What’s the Nicest Thing a Stranger Has Ever Done for You?

Last week, our office received something in the mail that took our breaths away. It was a delicate, 24K gold necklace that said “blessed” in teeny-tiny script, and we were told that we could give it away in a contest on our website (storeadore.com).

But what kind of contest? We started thinking about what it means to be blessed. The necklace was meant to remind the wearer when she gazes into the mirror of all the wonderful things in her life instead of focusing on the negative, as we so often do. We decided that the contest to make people think of the blessings that are so often forgotten.

“What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?” we asked.  Whoever gives us our favorite answer will become a finalist, and then users can pick the number one story for the winner.

The contest just went up a few days ago, but we’ve gotten some really funny, heart-warming responses that I wanted to share:

Sasha: “I was traveling in Naples, Italy by myself. I had plans to meet some friends in Capri, and I was in a cab trying to get to the ferry, When we arrived, a policeman told us that the ferries would be shut down until late at night, due to an accident. I was really distressed—I didn’t speak the language and had no idea where to go, and it was already dark. The friendly cab driver wound up taking me out to dinner with his wife and son (who was learning English) at a little local place, and afterwards he took me back to the ferry. It’s one of my favorite memories of the trip.”

Irene: “About a year ago, my friend and I had tickets to a Yankees home game. Our seats were in the nosebleed section, but we were pretty excited to go anyway. We didn’t have many opportunities to go to games, and we’re big Yankees fans. Heading to the stadium that day, we were approached by a young man and his girlfriend. He tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we had tickets. We said we had seats, but that they were pretty bad. He shrugged his shoulders, handed us two tickets, and just said “Here.” Turns out he had two free tickets on right field! It was one of the best games I’ve ever watched!”