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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 91–106 of 106 ideas
Check the thing before you share the outrage
Thirty seconds of verification prevents you becoming the reason a false story reached another thousand people.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Leave something out for the refuse crew at Christmas
The crew that has taken your rubbish every week for a year passes your house in the dark in December.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Notice who has not spoken
In most meetings two or three people never speak, and the reason is almost never that they have nothing to say.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Answer the beginner's question kindly
The tone of the first reply someone gets determines whether they ask a second question, ever.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell the owner, not just the internet
A small shop owner may never see the review. Saying it to their face is the version that reaches them.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell someone their tire is going down
A soft tire spotted in a car park is thirty seconds of mild awkwardness against a blowout at seventy.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Sit with whoever came on their own
At any gathering there is someone standing at the edge working out how soon they can leave.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Send the criticism privately and the praise publicly
The default is backwards: people praise in private and criticize where everyone can see.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ask the person crying in public if they are okay
Everyone walks past. The calculation people make — that privacy is kinder — is usually wrong.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Be the easy customer at closing time
The last half hour of a shift is when tiny inconveniences decide whether someone gets home on time.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Put a cold box out in a heatwave
Delivery drivers, refuse crews and postal workers do forty-degree days on foot with no realistic way to stop.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Leave a note for your mail carrier
The person who walks to your door most days almost never hears from the people who live behind it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Not rated yet
Leave quarters at the laundromat
A few dollars in coins, left on the machines, for whoever counted wrong tonight.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Write the review for the small place
For a business with forty reviews, one more genuinely moves the number. For a chain, it vanishes.
5 minutesFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Learn the name of someone you see every week
There is probably someone you have exchanged a hundred nods with and never once asked.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell someone's manager they were good
Complaints reach managers constantly. Praise almost never does — which is exactly why it carries weight when it arrives.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet