I was coming out of a restaurant after lunch today when a stranger asked me if I knew where a certain address was. I didn't, but I looked it up on my smart phone using Google Maps.

Later, at a gas station, a customer was giving another customer directions the old fashioned way, with lots of pointing and gesturing.

These are just tiny moments of kindness, and there are many cases of people doing much greater things, but it made me feel good that people can have a reasonable expectation that strangers might be helpful, and that, yes, it turns out they are. Even though we can get mired in feelings (and sometimes evidence) that life is harsh and people are jerks, there's the good side of things, too.

When my cute daughter is with me, helpful men come out of the woodwork :)

Yeah, I think if everyone just did little kinds all the time instead of worrying about the stupid things in life the world would be a much better place.
(and it goes to show that you don't have to be mormon to be a good person like they imply all the time)

Thanks for the reminder, Stray Mutt!

When there were some real bad wildfires here, strangers were offering shelter to people and animals. It was awesome - you'd turn on the news and they'd be announcing 'so-and-so has room for four more horses' or 'this family can take on three more dogs'. Also, some people who were stuck trying to get out of a particular neighborhood ran out of gas - strangers went around giving out 5-gallon containers of gasoline to help get them going again. They refused to give their names or take any payment. I love stuff like this where it isn't connected with any particular church or religion -- it's just people givin each other a hand.

I consider any day when people aren't killing and raping each other in the streets a "good day" for humanity..

But giving directions to strangers is icing on the cake...

That's the phrase they used about the cruise ship disaster in Italy. Strangers were helping strangers to survive, even at the risk of their own lives. One man apparently made himself a human ladder so people could crawl down his body to get into the lifeboats (if I got those details correct) as it was too far for some people to jump or they were too scared. He was prepared to carry on until a stranger in the lifeboat below finally hauled him down to safety himself.

Courage and kindness, especially when freely shared for the good of others, and offered anonymously are noble human traits.

Thanks, Mutt, for an inspiring post.

You mean good people exist in the world who are not MORMONS!?

That, or they're being prepared by "The Spirit" to receive the missionaries.

and the spirit is crossing his non-existent fingers hoping the missionaries haven't been masturbating or he won't be allowed to testify along with them.

he must be so frustrated...