new building is usually cleaning up the break room about the time my roommate gets there, so they’ve become friendly. Between her limited English and [Roommate]’s non-existent Spanish, they’ve managed to create a cordial dynamic. One day, after greeting each other happily all week, [Roommate] gets to work to find that her friend seems a bit off.)

Roommate: “Hi! Is everything okay?”

Friend: “No… eh… my mother…” *points upward*

Roommate: “Your mom… passed away?”

Friend: “Yes. Five day ago.”

(My roommate offered her condolences then headed to her office. She thought about how that woman’s mother had died five days before, but she still had to come into work and clean up after snobby, entitled jerks. So, she headed down to the closest market and bought her friend a bouquet of flowers. She brought it back to the building to give them to her, which turned into a whole ordeal as her friend was off working in another area. Security finally located her and her boss even came down to see what was going on. But when she saw my roommate with the flowers, she started BAWLING and immediately fell into her arms. My roommate just held her and let her cry. The littlest thing to you can mean the biggest difference to someone else. Be kind.)

(For my 13th birthday party, I have a sleepover with about half a dozen of my friends, most of whom know my mom pretty well already. We’re a generally well-behaved bunch, but before she goes to bed, my mom comes into the living room to make sure we’re all right for the night. My friends and I are all feeling a little silly at this point.)

Mom: “All right, I’m going to head back upstairs. But before I go, I want you to know that I just have one rule–“

Friend #1: “No burning the house down?”

Mom: “All right, I just have two rules–“

Friend #2: “No stealing your car?”

Mom: “I just have three rules–“

Me: “No sneaking out to meet boys?”

Mom: “Stop! Okay, I have a lot of rules!”

(My friend is in labour and it becomes clear she is going to have her baby in the back of the ambulance. She is freaking out.)

Paramedic: *trying to comfort her* “This is nothing. Last year, a woman had a baby in the hospital car park.”

Friend: *wailing* “That was me!”