Browse
Kind things to do for a stranger
For someone you will probably never see again, or will see constantly and never know. No history to draw on, which makes these the most nerve-wracking and often the most memorable.
Showing 1–30 of 106 ideas
Plan someone's first week, not their first day
Onboarding is concentrated in day one, which is the day nobody retains anything.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Rated higher · 1 person rated this
Learn to say their name properly
People with unfamiliar names spend their lives being mispronounced and told it does not matter.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Rated higher · 1 person rated this
Leave the accessible toilet alone
It is not the spare one when there is a queue. For some people it is the only one in the building.
5 minutesFreeA stranger3 people did this
Not rated yet
Buy two and leave one
Suspended coffees, paid-forward meals and school-fund top-ups exist. Most people have never noticed the option.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Wait for someone who stammers
Finishing the sentence of someone who stammers is meant to help and does the opposite every time.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Keep including the person whose language it is not
Groups drift back into the majority language within minutes, and the one person left out never says anything.
5 minutesFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Notice who eats lunch at their desk every day
It is sometimes a preference and often the visible end of being outside every group in the building.
Half an hourFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Ask something other than where they are from
For anyone who looks or sounds different, it is the first question of every conversation, forever.
5 minutesFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Say something when the room lets it pass
A remark lands, everyone pretends not to have heard, and the target learns exactly who is in the room.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tip in cash where the card tip may not reach them
Card tips are sometimes pooled, taxed through payroll or partly retained. Cash usually goes to the person.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Ask what they did before they came here
A great many people doing low-paid work were engineers, doctors or teachers somewhere their qualifications do not count.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Caption the video you posted
Captions serve deaf viewers, people in loud places, and anyone watching with the sound off — which is most people.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Pay the small invoice the day it arrives
Late payment is the main reason small suppliers fail. Paying on receipt costs you nothing and can matter enormously.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Never park across a dropped curb
A car over a dropped curb can strand a wheelchair user on the wrong side of a road with no other crossing.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Know when their important days are
Everyone knows when Christmas is. Far fewer know when Eid, Diwali or Rosh Hashanah fall, or acknowledge them.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Explain the rule nobody writes down
Every workplace, school and country runs on conventions that insiders cannot see and newcomers cannot guess.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ignore the assistance dog
A working dog that gets distracted can miss a seizure warning or walk its handler into traffic.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Offer to put it in writing
Spoken instructions vanish. For anyone with hearing loss, dyslexia or brain fog they may not have landed at all.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Warn someone what the phrase actually means
'We should do this again sometime' means different things in different places, and getting it wrong is painful.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Say what you are pointing at
'It's over there' is useless to someone who cannot see you gesturing. Words cost nothing extra.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ask before you help, then do what they say
Grabbing a wheelchair or an arm without asking is both dangerous and startlingly common.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Say keep the change before they count it
A small overpayment is worth more as a decision you announce than as coins you leave behind.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Learn five signs and use them
Hello, thank you, sorry, please, your name. Five signs is enough to change an encounter completely.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Move your trolley out of the aisle
A blocked aisle is an inconvenience to most people and an impassable wall to a wheelchair or a scooter.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell a teacher what they did for your child
Teachers hear from parents almost exclusively about problems. Specific praise is rare enough to be kept for years.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Leave credit on the machine behind you
A parking meter, a laundry card, a photo booth. The next person gets a small unearned piece of luck.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Be the reference someone has no way of getting
Renting, banking and jobs all require a history that anyone newly arrived by definition does not have.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Give one instruction at a time
Stacked instructions fail for anyone tired, anxious, learning the language or processing differently.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell someone how you got in
Careers look like merit from outside and like luck and contacts from inside. Saying so out loud helps someone enormously.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Say plainly that you are glad they came
Anyone new spends months privately unsure whether they are wanted or merely tolerated. One sentence settles it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet