Random, powerful acts of kindness?

[Sylar]

I believe that through the course of our lives, there have always been a handful of people that have done some random act or gesture of kindness that has stuck with us 'till the end.

I'll never forget my freshman year of high school when I participated in an Honor Band for the northern region of my state. Everyone from the towns in the northern region collected there for a one-day rehearsal & concert type deal; from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (In other words, you're with these people all day). Wouldn't you know that I was the only person that made the band from my town, so naturally I participated alone.

Now, It didn't bother me that I was alone; I enjoyed being able to go where I wanted, whenever I wanted, without anyone to tell me what they'd rather be doing (needy friends at the time). On the same token, I'm a high percentage Extrovert (95%), so I'd strike up conversation with whoever I came in contact with (usually my stand partner, etc.) Eventually lunch time came around, and as was expected, the kids from the same town sat together and invited maybe one other guy to a guy's table and one other girl to a girl's table. I'll never forget the girl that walked up to me, that didn't know me, that didn't have any reason to know me, and that (as absolutely degrading as it is for me to admit this), bested me in my instrument, came up to me and asked me if I'd like to go join her and her friends at their table. Maybe that wouldn't mean as much to other people, but that's beside the point of this thread, because it meant so much to me at the time and still today. Not sure why I thought it was so special, but it was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me (other than given birth to me ;)).


Lengthy Narrative Above ^^^^. I know some people don't like to read all the "extraneous" information and like the point of the thread so I saved you the trouble :).

"I'll never forget the girl that walked up to me, that didn't know me, that didn't have any reason to know me, and that (as absolutely degrading as it is for me to admit this), bested me in my instrument, came up to me and asked me if I'd like to go join her and her friends at their table."

It meant more to me then and still today than I thought it would. I think it was probably because I'm so used to doing everything myself that someone actually offering to lend a hand out of pure, authentic kindness blew me away (My adolescence was a "do it yourself or watch yourself be screwed" type deal).

While some may be less fortunate than others, I honestly believe we've all met at least a few people like this. Anyone like to share their experiences?

[Nomadofthehills]

She probably invited you because she thought you were cute, not to be nice.

[Vagrant]

Honestly? The most kind act anybody can do for me is not using me for their own ends, and just appreciate me for being me. There's been so many people throughout elementary, junior high, and high school that only hung around me to use my abilities, that somebody who didn't use me was just... powerful.

[Urania]

I call them random acts of Power.
The people performing them may not be aware and their intent is irrelevant.
I notice them all the time.

[rara avis]

When I was a quiet, angry little 13 y.o., we had a death in our immediate family circle. During the funereal hoopla, a friend's relative who was a librarian made a point of sitting down and chatting with me. She engaged me on the topic of books, and I told her my class was reading A Wizard of Earthsea, and that everyone hated it but me- I sheepishly liked it; I'd never really read anything like it before.

Before she left town, she went and bought an Anne McCaffery trilogy and left it for me with someone who said she got them for me just because she thought I might like them. In doing so, she introduced me to an intense love of fantasy novels that became a major help in getting me through the next several rocky years.

A lot of people have cut me breaks or just done nice things for me over the years. This was the first one that came to mind.

[tp6626]

I think that these kind of acts can have a massive effect on the life of the person(s) experiencing them. So, whenever I gauge that this might be the case, I will go well out of my way to do something like that.

I find it works best with children and adolescents, in situations where you can really surprise them by it.

A number of times I've paid for people on public transport or in shops when they haven't had enough money. And probably the furthest I've taken it is to actually giving my bike to a kid who helped me fix a puncture when he saw me pushing the bike home one night after work.

He didn't know me, and helped me fix it out of the goodness of his heart. He told me that it was a good bike, it was in a deprived area, and he told me he wanted to be a mechanic when he grew up. So when we'd finished fixing it, I told him he could keep it (as long as his parents wouldn't think he'd stolen it), said thanks & goodbye, and walked home (2.5 miles!).

Never saw him again, but hope he remembers it and is motivated by it to actually become what he wants to!

[Maayan]

It's extremely important for me to be nice to strangers in the way that Sylar described. I know what it's like to feel left out, and I'm extremely sensitive to other people going through the same thing. It's very easy for me to smile at a person and approach them. Why not make them feel welcome?

[gn0sis]

I think that these kind of acts can have a massive effect on the life of the person(s) experiencing them. So, whenever I gauge that this might be the case, I will go well out of my way to do something like that.

I feel the same way.

I find myself excited and unable to keep from helping people when they're really in need. I have found that often things that seem very small and insignificant make the biggest impact on people. I just want to show them that the world isn't all bad, that there are some good people in it, that they don't have to be in despair, and that they can be good people too. I suppose saying "just" before that may seem a little outrageous but I really do believe that the world is, underneath all the muck, a tearfully beautiful place and I would feel incomplete if I did not share my vision with others.

[Ender]

Random acts of kindness can make quite a difference. I think part of the reason at least is that sometimes people are teetering in this area between good and bad or happiness and despair and all they really need is an extra push to get them going in the right direction.

I don't know about myself doing random acts of kindness, but I do try to be friendly with people when they have the gall courage to actually converse with me or ask me for something (like borrowing a pen, heh, that's a common one).

There was one time though on a forum where I got into a pretty nasty debate with someone about religion and I basically told them "no hard feelings, forget and forget, etc." afterward. Obviously I can't know for sure, but I'd like to think that the way I handled it made a lasting impression on the person about religious people (they seemed to have a bias toward them at the time).

And goodness, what is up with my obsession with sticking in thoughts with parenthesis (I can't seem to stop).

[graciela224]

I love these random acts of kindness.

Just the other day I put some of my graphic designs up on my Facebook. An old friend of mine that I haven't spoken to in years (I know, you just end up collecting them on the internet like dust) randomly left an amazing compliment.

Random things like that can just totally brighten your day, and even inspire confidence. I consider myself to be an amateur designer, so having someone offer to pay for them was a big boost.

Smiles all around ^_^