PFSHero

When I was about to exit the MRT, I saw an old woman pleading to the guard to let her out because her ticket was lost during the train ride. The guards won't allow her to do so unless she pays the lost ticket fee. The old woman insisted that she has no money left. I approached them and I told to the guard that I'll be the one to buy the exit ticket for her. The old woman thanked me as well as the guard on the MRT.

WorldLux

In Hangzhou a Chinese security guard of a government run company (oil or gas company. I don't recall the name of it) saw me and friends struggling to get a cab. No driver would stop for us even if they were empty.

The guard didn't speak a word of English. We didn't speak a word of Chinese, but he tried really hard to get us home. First he hailed cabs. When the driver was told that he was transporting us (Westerns), they stepped on the gas and left. That wasn't an isolated case. It went on for half an hour. At some point, the guard stopped a car, stood in front of the cab and told him to drive us to our hotel already.

It was really a relief to have him help us out in this very humiliating situation.

Ca77andra

Flying DL from BOS to MSP and was offered coffee in the cabin or whatever the cheapest area is on the plane. I told her I don't use styrofoam, saying quickly "it's a neurotoxin". She nodded as if she really understood what I said, unusual. This was a few years ago before Starbucks and their cardboard cups.

A little while later she brought me a cup of coffee in a porcelain cup....I guess what all y'all have in 1st Class.

I was delighted and the coffee was really good!! I still say a prayer for that kind lady to this day

Flightofthechonchords

I joined the site after stumbling across this forum and in particular this topic.

I think random acts of kindness are what being part of a global community and understanding each other is all about. I was reading this thread in the taxi on the way back from LHR after being in Prague for the week for work. It was my 5th week away from home with work via Singapore and Philly. So feeling pretty tired but reading these stories energised me. As a result I have the driver a £30 tip and wished him a happy Christmas. Last trip for me until the new year!

Anyway my story is from Kyoto when I was there on holiday with my girlfriend in October. After a day cycling round the city - amazing place I highly recommend it - we were looking for an authentic izykaya as we felt like having a few drinks and trying something truly Japanese. We asked at our hotel reception and were told there was one right by the hotel. Given our active day we decided to try it and headed out. Only problem was that the guy at the hotel gave us the name in English and all the restaurant signs were in Japanese.

We were standing looking at the restaurant map the receptionist gave us when a young Japanese guy in a football shirt stopped and asked if we needed help. We told him where we were looking for and he led us to the place - admittedly 30 seconds walk - however the entrance was hidden and downstairs. We wouldn't have found it any other way. He then asked me if I was a football fan and we found out we had the same favourite player. Really impressed he stopped and helped us and then was so friendly. That isn't something that happens much where we live!

So already talking about how nice the guy was we went into the restaurant. We were the only non-Japanese there and it was clearly a place for locals. The place was full and looking great. Given our lack of Japanese we were a bit apprehensive but we couldn't have been made to feel more welcome. Our waitress was amazing. Her English was good and she was full of questions about the food to help us. No English menu meant we told her to keep the beers coming and to bring some things she thought we would like to try. She explained each dish and why she chose it and we had some amazing food. At the end of the evening we left her a big tip even though tips aren't common in Japan as she had talked about wanting to travel. She wasn't around when we were leaving and nobody else understood English. As we were leaving she came running out to say goodbye and she enjoyed serving us and practising her English. She said we should come again soon.

Two acts of kindness in one evening. Japan is a great country for this.

nutmegmace

So many different stories I could tell of the kindness of others while traveling...

1. While in Melbourne, on a bus tour of the city, we encountered four local students who were taking the tour as an assignment for their hospitality degrees they were working on. They insisted on driving us back to our hotel after the tour (via a whirlwind tour of their own design) and then met up with us later in the week to take us to wine country and to dinner. We still keep in touch with at least one of them!

2. In Stockholm, we had some trouble navigating the bus system to get back to our hotel. A couple people were kind enough to help us find the correct stop for our hotel, but also invited us back to their flat for tea and discussion about politics and the differences between US, Sweden, and Scotland (where they were from). It was a lovely evening.

3. In Beijing, my husband and I were out one evening near the big University to try to find a music club that one of my husband's acquaintances owned. We couldn't find the club, and approached a police officer to ask for directions. For whatever reason, that we will not ever understand, that was the wrong move and suddenly we were being questioned by the police officer in a very unfriendly tone. In my infinite wisdom, based on my introduction to mandarin class, I tried to say I don't speak Chinese. Unfortunately I managed to say "no chinese" in a way which implied I didn't like chinese people. That did not help, obviously. While trying to figure out how to get out of this situation, another group of westerners walked past, and the policeman temporarily focused on them. We took that opportunity to sprint into a nearby taxi. Now, if you have been in Beijing and used taxis, you may know that if a taxi driver does not know the area you want to go to, they will just simply refuse to take you. However, this guy, who clearly didn't know the way to our hotel which was about 45 minutes away, looked at me, ready to burst into tears, and at the police officer who was looking angrily our way...and just floored it. For the next 30 minutes, he called seemingly every friend he knew to try to figure out how to get us back to our hotel, and was ultimately successful. I have no idea what would have happened if that kind man refused us in that moment.

kmandrew

I was entering the Admirals Club, ORD, there was a middle aged man with his young son checking in. I couldn't quite hear the whole story but he thought his fare entitled him to AC access, probably domestic F - he was very embarrassed. I was lucky enough to catch the eye of the AC angel to let her know I would friend them both in; she handled it perfectly, let them both in and they never knew what happened.

