Sometimes encounters with people we only meet once leave a lasting impression. The reasons for this may include seemingly small gestures of kindness as well as unexpected almost comic outbursts of anger from strangers. Either way, such memories stay with people for years to come and these people are sharing exactly these kinds of stories, answeringone Redditor’s question: “Who is a stranger you still remember and why?”
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When I was about 13 or 14 my phone ran out when I was waiting for a bus, but I realised my bus wasn’t arriving for two hours as it was a Sunday night and I don’t live in a big city, so bus times are varied.I knew I had to call my parents but I was very shy and too nervous to ask anybody. But a really lovely mother noticed I was looking very anxious and came and asked if i was okay. She let me use her phone, but then she also stayed with me until my bus came because it was late at night and she didn’t want me there alone.I think about her a lot. She was so caring and loving.
20 years ago I’m in high school and my truck broke down on the side of the road. Busy offramp from a busy highway and a guy stopped behind me, drove me to the nearest store to buy more oil, and took me back to my truck and didn’t ask for or expect a thing. I’m iffy on the memory but he might have even bought the oil for me.I was a shaved head angry looking ginger kid, and he was a black adult man, probably in his 30s. I wouldn’t have stopped for me, but he did.
I was taking the bus home when I was a teenager and I had been planning for several days to take a whole bunch of pills. I had two [self-harm] attempts under my belt, both which resulted in ICU stays and stomach pumpings and weeks in the hospital. THIS time I had been quietly stashing my brother’s heavy duty meds for epilepsy, angioedema, sedatives etc and had managed to get a few of my mum’s oxycontin pills as well. I sat down on the bench to wait for the bus and I was planning out how to take them and when so that no one would find me and be able to revive me this time when a man sat down next to me. I don’t remember his face and he could have been anywhere from late 20s to early 40s, First Nations with the lovely northern accent that I miss, long black hair, denim jacket under a parka, and he just talked to me, out of nowhere, about how people cared about me and how things might be s**t sometimes but there’s a better life out there if you just wait and hang on. I can’t even remember what he said anymore, it’s been 16, 17 years? But he knew some how, and he rode on the bus with me, quiet like, until I got off at my stop. I didn’t take those pills.Thank you random Yukon man. I don’t know how you knew, but you were right and you made a difference. It makes me feel very cold, thinking what that cocktail would have done to me. I never did try to [end] myself again after that.
I’ve told this story before, but it’s definitely a stranger I will never forget, so here is a copy/paste:When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about that was that you could get 10 books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which one I wanted to get and then decided after I’d gone through them all.One day an older lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her a few of the books I found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse, handed it to me and said, “Promise me that you’ll keep reading.” I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home.It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was probably about 20 years or so ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
I crashed my car in an ice storm, and this guy pulls over with his big as truck and pulls me out of the ditch, cuts some broken plastic out of my wheelwell so the wheel would spin properly again, and sends me on my way. He told me he was bored so he had been just driving around pulling people out of ditches all morning. Great guy!A year later I’m in my friend’s car and he’s driving us home from work. He wasn’t paying attention and smashed into a stationary car while going 45 mph or so. I’m sitting in the grass in a daze from the impact from the airbag when who shows up to see if we needed help? Big as truck dude. I thanked him again and (jokingly) told him I’d prefer to never see him again if possible.
When I was about 18, I stopped in LA for gas to make it 2 hours north back home and my card was declined — I had no way of putting anything in my tank. This was before Venmo and all that. So I sat in my car and cried for 15 minutes until a guy tapped in my window and told me to pull up to the pump. He put gas in my car and gave me an extra $20 for the road. I still think of him and hope it’s come around back to him.
I was walking into the Dunkin’ Donuts while my clothes were in the dryer at the laundromat. I saw a group of “thuggish” looking guys walking right behind me, so I held the door for them and patted the last one on the back and said “after you my man” as they walked in. When we got in, I was about five people behind the last guy I held the door for. I saw him turn around and start gesturing my way. He asked “how do you like your coffee.” I told him black and he proceeded to order me a medium black coffee. His “thuggish” looking friends looked at him funny, and I couldn’t stop thanking him. I definitely got a little teary-eyed.Really changed my views on how I outwardly perceive people. Didn’t expect at all for this “thuggish” looking guy to buy me coffee in front of his friends. I’ll never forget that guy.
