Absolutely I have. I was young and early into my Army career and driving from Columbus, Ohio back to Atlanta, Georgia and I saw a woman with a young baby standing beside her car crying and I pulled over rapidly and backed up to her car parked on the side of I-71 south a major highway between Columbus, Ohio and Cicinnati, Ohio. This was 1988 way before cell phones or even pagers. I got out of my brand-new Ford Ranger pickup to offer her help and she looked terrified now and crying harder holding her baby tightly to herself. It took about 30 minutes to get her to talk with me and when she did, I knew why she was so terrified on me. It was my Sicilian features and dark hair from my grandmother's heritage on my mother's side of the family. You see this young woman was a new Mafia Wife of a "Made" man and had rapidly just packed up and fled him with their new baby. It took another 20 minutes to reassure her I was not in the mob or one of her husband's young goons out looking for her and the baby. Her car was completely unrepairable too. So, I offered her and her baby a ride to a pull off ramp anywhere she said to pull off at so she could call her people to come and get her. She agreed but only after I handed her my wallet with my Army Identification in it and my driver's license in it (I had no credit cards back then) and she scanned both identifications very discerningly to make sure I was not Italian named. Having a German Immigrant father and last name seemed to calm her fears of me being a goon. I put her limited luggage in the bed of my truck with my Army duffle bags, that made her feel better and I gave her my orders to hold assigning me to Fort Mcpherson, GA. to help ease her fears. when she walked to the passenger door side of my truck, she freaked out seeing a hunting knife and my hunting rifle cases in the cab of my truck and began to back away from my truck. I told her I those were mine for hunting Animals only. And immediately placed them all in the bed of my truck to make her feel safe. I gave her a ride for an hour or so and she did not speak other than looking at my orders and IDs asking me questions to make sure I was really and Army Guy. then she asked me to pull off to a nice suburban area to a service station where she could call her folks/people. I knew she knew the area or at least the service station from her face and actions. Once pulled into the station she took her baby and went to the pay phone to call her folks/people with my orders and ID's. I filled up with fuel as she did so and when she came back to my truck keeping out of hands reach, she asked me to place her things just inside the service station door. I did so and she handed me all my ID's and orders back and nervously thanked me. I asked if she would at least write me to let me know she was safe and she vehemently declined and said it was better for me if she did not for her and the baby's safety as well as my own. I understood and left her and the baby.


I went out and rearranged things in my pickup to where they were before I met the young lady (She was my age roughly 21 years of age) and left without saying another word. I will never know what happened with her or her baby, but it was truly the first time in my life I ever saw a woman so deafly afraid and scared. That is when I realized what fear was and how truly evil the Mafia is that we saw in films and how truly evil it is in real life.

God Bless this woman and her baby. She refused to tell me even a first name.

Yes, I have more than once. But the most powerful one came from a friend who after much prodding convinced me to come to her house and met a friend of hers. When I arrived and knocked on the door, this beautiful , tall, bright , eyed brunet answered the door. The minute our eyes met I could physically feel her presence. I was so taken back , I couldn't even remember my friends name. I stumbled for words...Isss ... She speaks up , Jennifer ? Yes , she is upstairs getting ready. You must be Robert come on in, I'm Kim. We sit down and commence with the usual small talk and chit chat. Quickly it became obvious we had a lot in common from hobbies , musical tastes, family history, upbringing, etc.,etc. I am still off my game from her presence , her beauty and her personality. The more I find out about her the more I like, but also the more convinced I am that this very special, intelligent lady wouldn't be interested in me.

We continued chatting for what seemed like a few minutes, but when Jennifer came down it had been 2 hrs. Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you to getting along, Jennifer says. Apparently she had been upstairs arguing with her BF on the phone the whole time. Kim speaks up, she said OMG you were right. I do like him. I was taken back again but pleasantly so this time. We never went out that night. Jennifer ended up going to bed and Kim and me sat there and talked all night. I invited her to breakfast which I offered to cook for her. She quickly and gladly accepted. We had breakfast and continued talking for several more hours until she had to leave.

