Nicest Thing Ever

Over on Taken4Granted, my dad writes about a recent event for our family. My mom and my sister were in Toronto shopping and they were just about to get onto the 401 highway when the tie-rod for one of the front tires fell apart. Had that happened on that 401, it could have been a major accident.

My dad relates how the tow truck driver happened to come from China. Since my mom and my dad have been there, and since my sister taught English there, the driver went out of his way to pull some strings and tow the car for free all the way from Toronto to London, giving my mom and my sister a ride along the way. It saved everyone a huge headache. In my dad's words, "That was the greatest act of kindness that I have experienced in my life."

That statement kind of shocked me. Seriously? A complete stranger did the nicest thing ever? Shouldn't we expect some family member or close friend to have done the nicest act of kindness in our lives? What does something like this really mean?

So I'm reviewing my life a bit today, trying to consider this over-the-top form of generosity. Why would someone go that extra mile? Does it come down to the type of person you are? Is it based on relationship, or some moral code, or some Good Samaritan example? Maybe it's mere circumstance - if you don't have serious problems, there's less opportunity for extravagent gestures.

I can think of two moments in my life when someone has told me that something I did for them was "the nicest thing anyone has ever done." One of those times cost me very little but it meant the world to the other person. The other act was physically almost impossible to do but I pulled it off and it's still a cool story.

On the receiving end, there are a few times in my life that stand out for me. My wife Cam planned a number of activities and gifts and other things to celebrate my recent 30th birthday, including a surprise breakfast with many of my friends. That was the best birthday ever. And before we were dating, I used to work as a manager at AV-Base Systems and when I left Cam organized an amazing scrapbook to commemorate my time there. I aptly called that the Best Parting Gift Ever and it's my favourite single gift of all time.

And what about you, Dear Reader? Can you think of anything that anyone else has ever done for you that just amaze you to this day? And can you think of something that you have done that had an impact like that on someone else?