UKC

This world is full of tiny everyday acts of tolerance and community and kindness and love. I’m sick to the back teeth of hearing about bombings and stabbings and shootings and hatred, so tell me some beautiful things. They don’t have to be big ones.

Here’s mine.

Last week I took my daughter to an inner city park. There were lots of mums there with their children, and the little ones all played together because why wouldn’t they? Then we were bouncing on some trampolines and one of the other mums fell off and she couldn’t stop laughing about it and soon we were all laughing. One family took a big group selfie and asked me and my daughter to be in it with them. We chatted about our children and then we went home. The end.

For what it’s worth, everyone else in the story was Muslim. I don’t see how it matters.

I think the world is actually full of people getting on with people but it gets lost in the media narrative somehow.

In reply to Alyson:

I'm not sure it's kindness as such, but this is a nice story:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2016/jun/16/sea-eagle...

The size difference with the buzzard in the last photo is staggering.

In reply to Alyson:

On Christmas Day I drove up to London and on my way around the roundabout at the end of Waterloo Bridge I saw someone pushing a bicycle with a flat tyre, I stopped and mended his puncture for him, there were no shops open and no public transport. We chatted whilst waiting for the rubber solution to cure and he would have had a four or five mile walk to get home. I don't remember his ethnicity, he wasn't Caucasian and had an accent that wasn't British, but that was irrelevant and it didn't make a sufficient impression upon me to remember now.

In reply to Alyson:

saw a young wagtail on the road yesterday, I manoeuvred around it.

In reply to Alyson:

I rescued a toad from our company car park - not sure which way it was headed, but no way was it going to find it's way out of the basement level without help.

In reply to RyanOsborne:

Thank you - that's another thing worth remembering. Amidst all the depressing environmental news there are always success stories, stories of nature's resilience, and of course people caring about the natural world and doing what they can to help it.

In reply to Alyson:
I was once caving in an old mine somewhere at Stoney, and it involved lots of rickety ladders and I recall seeing little trucks on rails.

Anyhoo, down at the bottom I found a tiny frog, and thought, 'this is no place for a frog', so I carefully climbed all the way out with it in one hand.
At the top of the final ladder, which must have been about 30 feet high, and above a much deeper drop, I said to my mate on the surface as I popped my head out, 'Look what I found!', and I opened my hand to show him, whereupon the frog jumped off my hand and disappeared back down the abyss.

In reply to EddInaBox:


Confession time.

I caught myself thinking the other day about Islamophobia and how I wish I knew some Muslims so I could ask them about their experiences. Then I remembered that I work with 3 Muslims, one of whom is a really good friend! We've worked together for a decade. We talk about cricket, family, children, holidays, music, tv, regrets, work, mutual friends. It hadn't occurred to me to once ask him about his experiences of being a Muslim in Britain! I'm too busy taking the mick out of his 80s hair and love of Duran Duran. I got sucked into this 'them' and 'us' narrative which made me (very briefly) think I didn't know one of 'them' at all. I feel like a prize twit for writing this to be honest, but it's a weight off my shoulders

In reply to Fredt:

This thread is turning out toadly different to how I expected

In reply to Fredt:

If you could please change it from a frog story to a lizard story I've got a very good joke waiting about a reptile dysfunction.

In reply to Alyson:

This has no place in a people getting on with each other narrative but I don't care and I'm going to share anyway.

My daughter (2 & 1/2) has learnt to do forward rolls.
It doesn't seem like a big thing but after one of the surgical operations she went through after she was born the consultant told us "Well she's never going to be a gymnast is she?" so it's it's a big thing for us.

So Hah, take that tactless consultant asshole! (no offense intended really, we were grateful for his surgical skills if not his social ones).

In reply to Alyson:

This one's good too, just spotted it on the Alex Honnold news story:

https://www.facebook.com/AlexHonnold/photos/a.318325321555110.88435.1322741...

In reply to Alyson:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/17/islamic-state-twitter-ac...

In reply to Alyson:

This morning I moved a snail from the middle of a busy path in our local park and our him into the foliage at the side.

Yesterday it was a spider in the bath and a bee from the communal stairs landing. Made the bee a sugar water solution and watched him (her?) sip from it.

Every morning and evening I watch my pup play with a load of neighbouring dogs in the park and wonder why people don't get along as much.

In reply to Alyson:

I was mountain biking around the Afan valley. On day two I was doing the lovely long ascent up Whites level when my front brake started graunching. I pulled over and found my pads completely worn down to the metal. Game over for me. I was just telling my mates that they might as well carry on without me when a long haired, bearded man stopped. Took out a brand new set of pads from his rucksack and gave them to me. Fitted perfectly. I thanked him profusely but explained I had no money on me and could I have his PayPal address etc, he just said "No need, you'll do something similar one day" wished me a fun ride and rode off.

In reply to Alyson:

I was cycling home from work one night, and a car behind me hooted. I ignored it (as you tend to). I got to my front door and went to get my keys out of my bag, but couldn't find them. I was just beginning to panic, when a bloke walked up the garden path, and handed me my keys.

He'd been driving behind me and had seen the keys fall out, so he'd hooted to try to get my attention. When that failed, he stopped his car, got out and picked up the keys, got back in the car, caught me up, stopped, got out and came to give me back my keys.

He was gone before I could recover enough to thank him properly.

For what it's worth, he was Polish. I don't see how it matters.

In reply to Alyson:
Yesterday I sat and watched a great tit feeding its baby in the garden. This morning there was a baby starling hopping around and feeding. The pigeons are so fat that they walk away when we let the dog out

This morning middle daughter went on a school day trip, youngest daughter at breakfast says Im going to really miss you! I ask why as she is only going to the museum for the day and they will be coming home together after school. Oh she replied, I thought she was going to heaven....

In reply to Alyson:

I've started writing for a charity called Farsight Conservation. Here's a fun little video from the charity that might brighten your day...

youtube.com/watch?v=3qb4KEkUkKY&

In reply to Alyson:
I'm my mother's carer. I was on holiday last week. When I got home I got a call from her to say "I'm glad you are home. I feel safer when you are at home"

In reply to Alyson:

instead of waking past a homeless person today asking for money to buy food and giving the usual line of "sorry i don't have any change" i told him to meet me outside tesco in five minutes; where i gave him a sandwich, drink and chocolate bar. didn't make much difference to me, but he was very emotional and happy.


i think that counts as my good deed of the day

In reply to Alyson:


My hamster wrote a poem with her nose in some plasticine [she's smarter than the average rodent.] Here it is:

I hate the wheel
Time to eat
Hamsters in the wild eat 12 times a day
Burn that wheel please
Or you try the wheel
You monstrous tower of flesh and clothes
Time to eat

In reply to Alyson:
While walking through Sheffield near the Wicker a long time ago, and on a personal level being in rather a dark place, a local* came up to me and said 'Come one, life isn't that bad' to me in a very friendly way, before carrying on past. At the time it gave me a lift. I think I now try and pass it on by being extra friendly to people if they seem glum.

*Not being born here I somehow don't quite feel like a local still after living here since childhood....

In reply to Alyson:

Years ago (I don't have to go back that far for good things, but this one has stuck in my mind) some young lad on a bike nearly crashed into me coming round a corner when I was walking a push chair along the pavement.

I was feeling pretty annoyed but he made the effort to look over his shoulder and said 'soz' with such sincerity and contrition it made the world a better, more civilised and hopeful place.

In reply to Alyson:

Someone stopped and lent me a bike pump last time I had a double puncture on the bike, this was nice because i'd already used one of my CO2 cartridges before the second puncture.

And as repayment I helped an elderly couple change a tyre on their Merc after noticing that they had the jack upside down and were struggling. The woman did however thrust a £10 note into my hand while her husband wasn't looking saying "don't tell him I gave you this, I told him he couldn't do it, have a drink on us" just like how my nan does.

