Random acts of kindness.

Archeron

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_act_of_kindness

A random act of kindness is a purportedly selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up a stranger. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, "RAoK"s are encouraged by various communities. An oft-cited example of a random act of kindness is, when paying the toll at a toll booth on a highway, to pay the toll for the vehicle behind you as well.


So have you ever done one, or had one done for you? For myself, I would occasionally do it if I'm having something to eat in a cafe and I see an older person eating alone, I would pay for my own meal, and pay for theirs too and just walk out. Dunno why, but I often presume a lot of older people arent too well off, so thats what inspires this particular urge for me to pay for them. As well as that, if someone asks me if I have change for a parking metre, I'd often just give them a euro or whatever it is in change, and not ask for anything in return; of course depending on the person and the price of the parking. Just wish them a happy christmas (or whatever season it is) and smile. Its funny to see the bewildered expressions sometimes!

So, any experiences of your own? Go on, share the happy buzz.

(BTW , getting a freebie off someones ma is not a qualifying random act of kindness, its simply a business strategy to get good customers to keep coming back on the promise of more freebies).

randombar

My dad one day at the dump saw a mother duck being followed by her duckinlings, she went over a grate and all the little ducling fell in (Bit too narrow still) anyways my dad saw this and thought b*ll*x, he went over to the grate lied down, and started taking the ducklings out one by one. When he finished he looked around and a crowd had gathered and gave him a round of applause. Pretty funny story I reckon!

mjquinno

Last nice thing i did:

helped a couple of girls set up there tent at a rencent music festival they werent too sure but we got it eventually

i read this guys book a few years back quite funny

http://www.join-me.co.uk/

Nearest thing I can think of it how I help people get grants, but that's not exactly random. I did give someone directions today though.

Archeron

mjquinno wrote:

i read this guys book a few years back quite funny

http://www.join-me.co.uk/

"Will you Spread The Word, to root out new Joinees, as a pig might root out a truffle?"
LOL

_blank_

Archeron wrote:

selfless act

There is no such thing as a selfless act imo.

Donate a million quid to charity, get the press involved, get to feel all good about yourself.

Help a little old lady cross the road, she says thanks and tells all her mates, get to feel good about yourself.

You do nice things because you get to feel good about yourself, that little rush of endorphins you get.

Myself, I never do anything for anyone that doesn't involve me being renumerated in some way.

mjquinno

DesF wrote:

never do anything for anyone that doesn't involve me being renumerated in some way.

And would that renumeration be the rush of endorphins if so is that a bad thing?

bronte

I suppose the last nice thing I did was give a guy who had run out of change a bus ticket to get home.

Hagar

Smile and wink at a plain girl and watch her face light up.

stovelid

I think I gave a stranger €40 call credit online.

The fact that I was trying to top up my wife's phone and f*cked up the number shouldn't detract from the kindness of the act.

L31mr0d

DesF wrote:

There is no such thing as a selfless act imo.

ditto... can't happen. The people always end up feeling good about it, so they are getting something out of it.

Now where a devout Vegan to go to a poor african country and slaughter animals and turn their skins into clothes for the people, so much so that they would repulse at the thought of it and not be able to sleep for the nightmares, now that would possible be selfless.

Or a devout atheist go to a high security prison in america and teach the love of jesus to the inmates to make them change their ways, that might also be selfless..

... but i've yet to see it happen.

Archeron

DesF wrote:

You do nice things because you get to feel good about yourself, that little rush of endorphins you get.

Myself, I never do anything for anyone that doesn't involve me being renumerated in some way.

I suppose thats probably a valid, albeit rather bleak way of looking at it. I'd prefer to think that people do good things to actually help others as opposed to make themselves feel better, because if every selfless act is actually selfish at its root, then the world is an even more horrible place than most people would have thought.
I'd like to say that I myself do some things selflessly, but if biologically i DO get a rush of endorphins, then there's no arguing your point.

Varkov

Was at the station in Tara Street buyin a ticket from the machine, and was quizzed by a spanish girl with very little english about how she would get to Clonsilla. Noticed her fumbling in her pockets with a concerned look on her face so I gave her the money for a ticket. A few minuits later she ran after me on the platform to give me the change with a huge grin on her face. Seemed to have made her day, which sort of made mine.

But yeah, its all Karma. As a few weeks later at the exact same spot I was 10c short on my ticket, so I turn and ask the guy next to me if he's got it to spare.
Looking up at his face it was non other than Dara O'Brien. Anyway, he gave me 20c and I got a picture with him. Lovely chap really.

_blank_

Hagar wrote:

Smile and wink at a plain girl and watch her face light up.

