Back when my Great Uncle was alive I used to go and buy these books about cowboys, Indians and the like. Being an elderly man he never really got much of a chance to go out and buy these sorts of things although he loved reading and Westerns greatly.

One day I noticed that he'd began to re-read some of his old books, as he didn't have any new ones. I thought about it for a bit, and came up with a plan. Every time I'd go to the Newsagents from then on I'd buy two books. After getting a few I'd bundle them up, go to his house, drop them on the doorstep, ring the bell and run.

When I'd visit him later in the week he'd always relay his theory on who was doing it, and how he was going to catch them. I only got to do it a few times before he passed away, but I'll never forget the smile on his face as he talked about 'The Book Bandit'.

Not random, but every morning when I prepare my girlfriend and my "lunch boxes" I always give her the best apple. Usually, the biggest and reddest with the fewest blemishes, and I don't tell her.

Back when I used to smoke, I noticed that a park near my house often had  butts littered all over the kids' area. It bothered me as a smoker, and I used to go out there at night a few times a week and spend an hour or two with a trash bag picking up butts and other garbage that I found.

My neighbor's dog fell off a cliff, and they could not afford the surgery to save his life. We put $500.00 in an envelope on their back step, with a note that said 'to help your dog.' It was not enough for the whole cost, but we heard the vet took it as a down payment. The dog lived for quite a while after.

Sometimes when my housemate or I are going to be walking past this homeless dude who sleeps in the park near my house, I leave him cans of beans, spaghetti and even stew (they're already cooked you can eat them cold, I have done it multiple times) while he sleeps.

Also, my friend and I found an old tarp that had a couple of holes in it, we patched it up and left it next to where he sleeps one day. He uses the tarp all the time now.

A poor local family's son had his bike stolen at school. My husband and I knew they weren't home one afternoon. We put a $100 bill in an envelope with a note that said it was for his new bike and a nice lock to keep it safe and popped it in their mailbox, unsigned. We saw the nice post they made on Facebook about how grateful they were and how excited he was. It was a nice feeling made even better by the fact that it was anonymous. There was no pressure for them to thank us, no praise from others, just a happy kid and relieved parents. No kid should be without a bike, especially when someone just takes it from them.

Back when I was more religious, I would save 10% of my money to give to the church. I had banked several thousand dollars with the intent of giving it to them, but I instead sent it anonymously to one of my best friends after his wife died of cancer. I feel really good about being able to do that but I never wanted him to feel awkward about it.

This is what my uncle did for someone that we didn't know about until the person he did it for told us at his wake. There was a single mom who did not have a lot of money, and her son loved baseball. My uncle was at a game and so he managed to catch one of the balls that went into the stands and get it signed by one of the players. He then gave it to the mom to give to her son and she told him, "Oh he's going to love you for doing this!"

To which my uncle responded, "No, tell him you did it. He'll think you're the best mom ever."

He never told anyone that story and it wasn't until that mom was at his wake that we found out. A real selfless guy, my uncle. It's a shame he died at 50.

RIP Uncle Peter.

For some reason, lost dogs find me. Over the past two years I've found and returned six lost dogs. Not surprisingly, I never got a reward. But what bothered me was that none of the people seemed overly thrilled that their lost dog had been returned to them. If my dog got out I would be sobbing and overjoyed if he was returned to me.

I'm a lunch lady. I used to sneak money into some of the younger kids' accounts so they could buy the snacks we sometimes put out for sale when they're nearing expiration.

I did it because there were a few really sweet kids who never had any money in their accounts. The way it's set up, they put the item on their tray and when they enter their pin, if it shows they have a zero or negative balance, I have to take it off their tray and tell them I'm sorry they can't have it.

And I really was and still am sorry. It started with a couple of kids who lost both of their parents within the same year. Everybody was just too sad and broke from funerals to keep up on the payments. There were a few who were on free lunch and always reeked of smoke. I judged. In all honesty, there were also a couple of hateful little jerks who I imagined must be that jaded and cynical FOR A REASON by the ripe old age of 6. I figured they could stand to have one thing go their way every once in a while for a change.

It's a non-issue now because payments are now mostly made online, and the ones that aren't are closely scrutinized. I miss being able to make a kid's day so easily just by making it so they got to count themselves among the haves for a minute. I still remember what it's like to be 6 years old and be the kid who knew not to even ask because "we can't afford that right now, Baby. Mommy's sorry. Maybe next paycheck."

Last weekend I was downtown and found a guy's driver's license on the ground. I found him on Facebook and sent him a bunch of messages not to worry and that I'd return his license. We ended up running into him on the street. The look on his face when I asked, "Are you John Doe?" was priceless. His eyes went wide and asked, "How did you know that?" I pulled the license out of my shirt pocket, he said "Dude!", gave me a big hug and thanked me. We are currently Facebook friends.

I am a police officer. Got a call about a kid at a train show at a museum in town. Found him, he was autistic and the dumb friends who took him to the show had left him there. He couldn't get hold of anyone to come get him. I drove him around with me for about an hour while we kept trying to call his parents. My bank account was negative at the time, day before payday. I had $10 for dinner. Took him to Subway and fed him cause he said he had not eaten all day. I went hungry till 6am the next morning.

I used to run a comedy show in my town. There was a door price to begin with, but after awhile I got sick of taking people's money at the door and just let them donate money if they liked the show. We ended up making more money that way, but I didn't really need the cash. I was working, so it wasn't necessary. We ended up sponsoring a child through World Vision, and people would donate towards sponsoring her. Any extra money I got I just gave away to whatever charity we could think of, or whatever charity the audience wanted it to go to.

