In a world where kindness often goes hidden, some people go above and beyond to make a difference. Today we have collected heartwarming stories about real acts of courage, bounty, and selflessness.

Story 1:

I was 18 and had just moved to NYC by myself, trying to adjust to the lifestyle there (having come from a small town in the South). It was my first time using the train, and I had no idea how to buy a MetroCard.

So I’m standing there at the only working machine, with a line of people behind me, trying to buy a card. I was a little frantic because I knew people were waiting. People in the line started yelling at me to “Hurry up!” and “What, are you dumb?” I started to get teary-eyed, which made me even more frantic.

Then, this guy stepped out of the line and told everyone to chill out. He came up, showed me step by step what to do, and paid for a 12-ride card for me. He patted me on the back and told me, “Next time someone yells at you, yell back, and they’ll leave you alone.” In that moment, I didn’t feel so alone.

Without his kindness and guidance, I probably wouldn’t have stayed up there and had all the great experiences I did. © Wiffle_Snuff / Reddit

Story 2:

When I was about 12 years old, I went to a bookstore with my cousins. We bought a few books and then went outside and started reading them. We were all getting stared down by this old man, but after about 10 minutes of him staring at us, he got up from the bench and went inside the bookstore.

About five minutes later, he came out with three gift cards. He walked up to us with a smile and said, “I love seeing kids read,” then handed each of us a $20 gift card. I had never been so shocked and touched.

A few years back, I ran out of gas on my way home from work. I managed to get my car to the median, so I wasn’t totally blocking traffic. I was stuck at this point—no one I could call and no money. I had three people stop and help me.

The first guy asked what was wrong, if I was okay, and if I had any money on me for gas, etc. I told him my car was out of gas, I had no way of getting to a gas station, and I showed him my check that I had yet to cash, so I had no money. He left, and car two showed up.

Car two—I chatted with her for a bit, but she said she couldn’t really help me out, which is all good.

So the third person to stop was an undercover officer. Really nice guy—he helped me push my car towards the grass and brainstormed ideas for the situation because he didn’t want to leave me there.

Well, as the cop and I were talking, car number one pulls up, gets out, and hands me a full 10-gallon gas can. I profusely thanked the guy, even offered to get his number so I could pay him back. He refused, just said it was really no problem.
I didn’t ask this guy to spend his money on gas for me, but he did anyway, and I’m thankful he did. Too bad I’ll never get a chance to pay him back.