I ran out of gas in Florida once, and a white man gave me a ride to a gas station for a can of gas.

A few years ago I was behind a group of people in a store check out line. There was one woman who appeared to be a caregiver with a half dozen handicap individuals, some with obvious downs syndrome. She was a few bucks short of covering all the items they intended to purchase. She took her group to the side to have them pick what items they couldn’t buy. I told the clerk that I would pay the difference. The woman nodded and accepted what I had offered, but I detected a bit of humiliation as she left with her group
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In hindsight, I should have paid their entire bill and thanked the woman for the acts of awesomenicity that she apparently conducted on a daily basis.

My wife wound up in the ditch with several other vehicles last Friday morning north of Evansville. The others got out. She called a sheriff's deputy and awaited a tow truck. Then another guy slid in, narrowly missing her. He and two other men "appeared out of no where" and managed to push out her Malibu. Unfortunately, she never got their names. If they happen to be reading this, my sincere thanks. I've helped out numerous people stuck in streets/driveways through the years. Maybe karma helped deliver these good Samaritans for my wife last Friday.

Pay It Forward! It's great to offer random acts of kindness to others. It makes receiving random acts of kindness with a grateful heart possible. Karma, baby... :D

Here's an eye-witness account:
This morning in the doctor's office a woman in a wheelchair came in. She was having trouble moving across the room. Another woman in the waiting room asked if she could help. It was obvious the woman in the wheelchair was surprised by the offer. She pushed her across the room and made sure she got to her appointment.

Years ago coming home from 4H play practice I happen to look over and saw a elderly woman on the ground with her groceries laying all around her. As I stopped and backed up my girls who were around middle school age were soooo embarrassed. Of course not helping was not a option. The lady’s husband who walked with a cane was dragging a chair from the house. We were able to get her into the chair and after a bit she could make it into the house. The girls carried the chair and groceries inside. We were able to leave before she thought to ask who we were and no one talked any more about being embarrassed.
Now I’m sure some else would have stopped or they would have been able to cope. The point of this whole thing is I will forever be grateful for that opportunity. You can tell your kids to always be kind and helpful to people but once they experience it for themselves they will never forget.

My sister and I were travelling back from from our other sister's house who lived out of state. Their speed limit is 75, so I was driving a little bit faster than that to make good time on an 8 hour trip. My tire blew. It was Sunday. We called a tow truck and I was dreading the 100s of dollars that I would have to shell out to get my car towed and fixed, as I busted a lugnut trying to change the tire myself. What can I say? I'm a powerhouse. (it had nothing to do with the rust-covered lugnut.)

A young white man who worked for a car dealership came along and offered to change the tire and fix the tire at his house in a rural location. (Note: Being raised during the era of "Unsolved Mysteries", my sister and I were a little sketched out about going to this guy's house. Fortunately, I purchased a cell phone for the purpose of driving to MI, so we kept our other sister appraised of where we were going and gave regular updates of the progress.) We followed him to his house and sat for a few hours while he tracked down the right parts from a friend who operated a junk yard. He didn't charge us a penny, but we insisted on giving him the cash we had left from our vacation. What an experience!

Speaking of cars, when my car was in the habit of taking a nap instead of running, strangers on two separate occasions stopped and looked under the hood to see if they could figure it out while I waited for AAA. It was the fuel pump. :)

It's nice having an I-Pass, but I miss the human contact.

Seriously, a long time ago I ran out of gas in Chicago and a black man drove me to a gas station for a can of gas.

Paying the toll of the person behind you. Now that's a random act of kindness I can afford. I'd do it just for the toll booth workers; they don't smile enough. :-)

For a few cents - watch the smile on the face of the toll booth workers when you pay the highway toll for the vehicle behind you on the Illinois Tollway. You might not see the shock on that next drivers face but the smiles it brings to the booth worker says it all.

I have the most awsome dad of all time. He was at the K-mart pharmacy and had decided to not buy his medication so he could purchase the meds for an elderly lady in front of him that did not have enough money for her prescription. Despite need of his medication, he went without so a stranger could get hers.

When I was in college, I was waiting in line with a basket full of groceries at the check out. The nice man in front of me asked me if I was a college student. When I said yes, he said, "I'll pay for your food." It was such an unexpected, outpouring of "awesomenicity" that I didn't know what to do. Hopefully I can return the favor someday.

I'm still amused by the number of people who are surprised when you hold a door for them. Either they'd never been taught to do that themselves or they never thought a 25-year-old would be considerate enough to do it.

I had a woman in front of me, pay for my order at a fast food drive-thru, I couldn't thank her, she was gone, so I paid for the one behind me. I had been crabby after a long day, but her act of random kindness made me smile all the way home.

i haved purchased a cups of coffee on a cold winters nite for people I'm very sure were their trying to keep themselves from the weather.

One time I helped an old lady cross the street after which she whacked me on the head with her cane saying, "I was waiting for a bus on the other side!"

I witnessed a woman at Target patiently combing through the freezer case trying to find a frozen treat both of her grandsons could agree on. As she pulled out box after box, one or the other boy declined it. Yet, Grandma never gave up. She simply reached for the next box.

Her unwavering patience touched me. So, as I walked past, I leaned over and whispered, "I wish you were my grandma."
She paused with a frozen treat in each hand. "Thank you," she sighed.

Now, I thought she was oozing awesomeness toward her grandsons. But, I think she thought my comment was awesome as well.

We both walked away feeling pretty good.