Random acts of kindness?

daviecronin

So.... I was walking in the complete lashing rain today - Long story. I was going to a train station like another 2km away. A man stopped in his car and asked did I want a lift. Sceptical at first but then I said sher feck.

I got into his car dripping wet and probably wrecking his seats. He was a lovely man and very talkative. He went a good 5 minutes out of his way to help me. I told him thanks very much and that his good deed of the day was done. It got me thinking would I do that? I mean I could have been a drunkie/drugie or anything and regardless he still offered me a lift. Since I was in such a good mood I saw a lady on the train with a sign about water charges going to a protest. I said good luck to her ( Good luck in what context I do not know ) even though I completely agree with water charges. But that's for another day. I thought it was kind of passing on a good deed in way. Obviously what I said was simple to say.

Soooo my real question is did YOU do something good out or out of your way today for someone else? And if not why not? 'A good deed a day keeps the doctor away'

Excuse the American clichés and the cringyness in this video but its still kind of interesting.

EoghanIRL

Tldr;

Icaras

I didnt call anyone a c**t today - does that count?

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

daviecronin wrote: »

Since I was in such a good mood I saw a lady on the train with a sign about water charges going to a protest. I said good luck to her

That's some good deed there, Bob Geldof.

daviecronin

The Cunning Linguist wrote: »

That's some good deed there, Bob Geldof.

Hahhah I've done better in my time I was just showing how it can carry on ya know

whatdoicare

A really elderly lady stopped me in a car park last week asking how to get out of the car park- its a balls of a place to get out of - with all the tooing and froing I realised she wasn't sure where she even parked her car. She looked like she was really struggling to walk too.

I drove her around the car park until she found her car and helped her get out of the car park by going first. I couldn't leave her, she was old and scared!

Anyway, that was my good deed

Rosie Rant

I'm giving up my plans for tonight to babysit so my sis can go out to a gig. That's a good deed I suppose.

I had a very similar experience to the OP a few years ago. I was just starting out for work one day in the lashing rain and this lady who lived in the house across from mine stopped and asked if I needed a lift. Like the OP I was sceptical at first but she seemed nice. She said "where do you need to go?" . I told her and she dropped me to work and wouldn't accept the money I offered as thanks. I got out and she went off in a completely different direction. She had gone out of her way to make sure I didn't catch cold. I had never spoken to her before. I learned on the radio later that it was random act of kindness day.

The_Valeyard

Most prople are nice and do very kind deeds.

Just that it would not sell papers

Capt'n Midnight

A good deed never goes unpunished.

nc19

Icaras wrote: »

I didnt call anyone a c**t today - does that count?

I have yet to manage this myself. I cant remember the last time somebody throughout my day hasn't made me think 'cuñt'

dublinman1990

Its a good thing this thread came up tonight.

I came across a young Filipino teenage boy in Eason's book shop in O'Connell Street in Dublin yesterday and he asked me could he use my phone to ring my friend because his phone had run out of credit. I said Yeah sure and he gave me his friends number to ring his friend somewhere around Dublin City Centre.

He rang his friend using my phone and spoke to him in Philiphino language. It was a new experience for me as I never heard of the language in person before. It was a very beautiful language to hear from him btw.

When he finished his call he said thank you and I said no problem and he walked off his friend and that was it. He was a very nice young man wearing really nice clothes going out for a night on the town with his friends so I couldn't say no to him.

smcgiff

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Its a good thing this thread came up tonight.

I came across a young Filipino teenage boy in Eason's book shop in O'Connell Street in Dublin yesterday and he asked me could he use my phone to ring my friend because his phone had run out of credit. I said Yeah sure and he gave me his friends number to ring his friend somewhere around Dublin City Centre.

He rang his friend using my phone and spoke to him in Philiphino language. It was a new experience for me as I never heard of the language in person before. It was a very beautiful language to hear from him btw.

When he finished his call he said thank you and I said no problem and he walked off his friend and that was it. He was a very nice young man wearing really nice clothes going out for a night on the town with his friends so I couldn't say no to him.

Congrats on paying for his call to his mum half way across the world

Talib Fiasco

This may have been drink fueled and also by being in the presence of an alluring female but after a night out we came across a homeless guy outside the club. I'd be decent enough for giving them change but only had my bank card so I couldn't give him anything. Went to the pizza place and bought food but then decided to get extras. Went back to the area of the club and found him in the same place and handed the food over to him. I've never been thanked so much or so passionately by anyone in my life.

Felt good I'll admit and I'd like to make it a more regular thing. I know some of them just want a quick fix which is for another thread but some of them genuinely are just in the rough. Na who am I kidding I just did it so ya wan would be impressed! Fell right into the trap haw haw/

daviecronin

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

This may have been drink fueled and also by being in the presence of an alluring female but after a night out we came across a homeless guy outside the club. I'd be decent enough for giving them change but only had my bank card so I couldn't give him anything. Went to the pizza place and bought food but then decided to get extras. Went back to the area of the club and found him in the same place and handed the food over to him. I've never been thanked so much or so passionately by anyone in my life.

