2015 is over, and while many in the media have focused on the negative, readers of Bored Panda know that there were many good things that happened this year. Yes, politicians continue to start new wars, but it’s up to us, regular, everyday people to make the world a better place, and we believe that the stories below prove this to be true.
So take a look back at some of the touching stories that we covered in 2015. Which one was your favorite?
#1 Entire Neighbourhood Secretly Learns Sign Language To Surprise Deaf Neighbor
#2 Man Buys Turtles From Food Market And Releases Them Back To The Sea
#3 McDonald’s Employee Helped Elderly Disabled Man With His Food
#4 Turkish Bride & Groom Spend Their Wedding Day Feeding 4,000 Refugees
#5 Heart Surgeon Calms Weeping 2-Year-Old Girl Before Heart Operation
#6 Donkey Smiles From Ear To Ear After Being Rescued From Flood In Ireland
#7 The Young Guy Sitting Down Was Struggling With His Tie When The Older Gentleman Moved Without Hesitation And Gave Him A Step-By-Step Tutorial
#8 Mom Adopts All 4 Of Her Best Friend’s Daughters After She Died Of Brain Cancer
#9 This Guy Has This Dog, And She Can’t Walk Anymore. So He Takes Her Out For A Walk Every Day In A Wheelchair
#9 This Guy Has This Dog, And She Can’t Walk Anymore. So He Takes Her Out For A Walk Every Day In A Wheelchair
#11 This Coffee Shop Lets Stray Dogs Sleep Inside Every Night When The Customers Leave
#12 Man Has Heart Attack While Mowing Lawn; Firefighters Finish Mowing Lawn After Saving Him
#13 These Kids In Canada Tied Coats To Street Poles To Help Homeless Prepare For Winter
#14 Anonymous Spiderman Feeds Homeless At Night, Shows Everyone Can Be A Hero
#15 Baby Deer Refuses To Leave The Human Who Saved Her Life
#16 Hungarians Bring Their Shoes To The Budapest Train Station For Arriving Migrants
#17 Soaked Dad Protecting His Schoolboy From Rain Shows What Parenting Is
#18 9-Year-Old Girl Builds Shelters For The Homeless And Grows Food For Them, Too
#19 Bride’s Dad Stops Wedding To Invite Her Stepfather To Walk Down The Aisle With Them
#20. Waitress Gets Surprise Of Her Life From Firefighters She Serves Coffee To
A photo of a Chicago McDonald’s employee helping a disabled customer cut his food has gone viral on social media and now the employee is being recognized by the fast food chain.
The image, which was first posted to Facebook last week, has been shared more than 318,000 times on Facebook and received more than 2.3 million views on other social media platforms.
The woman who took the photo, Destiny Carreno, posted that she was waiting in line to order when an elderly handicapped man “wheeled himself over to the cashier” and asked for help.
“Neither of us knew what help he needed, and the cashier suggested a few things before he figured out the gentleman needed help cutting and eating his meal,” the Facebook post read. “To be honest, I thought the cashier wasn’t going to help, especially during rush hour in downtown Chicago, but to my shock, he shut down his register and disappeared from view.”
Carreno said the cashier put on gloves, came out from the kitchen and began cutting the man’s meal.
Seeing this today brought tears to my eyes! Compassion has NOT gone out of style.Today I made a quick stop at McDonald…
“At that point, the tears started to gather in my eyes,” she wrote. “My heart was so appreciative for what he did. I couldn’t contain my emotions in the crowded restaurant.”
The owner of the McDonald’s where the photo was taken, Rod Lubeznik, said in a statement the company is very proud of the employee, who they identified as Kenny. He added the restaurant chain is “overwhelmed by the positive response [Kenny] has received for his compassion and kindness.”
“It’s a true testament to who Kenny is, and a reminder to us all that one seemingly small act of kindness can touch the hearts of so many,” the statement read.
Lubeznik said the restaurant planned to recognize Kenny during a rewards presentation Wednesday.
Former cancer nurse and mother of three Holly Christensen crochets beautiful, flowing wigs out of soft yarn for children who’ve lost their hair to chemotherapy. The wigs are modeled after the children’s favorite Disney princesses.
