Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness at the grocery store

I was cashing out my groceries at Grant Park Safeway and asked the cashier to double my bags, as I was walking home.

A lady at the next counter, looked over and saw all my bags. She offered to drive me home and helped me with my parcels.

My lovely stranger, whose name is Colleen, went out of her way, to see me home safely.

My heartfelt thanks.

-- Doreen Hewak

A real prize winner

I went to a warehouse several blocks east of Health Sciences Centre to pick up a prize I won in a lottery.

It turned out to be large and fairly heavy, and I mentioned that I would have to call a taxi to get to a Portage Avenue bus stop.

There were several other winners behind me. One kind gentleman spoke up and offered me a ride to Portage Avenue. Then, to ensure my safety at a bus stop, he drove me to Polo Park.

His name is Guy Lansard, owner of Lance Roofing Ltd.

Thanks again, Guy!

-- Elaine Delorme

Angel with a crochet hook

I was waiting for Handi Transit when I saw a lady crocheting a dish cloth in a very unusual pattern.

I told her how beautiful it was and how I used to crochet, and that now I visit my husband in the hospital, I am finding the evenings long. Perhaps I should try to crochet again.

As I was leaving, the lady gave me the dish cloth she had just finished and also a colourful ball of cotton thread.

It really made my day. Thank you. You are an angel.

-- Viola Dufresne

Returned the computer, a Mac

My husband and I flew in from Toronto recently to visit our new grandson here in Winnipeg.

When we arrived, we found out we had a problem with our car rental. So we took advantage of the free wifi at the airport to rent another car.

Unfortunately, when we had finished working on the computer, we somehow left the computer (a Mac) on the seat where we were sitting. We didn't realize it until much later at the hotel.

We called the airport authority -- and here comes the Good Samaritan part.

A wonderful person had picked it up, given it to information, and it was there.

I am so grateful for the kindness of this woman or man. I hope you read this. You're a peach!

-- Betsy Nantes

Thanks to MPI workers

MANITOBA Public Insurance spent a week -- starting on World Kindness Day -- encouraging employees to do random acts of kindness for colleagues and strangers.

They also encouraged staff to pay it forward if someone did a random act of kindness to them.

This initiative made the world a kinder place and had tons of people shoveling snow for others, paying for the groceries of the mother in line ahead of them, donating money to charity, buying lunch for those who were hungry, stopping to help cars stuck in the snow, just to name a few.

Thank you MPI employees for reminding us to be kind to one another.

-- J. Alkana

Spare the snowman

MY three-year-old son and I went across our back lane to explore the huge snow pile in the city parking lot.

We decided to make a snowman, my son's first, and he had a blast.

After lunch, I looked out the window to see a loader in the lot preparing to remove the snow pile and clean the lot. I ran out and took a quick picture of our snowman to capture the memory before he was plowed away.

To my surprise, the loader operator intentionally avoided the snowman and cleared the entire lot around it.

While a small gesture, it would have been much easier for him to not bother working around our snowman.

Thanks for making a three year old's day!

-- Cameron Neufeld

Good people of Winnipeg

We went with our son's family to Comic Con at the Convention Centre. He placed his leather jacket in the bottom of his daughter's stroller and somewhere along the line he realized it was not there.

Of course, it was his favourite. Needless to say, this put quite a damper on the afternoon.

But when his wife called the lost and found at the convention centre, someone had turned it in.

This has restored his faith in humanity, and we will definitely pay it forward.

Thank you good people of Winnipeg.

-- Linette Bell

Help on an icy day

I had an appointment at the dental college. I had parked my car and started across the parking lot towards the college when I stepped on a patch of black ice and fell.

I was unable to get up but fortunately two lovely young ladies appeared and between the two of them, they were able to get me upright.

One of the young ladies, who is studying to become an occupational therapist, held my arm and helped me all the way inside the college.

I unfortunately did not get their names, but I want to thank them again for helping me.

-- Judy Wynne

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 8, 2012 A29