Felt good I'll admit and I'd like to make it a more regular thing. I know some of them just want a quick fix which is for another thread but some of them genuinely are just in the rough. Na who am I kidding I just did it so ya wan would be impressed! Fell right into the trap haw haw/

I did something similar. I had a bag of crisps and a can of coke in my bag. It was patricks street in cork and I saw a many who looked in a terrible state. I gave him the Coke and the crisps funnily enough he just took them and muttered thanks under his breath. I was kind of feeling then wheres my medal? Wheres my video for youtube?

I suppose most good deeds go unnoticed.

hardCopy

About 4 years ago, before selfies were trending, gf and I were trying to take a photo at the side of a road near Croagh Patrick. A kind gent abandoned his car in the middle of the road and offered to take our pic. He held up traffic and everything, we got a great pic out of it and it's now framed in our sitting room.

After that I made it my mission to take pics for every couple I saw struggling to take a picture. I took dozens over the years until selfies became all the rage. People don't want my help now that photos of your nostrils and outstretched arms are cool.

DoYouEvenLift

No point doing good deeds if you're only going to tell others about them or post about it online, just reeks of attention seeking. Everyone should do them when possible though but just keep them to yourself.

Deub

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

No point doing good deeds if you're only going to tell others about them or post about it online, just reeks of attention seeking. Everyone should do them when possible though but just keep them to yourself.

So people that don't do good deeds think it is normal not to be nice to people they don't know?

The Strawman Argument

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

No point doing good deeds if you're only going to tell others about them or post about it online, just reeks of attention seeking. Everyone should do them when possible though but just keep them to yourself.

Jesus, there's nothing wrong with giving yourself a bit of a pat on the back for being nice. No point going down that whole "there's no such thing as a selfless act" rabbit hole.

Candy_Girl

It's something I always do, it's nice to be nice.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

No point doing good deeds if you're only going to tell others about them or post about it online, just reeks of attention seeking. Everyone should do them when possible though but just keep them to yourself.

Of course there's a point, you've still done a good deed. Arguably if you did a good deed and didn't tell anyone about it you'd feel even better about yourself for not seeking praise for doing a good deed, which just devalues the whole thing of not telling anyone, and so on and pointlessly forth.

Can never understand the mindset of people who seem determined to make people feel bad about themselves for going out of their way to help strangers.

Bowlardo

there is a car park with no barriers. you pay at the beginning for a set time or whatever. one day I was going in and a middle age guy was coming out and put down the window and gave me his ticket.
I always try and do the same.

hardCopy

Bowlardo wrote: »

there is a car park with no barriers. you pay at the beginning for a set time or whatever. one day I was going in and a middle age guy was coming out and put down the window and gave me his ticket.
I always try and do the same.

Have noticed people will sometimes leave their ticket in the change slot of the meter, presumably because nobody was arriving when they were leaving, always check the change slot before you pay.

Pwindedd

Had a good deed done for me a while back. My bag was robbed in town - car keys purse phone - everything I owned basically. Got an email next day - we've found your bag and your email address was in your purse - the phone and cash was gone but my car keys, purse and cards were still in the bag. The absolutely amazing couple that found it, met me in town to hand it back. It meant I could get my car out of the car park (was gonna have to get it towed - no spare key) and all my cards were still there. Bank card, driving license, loyalty cards, gym card. If I ever find a bag or purse I'll definitely go out of my way to get it back to the owner. No harm in putting a bit of paper with your phone number or email in your bag ladies.

GalwayGirl26

Well I'm not proud of the first bit; but was heading home the other day and passed by an elderly woman who was struggling to walk. Now, she was very decrepit looking, untidy and a bit scary to be honest, kind of dragging herself along. Anyway, I passed with my headphones in but thought I heard something so looked back and sure enough she was shouting 'Miss' and reaching out to me. I took out the headphones and asked if she was okay; she asked would I take her arm and bring her to the post office.
I hesitated for a mili-second but told myself to cop the feck on and help the lady out. So I supported her and walked her down the street, and the entire time she praised me for my good nature and said it'd come back to me. I felt horrible for ever having judged her, and it really did make me think about my attitude.

The Strawman Argument

Other people's acts of kindness towards me or people I care about actually seems a bit nicer to think about (plus I already covered some of them in the near identical thread like this a fortnight ago, check it out, I'm amazing!). I'm pretty independent (/I don't really leave people many opportunities to help me), but here's a few that spring to mind:


Any time anyone lets me go ahead of them in the queue at Aldi is always hugely appreciated. The fact it happens so often genuinely surprises me, it's awkward enough to let someone ahead of you sometimes with those narrow lanes and all.