I was once on a seven hour night time train trip, pretty much on the verge of fainting from sleeplessness.I attended a catholic school from age 5 to 12, and this might have played a role on what happened next.Sitting next to me was this 80 something year old nun, or sister, as we call them in Portugal, given that for some reason the word for nun is almost insultingly formal, and I just straight up asked her if I could rest my head on her lap.She said “of course, my son” to my 17 year old self, and caressed my hair as I fell asleep. I drooled all over her habit and she found it hilarious and mocked me relentlessly as I woke up at about 5 am.“Let’s stop this train and ask for water! “, she laughed.Her eyes screamed peace and freedom. She was the coolest woman I’ve ever met.
When I was probably 3 or 4 I went to the bank with my mom and she passed out flat on the floor while talking to the teller. An ambulance came to take her away and I remember well a woman who held me and comforted me as I watched firemen put my mom on a stretcher and in the ambulance. My mom was ok, just had low blood sugar. I still remember her voice and her face.
There was an older man - very thin and frail - in a public park near where I was sitting. I watched him climb over a decorative wrought iron fence to gather coins that had been tossed into the park’s multi-tiered fountain.He got soaking wet under the cascading water, but managed to fill his pockets and a coffee can with as many coins as possible.After he climbed back out, the guy looked at me and said, “I’m hungry. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any food.“I just smiled with an understanding look, and pulled out a $10 bill to go with the coins (it was all I had on me at the time). I’ll never forget the look of surprise and gratitude in his face.Whenever I think that I have problems, I envision that old, frail man and realize my troubles are few and inconsequential.
I was tubing with my family in a very popular river spot. The river split into two sections briefly before connecting once again; one being rapid, the other calm.I fell off my tube BACKWARDS into the rapids. Tons of people were going down as well, so I was pretty much trapped under the water with other people’s bodies and tubes on top of me while my knees were being scraped.I stuck my hand above the surface because I couldn’t stand and someone grabbed it. He lifted me out and began to ask if I was okay and if I needed medical assistance because my knees were bleeding badly.Me, being only 8, was shy and crying and didn’t know how to respond. He cleaned my knee and his wife bandages them all while staying with me until my father came down the other side of the river to get me.I wonder where he is now. I hope he and his family are doing alright.
I studied abroad in Tokyo my junior year of college when I was 20. I had never been out of the country before, was flying alone, and didn’t speak the language, so I was pretty nervous. I was seated next to a woman named Ona, who must have seen I was anxious, so she talked to me over the course of the flight and gave me tips and pointers for my time in Japan. At the end of the flight, she had finished the book she was reading, and she wrote a kind note in it, signed it, and gave it to me. It’s been 11 years and I still have that book. What must have seemed like such a small gesture to her meant the world to me.
One time I was walking on the beach in California while wearing a shirt that said “Salty” on it (clever ik). This one middle eastern man in his late 40’s walks up to me and says, “SALTY HAHA, LIKE THE BEACH AND THE WATER HAHAHA” and proceeded to give me a high five.Thank you sir. You both confused and frightened me but somehow I love you and will never forget you.
During a school trip at Noose Heads Beach in East Queensland, Australia.A man busted out of a bar playing guitar, completely naked, while singing “Run boy, run, this world is not meant for you,” while two police officers chased him. He looked at us with a fat smile. Would definitely visit again 10/10.
Got stabbed during a mugging and legged it away from the scene. (Edit: To clarify, I was the one being mugged). Was full of adrenalin but then got to a bus stop and started to go into (mild) shock. A woman probably no older than 21 came and called an ambulance and sat with me and was very reassuring. It turned out I wasn’t too badly hurt but tbh in the circumstance and confusion, you just tend to think ‘F**K! I’m dying here!’ Her sitting with me was so appreciated, she was so tender and supportive but also relatively calm and collected given the scenario (I didn’t look too clever at the time and was covered in blood)That was c. 15 years ago and I still think of her.
A truck driver who was unloading a semi full of ice cream at a grocery store. He noticed us watching in the sweltering heat and gave us a case of pints. I was about ten.