We became great friends and lovers and she later told me she felt the same way the first time our eyes met. Even though she was a level 1 trauma nurse , she really didn't know much about auras or the effects and affects they can have on people. The connection two people can make when they connect on the spiritual level is almost otherworldly. When I got divorced I swore I would never marry again, but never say never right. LOL

When I met her she told me she was a cancer survivor and would never go through kemo again. She was also coming out of an abusive marriage when I met her and she was beat down by some lazy loser. She came to me one day and said she needed some space since she was just coming out of a bad marriage when we met. I acknowledged that I understood and asked her to keep in touch.

Several weeks went by and I got a call from Jennifer the lady who introduced us. She asked me what happened to Kim. I said I didn't know , she won't return my calls. She said ROB.....she is dead. I didn't believe it and set about contacting some mutual friends. Well it was true. Her cancer had returned and she was gone in just a few weeks. She didn't even tell her mom it had returned.

When I attended her funeral, Jennifer wanted to introduce me to her mother. When she did , her mom says OMG! Your Robert? Can I give you a hug and tell you thank you. Thank you for giving my daughter back to me. She was almost lifeless until she met you. After she met you she had that sparkle in her eyes ,that spring in her step and her beautiful smile returned. I can never tell you how much that means to me, that she was alive again.

Well I was crushed. But I also feel very blessed that I was able to catch her attention for even a minute. She was an angel. I don't know how she was able to be a level one trauma nurse, dealing with the worst of the worst medical emergencies , bodies mangled and torn apart every day. She said the only time it ever affected her is if it was from a preventable injury or death of a child. She did volunteer work at senior centers, helped establish a rescue shelter for Rottweilers , and volunteered with a disadvantaged and handicap children
equestrian program. Forever missed by many.

At the lowest points in my life…seemingly at random…strangers have come into my life….chance meetings…with a smile, a kind word, an act of kindness. Those small gestures, although fleeting, shined light into my darkness; brought warmth back into my world; and strengthened my resolve to carry on.

I believe those strangers were, in fact, angels, sent to show me that I was loved by the creator….that there was still hope for happiness….and I wasn’t alone.

Yes. About a year ago, I was directing traffic for a Food Bank distribution at our church. A lady pulled up and asked if it was possible for her to see the pastor. I knew he was not there, so I asked her to pull over into the parking lot out of the traffic so my associate could continue to direct traffic, I explained that our pastor was not at the church, but she could call and make an appointment. She said she needed to talk to somebody that day, so I offered to help. She began to unload all kinds of problems on me, one of which was her own drinking problem. She had obviously been drinking and her water bottle was full of wine. She talked and I mostly listened for about half an hour. Then she got out of the car and put her arms around me and started crying. So I just let her cry. She thanked me for my help, got back into her car, poured out the wine onto the pavement, and drove off. My associate was amazed at what he saw, and he wasn’t surprised when I told him it wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. I have no idea what happened to the woman after that day.

A conversation.

I'm fascinated with people who have open minds and hearts.

Takes a lot to think and feel that way.

In 1981, I made a lifelong friend just by trying to be helpful.
I was downtown, walking back from lunch to my job and saw a guy in a sports car getting ready to turn the wrong way on a one way street. I yelled, "Wrong way !" He didn’t understand me, I ran to the corner closest to him and pointing, said, "turn back or you’ll be overwhelmed by oncoming traffic when that light changes !" He looked about 40ish, said, "Oh, CRAP !"
Then he swung around quickly and was out of the way just as the light changed. He waved and was gone. I was glad he was okay, but didn’t give it enough thought.

Later in the week, there was a typed note tacked to the telephone post on that corner.
"Me: White, middle aged, blond, driving Beamer. You: black, young, long hair, red dress, saved me from accidentally committing suicide on this godless thoroughfare."