I do this all the time, and all I get is arrested.

Marksie

Hagar wrote:

Smile and wink at a plain girl and watch her face light up.

Last one i did that too stuck two fingers up at me.

No F**in rush of endorphins there

Creamy Goodness

when i come out of car parks that use meters, if i have a ticket with more than 20 minutes on it i'll hand it to someone coming in. it's nice to hear them say "janey, thanks a lot mister" as you hand them the ticket.

Jesus Wept

mjquinno wrote:

Last nice thing i did:

helped a couple of girls set up there tent at a rencent music festival they werent too sure but we got it eventually

i read this guys book a few years back quite funny

http://www.join-me.co.uk/

motivation = you wanted some action.

big b

When I lived in Scotland, I used to occasionally pay for an old woman's shopping , if she was in front of me in the Q, looked skint & was only getting a few things.
And every festive season, I'd be shopping & see some obviously not well-off family looking at cheap presents for their kids. Sometimes I'd drop 40 quid or whatever into their basket & either say Merry Christmas or just walk on, sometimes I'd tap them on the shoulder, hand out the cash & say " you just dropped this"

Never once had it thrown back in my face, which I fear would happen here. Also, some of the wealthiest Irish people I know dress like knackers- it's much harder to tell here.

And I got more pleasure from the knowledge that someone maybe smiled that day who wouldn't have otherwise, than from any sense of self-satisfaction.

Tough guy, eh?:rolleyes:

L31mr0d

Marksie wrote:

Last one i did that too stuck two fingers up at me.

No F**in rush of endorphins there

of course that only works if you aren't plainer than the girl you are winking at

Sure there's loads of things you do on the spur of the moment to make yourself feel good. Like helping mothers with prams down stairs, holding doors open for people. I've also had to pull people back from stepping out in front of a cyclist a few times, the dirty looks the people give you for even touching them, no gratitude. I always leave at least 15% in a tip, and have all my change out and ready before I get to the counter at a shop.

Cheeky_gal

I never walk past a homeless person without buying them a coffee and sandwich...unless i'm in a hurry or its clearly obvious they're faking it!

Spud83

mjquinno wrote:

Last nice thing i did:

helped a couple of girls set up there tent at a rencent music festival they werent too sure but we got it eventually

i read this guys book a few years back quite funny

http://www.join-me.co.uk/

I dont think it counts as a random act of kindness when you are trying to get your ride.

joe_chicken

Was in London a month ago and me and the gf bought 2 daily Underground tickets. Was leaving London at about 1 in the afternoon returning home and tried to give my tickets away...

me: "Excuse me, would you like 2 day tickets for the underground, I'm leaving and don't need them"... was my planned conversation.

But for the four or five people I asked queuing at the ticket machine, I only got as far as: "Excuse me, would you like..." before they would attempt to ignore me or say "no thanks" without even looking at what I had...

so I just tore them up and threw them in the bin.

labreagreine

There is no such thing as a selfless act imo.
Donate a million quid to charity, get the press involved, get to feel all good about yourself.
Help a little old lady cross the road, she says thanks and tells all her mates, get to feel good about yourself.
You do nice things because you get to feel good about yourself, that little rush of endorphins you get.
Myself, I never do anything for anyone that doesn't involve me being renumerated in some way.

I don't think the OP was talking about selfless acts just random acts of kindness. Lets face it, everyone gets a little pleasure out of doing something nice but that's not what its all about. It's about giving back a bit more than you take from society.

I don't believe in karma but I do think that we would all benefit if people would just made a little extra effort now and then.

mjquinno

alanmurphy83 wrote:

I dont think it counts as a random act of kindness when you are trying to get your ride.

I wasnt! honest got gf for 7 years.

"Sure i barely have enough work for one as it is"

Leeby

alanmurphy83 wrote:

I dont think it counts as a random act of kindness when you are trying to get your ride.

Ah you can't presume that's what he was doing, I'm a girl and when I was in Amsterdam some random German girls helped me put up my tent cos it was one of those weird one man ones and it was clear I hadn't a clue,

Camping in Wicklow a few weeks back myself and another friend helped a girl put up her tent and I certainly wasn't tryin to get my ride! It's just a nice thing to do.

Varkov

Cheeky_gal wrote:

I never walk past a homeless person without buying them a coffee and sandwich...unless i'm in a hurry or its clearly obvious they're faking it!

Couldn't be doin that or I'd be worse off than them.

I'll drop a few quid in if they're just a kid.