Was driving to work on in peak hour traffic on a freeway around 5am. I’d been at the office until around 9 the night before and was working 6-7 day weeks. I had never experienced a microsleep while driving until that morning.Young guy in a car next to me beeped while we were almost stationary in the traffic. He just smiled and motioned for me to stay awake and looking forward. Totally woke me up when I hadn’t even realised my eyes were closed and I never drove that tired again. If he hadn’t beeped I can’t imagine what might have happened, I think of it often.
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When I was about 8, I was sitting at a barbershop with my mom while waiting to get my haircut when an old man—he was probably in his late 60’s, early 70’s if I had to guess—walked in and sat down near us. ^^this ^^isn’t ^^a ^^creepy ^^story, ^^bear ^^with ^^me ^^hereFor whatever reason, he struck up a conversation with my mom about how much he loved taking his kids out for things like this, and about how much he missed those days. I don’t remember much else of the conversation that they had, but I think they probably talked for at least a good ten minutes—basically the entire time we were waiting.Here’s the part of this whole thing that’s been ingrained in my memory: when my chair was ready and I had to go up, this complete stranger—a random old guy who had known us for all of ten minutes—gave my mom 25 bucks and said it was “from one parent to another.” He was paying for my haircut.My mom tried to refuse but he wouldn’t budge—even when we told him that my haircut wouldn’t cost $25, he just said that my mom could grab McDonald’s for me or something. Not only was this guy paying for my haircut, he decided that he was gonna buy me food as well. My mom eventually gave in and accepted his cash.I get this kinda sounds like b******t—I can already see people going, “and that man’s name? ALBERT EINSTEIN” after reading this, trust me I get it—but I think of this guy pretty often. I have literally no idea who this guy was or how he’s doing or any of that, but he’s the kind of person that I aspire to be like.
When I was a little kid, small enough to be in a shopping cart still, I remember being at Walmart with my mom and two sisters. This random black lady comes up to mom and says “God told me to give this to you.” She smiled at her and clasped some money into my mother’s hand. My mom was thanking her, and me being a kid I kinda realized what was going on but kinda didn’t. At the time, my father had just left, and my mother was on her own raising three little kids. A few years later, my mom would bring up the lady a couple times, I remember she told my grandma about it, but after that, she hasn’t said anything at all about her. That was probably like 15 years ago. I’m 21 now. Looking back, I wonder if that’s one of my mom’s reasons for helping me out with money at times … But I don’t know. It does make me look back and think wow, how kind people can be. And how weird that situation was too in a way. A woman saying she heard God talk to her and helped another person in need…. My mother is super successful now, and she did most of it on her own, but she is super humble. I have many more weird and heartfelt stories about strangers, but this one came to my head first.
When I was a little kid my mom and I went on a walk on the morning of my birthday (I was maybe just starting school to give a little context). We met an old man walking in the park and started talking to him about how nice the morning was, and eventually got around to my birthday. Turns out it was his birthday too, and that was the first time I had met someone with the same birthday as me.
I had just bought some new sneakers the day prior. I was leaving work and waiting for the crosstown bus. While I was waiting, this “executive” looking guy was walking down the street. Nice suit, nice shoes, overall really well put together.So he’s on the phone, and he’s arguing with someone. Sounds like someone he works with, and I hear him coming from half a block away.So he’s walking toward my direction as I’m on the sidewalk waiting. There he is, arguing with this person, he gets close to me, doesn’t even miss a beat, points at me and says, “those are really cool sneakers.” And then just continues on his way in his argument. This was eight years ago.Edit: After digging I found the shoes online.Third from the bottom, the green/tan/red ones.
