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<p> </p><h2>While most of us are told not to talk to strangers as children, sometimes a short moment with a person you don&#39;t know can be life-changing...</h2><p>Striking up a conversation with a complete stranger can sometimes be a risk as you don&#39;t want to find yourself awkwardly trapped in a dead-end chat with a seemingly crazy person. Still, we all probably have at least one memory of a short interaction with someone we&#39;ve never seen again that we look back on fondly. A funny comment from someone at a store that brightened up a horrible day, a waiter in a place you&#39;ve never visited again who went above and beyond on an otherwise terrible evening, or someone who made the effort to lend a hand when you needed help strictly out of kindness can definitely stand out. Even if you know at the time you&#39;ll never run into that person again, a few minutes or some quick words of wisdom can mean a whole lot in hindsight.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>So, when a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/k4qp18/what_random_stranger_that_you_encountered_only/">Reddit</a> user asked, &quot;What random stranger that you encountered only briefly do you still think about often?&quot; people were ready to share stories of the short moments with a stranger that they still wonder about.</p><h2>1.</h2><blockquote> <p>At the cemetery, a lady was visiting her husband&#39;s grave next to where I was standing at my grandmother&#39;s monument (I was reflecting on many good times we shared while she was still alive.)</p> <p>She apparently noticed that I looked sad and handed me some of the flowers she had brought to place on her spouse&#39;s grave. At that point we shared happy memories about our loved ones.</p> <p>I never saw her again, but sometimes there&#39;d be flowers on Nana&#39;s grave when I went to visit, and I knew exactly who had kindly placed them there. - Back2Bach</p> </blockquote><h2>2.</h2><blockquote> <p>When I was five years old there was a little old lady living in the apartment downstairs who I only saw once, while getting the mail. My mom called her a &#39;shut in&#39; and she never had visitors.</p> <p>I also really liked &#39;Care Bears&#39; which only came on early morning in Australia. So, being insane, I obviously just woke up at 6 AM every day to watch my bear show. Sometimes I played it too loud because I had recurring ear infections that year too.</p> <p>One morning my mom told me that our downstairs neighbour had died. I didn&#39;t really know her, so I wasn&#39;t sure how to respond. Her son had come to clean out the apartment and she had left a bunch of presents for &#39;the upstairs neighbour&#39;. It was a bunch of boxed care bears - bedtime bear, funshine bear, love a lot bear, good luck bear.</p> <p>It wasn&#39;t until adulthood that I realized how specific the timing was for her presents. I always assumed she had died before she had the chance to give them and hadn&#39;t realized she might have known she was dying - manlikerealities</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>3.</h2><blockquote> <p>I went solo to a field rave/campout years ago, where at night we had a sudden freeze that dropped the temps to the 30s. The next morning I woke up tired, freezing cold, and starving as I didn&#39;t bring much food with me. I packed up my tent/belongings, wrapped myself up in a blanket, and began the trek to get back to my car and civilization. On my way, I walked past a guy with a portable grill who was making burgers for his tent-mates. I told him &quot;Dude those smell so good&quot; and kept heading to the parking lot to head home and hopefully find a place to grab food.</p> <p>A few seconds later I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and there stands the guy holding out a freshly cooked burger. I dropped my bags, gave him a huge hug and thanked him, and he ran back to go finish cooking.</p> <p>That was the best damn burger ever. - DJRonin</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>4.</h2><blockquote> <p>Harry potter world, universal studios. There was an employee who just out of the blue struck up a convo with me and my siblings. Not a quick thing either, like 5 minutes at least. Deep sh*t, too, we talked about our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It was neat.</p> <p>Juan, if you&#39;re out there, what&#39;s up? - soldofpol13</p> </blockquote><h2>5.</h2><blockquote> <p>I was going for a walk downtown at midnight, quiet and empty streets.</p> <p>I was walking through a crosswalk and a rough pickup truck stopped.</p> <p>18 - 20 year old guys in it; backwards hats, loud music.</p> <p>Guy in the passengers yells out &quot;Hey buddy hope you&#39;re having a great night!&quot; before taking off.</p> <p>Something about it just felt so genuine, like he really cared - sickof_Malarkey</p> </blockquote><h2>6.</h2><blockquote> <p>20 years ago, a random girl in the street told me that my glasses fit me very well. I still use the same frame. - chinchenping</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>7.</h2><blockquote> <p>A few years ago I ordered an almond cappuccino to go at a local coffee store at 6am (store opens at 5:30) and was told by the guy serving me that my number was 17 and that it would take a while longer because they just restocked on almond syrup that morning. I didn&rsquo;t really care and just stood outside because it was a really nice morning. A random guy (looked to be in his 40&rsquo;s) just came and stood next to me and asked &ldquo;you getting an almond cappuccino?