He included his number and where he worked, adding,

"Please, please call me so I can thank you and buy you lunch !
I’m gay, so you’re totally safe ! Jerry."

I called him, and we did meet for lunch. He turned out to be one of the coolest people I’ve ever known.

He’d inherited a Victorian house across from GG Park, where he lived with his partner and other friends. I visited him often.

At one point I lived with them while waiting for my apartment to be ready. We were friends for the next 20 years, until I lost him in 2002 to cancer. He always wore a solid gold claddagh and had explained to me its significance.

After his passing, it was sent to me, with a note thanking me for my friendship. 🥺

I was at a small arthouse cinema. Don’t even remember the name of the movie but at the end I felt quite moved and somewhat teary. Had to remain seated for a few minutes. As I went to get up I locked eyes with a woman coming up the aisle, she was obviously in an emotional state as well. And for a brief moment we grabbed each other’s hand as if to affirm our shared feelings and humanity.

At 65 mph the car in front of us suddenly fishtailed and then veered off into the ditch on the side of the road where he rolled his car. We went running out to help him and sat with him until the ambulance and police arrived. Turns out he had just buried his father 😞. He didn’t remember rolling the car at all. He seemed like he got out without a scratch!

I was lost in Quebec and close to tears. A kind stranger offered for me to follow his car back to my destination in Ottawa Ontario. I never forgot that.

Frightening, yes. I won't bring people down by going into it. Profound? Possibly. I remember a Sunday morning at church, and one of the young girls in our congregation, whom I didn't know at all, was playing the violin as part of the church service. She was a complete stranger, but her music touched me and brought me to tears for the beauty of it.

Quite a few. Sometimes I’ve felt it in a handshake, or a touching, or just an exchange of a word or two, or even a glance. Always uplifting, like I’ve accepted that person into my heart and soul.

I was young at the time, ran my bike into a parked car, a girl came to my rescue, brought me to her home, where her dad was watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or maybe it was something else, memory a little fuzzy on that detail, she bandaged me up, and off i went never seen her before!! I since then regarded her as an angel, there was one time i was with some kids of a lady my mom was friends with and we were in the playground and there was my angel in the distance, i pointed and said to the kids, i saw her once!

Other than family and current friends, everyone you meet is at first a stranger. I can't recall ever having a profound experience with a stranger, but it has been one of my most active daydreams or fantasies. I've even written a short story about an encounter with a stranger. Strangers offer the possibility of something new in one's life, including the possibility of activating a previously dormant side of oneself. Nowadays, I'm finding that most strangers attempt to stereotype themselves as being a certain type of person, maybe for the purpose of fitting in or not scaring someone away with their quirks or whatever is unique about them. Social media, especially, has a tendency to flatten out our roundedness, leaving strangers to resemble everyone else. Just my perspective, though.

i once had one of those electric scooters. i was walking it out of a store when some guy asked me where i got it. at first i thought he was mentally ill so i was polite and told him i bought it online. he then asked me if i had the receipt. that was when i realized he was high af. he weighed about 110 lbs ...i just went "pfft...go away" then he wouldn't let me pass. i then laid the scooter on the ground, took my "stance" and said "look pal, you got about 2 seconds to get the hell out of here before i clock you one" the expression on his face knew i meant business and stepped aside. i was shocked he was even tempted to rob me.

If you count interacting people digitally. Then yes, it was profound for me. It shook me to heart.

https://similarworlds.com/poetry/i-write/3257226-I-Wrote-a-Poem-When-we-first-met-online-we-had-no-clue-Whats

He stole my phone.😒It was profoundly annoying

[media=https://youtu.be/Dsh0TfIKhoE]

Oh I’ve had many of those

When I was a kid walking home in the rain .. a big ass dude pulled over and handed me a micky mouse umbrella .. I still remember that ..