In reply to Alyson:

I went to collect my 12 year old from where she had gone out with three new friends that she made in her first term at high school. Primary school had been in Surrey, 1 black child in the class. When she came out of the park with her friends they were all Asian. On the way home I asked her why she hadn't mentioned this. "I didn't think it was important" she said. Can you be proud and humbled at the same time? I think so.

In reply to Steve-J-E:


This is lovely. I'm very wedded to the idea of paying it forward, which promotes kindness, rather than paying it back which makes it a transaction.

I have done some similar things myself (the last one was paying for an old man's shopping when he'd forgotten his wallet) and when people try to pay me back I always suggest helping someone else when they can.

In reply to Alyson:

Well I'm posting this from my hotel in Addis Ababa and I think I can honestly say that I've never visited a country with such decent, charming, hospitable and friendly people. The great thing is that there's no guile; they do it out of the kindness of their hearts, not in the hope of getting something in exchange. It's a country unique in Africa because it never got properly colonised so no European country ever stamped their character on it.

In reply to Alyson:

I dragged a young lad out of a very busy A road with literally seconds to spare a few weeks ago, he was knocked down off his push bike by a car in Cardiff. He had to go to hospital with a broken arm and some nasty grazes; and in the meanwhile he had to sort his bike out to, so I took his bike to work with me and stored it under the stairs until he came for it a week later. I was glad to do something good for someone, it makes you feel that you've given something back.

L

In reply to lone:


There is plenty of evidence that helping others has lots of benefits in terms of health, happiness and self-esteem. I suppose as we have evolved to be a species which finds success in co-operation, it makes sense for our brains to have built-in rewards for that behaviour. I have to fundamentally believe that the future of humanity lies in this direction.

Really there has never been a better time to be alive in this country, with so many people enjoying peace and prosperity, long lives and general stability. Yet paradoxically there seem to be high levels of fear and anxiety, completely disproportionate to the reality of how we live. I think the fear-mongering from certain quarters is finding its mark and proving very damaging. We could all do with remembering that the world is full of people being kind to each other! And what an easy thing to have an influence on, every day of our lives.

In reply to Alyson:


Absolutely.

In reply to Alyson:

The better angels of our nature, no less. It's pretty much always worked for me.

In reply to Alyson:


I know I'm going to be flamed for asking this but:

If it doesn't matter why bother mentioning it in the first place?

In reply to captain paranoia:




So if it doesn't matter why use it as an addendum? It obviously does matter to you which is why you mentioned it in your narrative.

In reply to Alyson:
Someone opened a field gate for me today so I could drive my Landrover in there without getting out. (It was raining)


For what it is worth the person was White. I don't see how it matters.................

In reply to Gone for good:

Because unless you've been living in a hole it can't have failed to come to your attention that it matters to some people, very much. The point of the thread, really, is that certain people are spreading a lot of hatred, mistrust and fear and it's worth countering that as much as possible.

In reply to Alyson:
Well I haven't been living in a hole, not lately anyway, but why not come out and say that instead of coming up with some warm fuzzy anecdote that lies behind the fluff and Andrex puppies. Straight talking tends to allow people to concentrate on the real issues.

In reply to Gone for good:

I just did come out and say it! Wtf is an Andrew puppy? I'm sorry, I don't understand your point or your post at all.

In reply to Alyson:

It seems to me, it's more about people trying to score points for stories trying to prove how "anti racist" they are.
It's like you're trying to outdo each other to see who can help the most ethnic?

The fact people are making the assumption we are reading the statements and assuming they are all talking about white/straight/Christian/male people is a bit bigoted.


So what, you helped a dude Who cares what colour he is, or who he calls God or what country he came from. Maybe it was a woman? Who cares.

Help someone for the sake of helping them. Not to score points to show how liberal and open minded you are.

In reply to Alyson:
My point is:

(You can pick whichever appeals to you most)
Today I rescued a cat from a tree
Today I rescued a baby from a burning building
Today I sold my house and gave all my money to charity
Today I found a cure for all terminal diseases

The world is an ugly place with horrible people but most of us try to do our best for ourselves and other people. I don't see the point in coming up with a thinly veiled anecdote that smacks of politically correct smugness.
Why mention that they were Muslim?