&rdquo; So I reply &ldquo;yeah are you?&rdquo; He then laughs and says &ldquo;nah I ordered a regular iced coffee but told them to take their time so I could enjoy the sunrise.&rdquo;</p> <p>We then got onto a bunch of topics that were pretty deep. We got into the topic of life and how weird and random and amazing it is. He asked me what I plan to do in life and I tell him how I&rsquo;m not sure and that I&rsquo;m kinda worrying because I&rsquo;m 16 and still don&rsquo;t have a clue and he told me one of the best quotes I&rsquo;ve ever heard. He said &ldquo;well, you don&rsquo;t get mad at a baby for taking slow and small steps before walking properly do ya?&rdquo; Straight after he said that I heard &ldquo;number 17 almond cappuccino!&rdquo; from inside the coffee store so I tell him that it&rsquo;s my drink and then I go to get it. I walk back outside expecting him to be there but he&rsquo;s not. I look up and down the streets, nowhere to be seen. He couldn&rsquo;t have gone far either, I took literally two seconds. But random guy if you&rsquo;re somehow reading this I wanna thank you for that, and hope you&rsquo;re doing well and that I meet you again someday. - retrobread_</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>8.</h2><blockquote> <p>This one woman at a food fair last year complimented my appearance, saying I was gorgeous and looked like a ballerina. Like most people, I struggle a lot with my looks and it was just such a genuinely kind thing of her to say. I made sure to tell her how lovely she was and that she made my day. It was just a simple thing, but when I feel down I like to remember that she went out of her way to try to make a strangers day better :) - WebbedFingers</p> </blockquote><h2>9.</h2><blockquote> <p>I was walking in downtown Toronto and a guy in full spiderman gear said &quot;omg its Jessica Jones!&quot; to me - roxannamir</p> </blockquote><h2>10.</h2><blockquote> <p>One times I drove to a wedding from NY to Maine. I love Magic The Gathering so I went to a store that was there, there are no local game stores near me so it was something I really missed doing. In the morning before the wedding right when it opened I went there. Then I talked to the guy at the counter. Not to many people were there. We just talked about cards and what kind of decks we play. I told him about the wedding.</p> <p>And then he was just like &quot;Well I guess I&#39;ll never see you again. Have a good life.&quot; It was just one of those interactions. - zangor</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>11.</h2><blockquote> <p>One time, when I was a kid, I got lost at the zoo because I thought some stranger was like my uncle. He was so confused. I immediately went to some strangers with a baby, because that&#39;s the safe way to go, and then my family found me. To this day, I still think about how much that guy looked like my uncle. - Slenveny</p> </blockquote><h2>12.</h2><blockquote> <p>I met a beautiful Indian girl on a plane ride sometime when I was in college. She was sitting next to her husband who was sleeping and we chatted for a long time. She told me that their marriage had been arranged and how happy she was that it was to a good guy, etc. She was only like 18 or 19, and our time together was short, but she taught me a lot about a culture very foreign to my own and really opened my eyes to a whole other world I had no idea existed prior to that. I also impressed her greatly with my crossword skills, but little did she know, I&#39;d already worked that same puzzle on the previous flight. - ccasella3</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>13.</h2><blockquote> <p>The day Princess Diana died I was still in University (Hull in the UK). I decided the news was too depressing so took a bus into the city to get something to eat. The only place open was McDonald&#39;s. Took the bus home and ended up sitting next to an older lady. We chatted for about an hour about the news, and then our own families. I actually ended up getting off at a later stop. So, every year when the anniversary of her death comes up I take a minute to think about that nice older lady and how two strangers connected during a national tragedy. - zerbey</p> </blockquote><h2>14.</h2><blockquote> <p>A bus driver who let me on the bus free on valentines day when I was 15, I was carrying loads of gifts for my girlfriend and left my wallet at home the guy just said she&#39;s a lucky lady and to forget about it. - TheSlothsAreWatching</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>15.</h2><blockquote> <p>When I was about 3 or 4, I was at a claw machine with a bunch of stuffed animals. I must&#39;ve spent a fortune of my Dad&#39;s money on trying to get a Lion there, but to no avail</p> <p>Then, an old woman walked up to the machine and got it first try. She saw how sad I was and handed me the lion. I cant thank them enough, it really made my day</p> <p>Still have that Lion to this day - SeanBlaise</p> </blockquote><h2>16.</h2><blockquote> <p>This woman who came up to me a few years back asking for directions. I realized about 4 blocks later that I told her to take a wrong turn. I hope she made it to her destination. - heykittums</p> </blockquote><h2> </h2><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

16 people share brief encounters with strangers they never saw again who impacted their lives.

