Cabbie spreads happiness to his customers

This cab is a sweet ride - New York Daily News

NYC cabbie Mansoor Khalid gives his fares a little extra when they ride with him - his backseat is full of candy, as much as they want to eat, all included in the price. After losing his young son a few years back, h e decided that it was his mission to spread joy and happiness to the people of NYC, who are routinely overworked and overstressed.


(Khalid in his cab with the candy he gives his passengers.)

Aurora Man Pays For Movies For Strangers

For the people of Aurora, CO, and many around the country as well, the theatre has become a place of fear or, at the very least, some measure of concern after the brutal killing spree that left 12 dead and many more wounded. One Aurora man is doing something about that however. Jason Cole, a teacher and father, decided that the actions of one madman should not keep people living in fear. He worked with friends and family to raise money, enough for 1300 movie tickets, and then gave them all away to the people of Aurora.

On August 11th, Jason and his friends stood outside of a few theatres in Aurora and passed out the free tickets to those standing in line. The reactions ranged from cynasism to intense gratitude but Jason knows they made a difference that day. One woman who had been scared to go to the movies after the shootings, this act of kindness gave her the bravery to try again while being bolstered by the kindness of those around her. A mother brought her teenage son and and his friends to the Arapahoe Crossing theater in Aurora to hand out tickets in memory of their friends who were killed in the shootings on July 20. For them, it was a chance to heal and they told their story to those who recieved tickets. Tears were shed and hearts healed for the loss.

One family responded with cynisism at first, a discomfort at the idea of some company trying to do a promotion at the theatre but once Jason and his friend explained that the tickets were just for the sake of kindness, frowns turned to genuine smiles. Thanks to the bravery, kindness, and thoughtfulness of Jason and his friends, the people of Aurora were able to share joy and love in the face of tragedy.

"You can choose the light or the dark, and you change the world with each choice you make. I said that, in a world where one person can traumatize an entire region with his actions, it's up to the rest of us to choose the light." - Jason Cole

Deaf Man Finally Hears Music For The First Time

Austin Chapman and his new hearing aid.

For film maker Austin Chapman, music had always been a mystery he could never quite comprehend. He could see people gyrating on the dance floor or singing at the top of their lungs in their cars, but their actions were foreign to him. Austin had been born "proufoundly deaf", which meant that while he wasn't totally without the ability to hear, sounds were so drastically reduced that they were little more than muffled noise without a hearing aid. Even with his old aids, the subtle changes that made music so powerful were totally lost on Austin. The devices meant to help him hear were simply not able to pick up the higher frequencies in music.

"All music sounded like trash through my hearing aids," he confessed on his film studio's blog. Last week, however, Austin was fitted with a new set of hearing aids and suddenly his world was turned on it's head. "The first thing I heard was my shoe scraping across the carpet; it startled me. I have never heard that before and out of ignorance, I assumed it was too quiet for anyone to hear. I sat in the doctor’s office frozen as a cacophony of sounds attacked me."

With his new hearing in place, Austin set out to figure out why there was so much fuss over music. That night, his friends began to offer him a whole range of music with tastes ranging from Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson and more. While sitting in the car, Austin heard Motzart's Lacrimosa for the first time and found himself moved to tears.

"At one point of the song, it sounded like angels singing and I suddenly realized that this was the first time I was able to appreciate music. Tears rolled down my face and I tried to hide it. But when I looked over I saw that there wasn’t a dry eye in the car."

With his world suddenly opened, Austin reached out to the Internet for help in picking music to take in. He posted to the popular site Reddit and received incredible support and feedback with over 14,000 responses to his original request for music within mere hours of his post. Despite this, Austin states that he still enjoys silence the most as it helps him think, but he is immesurably greatful for all of the suggestions on music selection.

"The Reddit commenters also helped me realize what a gift I have now, being able to enjoy utter silence and music at the same time. Not just that, but in a virginal unbiased way that very few people have," he told the Huffington Post.

Mystery Man Gives Strangers Wads of Cash

People Are Awesome: Mystery Man Gives Strangers Wads of Cash - Lifestyle - GOOD

This is a little bit of a trick post, because it's a double-plus good thing: a mysterious man with a camera gives out money to random people. A lot of money. But in order to receive the money, they have to agree to have their photo taken, and "pay it forward," by doing something good with the money. He asks that they document their good deed and share stories.

Here's a link to the Wearelucky website. You can read the stories and see photos of the people who've participated so far. So cool!