Christensen’s project all started when her friend’s 2-year-old daughter, Lily, was diagnosed with lymphoma.
“Knowing how difficult it would be for her to lose her beautiful blonde curls, I made her a Rapunzel yarn wig,” she writes.
“I was flooded with responses from around the nation — mothers who wanted these wigs for their little girls who have cancer.”
“To bring a little bit of magic into such a difficult time in their life is so rewarding. It’s almost equally been so rewarding and magical to meet people who want to help,” Christensen told ABC news.
Christensen has shared instructions for how to make her wigs for children battling cancer.
Because chemotherapy leaves the children’s skin tender and sensitive, Christensen makes the wigs on soft crocheted beanies.
If you’d like to support this worthy cause, you can make a wig yourself.
Or donate via the Magic Yarn Project’s Gofundme page.
Find out more about The Magic Yarn Project on Facebook.
Angela Clayton is only 18 years old, but she has bucket loads of creativity and talent. The costume designer from Long Island, New York first started sewing three years ago when she became interested in cosplay.
Some of the more challenging dresses can take as long as 250 hours to make, and she once used 11 meters (12 yards) of fabric for a single costume.
“I hope that there is a future career that I will get out of it,” Clayton told Cosmo.
“I love making costumes and I love bringing ideas to life. If I could do that for fashion, especially for theater or film, that would be awesome… I would rather go straight into that if I can instead of spending four years at school.”
“I have one that I’ve been working on since January and I’m still not done with it, but I hopefully will be finishing it soon”
“I continued making the costumes because I enjoyed the sewing aspect of it”
“I decided to just give myself more freedom for focusing on historical projects and original design.”
“If you practice, you can definitely do it. It might take you a while.”
“It comes naturally to some people but it is definitely something you can learn how to do.”
“I really enjoy doing it. I love making costumes and I love bringing ideas to life.”
To see more of Angela’s amazing creations, head over to her website.
To drink and drive not only means you’re exposing yourself to great danger, but also exposing others to the same. That’s why it’s nothing short of terrifying that it continues to happen each and every day.
This poem, written by an unknown girl, gives us all an important reminder of what can happen if you drink and drive. It’s very sad, but if one share can save a life, it’s worth it.
Dear Mom,
I went to a party, Mom. I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink, Mom. So I drank soda instead.
I really felt proud inside, Mom. The way you said I would. I didn’t drink and drive, Mom. Even though the others said I should.
I know I did the right thing, Mom. I know you are always right. Now the party is finally ending, Mom. As everyone is driving out of sight.
As I got into my car, Mom. I knew I’d get home in one piece. Because of the way you raised me. So responsible and sweet.
I started to drive away, Mom. But as I pulled out into the road. The other car didn’t see me, Mom. And hit me like a load.
As I lay there on the pavement, Mom. I hear the policeman say. “The other guy is drunk,” Mom. And now I’m the one who will pay.
I’m lying here dying, Mom… I wish you’d get here soon. How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.
There is blood all around me, Mom. And most of it is mine. I hear the medic say, Mom, I’ll die in a short time.
I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn’t drink. It was the others, Mom. The others didn’t think.
He was probably at the same party as I. The only difference is, he drank and I will die.
Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life. I’m feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife.
The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don’t think it’s fair. I’m lying here dying and all he can do is stare.
Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave. And when I go to heaven, Mom, put “Daddy’s Girl” on my grave.
Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive. If only they had told him, Mom, I would still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I’m becoming very scared. Please don’t cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always there.
I have one last question, Mom. Before I say goodbye.
I didn’t drink and drive. So why am I the one to die?
We stands firmly against driving under the influence. Please like and share this poem to help raise awareness of this critical issue.
Most of us must have received a call, a text message or maybe even an email from telemarketers enjoining us in various surveys and advertisement campaigns which later on will actually bill us for a donation. Some would even promise a kind of raffle where we can win exciting prizes, but does anyone really win from those? Or those are only hoax promises to entice us? Then there is the issue of our time being consumed by yet another telemarketer! Sometimes admittedly, it can get annoying right?
Tired of getting calls from telemarketers, one guy decided to give them a taste of their own medicine by smoothly trolling the caller. Read the story below:
Tired of receiving telemarketer calls? You can try this technique.