There was a guy in my highschool English class named Martin.I haven’t had a single conversation with him throughout the entirety of my life. I just noticed from a distance that he kept his head down, despite the gang and poverty oriented culture that we grew up in, he tried his best to do well academically. He seemed to always have mediocre scores and did not seem very eloquent when I overheard conversations from afar, but there was a charming earnestness in his attempt to make a better life for himself despite clearly struggling every step of the way.I became friends with him on facebook through mutual friends and will occasionally see his posts on my feed, and I recognize I may be writing a story of his life through my perspective, but everything he posts seems to line-up with my perception of him so far. I’m a straight male, and there is no explicit romanticism about these memories. I suppose it’s difficult to describe and I recognize that I’m invested in a stranger because it helps me hold onto hope for myself and care for others better.I recognize that there are probably differing political beliefs, and/or values, but I feel my perception of him embodies the idea of caring for our fellow man. Through that perception the tone of “everyone is going through their own s**t at their own pace” really comes through. I just wanted to add that high school was over 10 years ago for me and I still think of this from time to time.In that way, everyone is a Martin to somebody. Whether or not you feel valued, someone out there respects your grind and is rooting for you, just hang in there. We’re all in this rat race together.Edit: Reddit gold, thanks kind strangers. I am glad I was able to share this, as it doesn’t exactly come up in conversation.
A homeless lady who said she’d pray for me after a gave her 2 euro (afterward I only had enough for a bus home).I know she won’t read this but wherever she is, she deserves a home.
The lady on my plane (I’m a flight attendant) who got really mad I gave her too much coffee and then poured it into the seat back pocket.I realized that day that some people will get mad at whatever they can. And there’s nothing I can do about that.
When I was around 7 or 8 I was at my cousins house with my siblings. My family is abusive and at one point one of my aunts came to this house to tell us she wanted us to be at her house instead. She liked to lock us outside and not let us use the bathroom so obviously we said no. She called my dad and told him and he got on the phone and told us he was going to come over there and beat the s**t out of us and kill us. My other aunt had a friend over at her house along with his wife. His wife held me as I sobbed and promised she wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Obviously the second she was gone something did happen to me but for that time being it was the safest I felt in a long time. I never saw her again after that but her kindness always stuck with me.
This sweet old lady at my Grandmother’s store where she works asked me to help her load some drinks into her cart, and after I did she gave me a dollar for my work. It wasn’t much, but it was really touching for me. (About 10 at the time, as well.)
When I was a little kid, this guy named Mr. Chambers would magically appear whenever my mom had a problem. This was in the 1980’s before most people had cell phones or other ways to contact help when in a rural area.I guess most problems were vehicle-related. Mom got a flat tire? Mr. Chambers would show up. Ran out of gas? Here comes Mr. Chambers with a gas can. One time a hurricane knocked down a tree that blocked access to the dirt road leading to our house, and who showed up with a chainsaw? Mr. Chambers did.He was very tall and had dark, curly hair and a VERY deep voice which frightened me. I was the kind of child who LOVED strangers, but something about Mr. Chambers made me nervous every time even though I should’ve had a positive association with him for always rescuing us.I’m not sure what it was about him, but as an adult I’ve started to doubt that he was even a real guy. When I asked my mom she said she’s not sure who I’m talking about.TLDR; Creepy man always showed up to help my mom when she was randomly in trouble, and now I’m not even sure if he was real.
When i was little i tugged on a random guy’s shirt in a store thinking he was my dad. He was not.I then proceded to walk away without saying anything after he turned around…im just as awkward today as i was then.
When I was 12 years old I walked into the bathroom of a fast food restaurant. An older guy (mid 30’s) was using the bathroom at the urinal. I walked up to the only open space next to him. Just as I started to pee he rips the loudest fart I’ve ever heard. He looks over at me (my eyes are open wide in shock) and says,“You Poot?” I just finished and walked out.
When I graduated H.S. in 1989, I flew out to L.A. with the hopes of making it in the big city (didn’t work out). After arriving at the airport I had a cab driver named Maria. I remember her name because she told me I would never forget it…and I haven’t.
When I was 4 on a family vacation, I wondered off onto this bridge of ongoing pedestrians and found myself walking next to this teenage girl. She offered me her peach rings and I declined, turned around and wondered back to my family, none of them noticing I was missing for 5-8 minutes.Looking back, if it wasn’t such a nice young girl, there could’ve been many differing outcomes
Guy singing opera on the Red Line in Chicago who tried to sit in my lap
Was early morning after New Years. I was driving my wife’s Miata. Car pulls next to me at a light. I can tell they are about to say something thinking they might laugh at the ride. Girl asks am I married? I say Yes. Then she says happily, wouldn’t you like to come party with us? I Said yes happily, she said are you sure, then light changed. I felt flattered for a while.
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