(A group of my girl friends and I go to a bar to have a Girls’ Night and see another friend’s band play. I volunteer to be designated driver since I’m not a big drinker. We head up to the bar and my friends all order their drinks and move out of the way. Then it’s my turn.)

Bartender: “And what can I get you?”

Me: “Can I get a Coke, please?”

Bartender: *pausing, surprised* “Just a Coke? Nothing in it, no rum or anything?”

Me: *laughing a little* “Well, maybe some grenadine if you have it. I’m driving tonight.”

Bartender: “OH! OK, coming right up!”

(He makes my cherry Coke [or Roy Rogers, if you want to get technical], puts a ton of maraschino cherries in it, and slides me the glass.)

Me: “Thanks!” *I open my wallet, but the bartender smiles and shakes his head*

Bartender: “Nah, I don’t charge people who drink responsibly.”

Me: *surprised* “Wow, thank you!”

(I dropped a $5 tip on the bar anyway. It pays to be responsible!)

(I work at a craft and hobby store. it is a few weeks before Christmas, so we have all kinds of Christmas merchandise. One very slow night I’m straightening up an aisle, and a mom sends her young daughter, four to five years old, over to give me some flowers she picked up off the floor. The daughter clearly wants to keep them, but the mom is teaching her about stealing and how you have to pay for things in stores.)

Daughter: *very politely* “Here you go. I found these on the floor, and my mom said I probably should give them to you to put away because we don’t have money to buy them today.”

Me: “Oh, my goodness, thank you! Now, I’ll tell you a little secret. These flowers are actually broken.” *they had fallen off their stems, so it was only the bloom* “So I can’t sell them any more. Would you like to keep them? You did the right thing by bringing them to me, so it’s my way of saying ‘thank you!'”

Daughter: “Oh, yes, thank you! Mommy, mommy, the nice lady said I get to keep them!”

(I explain to the mother that I would just have to throw them away otherwise. Because we’re so slow, I then go to the back to get some other broken flowers that I had taken back earlier. I tell my coworkers to bring me any they have, too. While getting the flowers, I also find some extra floral wire laying around, so I tell a coworker to keep an eye on the mother-daughter duo and not let them leave while I make something really fast. When I’m done, I go out to find the family again.)

Me: “Hi, remember me? Well, I was just so impressed by how good you were being that I went and made a little something for you.” *I pull out a little flower crown that I made from the blooms and wire*

Daughter: “FOR ME?! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!”

Me: “Yep, I think it’s perfect for a polite little princess like yourself. And just so you know, it’s true that Santa’s always watching. We elves are everywhere!” *I put on one of our store “elf hats” and my coworkers come around the corner wearing the hats, too* “You really impressed him today, so he called and asked us to give you that crown!”

(The little girl was speechless, and the mother couldn’t thank us enough. Hopefully, we just helped mold a good future customer!)

(I am meeting a friend for lunch at a popular chain restaurant. It is a bit crowded and I have gotten there first, so I decide to get my food first and then find a table. I wait in line until it’s my turn at the counter.)

Cashier: “Hello, what can I get for you?”

Me: “Hi, I’d like a chicken noodle soup in a bread bowl, please.”

(I reach into my bag for my wallet. I open it and realize that I don’t have any money or debit cards with me. I had gone out the night before and had put them in a smaller bag.)

Me: *to self* “Are you serious? That’s so stupid of me.” *to the cashier* “I’m so sorry, but I have no way to pay. I’ll have to cancel my order.”

Cashier: “Do you have your rewards card on you?”

Me: “Well, yes, but that won’t pay for my meal.”

Cashier: “Go ahead and swipe it.”

(Confused, I swipe my rewards card. The cashier punches in a few buttons, then to my surprise, takes out his own debit card and swipes it.)

Cashier: *smiling* “You’re all set. Here’s your pager.”

Me: *jaw dropped in disbelief* “Wow, thank you so much, sir! You really did not have to do that.”

Cashier: “It’s no problem, miss. Enjoy your meal!”

(I went to get a table, still in awe of the cashier’s generosity. He probably will never read this, but thank you so much for your small act of kindness towards a neglectful college student!)

I’m the customer here. I have to spend my birthday alone and I decide to buy myself some jewelry from a somewhat high end jewelry store. I choose a beautiful ruby and pink sapphire pendant, and while I am getting out my wallet, a pressed penny from an ocean-themed theme park falls out. The saleswoman says she loves pressed pennies, so I give it to her.

I guess she’d had been having a bad day that day, because I got a card several weeks later telling me how her day went so much better after that, and she keeps the penny on her nightstand where she can see it every day.

Just goes to show that a little kindness can go a long way.

(I am struggling with what will later be diagnosed as depression, causing me to randomly start to cry without any apparent reason. During one such crying bout, I decide to go for a walk to distract myself and hopefully calm down a bit. After a while, I pass by a bakery and go in to buy myself some small treat to cheer myself up. It’s in the afternoon, shortly before the bakery closes.)

Baker: “Hi, what can I get you?”

Me: “Hi. Could I have a chocolate pastry, please?”

Baker: “Sure thing.” *she takes out the pastry with her tongs but suddenly stops and adds* “You know what? It’s a bit on the small side. Why don’t I give you two of them? For the price of one, obviously.”

Me: “Uhm, okay? Thank you!”

Baker: *smiles at me and gives me the bag with the two pastries* “Have a lovely evening!”

(Once I had left, I looked at the bag and saw that the “small” pastry was the size of my hand, a perfectly normal size! So I realized what must have happened: She saw an obviously upset young woman (I had stopped crying when I went in there but you could still tell) and decided to do something nice for her, just because she could! Thank you so much, dear bakery lady, for this gesture – and the chocolate pastries were delicious!)