Sometimes, even the smallest, seemingly irrelevant actions can make a huge impact on another person’s life. Whether it’s a few nice words, or an umbrella lent out to someone in the rain, these kinds of good deeds can create a ripple effect that will encourage total strangers to pay it forward.
We at Bright Side loved these 15 stories of people helping strangers, proving that you don’t need to have superpowers to be a real superhero.
1.
A pup (named Meadow) was lost for over a week. It was snowing and it was pretty cold then, so the whole town rallied together to search for Meadow but to no avail. The owner tried his luck and shared the lost dog poster on our local subreddit. A stranger Redditor responded immediately and offered to look for Meadow with his drone. But hope was very thin at that point, as it had been more than 10 days. Then, the owner got a ping from Reddit that the stranger found Meadow! Brian (the stranger) declined the $500 reward and instead, he donated it to the town’s animal shelter. butterscotcheggs / Reddit
2.
My dad once pulled an unconscious guy out of a flaming car wreck and made sure he got an ambulance. Even though he has terrible back problems from the incident, he says he thinks about the guys sometimes and that he has never regretted it. lolingroflcopter / Reddit
3.
I was at Disney World with my parents and decided to wander away to see some street performers’ show. It went wrong as soon as a little girl was chosen to throw a bowling pin. Her aim was way off, it was hurtling toward my 13-year-old face, and in response, I turned my face away and braced for impact. Only, it never happened. I heard the audience gasp and applaud as the kid texting next to me managed to catch the pin inches away from my face. I was too shocked to say thanks, my parents pulled me away, and I couldn’t find him for the rest of the night. classygal / Reddit
4.
Once, as a child, I went skiing with my father in bad conditions and lost sight of him. I spent a long time shouting for him and crying. Finally, a stranger with a pink hat found me and guided me down the mountain to my dad. I’ll never forget her. eeyeit / Reddit
5.
One grocery week when I was in college I had my card declined. This was a bit of a problem as my kitchen was entirely out of food and I wasn’t going to be paid for another week. It was really awkward being at the front of the line with $100 worth of groceries, having a hasty conversation with my girlfriend about how we were going to deal with this. Well, the guy behind us in line offered to pay for our groceries. I tried to talk him down but he insisted and I was feeling really awkward holding up the line. I thanked him profusely and he told me word for word, “Just pay it forward if you ever get the chance.” Ever since, I’ve been jamming a dollar or 2 into every donation box I see, tipping an extra 5%, giving my change to the homeless, and otherwise looking for opportunities to “pay it forward.” synthesizerToady / Reddit
6.
When I was getting off the bus in high school. Someone decided they didn’t want to wait behind the bus so they tried passing on the left. I should have been hit, but right before, some guy getting into his car whistled at me. I stopped and turned around to see who it was. That gesture probably saved me from being hit. BAM225 / Reddit
7.
Back when I was going to the local community college, I saw this girl outside of one of the classrooms having a serious breakdown. Out of the blue, while I was walking on my way to class I said, “You look like you need a hug.” She stopped pacing and stared at me for a bit, then gave me one of the most desperate hugs I have ever received. Afterward, I asked her if there was anything I could do and she said that she was having a panic attack and just wanted to go home. The problem was that her purse and all of her books were still in the classroom. I went to her classroom and said: “My sister isn’t feeling well so I came by to pick up her things.” I handed her her things, and she thanked me profusely. WorkinAndLurkin / Reddit
8.
I didn’t have the best childhood. My adoptive father has some unconventional parenting methods, and so I used to cry a lot. On one of these occasions I was sitting on a park bench, crying softly to myself. An old lady sat at the other end of the bench and we sat in relative silence for a few minutes. She clearly noticed me wiping my eyes and asked me if I was ok. I told her I was, but she insisted on taking me to a nearby coffee cart and buying me a cup of hot chocolate. It was the nicest thing she could have done for me, and it was really nice to know that someone cared. BeyondA*** / Reddit
9.
When I was around 18 or so, my brother and some friends had a flat tire in the pouring rain. None of us had ever changed a tire, so we kind of stared at the tire and fumbled around with the “tire changing tools” while standing in water halfway up to our knees. All of a sudden, a businessman in a suit stops and gets out of his SUV, changes the tire in about 30 seconds. We thank him and he runs back, soaking wet, to his SUV. n1ch0la5 / Reddit
10.
When I was about 10 years old, I used to go skiing on the weekends with a ski club. It was a bunch of kids, anywhere from 8-16 or so. I recall the first, and only one, of those trips I went on. I was absolutely terrified. Everyone else seemed to know each other. I boarded the bus and sat there doing all I could to not break down crying out of fear and anxiety. An older kid sat down next to me, which certainly didn’t help with my unfounded feelings of inferiority. But he looked down at me and said simply: “You scared? Don’t worry, man. It’ll be alright.” I cannot explain how much of a relief those words were. I never got to thank the guy and I am sure he had little sense of the impact he made. DuttyW*** / Reddit
11.
When I was around 4, my family and I went skiing. My oldest sister and I went up the 2-person lift together. I started to slouch in the chair and scooch my bum forward, and before I knew what was happening, I was slipping under the bar. My sister caught my wrist before I fell and I ended up dangling by her hand. My sister wasn’t strong enough to lift me back up, but by this time they had stopped the lift. A man skied under me and told me to kick my skies off. Then he told me to let go. It was a big drop for a 4-year-old, but I let go and he caught me. Just like that, no biggy. DTLMurphy / Reddit
12.
I was visiting my sister in Japan. One day, while she was away at work, I decided to take her bike and explore the small city she lived in. I was riding along when all of a sudden my back tire blew out. I started walking with the bike when, out of nowhere, a Japanese guy pulled up in his pickup, put the bike in the back of the truck, and told me to get in the passenger’s seat. In broken English, he said he was going to help me. He drove me to a bike shop, and he fixed the tire. Apparently, he was the owner of this bike shop. SDSF / Reddit
13.
Once when I was around 6 years old, I was wrestling with my little brother in the front seat of my dad’s truck while he was inside a store returning a movie. The truck was a stick shift and parked at the top of a very steep hill. One of us kicked the emergency brake, disengaging it, and the truck began to roll forward. I saw that we were rolling right for the hill, but I was too young to know what to do. Suddenly, a guy runs up to the car, opens the door, and pulls up the e-break, stopping the truck from rolling. He never said a word to us. d420down / Reddit
14.
I was coming back from a year of volunteering in India and I had a long layover in Zurich. I wanted to see a bit of the city, but I had very little cash and my account was close to empty. On the flight, I got to talking with 2 young women who were both getting a ride into town with one of their dads. He insisted on buying me breakfast, showing me where a free bike rental place was, and he forced me to take 20 Swiss Francs for lunch. He told me the same thing had happened to him. H***IArdlyKnowEr / Reddit
15.
One time. A woman walked up to me, hugged me, and asked how my mom was, and then after a couple of minutes, she whispered that she had noticed a man watching/following me and wanted to scare him off. She then walked me to my destination. I was only 14. gleefulthoughts / Twitter
Which of these stories touched you the most? Do you have your own story about how you helped someone or how you were helped by a complete stranger?