Positive news and acts of kindness will never grab headlines to the same degree as doom and gloom will. It’s a shame, because I would much rather read about people being nice to each other — although maybe that’s because it’s so much harder to find.
Anyway, if you’ve had enough of the dark and stormy headlines in the world, you’re in luck. Kindness, understanding, compassion, and love of life are still in good supply in the world, and we have the pics to prove it.
1. How adorable is it when a kid wants so badly to help out their mom that they’ll give their ice cream money back?
That’s no small thing for a kid to do, and it chokes me up just thinking about it. But you know that kid is being raised right when he does something like that, amirite?
2. This little guy went to school without a costume because his parents couldn’t afford one.
But by the end of the day, the school had gifted him a sweet Iron Man costume so he could go trick or treating.
3. Meanwhile, in this low income area, local do-gooders made sure kids didn’t go without on Halloween, handing out free costumes to kids in need.
They handed out more than 100 in a single day!
4. Profs can be so awesome sometimes, like this one who played along with a student’s jokey addition to a math test.
Just goes to show you, it can’t hurt to try to get a few bonus points here and there, as long as you don’t overdo it.
5. When this troubled young man started getting aggressive on public transit, shouting and cursing and scaring the other passengers, a 70-year-old woman simply took his hand.
He soon calmed down and sat next to her, holding her hand. Asked why she reached out to him, she said “I’m a mother and he needed someone to touch.”
6. It has to rile you up to hear that someone would steal a guy’s prosthetic arm out of his truck.
What a low thing to do! Thankfully, these police officers managed to recover his arm and get it back to him.
8. A group of young people in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, have taken to leaving positive messages around the the area as a way of promoting mental wellness.
They call themselves “Kindness Confetti,” and they’re doing what they can to make a difference for their community.
9. When this woman tried to take a kitten she’d rescued to a shelter, the shelter said it couldn’t take the kitten because it was closing, being $5000 in debt.
So, she paid off the shelter’s debt so that the kitten and all the other animals would have a place to stay.
10. The man on the left owns Donut City, a beloved haunt of pastry lovers in Seal Beach, California. His regulars have found a touching way to show their love, too.
After his wife had to be hospitalized after a brain aneurysm, he still had to come in and open the shop every day. However, his customers have made a point of coming in every day to buy up all of his donuts so he can close early and go be with his wife.
11. Photographer Matt Dippel managed to catch a proposal in progress when he was taking pics in Yosemite one day, so he tried to track the couple down on social media.
And folks on social media played along, doing their best to share the image around. More than three weeks later, he did indeed get in touch with the happy couple, and it turned out it was their second proposal, the “more special and official one.”
12. This is the first food truck in Puerto Rico to be owned by a person with Down syndrome.
Chef Chris Gonzalez calls his food truck Chris Sin Limites, which translates to “Chris without limits.”
13. Onlookers caught a pretty cool cultural exchange atop the World Trade Center when an Asian tourist asked a Jewish man about the hat he was wearing.
The Jewish man kindly took the time to explain his religion to the tourist and even let him try on his hat, called a shtreimel.
14. This house wasn’t just giving away candy for Halloween — they were giving away books, too.
And we’re not talking just kids’ books, either. There’s stuff for older kids and teenagers, too.
15. When their local library was forced to move due to a significant rent increase, locals turned up by the hundreds to help them move.
They even formed a human chain to help them relocate, one book at a time.
16. The only thing more fun than a prof who dresses up for Halloween is the tweet exchange going on here.
Because you have to appreciate the effort your profs put in to make class more fun, let me tell you.
17. At this Denny’s in Eugene, Oregon, a stray cat has been welcomed with its own little bed and hut outside the window. They have named him Dennis.
As a restaurant, obviously health codes prevent them from taking him in, but they do take donations from customers to help with his feeding and care.
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18. You know you’ve done something right when you’re still excited about your wedding two years later.
I’m not sure there’s anything I did two years ago that I’m still excited about today, so I have deep respect for these two.
19. In Tennessee, there’s a viewfinder that uses EnChroma technology to allow the color blind to experience the outdoors closer to its natural glory.
This particular viewer is in Cherokee National Forest, and must be an absolute joy when the fall colors come out.
20. A group of soldiers working out of a classroom in Panama City during the cleanup after Hurricane Michael left a thank you note for the teacher whose classroom they were staying in.
And they left some of their uniform patches behind as a token of their appreciation. Love it when a community comes together!
21. This doggo has a habit of taking one of her owner’s shoes and laying with it when they go out. This is what happened when the whole family went out.
Four shoes and a toy — she just wanted her family around. If that doesn’t melt your heart, I don’t know what will!
22. Proof that random acts of kindness still happen: this bag of microwave popcorn left at a Redbox machine.
Not a big thing, but assuming the plastic wrap is still sealed, who wouldn’t love a little free popcorn with their flick?
23. This soccer player from Zimbabwe signed with a team in Sweden, and found the temperatures seriously affecting his digits.
As in, his fingers were too cold to even tie up his shoes — so when his shoe got untied, a member of the opposing team helped him out.
24. Friends, let’s give a round of applause for a woman who has conquered a puzzle with more than 40,000 pieces!
Apparently it took her about three months to complete, which is actually pretty amazing pace when you think about it.