The amount of times complete strangers went out of their way to help my dad when he was going through chemotherapy and afterwards had a pretty big impact on me trying to be a better person, it was almost as if society had a system in place to watch over him. His family, who were never at all close to us, were great for a while too before, things inevitably went sour again but it was vital at the time and it'd be totally unfair to ignore that.

One of my neighbours who's usually shy and awkward as hell went out of his way at my dad's wake to gather me and my brothers up to tell us stories about him and my dad as children, we'd never heard any of it before, and it was far better than the millions of prayers everyone else was doing. He didn't gloss over my dad's flaws either, so they felt a lot more real than the ridiculously saintly recollections everyone else was having.

This quiet girl abruptly standing up for me on the school bus like eleven years ago out of the blue after a year of constant bullying from one group. I appreciated it waayyyyyyy more than I let on.
There were a few other incidents like that scattered through school and I can't really overstate their importance.

martinedwards

Love these!

When I was building guitars (now had to give up because of health probs) I gave away about 1 in 10

best ever was a festival I was staffing at.

one morning I had a bit of free time so I went across to the "overflow" hall to sit & noodle to pass the time.

There was tables & chairs set out for about 200 so that when the main breakfast hall was full folks could bring their coffee & toast over.......

anyway when I got there there were 4 people in the hall.

I went off into a far corner out of the way and started messing around, mainly with a 12 bar in E...... SRVs Mary had a little lamb with my own poor variations.

Not grandstanding in any way y'understand, noodlin with my Ausie Bush hat down over my eyes so I couldn't even see if anyone was paying attention.

So after about 20 minutes I heard a voice and looked up. A teenaged girl with a silly woolly hat on and an unusual accent that I couldn't place asked if she could listen to me play.

"you obvioulsy need psychiatric help, but feel free" I said, and she sat cross legged like a wee pixie to listen. I played a little more & then offered her the guitar. She played a little finger picky thing and said how she wasn't used to steel strings as she had a classical....

Then she asked if I minded if she played one of her own compositions.

WOW!!!!

she had a voice like a young Joni Mitchel.

I told her (truthfully) that I'd only ever heard one "unsigned" voice as good in my LIFE and that the owner of THAT voice had got a 1st class honours degree in music using her voice as her instrument and had gone on to be a session singer and was currently working on her 2nd album.

she was so chuffed by that, and really modest with it..........

she handed me the guitar back and .... well I know we're not meant to talk religion in AH, but It was a God thing y'know?

"you don't have a steel string?" I said

"No, I can't afford one" she said......

I put it in the case and pushed it over to her and said "Its yours"

once she stopped hyperventilating and saying "really" over and over again and had cried a bit I explained the pay it forward thing.

basically if someone does you a favour, don't pay it BACK to them, pay it FORWARD to someone else....

it feels great to do good stuff for folks

here's a few pics of the guitar http://martinedwardsluthier.blogspot.co.uk/2007_06_01_archive.html

that was back on 2007. the girl (I won't name her) is now a presenter on TV3.........

daviecronin

daviecronin wrote: »

Soooo my real question is did YOU do something good out or out of your way today for someone else?

Not today. I do weekly give a free vipassana meditation guide to students from the local college - and a few other people from the locality who suffer from various addictions and anger issues and the like.

I do try to go out of my way at least 2 or 3 times a week to do something for someone. But its never anything massive. Quantity over quality - though if I see a chance for quality I go for that too.

Somehow this keeps coming up in conversation with people too.

tradhead

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

No point doing good deeds if you're only going to tell others about them or post about it online, just reeks of attention seeking. Everyone should do them when possible though but just keep them to yourself.

Definitely don't agree with this. I've been inspired by the lovely people posting in this thread to go out of my way to do a good deed today! My usual one (if I'm in a good mood) is to point out to the queue of people at the ATM on O' Connell street (just past the turn for Henry Street) that there is another ATM in the shop directly beside it that hardly ever has anybody there.

My wallet was found by a lovely old man last week who, on finding no contact details, rang the bank to alert them that he had it, who then rang me. He left his contact details with the bank so I was able to call up to him the same day and pick up the wallet, with every penny still in it. I insisted that he take a few euro and buy himself a lotto ticket, but he just said he'd put it in the poor box the following morning. Really warmed my heart to know that there are such generous, selfless people among us.

osarusan

Baked a cake for a birthday party. It's a friend of my daughter, and her mother didn't have time to do it.

AdamB

Last week I was in the Science Museum in London. I was going down a couple of flights of stairs to the bottom floor when I passed what I presumed to be 3 generations of a family- granny, mother and a few toddlers.

Granny was struggling with a pram on the way down so I offered to carry it the rest of the way. With every step she took she praised me, " such a kind gentleman, such a nice man, so considerate of you" On the last step she turned to her daughter and said " see not awll English people awr sewfish buggers are vey"

As I walked away and told them that I am actually Irish I heard "well tha explains tha then done it, fanks mate!"

I wouldn't see this as a good deed, more common decency really.