 While most of us are told not to talk to strangers as children, sometimes a short moment with a person you don&#39;t know can be life-changing...Striking up a conversation with a complete stranger can sometimes be a risk as you don&#39;t want to find yourself awkwardly trapped in a dead-end chat with a seemingly crazy person. Still, we all probably have at least one memory of a short interaction with someone we&#39;ve never seen again that we look back on fondly. A funny comment from someone at a store that brightened up a horrible day, a waiter in a place you&#39;ve never visited again who went above and beyond on an otherwise terrible evening, or someone who made the effort to lend a hand when you needed help strictly out of kindness can definitely stand out. Even if you know at the time you&#39;ll never run into that person again, a few minutes or some quick words of wisdom can mean a whole lot in hindsight.So, when a Reddit user asked, &quot;What random stranger that you encountered only briefly do you still think about often?&quot; people were ready to share stories of the short moments with a stranger that they still wonder about.1. At the cemetery, a lady was visiting her husband&#39;s grave next to where I was standing at my grandmother&#39;s monument (I was reflecting on many good times we shared while she was still alive.) She apparently noticed that I looked sad and handed me some of the flowers she had brought to place on her spouse&#39;s grave. At that point we shared happy memories about our loved ones. I never saw her again, but sometimes there&#39;d be flowers on Nana&#39;s grave when I went to visit, and I knew exactly who had kindly placed them there. - Back2Bach 2. When I was five years old there was a little old lady living in the apartment downstairs who I only saw once, while getting the mail. My mom called her a &#39;shut in&#39; and she never had visitors. I also really liked &#39;Care Bears&#39; which only came on early morning in Australia. So, being insane, I obviously just woke up at 6 AM every day to watch my bear show. Sometimes I played it too loud because I had recurring ear infections that year too. One morning my mom told me that our downstairs neighbour had died. I didn&#39;t really know her, so I wasn&#39;t sure how to respond. Her son had come to clean out the apartment and she had left a bunch of presents for &#39;the upstairs neighbour&#39;. It was a bunch of boxed care bears - bedtime bear, funshine bear, love a lot bear, good luck bear. It wasn&#39;t until adulthood that I realized how specific the timing was for her presents. I always assumed she had died before she had the chance to give them and hadn&#39;t realized she might have known she was dying - manlikerealities 3. I went solo to a field rave/campout years ago, where at night we had a sudden freeze that dropped the temps to the 30s. The next morning I woke up tired, freezing cold, and starving as I didn&#39;t bring much food with me. I packed up my tent/belongings, wrapped myself up in a blanket, and began the trek to get back to my car and civilization. On my way, I walked past a guy with a portable grill who was making burgers for his tent-mates. I told him &quot;Dude those smell so good&quot; and kept heading to the parking lot to head home and hopefully find a place to grab food. A few seconds later I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and there stands the guy holding out a freshly cooked burger. I dropped my bags, gave him a huge hug and thanked him, and he ran back to go finish cooking. That was the best damn burger ever. - DJRonin 4. Harry potter world, universal studios. There was an employee who just out of the blue struck up a convo with me and my siblings. Not a quick thing either, like 5 minutes at least. Deep sh*t, too, we talked about our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It was neat. Juan, if you&#39;re out there, what&#39;s up? - soldofpol13 5. I was going for a walk downtown at midnight, quiet and empty streets. I was walking through a crosswalk and a rough pickup truck stopped. 18 - 20 year old guys in it; backwards hats, loud music. Guy in the passengers yells out &quot;Hey buddy hope you&#39;re having a great night!&quot; before taking off. Something about it just felt so genuine, like he really cared - sickof_Malarkey 6. 20 years ago, a random girl in the street told me that my glasses fit me very well. I still use the same frame. - chinchenping 7. A few years ago I ordered an almond cappuccino to go at a local coffee store at 6am (store opens at 5:30) and was told by the guy serving me that my number was 17 and that it would take a while longer because they just restocked on almond syrup that morning. I didn&rsquo;t really care and just stood outside because it was a really nice morning. A random guy (looked to be in his 40&rsquo;s) just came and stood next to me and asked &ldquo;you getting an almond cappuccino?