Kindness of Strangers.

Two stories, taken from Reader's Digest April 2010.

A flat in the country.
My husband and I were on our way home to Adelaide after holidaying in Queensland with our three children.Our car was filled to the brim with tents, air mattresses, sleeping bags and other camping equipment. It was dusk as we were driving from Junee in NSW to the main highway heading to Narrandera, where we planned to stay the night.

The car became difficult to steer and we realised we had a flat tyre. It was quite dark by the time we'd unloaded all the camping equipment and changed the tyre. then, not long after getting back on the road, another tyre blew. But now we had no spare. There was not raffic on the road and only scattered farms only the way.

Just as we were debating whether to sleep in the car or walk to the nearest farm for help, car headlights appeared in the distance. My husband walked into the middle of the road to flag it down, while the children and I sat in the car with the inside light on so the driver could see we were a family and not a threat.

As luck would have it, it was a lovely couple and their three children who lived in a nearby pig farm. We all crammed into their car, and a short drive later we arrived at their farm. The suggested we spend the night on the floor of their lounge - we were glad to have somewhere safe to spend the night.

The next morning, after cooking us a great breakfast, the father took my husband into nearby Marrar to buy new tyres. Our two families got on so well they invited us to stay on for another day to learn about the workings of the farm - and watch their daughter fearlessly ride one of the huge pigs.

We finally continued home to South Australia, very grateful for the kindness this family had shown us. We kept in touch for more than ten years, each Christmas with a card and a long letter telling each other of the past year's events.

Susan Scragg, Nundah, QLD

A chain across the Tasman.
Making a coffee for a customer at the busy bakery where I work, I noticed she was wearing an unusual necklace. It was a silver pendant with sparkles, and it was quite different from anything I had seen. I remarked that it was the kind of jewellery that my fiancee would like. The customer smiled and chatted with me, explaining that she had bought it from a market in Australia where she lived. She was in New Zealand on business and was due to return home the next day.

A few weeks later, a package arrived at the bakery. Inside was another of the silver necklaces, along with a note to say she'd gone back to the market to find one for my fiancee to enjoy.

Chris Bailey, Wellington, NZ

Kindness..a wonderful concept. It creates joy, spreads joy, and finds a way into everyones heart in some point in time.

We've all shown kindness, though, maybe we need to think who to? It's easy to show kindness to our friends and family as they are important to us. What about the others? As seen from the two stories, a little kindness can go a long way, and be kept in that person's heart for a long time. It is really easy to be kind to someone we like. But do you show kindness even to strangers? It would be wonderful, for the world and it's people, to go up to strangers and show a little bit of kindness. Be a shining light in someones dark day. Don't be afraid. go out there, help that person who dropped a whole heap of books, offer help to that grandma struggling with her shopping, and ask people who look down if everything is alright. But even more so, it's harder to show kindness to the people we dislike. Isn't it arrogant to only confine your kindness to your friends and shun out all those you don't like? True kindness is shown when someone has the courage to put aside their own feelings for a moment, and genuinely care about the others.

So do a random act of kindness to anyone! You'll be surprised at how long they will remember it.