These 17 stories of the kindness of strangers will warm your heart

It can sometimes seem as though there’s nothing but bleakness in the world – Brexit, Trump, the relentless shrinking of chocolate bars …doom and gloom. However, it turns out that kindness and empathy are alive and well, as writer Rachael Berkey discovered, when she asked this:

Please share your stories of the time strangers were good to you. Mine was the cab driver who just calmly handed me an entire box of Kleenex as I wept in the back of a late night cab after saying goodbye to a friend. https://t.co/AF1AiBlLQo

— Rachael But Scary (@bookoisseur) October 16, 2018

These are among the most touching tales we’ve read in quite some time.

1.

I broke my tailbone while hiking in Cold Spring a couple years ago and a group of strangers literally carried me down a mountain (I don't even remember taking this pic because I was in so much pain but look how nice these folks are!) pic.twitter.com/ZFLtnMA3Rl

— Kari Paul (@kari_paul) October 16, 2018

2.

I was walking in Boston lost because I had the wrong address (Should have been in Cambridge), it was pouring rain and I had 2 broken elbows and a car pulled up beside me and handed me a huge orange umbrella before driving away before I could even say thank you.

— Dr. Mindi Palmer Fried (@MotionDoc) October 16, 2018

3.

My hours were decreased at a former job. Money was incredibly tight. I went to put gas in my car ($11.56) and payed at the register inside. My card got declined and I panicked. A kind lady said “I have kids your age. I know it’s hard.” She paid for me and I cried a lot. https://t.co/5UKnVy7vFH

— dako (@dak0h) October 16, 2018

4.

https://twitter.com/danitheduck21/status/1052278400780390400

5.

I was homeless. It was in a suburb of Chicago in the winter, well below freezing. I'd not eaten or really slept in days.

A Pakistani family who owned a Dunkin Donuts invited me in, fed me hot soup and donuts.

They very literally saved my life.

— Haunted by my own gall bladder (@lynlandon) October 16, 2018

6.

Once, I went on a date with a guy I had been really into and it ended poorly with him telling me that he really couldn't ever see himself being attracted to me physically. I was crying on the light rail, a girl came and sat next to me, handed me a tissue, & put her arm around me https://t.co/YogSUtEFHf

— briefs & baseball (@BriefsNBaseball) October 16, 2018

7.

A manicurist pretended to do my nails for 5 mins after I ducked into her store to escape a man who was following me down 6th Ave. As he banged on the window, her coworker called the cops from where he couldn't see.

After he left, I got a mani pedi and tipped all the cash I had. https://t.co/a8tXLQx23q

— Steph Haberman (@StephLauren) October 16, 2018

8.

My (American) family had just moved to London. My mom was in a grocery store with us kids & an older British woman noticed our accents & struck up a conversation. When we checked out, she was waiting outside with a loaf of her favorite bread to welcome us to the country. https://t.co/DbVs8SM35t

— Allison-o-Lantern (@AllisonLantero) October 16, 2018

9.

I always remember the male cab drivers/bus drivers/airport shuttle drivers who have told me they were going to wait until I got into my car or apartment safely, and then idled to make sure I wasn't harassed or jumped, because they'd want somebody to do the same for their kid. https://t.co/3wgWcS59wH

— Kaitlin Kelly (@caitidh) October 16, 2018