&rdquo; So I reply &ldquo;yeah are you?&rdquo; He then laughs and says &ldquo;nah I ordered a regular iced coffee but told them to take their time so I could enjoy the sunrise.&rdquo; We then got onto a bunch of topics that were pretty deep. We got into the topic of life and how weird and random and amazing it is. He asked me what I plan to do in life and I tell him how I&rsquo;m not sure and that I&rsquo;m kinda worrying because I&rsquo;m 16 and still don&rsquo;t have a clue and he told me one of the best quotes I&rsquo;ve ever heard. He said &ldquo;well, you don&rsquo;t get mad at a baby for taking slow and small steps before walking properly do ya?&rdquo; Straight after he said that I heard &ldquo;number 17 almond cappuccino!&rdquo; from inside the coffee store so I tell him that it&rsquo;s my drink and then I go to get it. I walk back outside expecting him to be there but he&rsquo;s not. I look up and down the streets, nowhere to be seen. He couldn&rsquo;t have gone far either, I took literally two seconds. But random guy if you&rsquo;re somehow reading this I wanna thank you for that, and hope you&rsquo;re doing well and that I meet you again someday. - retrobread_ 8. This one woman at a food fair last year complimented my appearance, saying I was gorgeous and looked like a ballerina. Like most people, I struggle a lot with my looks and it was just such a genuinely kind thing of her to say. I made sure to tell her how lovely she was and that she made my day. It was just a simple thing, but when I feel down I like to remember that she went out of her way to try to make a strangers day better :) - WebbedFingers 9. I was walking in downtown Toronto and a guy in full spiderman gear said &quot;omg its Jessica Jones!&quot; to me - roxannamir 10. One times I drove to a wedding from NY to Maine. I love Magic The Gathering so I went to a store that was there, there are no local game stores near me so it was something I really missed doing. In the morning before the wedding right when it opened I went there. Then I talked to the guy at the counter. Not to many people were there. We just talked about cards and what kind of decks we play. I told him about the wedding. And then he was just like &quot;Well I guess I&#39;ll never see you again. Have a good life.&quot; It was just one of those interactions. - zangor 11. One time, when I was a kid, I got lost at the zoo because I thought some stranger was like my uncle. He was so confused. I immediately went to some strangers with a baby, because that&#39;s the safe way to go, and then my family found me. To this day, I still think about how much that guy looked like my uncle. - Slenveny 12. I met a beautiful Indian girl on a plane ride sometime when I was in college. She was sitting next to her husband who was sleeping and we chatted for a long time. She told me that their marriage had been arranged and how happy she was that it was to a good guy, etc. She was only like 18 or 19, and our time together was short, but she taught me a lot about a culture very foreign to my own and really opened my eyes to a whole other world I had no idea existed prior to that. I also impressed her greatly with my crossword skills, but little did she know, I&#39;d already worked that same puzzle on the previous flight. - ccasella3 13. The day Princess Diana died I was still in University (Hull in the UK). I decided the news was too depressing so took a bus into the city to get something to eat. The only place open was McDonald&#39;s. Took the bus home and ended up sitting next to an older lady. We chatted for about an hour about the news, and then our own families. I actually ended up getting off at a later stop. So, every year when the anniversary of her death comes up I take a minute to think about that nice older lady and how two strangers connected during a national tragedy. - zerbey 14. A bus driver who let me on the bus free on valentines day when I was 15, I was carrying loads of gifts for my girlfriend and left my wallet at home the guy just said she&#39;s a lucky lady and to forget about it. - TheSlothsAreWatching 15. When I was about 3 or 4, I was at a claw machine with a bunch of stuffed animals. I must&#39;ve spent a fortune of my Dad&#39;s money on trying to get a Lion there, but to no avail Then, an old woman walked up to the machine and got it first try. She saw how sad I was and handed me the lion. I cant thank them enough, it really made my day Still have that Lion to this day - SeanBlaise 16. This woman who came up to me a few years back asking for directions. I realized about 4 blocks later that I told her to take a wrong turn. I hope she made it to her destination. - heykittums  

While most of us are told not to talk to strangers as children, sometimes a short moment with a person you don&#39;t know can be life-changing...  Striking up a conversation with a complete stranger can sometimes be a risk as you don&#39;t...