Stories Matching 'OnThe Road' Tag (90)Environment Research New Ideas Public Transportation Children Inspiration Teachers Seniors OnThe Road Grocery Store Money Workplace Animals At Home Anonymous Friendship Kindness Kindness of Strangers Courage Small Acts of Kindness Health and Wellness Generosity Sharing Family Respect Neighbors Reconciliation Smile Cards Advice Good Samaritan Giving Money Giving Ability School Church Youth Collective Arts Creative Kindness Random Act of Kindness Homeless Travel/Vacation College/University Holidays Internet Birthday Sharing Food Emergency/Disaster Community Relationships Paying-It-Forward Coffee Shop/Restaurants $100 Kindness Idea Smile Decks Thank You Serendipity A Tattoo Named Lost--posted by singlestep, on Apr 17, 2008
comments (56) | email this | print | permalink London Cabbie's Payment-in-Kind!--posted by T.S., on Apr 25, 2006
comments (7) | email this | print | permalink Tagging the Whole Entire Plane!--posted by Anon, on Jun 16, 2006
What better way to start a journey than to tag the passengers on my flight? comments (11) | email this | print | permalink Act of Kindness in Zimbabwe--posted by Rita, on Jul 17, 2006
I was in the bus in heavy traffic going to an orphanage to visit some children. What I saw brought tears to my eyes. comments (2) | email this | print | permalink My Grandma's Breakfast at IHOP--posted by Kat Callaway, on Jul 26, 2006
I have been using the smile cards for quite a while, and I try to get my family members to do it with me. It is a lot of fun. comments (1) | email this | print | permalink Father and Son Getting Home--posted by Wes Bennett, on Nov 6, 2007
A few months ago, while driving home from work, I was thinking about my long tiring day at work and worrying about my other half, and would he be OK when I got home. My partner of 6 years, was lying in bed at home, sick and facing a long illness and possibly death. comments (66) | email this | print | permalink A Little Bit of Love is the Price of the Fare--posted by hpotter, on Sep 21, 2006
comments (17) | email this | print | permalink Lessons From My Daddy--posted by millie, on Oct 3, 2006 well, im millie, im 15 years old, and im going to tell you about my daddy =) i dont see him much anymore, but i learnt so much when i was with him. i remember one time, dad, my little brother and i were on our way back to sydney on a plane...we were stuck inside the plane for an hour and a half after we landed because some trailer wouldnt work. anyway, a little girl and her brother were sitting in frount of us, they were about 4 or 5, and they were afraid of being stuck in the plane...the little girl was crying. So my dad started to do "magic" tricks, he had a yo yo and was making it "dissapear" and making funny faces, in no time at all, my dad, me, and my little brother had a small audience, the people next to us and the people behind and in frount. the parents of the kids thanked us, and we havnt seen them since, but i learnt from my dad that day...Laughter is the best medicine. comments (6) | email this | print | permalink The Japanese Man, Frank, and Michael--posted by keymaker, on Oct 6, 2006
comments (16) | email this | print | permalink Got some gas?--posted by giggles, on Nov 3, 2006
I was pumping gas today at a Rotten Robbie and a construction-worker type of a guy walked near me and asked, "Mind filling a gallon?" Well, that is a new one for me! Just when he asked, my tank was full. I took his small container, filled it and gave it back to him. He said, "Thanks, man" and walked to his old pickup. comments (1) | email this | print | permalink Midnight roses--posted by Satya, on Nov 19, 2006
I was recently at a conference in Barcelona, Spain (home of Gaudi) when I thought, wouldn't it be great to do a little act of kindness in a far away city? I went through the lively La Rambla street - enjoying the scene and (in the back of my mind) looking for an opportunity of kindness. But I couldn't find anything right away. It was mostly tourists and street vendors. comments (10) | email this | print | permalink City bills--posted by Teja, on Dec 8, 2006
Today I went to the city, having a bunch of appointments all over town. In my front coat pocket, I put 20 single dolar bills, a $20, a $10 & a $5, all folded separately and mixed up. Everytime anyone asked me for help, money, a donation to their cause, I would reach in my pocket and hand them whatever bill I touched first, not even looking myself. New York is a big, needy city, and by the end of the day as I headed to the train I felt in my pocket that there was only one bill left. I had to look and sure enough, it was the twenty. One block from the station, a woman was standing on a corner asking: "does anyone have anything to eat? Does anyone have any leftover food I could have?" Without hesitation, I gave her the last bill and rushed off to my train, but not before I heard her stunned words "Oh My God! Thank you, thank you, thank you...." comments (18) | email this | print | permalink Parking spot--posted by hiloecho, on Dec 13, 2006