Stop the press - Caucasian woman enters Muslim social gathering and takes part in selfie.
Wow.... not!

In reply to captain paranoia:





He'd made a plasticine imprint and needed to see where you lived.

In reply to Alyson:

I'm guessing it was an autocorrected Andrex puppy.

In reply to Gone for good:


It's not really for you to dictate how people communicate their message. I'm all for straight-talking and getting to the point, but the world would be a poorer place if we cut out every strictly unnecessary word. The meaning of Alyson's post was clear; and if she wants to illuminate the point with an anecdote surely that's up to her?

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Of course it's up to her but equally I am perfectly entitled to offer my opinion on her post. Isn't that the whole point of on line forums or am I missing something?

In reply to Gone for good:

Haha! Well you can be as cynical about it as you like, that's your issue not mine. I thought of the last moment where I felt a strong sense of community and friendliness and it happened to be then, and - as I said - they happened to be Muslim. If they hadn't been, it would still have been the anecdote I chose to relate. I'm just asking for some tales of kindness to counteract the depressing ones about shooting sprees, it's a pretty straightforward concept.

In reply to Alyson:

Today I narrowly avoided squishing a baby snail. I picked it up and put it on a bush on the other side of the lane.

In reply to Alyson:


But your not are you. You created an anecdote and deftly manipulated a minority group into the narrative for what purpose who knows. I'm sure it makes you and others feel morally superior by announcing your empathy and compassion with Muslims, Poles, Snails whatever.
I just think it's an unnecessary and covert method of declaring your political emotions but hey... each to their own.

In reply to Gone for good:


I think what you're missing is that it was a post, set in the context of a national tragedy fuelled by hatred, inviting people to discuss positive things as much-needed counterbalance. Therefore, it's a bit churlish to have a dig in reply. But you're quite right, it's a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions and you're entitled to express yours.

In reply to Alyson:




But would it have mattered if they were Jews, Israelis, Christians or any other religion ?? Would you have bothered to mention it if they were ??


,

In reply to Rainbow McSparklepants:


That's a beautiful story, thanks for sharing!

In reply to Gone for good:

There's always one.

In reply to Alyson: so tell me some beautiful things
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

In reply to Gone for good:

Because it promotes tolerance.

In reply to NeilBoyd:

Ooo, William Carlos Williams - good stuff!

In reply to NeilBoyd:

I know that one! William Carlos Williams. Thank you, that IS beautiful

In reply to aln:


There's always more than one is probably more accurate.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Climbing poets of the world unite!

In reply to Alyson:

Saw a lovely bumble bee crash into and wrap itself in a big spiders web.

Managed to get it out then spent 15mins unwrapping it from the web and freeing its wings with two big safety pins.

It flew away....looking pretty p*ssed off!

In reply to Alyson:

Alyson - thank you for creating this thread. It made the day slightly more bearable.

------

Sometimes

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss, sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you

- Sheenagh Pugh


And also women.

In reply to Alyson:


I think you got me mixed up with cloudy mc soiled underwear!!

In reply to Timmd:

Would the disliker make themselves known, and articulate why ?

In reply to Gone for good:

That's true. But why post on a thread like this if that's the way you feel?

In reply to aln:


Because the gushing nonsense is irritating and I'm fed up with racist this and tolerant that and brutal murders and pacifist peace activists and war and politics and extremes to the right and the left and leave or remain and its Friday night and I'm letting off steam and I don't like shouting at the kids.

That's why.

In reply to Gone for good:



Political emotions... Shit I feel left out. I'm not that stupid, can manufacture empathy when it suits me, pat puppies for photos...but I have no Political emotions.

I feel so empty, so soiled...

Or maybe i just like a nice thread when it's posted. Thanks for this Alyson

In reply to Wainers44:


*weeps* for all the starving spiderlings

In reply to interdit:



Oh come on, they would have chocked on all that stripy fur, I saved them too!!

