From giving me £1 when I’ve been short of change in the shop to talking me down from killing myself, the kindness of strangers has always amazed me and has even saved my life a few times!
I’ve recently been in contact with the local council about a housing problem I’m currently having which had triggered a memory of one such act of kindness that not only helped me find a place when I was homeless but also stopped me from killing myself!
This seemingly random act of kindness started off in early 2012. recently evicted, suffering from undiagnosed PTSD and sleeping on the streets with nothing but a bag of clothes and an army sleeping bag (luckily for me as others don’t even have a sleeping bag!) Life seemed very bleak to say the least.
The day this random act happened I had decided to drag myself and what little belongings I had to the council office to see if they’d help me with the mind set of “if they don’t help me, me and my belongings are going off the cliffs”. Feeling desperate, down and very ashamed of asking for help I stumbled in to the council offices and finally plucked up the courage to ask for help, half hour of filling out paperwork and another half hour of begging for help I got told by the very unhelpful council worker there was nothing they could do!
“There’s nothing we can do as you’re not a priority” was their words! With a big “fuck you” and a load of ranting I walked out of that office with one thing on my mind: suicide.
But as I sat down on the bench outside the council offices debating how and where to do it a lady approached me, a council worker asking me to move on? A police officer coming to arrest me? Nope! A completely random woman approaching me to offer help! “Excuse me did I hear you’re ex forces and experiencing mental health problems” she said, somewhere in my rant to the council officer I must of gave away bits of information about myself! Anyway she explained that the council had a obligation to help me due to my mental health if nothing else and convinced me to go to a charity called “mind” where they may of been able to help me.
Long story short this charity was no use at all but with fresh information in my mind I went back to the council offices and met someone there who was a lot more helpful, this time the council worker arranged some emergency accommodation (a B&B) for me THAT DAY, told me the council do have to help me and what the previous worker said was completely wrong!
One random person, at a random time, with one random act of kindness prevented me from ending it all that day! She didn’t have to help me, she could of ignored me and left me alone like everyone else in that office did but she didn’t and because of that she unintentionally saved my life that day!
That’s just a small example of how important being kind can really be!
Smurfs Life stories and experiences. 