Slow Motion

I was on the upper deck of the bus coming into town this morning, anyhoo the bus pulled in to Parnell St. and everyone was getting off, there was this old man in front of me trying to get down the stairs. He was making a job of it so I gave him a helpfull shove and he went down the stairs in a flash ! As I stepped over him at the bottom I told him not to bother thanking me as the act itself was reward enough. Made my day

Varkov

Slow Motion wrote:

I was on the upper deck of the bus coming into town this morning, anyhoo the bus pulled in to Parnell St. and everyone was getting off, there was this old man in front of me trying to get down the stairs. He was making a job of it so I gave him a helpfull shove and he went down the stairs in a flash ! As I stepped over him at the bottom I told him not to bother thanking me as the act itself was reward enough. Made my day

God bless you sir.

labreagreine

Your all heart Slow Motion.

:rolleyes:

jebuz

a lady dropped her bike and I picked it up, saddle do says she!

TerrorFirmer

Awhile ago I saw a wasp caught in a Spiders web. I hate wasps. But I still felt bad for it, especially because it was vainly struggling. I cut it out and tried to get all the webbing off it, eventually after a few minutes of looking groggy it flew away. Yes, I probably deprived the Spider of the very food he needs to live but....I hate defenseless beings...

Schism

I think we all do some sort of selfless act each day. Holding a door open for someone with an armful of stuff for example.

Edit : What does a groggy wasp look like?

Rossibaby

i was in a bar and twas a girls birthday there and not many people at it..so went up to dj on the sly and got him to play anonymous happy birthday request...he goes ''happy birthday to xxx xxxxx and i bet you know who thats from'' assumed i was her boyfriend was funny,she was happy though nice to make people smile.

always flirt with girls too and call the gorgeous and stuff,class when they go all red and smiley lol [and no i have a gf not interested in getting with them]

Exit

I presume somebody here saw Conor O'Clery on TV3 this morning talking about Chuck Feeney and the book he wrote on him - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Billionaire-Who-Wasnt-Secretly-Fortune/dp/1586483919

Very interesting story, and if I was ever that wealthy I'd love to do something similar with my money.

Here's an article by O'Clery - http://atlanticphilanthropies.org/news/news/chuck_feeney_interview_in_irish_america

Nunu

Any time I've to attend Vincents Hospital Outpatients Dept and had to get a waiting ticket, I always grab 2. I then wait till it is almost my turn then give any elderly person I see come in a while after me the ticket to go ahead of me....then again is it really kindness when I am making everyone else wait longer!

FOGOFUNK

I helped a blind geezer accross the road last week.

biko

DesF wrote:

There is no such thing as a selfless act imo.

The old altruism debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward

Still, as long as you do nice things for other people it's fine if you feel good about yourself - it'll only serve to make you want to continue doing good deeds.

When Subway used to give out those stamps for eating there I'd collect enough for a free sub on my card - then give the card to a homeless person instead of money. At least he can't drink that.

Drummo

Maybe not so much an "RAoK" but I get a real kick out of returning peoples lost phones. I've found tonnes of them on busses etc. I just call "ma" or "da" or someone like that in their phonebook and arrange to return their phone. It's so cool seeing the look of releif and disbeleif on people's faces when you hand them back their phone.

Every single time, without fail, I've been offered a monetary reward which, to me, would defeat the purpose except once I did once take a box of chocolates which I gave to my bird because I felt it would be rude not to accept a gift someone specificaly got for me.

humanji

DesF wrote:

There is no such thing as a selfless act imo.

Bollox! Of course there is. I was in New York a while ago and a guy came out of a shop and dropped his wallet on the ground. I picked it up, ran after it and gave it to him. I didn't do it to make myself feel better, and I didn't do it for a reward. I didn't think about it at all, I just did it. It was just instinct.

And your 2 examples are rubbish. Someone rewarding you for a good deed doesn't take away from the what you did. If you ONLY helped the woman across the road to feel good about yourself, then that wouldn't be selfless. But if you saw a woman who needed help, and helped her for no other reason than to help her, then it's selfless.

Oriel

Cheeky_gal wrote:

I never walk past a homeless person without buying them a coffee and sandwich...

Hahaha, what bollocks.

_blank_

humanji wrote:

Bollox!

Thanks for that, are you unable to have a discussion without resorting to pettiness like this?

Anyway, I'll ignore that for now.

humanji wrote:

Of course there is. I was in New York a while ago and a guy came out of a shop and dropped his wallet on the ground. I picked it up, ran after it and gave it to him. I didn't do it to make myself feel better, and I didn't do it for a reward. I didn't think about it at all, I just did it. It was just instinct.

Come now, of course you thought about it.

You had two choices.

