These 29 Tiny Kind Gestures That Made A Huge Impact In People’s Lives Are Restoring My Faith In Humanity

26.

“I was probably around 12-13. I had pretty bad acne on my forehead, and people would constantly point it out in some way — not maliciously, but I was still SO self-conscious about it, and I was massively self-conscious about my appearance anyway. One day, my friends and I were standing in a circle just talking, and at some point, one of the popular guys in our class (he was kind of our friend, too) came up and joined the conversation. This kid was handsome and well aware of that, and kind of a troublemaker, so I think all of us had a little crush on him.”

“After a while, he said he had to go and started saying goodbye to all of us, but the way he decided to say goodbye was by giving each and every girl a kiss on their forehead (we were a group of like six or so). I WAS MORTIFIED and internally freaking out because I knew that he would be so grossed out that he wouldn’t want to do it, or maybe would pause when he got to me and do it out of a sense of obligation. Every time he got closer to me, my stomach sank even further, and I honestly considered just stepping aside and pretending I was leaving, too. Eventually, my turn came, and when I tell you this kid just didn’t even miss a step, grabbed my head gently and kissed my forehead like it’s nothing, and just kept moving? I was in shock. I honestly could not believe it. I didn’t really know how to feel, but I was SO grateful.

I wish I could thank him for that to this day. I don’t know if he realizes the impact of what he did, or what his thought process was. I know for a fact it’s not like he didn’t notice my acne because it was honestly really bad, I had to go on Acutane and everything, and he would sometimes look at my forehead instead of my eyes when talking to me, so I know he saw it. But it’s the fact that he was pretty young too and acted that kindly, especially when kids at that age aren’t that self-aware. I was constantly feeling like the ugly duckling of the group, and that made me feel part of it, or like I was normal.

I’m 26 now, and it’s still one of the kindest things anyone has ever done.”

—Brinleybrinn_