Anyway, after a while we couldn't run the gig anymore, primarily due to politics. Some people didn't like that we were popular and attempted to shut us down, which is a really weird thing for performers to do. I had the show jump venues a few times, but after awhile it became too much. There was a lot of travel involved in doing this, and I wasn't making any money off of it.

I have every intention of starting the show again some time, but I really don't have the time. However, in the meantime the child is still being sponsored. I used to joke about how I'd just let her starve if people didn't put money in the hat, but I could never bring myself to do that. I don't get any tax benefits from sponsoring her, as she was sponsored by the show "Ninja Slam" so I can't claim any of it.

So, somewhere out there is a small Nicaraguan child that thinks that Ninjas are keeping her fed. That's worth paying for.

When I was either 15 or 16, I was staying at my best friend's house for the weekend and his sister came to us with a bottle and a bunch of peach juice boxes for chasers and asked if we'd like to drink with her. I'd never drank before, but we said sure.

After getting about as far into the bottle as we were capable of getting, my friend went to go crash. Myself and his sister continued to drink for a little bit, then she asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I said sure. It got a little windy out, and she was rubbing her arms so I gave her my sweater and we kept drinking a little.

Eventually, we ended up back at their house and when we came inside, she asked me I wanted to go down to her bedroom (the basement) and "help her take the sweater off".

In a moment of astounding clarity for a hammered kid who had never hooked up before, I said no.

It would have ruined my friendship with my best friend, who is still my best friend to this day. This was a very long time ago now. She was two years older than we were and a complete babe, but I turned it down because one evening of bliss would have destroyed everything I cared about in my friendship.

She still has my sweater, and she and I are on good terms to this day. Nobody other than her knows about this. I think I did a good thing that night.

Every night I sneak into my roommates bedroom and apply a nicotine patch to his forehead, and early every morning before he wakes up, I remove it. He thinks he quit smoking all by himself.

I was standing in a car park one day and saw a car trying to park next to another car. The motherlicker ended up scraping right up the side of this other car, getting out, looking at the damage and then driving off.

Well I quickly started repeating his number plate in my head while I got my phone out, then I typed it. I then walked to my car, got a pen and paper and wrote "Some idiot just scratched up the side of your car and drove off. Here's his number plate. XXX XXX." I put the note on the windscreen and waited around for a few minutes then left. I imagine the loser got caught.

There's a special place in hell for drivers like that. A place right next to Hitler and people who take their toddlers to the cinema.

I was coming out of a bar one night and saw an older man (70s?) staggering while trying to unlock his car in the parking lot. He was clearly out of it and I knew he wouldn't make it far driving. I walked up to him and asked if he needed help. He said "I don't think I can make it" so I offered to drive him home in his own car. I tossed my car keys to my girlfriend, and asked her to follow me.

On the way home the man said several times to me, "I lost my wife a few months ago ya know, and just don't know how to live anymore". I had no words of wisdom to help the situation but offered my condolences. He was coherent enough to provide directions, and I helped him out of the car and to the door of his house, making sure he could get in before I left.

He asked me, "You want to come in for a drink?" as a thank-you for bringing him home safely, but I declined as I had to drive my girlfriend home.

I don't even remember the man's name or where he lived, and I thought about him for several years wondering what ever happened to that sad man. At the very least, I hope that my act of kindness saved him from a car accident.

I used to work at Starbucks. Pretty decent job other than the fairly regular obnoxious customers who think the world of themselves. Regardless, I get paid, so it's alright.

So one day this old lady comes in. I've never seen her before, but she seems a little down in the dumps. This is not my typical "I'll be paying with my daddy's credit card" customer, so I'm a little more inclined to see what's going on. I ask her how her day is going, and she tells me she's fine. She orders a cup of coffee. I can tell she most definitely is not okay - something's definitely off. I quietly ask her if she's sure she's doing alright. She looks up at me from her purse with tears in her eyes and, voice quivering, says, "No, son, I'm not. My husband is dying and I'm trying to learn how to live without him."

I come to learn her husband did everything for her - he kept up the house, he pumped the gas. He was prince charming, and now he was dying. My heart just broke right there. I poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her. She went to reach into her wallet, but I told her it was on the house. This woman looked at me and burst into tears. The store is virtually empty at this point, so we have some more time with her. My manager gives her a hug and the woman tells me it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her. It wasn't any big deal. I just gave her a cup of coffee. It cost me nothing, I just didn't charge it. But the story doesn't end there.

Later that afternoon I get a call from the afternoon shift manager. She just got a phone call from a 20-something year old girl who asked about me. She said that her grandma (the woman I had served that morning) had come and told her (granddaughter) about our exchange. This girl was singing our praises big time, saying we changed this lady's entire perspective on the situation. I was absolutely floored and got a little choked up.

But we're still not done.

Three weeks later, I'm working a Sunday morning. It's right between two rushes and this giant group comes in. Big groups are always a pain to serve, but I put a smile on and get ready to take care of everyone. An older lady comes up to me and grabs my hand. She asks me if I remember who she is- it's the lady from three weeks before. I ask her about her husband and she responds,

"Well, that's what I'm here about, son. I have two things to share with you this morning. First, I want you to know that my husband passed away. His funeral was yesterday and the whole family came into town for the service. The second thing I want to share with you is this- I want you to know that I shared the story of what you did for me with that cup of coffee. You may not know this, but that cup of coffee gave me an entirely new perspective on my husband's life. I wanted to thank you for that. Son, I want to introduce you to my family. They have something they want to say to you."

She turns around and gestures to the group. One by one, they come up to me and shake my hand and thank me for what I've done. At this point everyone is teary eyed. It was the strangest thing. A cup of coffee changed everything, and, in the process, allowed me to celebrate the life of a stranger I never knew with his loved ones.