1. Go after the dude who had lost his wallet.
2. Don't go after the dude who lost his wallet.

You would have felt bad about not going after him, and leaving the wallet to some other fate.

Therefore, you went after the dude, so you wouldn't feel bad.

humanji wrote:

And your 2 examples are rubbish.

Wow, all the negativity towards me. What did I do apart from offer a differing opinion?

Jesus Wept

biko wrote:

The old altruism debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward

Still, as long as you do nice things for other people it's fine if you feel good about yourself - it'll only serve to make you want to continue doing good deeds.

When Subway used to give out those stamps for eating there I'd collect enough for a free sub on my card - then give the card to a homeless person instead of money. At least he can't drink that.

Yea, I saw that movie, I liked it!

super_furry

jebuz wrote:

a lady dropped her bike and I picked it up, saddle do says she!

I hope you're not yanking our chain. I'm getting tyred of these random puns.

Tar.Aldarion

Rossibaby wrote:

i was in a bar and twas a girls birthday there and not many people at it..so went up to dj on the sly and got him to play anonymous happy birthday request...he goes ''happy birthday to xxx xxxxx and i bet you know who thats from'' assumed i was her boyfriend was funny,she was happy though nice to make people smile.

always flirt with girls too and call the gorgeous and stuff,class when they go all red and smiley lol [and no i have a gf not interested in getting with them]

Oh my god, that was you!
*blushes*

Glowing

Nunu wrote:

Any time I've to attend Vincents Hospital Outpatients Dept and had to get a waiting ticket, I always grab 2. I then wait till it is almost my turn then give any elderly person I see come in a while after me the ticket to go ahead of me....then again is it really kindness when I am making everyone else wait longer!

Aww bless!

Sam Vimes

I've returned phones as most people have. By registered post once

while working in a phone shop i took someone's number wrong and moved it to a different network so the customer had the wrong number and someone else lost their number. After sorting it out i rang the person whose number had been moved to apologise and it turned out she was about ten and was very upset about the 4 euro credit she had lost so i topped her up online by a tenner.

One of the nicest things done for me was this. I was in germany with a few friends and we were using a tourist map to look for a chinese restaurant. We asked a woman walking her dog and she said the map was wrong so we asked if there were any in the area. She said there was one about ten minutes away and started to tell us the way but then said she'd give us a lift. She put her dog in the boot and gave 3 random irish lads a lift to the restaurant. Could've been very dangerous for her tbh

Love2love

Commander Vimes wrote:

One of the nicest things done for me was this. I was in germany with a few friends and we were using a tourist map to look for a chinese restaurant. We asked a woman walking her dog and she said the map was wrong so we asked if there were any in the area. She said there was one about ten minutes away and started to tell us the way but then said she'd give us a lift. She put her dog in the boot and gave 3 random irish lads a lift to the restaurant. Could've been very dangerous for her tbh

Could've been dangerous for you more like, the women here are built like tanks!

Zaph

I work in the IFSC and pass by Connolly Station and Busaras most days. There are always tourists around the area staring at maps of Dublin with a bemused look on their faces. Unless I'm in a hurry I'll usually make a point of trying to point them in the right direction. As well as helping them get to where they want to go quicker, it has the added bonus of depriving some little skanger in Talbot Street or the surrounding area of an easy target.

Love2love

Chicken soup for the soul....

That book made me cry. TBH, I can't remember the last time I done something good for anybody but myself. I don't get out much anymore but I hope this thread will inspire me to do more thing for the sake of mankind....

I just gave away my entire DVD collection for free to somebody who just broke up with their girlfriend, does that count?????

Zaph

Love2love wrote:

I just gave away my entire DVD collection for free to somebody who just broke up with their girlfriend, does that count?????

Depends on whether they were all comedies to cheer him up or a load of gloomy, depressing films, in which case you may want to keep him away from sharp objects

Clare Bear

big b wrote:

When I lived in Scotland, I used to occasionally pay for an old woman's shopping , if she was in front of me in the Q, looked skint & was only getting a few things.
And every festive season, I'd be shopping & see some obviously not well-off family looking at cheap presents for their kids. Sometimes I'd drop 40 quid or whatever into their basket & either say Merry Christmas or just walk on, sometimes I'd tap them on the shoulder, hand out the cash & say " you just dropped this"

Never once had it thrown back in my face, which I fear would happen here. Also, some of the wealthiest Irish people I know dress like knackers- it's much harder to tell here.

And I got more pleasure from the knowledge that someone maybe smiled that day who wouldn't have otherwise, than from any sense of self-satisfaction.

Tough guy, eh?:rolleyes:

I must be having an emotional day cause that just made me cry.....I like this thread (Sap!!)