In reply to Wainers44:



Eh?

In reply to Gone for good:

If you haven't got anything nice to say.... Wander off to another thread.

In reply to Gone for good:

So do it on another thread or start your own.

In reply to Derry:

I believe the saying is if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all.

In reply to Gone for good:


Yep that's the badger...night night!

In reply to Gone for good:

Off you go then - don't let the door hit you on the back of the head on the way out...
JW

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Because it promotes tolerance.

No it doesn't. All it does is promote a nice feeling amongst people with a similar viewpoint.
Not denigrating the OP's post, but to say that it 'promotes tolerance' is a bit far fetched...

In reply to Gone for good:

Nice thread. It would be refreshing and moral boosting to hear more heart warming stories on the news. Stopped watching it years ago, along with reading newspapers because it's so depressing.

Now and again this forum creates real gems. Stories of climbing epics, tales from generations ago, funny threads with odd humor and nice fluffy threads like this. Its fun to watch different people bounce off each other with jokes and stories of good times.

*Wanderer100. Stop pissing about now, you've stirred the pot and made your point. Give something back, bet you've got a fluffy tale to tell...

In reply to Oogachooga:

I helped someone today. I helped them cross a busy street.

For what it's worth they were an elderly, black, transgender, homosexual but identified as Gender fluid, amputee and a Muslim but I don't think that matters.

In reply to Ade in Sheffield:

I think some people are just mean spirited shits and the best thing is to not be bothered about them.

Hey ho.

In reply to andyjohnson0:

What a lovely poem - thank you! I think I will print it out and put it up in the office!!

In reply to NeilBoyd:

<I have eaten the plums etc> - that was a "Poem on the Underground" years ago!! My husband and I loved it and have recited it many times since, usually when there are plums in the fridge.

In reply to FactorXXX:

Maybe, maybe not. I think it does, you think it doesn't. Tbh I really don't give a monkeys to argue the toss over it! No offence intended.

In reply to Gone for good:

Jeepers! Who stole the jam out of your donut??

In reply to Alyson:

Long time mate Colin Binks (70 years young) arrived in Lofoten yesterday after a long and tiring journey and despite the lateness of the hour I took him out to do an easy climb.
The happiness on his little shiny face was a joy to behold,

Chris

In reply to andyjohnson0:

Say not "the struggle nought availeth,
The labour and the wounds are in vain,
The enemy faints not nor faileth
and as things have been things remain."

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars.
It may be in yon smoke concealed
your comrades chase e'en now the flyers
and, but for you, possess the field.

And while the tired waves vainly breaking
seem here no painful inch to gain,
far back through streams and inlets making
comes, silent flooding in, the main.

And not through eastern windows only
when daylight comes, comes in the light.
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward look! The land is bright!

Can't remember the author and probably misquoted it but it has encouraged me in dark times.

In reply to Alyson:

PS. Has anyone just listened to the lovely story about Coldplay and Charlie on Radio 4 Saturday Live?

In reply to Gone for good:


When you feel like this and I distrust anyone who says that they don't ,even if very very occasionally , then the very worst place to visit is Internet land and have a go at a random stranger. I'm suprised knowbody has told you this . Now lots (well severeal on here ) of people think you're a tw@t and you're probably not , most of the time .

In reply to andyjohnson0:

I'm really not a fan of poetry, but I like that.

In reply to Alyson:


I saved some spiders today whilst doing some building work. I even talk to them

I do it regularly.

Any creature I meet gets assisted ,saved ,lives to fight another day

Karma is out there .somewhere......I like to think.

I'm as soft ass runny poo when it comes to animals

In reply to andymac:
I saved a moth from the toilet in my parent's house, I went to go to the toilet and saw it floating in the water, and something made me soak it onto some toilet roll and tap it onto the widow sill, and it started to move it's wings and flew away.