comments (11) | email this | print | permalink Giving someone a chance to recharge--posted by KingHartuc, on Jan 20, 2007 Good day, I was recently traveling and bad weather had surrounded the airport, causing many flights to get canceled or delayed. I was sitting by the gate, having changed my flight to another one already and was watching the unfortunate airline rep at the gate counter. She was being bombarded by a number of people who seemed to assume that the poor weather, flight cancellations and everything else causing them grief was her fault and each one in turn laid all of their grief on her and I could see she was being pushed to the brink. A little ah-ha light bulb ... comments (20) | email this | print | permalink Secret Santa of Kansas City--posted by Nanci Hellmich, on Dec 25, 2008
comments (18) | email this | print | permalink The Wondorous Oragami Man--posted by sam7757, on Mar 3, 2007
comments (55) | email this | print | permalink Five Dollar Bus Fare--posted by Aiya, on Mar 1, 2007
A bunch of us carpooled in a van to go to the holiday prayer at the convention center and the celebrations afterwards. After visiting for hours, we were on our way home late that evening. (We live about an hour away from where we were going.) Before we dropped off someone, we noticed he didn't have enough money for the bus. He only needed 50 cents, so he kindly asked if anyone could spare some change. While everyone looked in their wallets, I remembered I had 5 dollars in my purse I was saving for coffee. I wanted to help, so I gave him all 5 dollars. And it made me happier than coffee does. :) comments (5) | email this | print | permalink My Simple Smile Card Story--posted by Richard, on Jan 18, 2008 About a month ago I learned about “smile cards,” which can be found at www.helpothers.org. Smile cards are “an experiment in anonymous kindness,” as stated on each card. Each card, when used in the spirit intended, serves at least two immediate purposes. One, it becomes the physical marker of an event of anonymous kindness. This is important because, physically persisting, it can serve as the template for the perpetuation of the idea of itself: new acts of anonymous kindness. As an object carrying an explanation of itself, it also will serve as a reference point ... comments (14) | email this | print | permalink My First Experience With Smile Cards--posted by Hope4lisa, on Mar 25, 2007
comments (19) | email this | print | permalink Ten Dollar Gas For My Cab--posted by beachlove, on Mar 21, 2007 I was just starting my duty for the evening shift of driving a cab. As I pulled into a service station to get gas, I waved at the people, a local musical duet, who were pulling off. When I got ready to gas up, the pump would not work. I went into the store to figure out why and they said that the person ahead of me drove off without paying. "Oh no, I know them, they would not knowingly do that.". The clerk told me that she would reset the pump for me but asked me if I would just ... comments (15) | email this | print | permalink I Always Wanted To Be An Angel--posted by doowyah, on Mar 28, 2007 I was walking from my office to my car during rush hour at the end of work day in San Francisco. As I waited at the corner of 3rd and Folsum for the light to change, I noticed a car about to go through the intersection. The driver looked harried and was talking on his cell phone. As he accelerated through the intersection, papers and a manilla folder began swirling and flying out the window. The driver was clearly dismayed, but given the traffic and the one-way street, he simply pulled over a few blocks down. As the light changed, other pedestrians stomped ... comments (20) | email this | print | permalink The Joys of Being a Waitress--posted by Babygirl, on Apr 13, 2007
comments (43) | email this | print | permalink Helping A Stranger Get Home--posted by ssn585, on Jun 3, 2007 A few years ago, I was attending a friend's graduation at the University of Oaklahoma. While she was giving me a tour of the campus, she stopped by the student travel office to pick up her tickets. While we were waiting, I listened in on a student from Australia trying to fix a problem with her itinerary. The agent told her that it would cost an additional $300 over what she had already paid to get an itinerary that did not include a ten hour overnight layover in LA. She didn't have the money and I heard her say she ... comments (15) | email this | print | permalink Two Dollars That Changed My Life--posted by Daphne, on Jul 15, 2007 Everyday I walk down the mall to get a cup of cappuccino, and every day I get hit up for spare change. Every day. The panhandlers all have these wonderful stories but you never know what to believe. After a while it gets to be an irritation, and then I find myself getting upset that I'm so irritated over what is really just spare change. One day this person came up to me and said, "I just ran out of gas. My car is about six blocks away from here, I have two kids in the car and I'm just trying ... comments (19) | email this | print | permalink One of a Thousand Stories to Tell--posted by David G. Nadeau, on Sep 10, 2007 Hello, my name is David G. Nadeau and I am from Monroe, Michigan, hometown of General Armstrong Custer. I am a paid-on-call Firefighter for Monroe Township Fire Department and I was at Ground Zero for one week starting September 12, 2001. Some of my hundred or so pictures from Ground Zero have been published in EMS magazines. Newspaper reporters from Cooperstown, New York and Lexington, Kentucky call me wanting to publish this story. That is because someone from the family of the business card I found at Ground Zero told the reporters this story – a story about a business ... comments (30) | email this | print | permalink Unspoken Contract With A Rickshaw Driver--posted by keymaker, on Aug 29, 2007
