Unselfish Acts of: Kindness, Courage, Compassion

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Discussion Overview

This thread explores the theme of unselfish acts of kindness, courage, and compassion, focusing on personal anecdotes and reflections on how such acts have impacted individuals. Participants share stories about both strangers and acquaintances who have made significant impressions through their selfless actions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recounts a personal experience of helping a mother find her lost daughter at the beach, motivated by the kindness shown by restaurant staff.
  • Another shares a story about a stranger who paid their restaurant bill after overhearing their conversation, highlighting the impact of small acts of kindness.
  • A participant reflects on their wife's encouragement to pursue a physics degree, describing her support as a significant unselfish act that changed their lives.
  • One contributor mentions the help received from an older graduate student who took time to teach them essential skills, emphasizing the importance of mentorship.
  • Another participant humorously suggests that their own wife's patience with them counts as an unselfish act.
  • Several participants express admiration for those who help others learn within the forum community.
  • A humorous comment is made about the joy of witnessing acts of kindness, juxtaposed with a satirical take on helping the elderly.
  • One participant describes a co-worker's selfless actions in a busy work environment, referring to him as "The Helpful Lab Elf."
  • Some posts include light-hearted banter and jokes about helping the elderly, indicating a mix of serious and humorous tones in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share personal anecdotes and reflections without reaching a consensus on a specific definition or scope of unselfish acts. The discussion includes both serious and humorous contributions, indicating a blend of perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Some contributions reflect personal experiences that may not universally apply, and the humor in certain posts may not resonate with all participants. The discussion encompasses a wide range of interpretations of kindness and selflessness.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in personal stories of kindness, community support, and the impact of unselfish acts may find this discussion engaging.

rhody
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This thread is dedicated to those people (strangers) who have made a significant impression on you, or someone you know through unselfish acts, and in what ways if any, has it changed you.

For those of you who haven't been following my thread, Sad News... See post # https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2795074&postcount=30". For the second time in less than two years I was humbled by strangers going out of their way for someone (this time, myself) who they didn't know. It got me to thinking that it would be nice to relate unselfish acts, that have affected you in ways listed in the Title above. Second, if those acts have changed you, how so, and why.

Here is my contribution. After returning from Colorado attending to Mom's affairs, we went to Cape Cod with long time friend's and while at the beach, a woman lost her 14 year old daughter and 3 girl friends for over an hour. I went with lifeguard to try and find them, after a short search, they were located at a small pond just off the beach. The mother was relieved, and everyone, including the police, breathed a sigh of relief. I found it kind of odd that I walked right to the spot where the girls emerged. Needless to say, my motivation to get involved was inspired by the actions of the management and wait staff at that restaurant. I can no longer stand by and watch while others suffer. Seeing the genuine concern and fear in the mother's voice and body language while speaking to her about the girl's description and last whereabouts motivated me to get involved. That, and to some how try to begin to repay a karmic debt of kindness directed toward me and my family.

Rhody...
 
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I remember once my friends and I went to a restaurant and the people who worked there were really rude to us so we went to another. One of my friends was really bothered by it and we were talking about it. When it was time for us to pay the bill, the waitress told us that it was already paid. We asked her by who and she told us the guy with his family that was sitting next to us. When I asked him why he did it, he told me that he heard our discussion and wanted to make our day a little better. I thought that was really big.
 
Does my wife putting up with me count?

When I read this, it occurred to me that I had never considered what might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I honestly have to give that one to my wife, Tsu. It was her suggestion that, when into my late twenties, I return to school and obtain the physics degree that I always wanted to pursue, but never had the means.

My career had me on-call much of the time. In the extreme, for two years, I was on-call 24/7. Every time I tried to take some classes, I would have to withdraw because of too many days missed and too little time for homework. It was the a classic Catch 22: I had all but reached the limits of my career path but I couldn't afford to do anything about it. I couldn't just walk away from a good career in the medical field, and there was no way to get out of call - ever.