I don't know why this sticks in my mind, it happened 20 years ago. I think it probably was because nobody wants to see a parent being publicly embarrassed.

obscure2k

Around 1980 and I was in Japan on business and a friend made a reservation for me at the Tawaraya Ryokan in Kyoto. I was traveling alone. After a taxi ride from the train station I arrived at the Tawaraya and it was just the most beautiful, serene environment I had ever encountered. Late in the afternoon I went for a walk. I walked and walked and tried to explore a little. A some point I realized I was hopelessly lost. It was getting darker and darker. I told myself not to panic and that I would figure out how to find my ryokan. I think I started to cry as I realized how lost I was. I could not read any signs, there were no taxis, no hotels and I was on a fairly deserted street. A car with an elderly man and woman pulled up along side of me. They spoke no English and I spoke no Japanese. They motioned to me to get in to the car. I said Tawaraya. They took me there and I said "arigato." I'll never forget their smiles when we said goodby. I'll never forget that act of kindness. That lesson of being kind to lost strangers has stayed with me throughout my travel life.

AA_ORDlady

I was traveling with a 6 month old and an 18 month old in 1989. I got on the plane with the diaper bag from h*ll. Two sizes of diapers, extra set of clothes for each kid, pre-made bottles of formula, jars of baby food, wipes, plus cans of formula in case of delays. it was a 2 hour flight to Florida to see my parents. Carrying one kid in my arms and one in infant seat that I took on plane. Carefully timed feeding and diaper changes prior to boarding.
We boarded the plane. And sat for over an hour. Mechanical issue and had to deplane and move to another gate and wait for a couple hours. My double stroller was gate-checked and not available.
An extremely kind older lady saw me struggling to deplane and carried my older son to the new gate. I will never forget her kindness!

lmashton

Singapore. Every single time my husband and I looked the least bit lost, people approached us and asked us if they could help us. Every single time. Once, we were looking for a shop that was particularly difficult to find, but the guy who'd stopped to offer us help knew where it was, so took us there. Another time, the little old lady (no one else was around) who spoke nearly no English motioned to us so effectively that we needed to go back to the MRT station, take the tunnels underground, then come out the other side to cross the street - it was in an industrial area with fenced roads. We get to the other side, she sees us and smiles and waves. The women at the grocery store who'd see me looking at unfamiliar produce and would stop and explain what it was and what you did with it (because, yes, I'm the person who'll buy unfamiliar food and cook with it). Incredibly helpful and friendly people in Singapore.

Bordeaux. We got on the bus to return to our hotel, but there were demonstrations that meant that the streets were blocked, so our bus wouldn't be going by our regular stop. The bus driver didn't speak very good English and my French isn't good enough for this situation, but we managed and he said he'd tell us where to get off. Turns out he called HQ and re-routed back to the original road so we could get off at our usual stop after all. Meanwhile, a little old lady was paying sharp attention to all of this and was also making sure we knew where to go and when to get off. Our experience in France was that people were friendly and helpful unlike their reputation of a decade or so ago.

We haven't had any moments that were going very very badly, just ones where we'd be slightly inconvenienced perhaps. Nevertheless, the kindness of strangers is a very nice thing.

Pulley

This past Saturday my wife and I were headed to the local hospital in Grand Cayman for the birth of our first granddaughter!�� It is 4:45am and we have no clue how to get there. We pulled into a gas station and asked a cab driver but had no idea what she said. I went inside to ask and was getting several routes when one guy said follow me. He led us there in time to for the birth. So grateful for this man.

Ca77andra

And as Paul Harvey would say: "and the rest of the story". Boy, girl, name, weight....okay I'll stop.

Super congratulations on a Christmas grandbaby!!!:-:

ajGoes

We were on a little mission to buy bread while staying in a gîte in Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, Burgundy. We couldn't find the boulangerie we'd been looking for, so we stopped in at a little shop. Finding a little bottle of crème de cassis and maybe a couple of other items, we added them to our shopping basket.

There was only one baguette in stock so I asked the patronne if she had another. She said something like "watch the shop please, I'll be right back", hurried across the courtyard to her kitchen, and came back with one. You can imagine my mortification when I discovered that the cash my wife and I had on hand, plus another euro or two we found in the car, still left us a euro short. "Never mind", said the shopkeeper. "You'll pay me the next time you're passing by."

I did, too -- we found an ATM, got a fresh supply, and rushed back to clear the debt.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

A lady next to me on a plane tried some of my dairy-free cheese and said that she wouldn't have known it wasn't real cheese if I hadn't told her.

(Even as a vegan, I admit that dairy-free cheese is pretty freaky stuff and it was some time before I found it palatable. So, I classify the above as kindness )

Zulazai

A wise old man seated next to me on AA on route to Dallas once told me "don't get married".

I should have listened to him.

Pulley

Eleanor 7 lb. 4 oz. 20" long and BEAUTIFUL! ❤❤

Thanks for asking.