comments (36) | email this | print | permalink Written in Dust--posted by Denise68, on Sep 1, 2007
comments (30) | email this | print | permalink Four Girls Who Pushed My Car--posted by justoneheart, on Sep 18, 2007
comments (30) | email this | print | permalink A Goal of Kindness, Smiles, and a Slurpee.--posted by snowflake66, on Oct 10, 2007
comments (25) | email this | print | permalink Confronting Road Rage With Compassion--posted by Megan, on Oct 26, 2007 I was on my way to the gym this morning and making the right turn from 21st onto Broadway when a car ran up onto me from behind, and started flashing his lights in my rear-view mirror. He then swings around in front of me and jams on his brakes. I go around him and he gives me the finger and mouths a couple of bad words through the window. I blow him a kiss. He gives me the finger again with even more ferocity and some more dirty mouth-mime. We get stopped at the next light, side by side ... comments (32) | email this | print | permalink
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Got on the plane in Minneapolis for the two hour and nine minute flight to NY. Spent the first nine minutes of it talking to the young curly-brown-haired passenger with long sideburns. In the first three minutes of talking to him I noticed on the back of his hand a ball-point-pen tattoo. One word.
"Lost".
And for some reason that touched me. In the same inexplicable way that "Help Wanted" signs in store windows do sometimes. That people would be so honest, so open about their vulnerability.
I wonder what he is going through.
This fellow passenger with his friendly manner who freelances ... 
Last week, I was running a little late on my way to my first day at a new job in East London. I had injured my achilles heal a couple of days before and didn't want to put too much pressure on it by running to the tube station so I decided to jump in a cab just to get to the station. 
The Japanese man points to my airplane seat, right as I head to the bathroom. He didn't speak much English, so I just signal that I'll be back in couple minutes. When I return, we play charades to see if he wants to swap his aisle seat with my window seat. "Yes, yes," he says with a child-like glee.
I am more than happy to oblige. My window shutter has been down for couple hours of the flight already and I am hardly planning on making any further use of it.
Right before he changes seats, he folds his hands and bows ... 
The wife had an appointment after work and as she doesn't like to drive she asked me when I picked her up from work if I could take her.
She said she'd take about an hour and she'd understand if I didn't want to wait and I said sure I'll drive. Our downtown, small as it is, can get crowded at times especially this time of the year.
While sitting in a parking spot reading my book, I had noticed this one car had made two trips past me looking for parking. I thought how lucky I was to have a spot ... 
In 1971 a young man who grew up very poor was traveling across the country, trying to make a new start for himself. Along the way he had completely run out of money and was forced to spend the night in his car.
This continued until one morning, after a week of sleeping in his car, he walked nervously into a diner and ordered a big breakfast. After eating his first good meal in weeks, he found himself lying to the waiter, telling him he had ’lost his wallet.‘ The waiter, who was
also the owner, walked behind the stool where ... 
My friend, Gayla and I were traveling to Phoenix from Chicago. I misread the ticket, and we missed our flight. I was busy being upset about my failed plans when Gayla suggested we just fly wherever we want instead, since we had the time.
I think about missing my flight to Phoenix and going to San Francisco instead. It taught me a lot about being open to what is, not attached to what I want, and how things unexpected can happen. Long story but while Gayla and I were in San Fran, this strange thing happened. It made me think ... 
Well.....I just couldnt WAIT to try out my smile cards.
Last week I set out on my nightly outing -- to a meeting, and then to spend some time with my best friend. I told him I wanted to use my smile cards. First stop, the Dollar Store. I bought 2 nice candle jars with thoughtful things written on them.
Next up, 7 Eleven. We parked and looked for someone to give a candle and card to. A woman had just gotten gas and was walking into the store. I hurriedly got ... 
"Where to?" the rickshaw driver asks me with his mouth full of tobacco. "Vijay Char Rasta," I say. I'm headed to meet a few friends to talk about the purpose of life and things like that. :)
After some light conversation, the rickshaw driver and I quickly become friends. "Are you from Ahmedabad?" he asks me. "No, I'm just visiting a friend." "Just a visit?" "Yeah, he's opening a restaurant and he wanted my parents to inaugurate it. I'm helping him launch the café."
"Café? You mean, it's like a Barista?" he asks showing his knowledge about the ... | Home | About Us | Our Friends | Get Involved | Contact us |  |  |  |