Then, out of the blue [from my point of view], Tsu suggested that I should just walk away and go back to college. When I realized that she was serious about this, I jumped. That decision changed both of our lives forever. It took an inordinate amount of faith, and trust, and selflessness on her part, to do such a thing. And the story doesn't end there. Over the years, her trust and faith has allowed me to take risks that in turn made possible a life I never thought possible. We aren't rich, and life certainly isn't perfect, but the value of that selfless act, and the impact that it had on both of our lives, is beyond measure. I will be forever grateful.
 
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Can I count people I do know?

When I started grad school, I knew absolutely nothing about my research (as opposed to now, where I know just a little bit). The older grad student in our group took considerable time out of his hectic schedule to teach me ROOT, explain all of the analysis methods, and otherwise get me up to speed. This was at no benefit to him, even though he had other stuff that he should have been doing. I definitely would have failed out without this guy.

I figure that I know him now, but didn't know him at the time. So it's sort of like an unselfish act from a stranger.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
Does my wife putting up with me count?

When I read this, it occurred to me that I had never considered what might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I honestly have to give that one to my wife, Tsu. It was her suggestion that, when into my late twenties, I return to school and obtain the physics degree that I always wanted to pursue, but never had the means.

...

Then, out of the blue [from my point of view], Tsu suggested that I should just walk away and go back to college. When I realized that she was serious about this, I jumped. That decision changed both of our lives forever. It took an inordinate amount of faith, and trust, and selflessness on her part, to do such a thing. And the story doesn't end there. Over the years, her trust and faith has allowed me to take risks that in turn made possible a life I never thought possible. We aren't rich, and life certainly isn't perfect, but the value of that selfless act, and the impact that it had on both of our lives, is beyond measure. I will be forever grateful.

It is nice to have someone support you when everyone else thinks you are crazy.
 
arunma said:
Can I count people I do know?

arunma,

Yes anyone, whether they be family, friends, co-workers, professors, etc. Nice story BTW Ivan, you are a lucky man to have such a great friend and wife, Tsu for believing in you, then taking steps for you to achieve a goal, very, very cool.

Rhody... :cool:
 
There are so many, but I'd like to mention those who are kind by helping others learn, here at pf.
 
fuzzyfelt said:
There are so many, but I'd like to mention those who are kind by helping others learn, here at pf.

Fuzzy,

Cmon, share a few to inspire us...

Rhody... :smile:
 
It's always heart warming to see someone helping the elderly to get up after a fall. I enjoy seeing it so much that I go around knocking them down, just so that someone can come around eventually to help them back up. It makes me proud to be a human.
 
  • #10
You always make me chuckle, Jimmy :smile:. So kind,courageous, and compassionate of you haha.

At a place I used to work, we were always terribly busy running around doing this test or that procedure. One of my co-workers would frequently be attentive to what we were doing and get out ahead of us, setting up equipment and warming up instruments that we were going to need. We didn't realize the extent of his work until he went on vacation and we had to do those things ourselves.

He was affectionately dubbed The Helpful Lab Elf after that.
 
  • #11
Jimmy Snyder said:
It's always heart warming to see someone helping the elderly to get up after a fall. I enjoy seeing it so much that I go around knocking them down, just so that someone can come around eventually to help them back up. It makes me proud to be a human.

Beware of these old people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FovsLVsU0YQ
 
  • #12
That old lady looks familiar. Was she the one singing "One of these days this walker is going to walk all over you."?
 
  • #13
Not me personally, but I think what some of these people do to help this mom (with her baby in the back seat) that can't get her car started is pretty heroic. And then there are also the less heroic.

http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/mom-drunken-drive-10714090
 
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  • #14
rootX said:
Beware of these old people:

OMG that was the BEST:smile::smile::smile:*goes to watch it again*
 
  • #15
rhody said:
Fuzzy,

Cmon, share a few to inspire us...

Rhody... :smile:

I was really thinking generally about my family, and also because we move a bit, I was thinking about the warmth, tolerance and consideration etc. shown in very different communities.
 
  • #16
Jimmy Snyder said:
It's always heart warming to see someone helping the elderly to get up after a fall. I enjoy seeing it so much that I go around knocking them down, just so that someone can come around eventually to help them back up. It makes me proud to be a human.

:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: oh my god I spit all over my laptop after reading that!
 

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