In reply to Alyson:

Many years ago (I was 19, I'm now 42) my friend and I did the whole Interrail thing. We'd been travelling for 5 weeks, and pre credit cards and mobiles, had run out of money. We were in Amsterdam with literally nothing more than our train tickets home. A guy came up, offering to sell drugs, I laughed and said "yeah, right, nice one, but we haven't even eaten for 3 days". He asked if we were serious and I explained, yes. Then he disappeared and came back 20 mins later with hot food for us, so much we had spare. I was suspicious and asked what he wanted, and he explained: a few years before he had been in France and his wallet had been stolen. An American couple had given him $50 to buy food, and he'd vowed to pay it back some day. Made a huge difference to us, and yes, I've paid it forward since.

Son took grandson to get his first school uniform.
On leaving the shop, grandson was visibly upset.
What’s wrong asks son.
You said I was going to get a unicorn.
(but he made do with some Lego).

In reply to Alyson:

It's not an act of kindness but it's a beautiful thing anyway. We've just spent the day on Brean Down - we got there after an epic drive from Brizzle (accident on M5 thought about turning round and going home a couple of times but stuck with it) and panted our way up the steep stairs to the top just as the Red Arrows roared overhead at the start of their display for Weston Air Show. We watched the jets do their terrific thing for twenty minutes and then walked down to the old fort at the end of the down, surrounded on all sides by the sea and with a stiff breeze blowing the bum fluff of everyday life from our brains. The kids were skipping and babbling, running and laughing when I chased them with pretend crab claw hands. At the fort the eldest and I scrambled about on gorgeous slabby limestone covered with incut holds and hand sized cracks before we turned round and walked home in the sunshine, wondering at the goats and kite-surfers and the acrobatics from the planes at Weston. What a wonderful country we live in.

In reply to Alyson:

London, August 2011, during the riots and about a mile or so away from Tottenham, I had had a row with Mr marsbar late one evening.

I was upset and went for a walk to clear my head. I was approached by a young man, a big tall, well built black lad, probably aged 15 or so.

He said "Are you ok, you look cold, do you want my coat?"

In reply to marsbar:
What's being black got to do with your story ?? Don't black people help other people out ??


Edit:

I've been fishing this evening, a white man came and asked me if id caught anything.


........... I hadn't.

In reply to Bobling:

What ethnicity were the pilots?

In reply to Flinticus:

I pick bees up from the floor. If they're sat there because they're cold then they go straight for the heat of your hand when you put it next to them. I rescued one on Friday, went and got a small plastic dish from the lab and made some sugar water for it to drink, and watched it have some. It didn't want to leave my hand though, so anyone passing by watched me have a conversation with a bee, kneeling on the floor and chastising it good-naturedly for not leaving my hand. I love bees.

I was at a wedding last night at a small country hotel. There was a cat in the car park, slightly straggly-looking, with a very small kitten in tow. The cat came to say hello to me after a lot of coaxing (and doing the slow blink thing which is how cats smile at each other) but the kitten was really timid so I think they were strays. I saw a lot of people pilfering chicken legs from the buffet and taking them outside for the cat to eat. It probably happens every time the hotel has a function with a buffet but it made my night.

In reply to arch:
Lots of black yoof were rioting in that area at the time.

It's important to tell positive stories when all we normally hear is negative ones, especially true for young black males.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/three-black-teenagers-google-racism_u...

In reply to Alyson:


Last week I took little weasel to a local watering hole to have a dip and cool off. There were lots of parents there with their offspring, and the little ones all played together because why wouldn't they? Then the little ones were jumping in off some rocks and one of the other mums fell off and she couldn't stop laughing about it and soon we were all laughing. We chatted about our children and then we went home. The end.

For what it's worth, every other character in the story was an otter. I don't see how it matters.

In reply to Baron Weasel:

Are you kidding me? Otters and weasels playing together? This is earth-shattering news! Tell me you filmed it

In reply to Alyson:

Weasel's never kid, even when asked for a kind story

In reply to arch:


Chill, It's just an adjective. Like short, tall, Scottish, Welsh.