Gather around the magic rug, friends! It’s STORYTIME!!! (okay sorry the former education major in me gets a little excited about stories. sharing. and y’know. all that brighten my day business. ha.)

So last week, I asked my friends on the F to the B what the nicest thing a stranger has done for them… here are just a few of my favorites but they’re ALL SO good and inspiring! Read them all and keep in touch on our Vaute Couture Page for more random questions/contests every other Friday.

::::STRANGERS IN ACTION:::

“I once had a perfect stranger I contacted on Craigslist give me 2nd row tickets for my anniversary to a comedian for free! My husband and I were going thru a tough time, and I had offered her less than what she was asking in a desperate attempt to have a nice gift to give my hubby. She said she would love to help us, and that I could have a nice night out on her. Her only request? To pay it forward. Which I HAPPILY did later that year to another unsuspecting person! There really are some great people out there in the world!” (Sarah A)

“The one I really remember wasn’t about me at all. I was in London on the tube. A very unkempt man was yelling incoherently and shaking a book. I stayed still, because I felt a bit afraid, and there was quite a bit of empty space around him. A man walked over, sat down next to him, and listened. The unkempt man calmed down and spoke to him earnestly and pointed at the book, and as I listened in, I realized that he was trying to explain that he was a veteran, and that there was a photo of him in the book. The act of walking over and just sitting down to listen to someone I had previously perceived as scary, just being so kind as to listen, that was the kindest thing I ever saw.” (Jocelyn K)

“Two summers ago I frequented a local park and read there during beautiful, sunny days. I would often observe others around me after reading a chapter or two and take in the beauty all around - the people, the trees, the birds hoping along the concrete steps. One day, a very kind man began speaking with me about a book called The Four Agreements and various spiritual topics. After a little while, he gave me a slip of paper that read “I am thankful you are alive.” He would write messages like this and pass them on to people he had never met. I felt very touched knowing that we are all loved, no matter who we are - there is always someone out there who is grateful that we have come into this world and share our lives and stories with others. It’s a torch I try to pass on myself.” (Seana S)

“I was touring Ireland with my Dad when about a block in front of us a blind man was about to cross the street. A nearby construction worker, with the sweetest smile, stopped what he was doing and helped the man cross safely. Technically it was a kindness done to that man but it made mine and my fathers day so much brighter that I felt like he’d done an incredibly nice thing for us.” (Danielle B)

“One day I was at the grocery store and I had my arms loaded full of bags, as I struggled my way out to the car a nice elderly man offered to help me, I insisted on trying to carry them myself because I felt bad asking an old man to help me carry my heavy bags, as I declined one of the bags broke and my produce went everywhere, oranges and apples rolling all over the parking lot, he scrambled to help me collect them all and bring them to my car. Then I get to my car and realize that my keys & cell phone were locked in. Not only did he call a tow company for me he even paid for the lockout!! Pretty amazing…I felt truly fortunate to have crossed paths with this man! To this day I still bake him cookies and bring them to him once or twice a month.” (Morgan M)

Okay and my story, right? Nate and I missed our flight to Rochester NY (I was on my way to do a photoshoot at the Farm Sanctuary). And as the next flight was not until 10pm (!!) (original was 1pm- 1!!), we decided to make the most of it and spend the day as if we lived in the airport- shopping, eating, counting all the carts, haha- a jolly good time all around. Okay, that’s not the story though- I soon realized we had another issue, after getting there 9 hours late, we’d still have a 3 hour drive to Watkins Glen, where the Sanctuary is. But none of the rental car companies would be open when we arrived after midnight- meaning we’d have to sleep in the airport and eat up another 8 or so hours of our 2 day trip! And so, upon hearing this, without hesitation- a sigh- anything- the rental car rep gave me his cell phone #, and promised to be there with a car for us, 6 hours after his shift ended, and 1 hour after the whole place shut down for the night. When we arrived, we discovered that his parents had to drive him there because his wife had blocked his car in. So past midnight on a Saturday night, his son was asleep in the backseat in his Spiderman costume, and his parents in the front. He saved us a night of sleeping in the airport after already losing a day… but it was this without a blink of an eye effortless generosity he shared that really took me back… a total angel- and made me think, man, if I could be more like this guy?

So much kindness in this world. Has a total stranger done something for you? share, bear!

warmest,