(My fiancée and I have a habit of fighting over the check when we go out to eat. At one of our favorite breakfast places, we have had the same waiter several times. He is really good and funny so we tip really well. We go in for breakfast and he waits on us. When it is time for the check:)

Waiter: “Which of you are going to pay?”

(We both raise our hands.)

Waiter: “Nope. Get out.”

(We were speechless and just stared at him until he said that us fighting over the check was so much fun, our meals were on him. We just stared at each other, left a tip, and left, completely speechless.)

I am a young male, having grown up without a father and with no car in the family, so I am not very familiar with how to do anything “under the hood.”

It is early winter. I am driving home from work from the city. It is dark and the weather is bad. Leaving the city I see an older man hitchhiking beside the road. He looks a little bit sketchy in the dark and I am hesitant at first. But due to having hitchhiked a lot before getting myself a car and the weather being really bad, I decide to pick him up. He wants to get to a location more than 20 km further from where I am going but gladly jumps in from the wet and the cold.

About 10 km before the destination the front passenger-side tire breaks with a bang and loud noise like an airplane landing just over the roof. As it is the first time I have ever experienced something like this, I am rather startled but safely stop the car. I am confused as to what should I do next, not exactly sure how to change the tire in the dark, wet, and cold.

Next thing I know, without much thought, the hitchhiker asks me if I have a spare. He jumps out and proceeds to grab the tire and everything else from the trunk, changes the tire himself and puts everything back after finishing. All this in record time and we are ready to continue with the drive.

After getting driving again I feel really grateful and so happy, I decide to pay him the kindness back by driving him the 20 km further he needs to go. On the way I learn he paints cars for a living, which is why he is so familiar with cars and so quick about the tire changing.

To this day I think back with warm feelings about that night because without having him in the car to help me, who knows how long it would have taken me in the dark, cold, and wet weather to figure out how to change the tire for the first time beside that road there.

I teach a sixth-grade class, which is preparing to go on two field trips. Both of these field trips are supposed to be paid for in full by a grant from the state. As I am teaching my class I get a call. The grant didn’t pay for the whole trip like it was supposed to. I would either have to leave one kid at the school while the rest of the class goes on the second trip or I would have to come up with $25 to pay out of my pocket. I would have gladly paid the $25 but didn’t have the money yet.

A few days after receiving the call I lead my class down to their art class, and then head back upstairs to grade papers. When I get upstairs I notice a small cookie tin sitting on my desk. I open it up and there is $25 in small bills and change along with a note that reads:

“I wanted to pay my own way for the Springfield trip so you don’t have to pay for it out of your pocket. -Anonomous” [sic]

The kid who did it was a very thoughtful young man and was very mature for his age. If you are reading this I just want to thank you again. It is still the most thoughtful thing a student has done for me.

This story is part of the make-you-smile roundup!

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(I am working in the fitting room of a popular Canadian fitness brand. Two young girls come in, clearly sisters. The older one has two sport bras and she goes into the changing room to try them. My manager tells me over the headset to watch them because teenagers are notorious for stealing at our store, especially girls with big purses like she has. She comes out in a sports bra and asks my opinion, clearly shy. Her sister is on the couch on her phone so she has to ask me. We discuss waist sizes and she decides to buy a bra. She thanks me and goes up to buy it. I think nothing of this until the staff meeting at the end of the day.)

Manager: “And [My Name], we had a girl call in today saying you did a wonderful job.”

Me: “Really?!”

Manager: “She sounded young, too.”

(My manager looks a little suspicious. We’ve had instances where people’s friends call to say that they did a good job just so their friend would get praise or a raise.)

Me: “Maybe it was those two girls I helped.”

(The next day my manager texted me saying the girl called back to make sure I got praise. Whoever this girl was, she helped me become a supervisor.)

Within a year of my parents moving into their current home, their next door neighbour passed away. His widow continues to live in that home all by herself.

When it snows in the winter, my father, along with other neighbourhood men, take turn shoveling her driveway.

One day, the widow told my father that she shared with her friends that her neighbours take turns shoveling her driveway and none of them believed her.

She cried as she thanked him and said that she was very blessed with such friendly, helpful neighbours.