My friend is always getting calls from telemarketers, this is what he does…
Friend: Hello?
Them: Hello sir, I am calling from *A Market Research Company*. Would you be willing to take a short study with us?
Friend: Absolutely! We here at Evermoon Consulting are always ready to provide opinion based data to our clients!
Them: Um… Ok? Anyway, the survey just takes about 5 minutes and when finished you are entered into a drawing to win a 3 day vacation to Cancun.
Friend: That will not be needed. Our usual remuneration per our standard service agreement is all that is required. However please be aware that our lowest billable period is one hour and this call will be billed for an hour of service even if only five minutes is used.
Them: No sir, this will only take five minutes not an hour.
Friend: I understand, however your firm will still be billed the minimum hour as per our services agreements. That comes to $225. How would you like to take care of this today? Do you have billing set up with us already? If so I just need the corporate code for your company.
Them: I don’t have that… This only enters you for a trip sir.
Friend: Ok, that’s alright sir. We can set this up on a company credit card for a small fee. Your new total will be $257.98, sir. Go ahead and give me the credit card number sir.
Them: What credit card?! We aren’t paying $257 for this!
Friend: Oh, you are absolutely right sir! I am so sorry! We are talking after 6pm CDT so you are correct that we are in “premium time”. That is correspondingly higher. Your total will be $517.54. Thank you for reminding me!
Them: What?! No… No… We can call you after 6pm. The law says we can call until 9pm.
Friend: Evermoon Consulting prides itself on meeting our customers needs 24 hours a day sir, but between 6pm and 6am is premium time. I am ready for that credit card number now sir.
Them: Look, I just have the calls routed to me. I didn’t call you, a computer did.
Friend: Oh, I see.
Them: Yeah, so can we just get to the survey?
Friend: Yes, but I will have to add our auto-dialer fee to the charges. It’s due to our consultants time being so valuable that we do this to keep them from having their time wasted. With that fee your new total is $759.99. What are the first four digits of the card you would like us to use, please?
Them: Hold on for my supervisor please.
Friend: Ok.
*5 minutes later*
Supervisor: Hello sir, I understand their is a problem?
Friend: None at all. Your total charges for one hour of premium time consulting with auto-dialer charge and supervisor level respondent fee with credit card processing is $1163.67. Will this be on a MasterCard, Visa, or American Express today?
Supervisor: For what?!
Friend: Consulting on your survey of course. What method of payment will you be using today?
*click*
Well we kinda feel sorry for the telemarketer who has to endure the prank or trolling, but sometimes things like this is just fulfilling and fun. The guy might have wasted more than 5 minutes for the survey with his trolling but at least he seemed to enjoy it. We are all just doing our jobs we know, but it is also our right to enjoy how we handle those calls
Maybe you can use this trolling technique in the future too. What do you think of this story, harsh? Funny? Share your thoughts and this story to your friends.
Thousands of photographs caught the attention of the internet this year, but here are the handful of the most shared and talked about images, photos that are now part of history. Check this amazing collection “The Most Powerful Photos of 2015”:
Remains of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17
Photo credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Sports photographer Dean Mouhtaropoulos lives near the airfield in the Netherlands where he encountered the remains of the ill-fated plane. The plane had been recovered from Ukraine and reconstructed piece by piece at the hangar.
Refugees rescued from the sea
Photo credit: Francesco Zizola/NOOR
Zizola witnessed the rescue of 3,000 migrants while aboard a search and rescue ship. The migrants were wrapped in shiny emergency blankets that helped keep them warm during the time they spent on the deck.
Charlie Hebdo unity march
Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The photographer and his colleague had to book a hotel room to get this difficult shot. It shows the very beginning of the march on Rue Voltaire.
A shower of banknotes for Sepp Blatter
Photo credit: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters
Wieman captured the exact moment when British comedian Simon Brodkin threw bank notes in the air from a spot near banned FIFA president Sepp Blatter was seated.
Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupts
Photo credit: Alex Vidal Brecas/EPA
This was taken at dusk, 45 minutes before the eruption. Brecas used only a small compact camera to take the shot. It was the first time the volcano had erupted in 43 years.
Merkel and Obama’s private moment
Photo credit: Michael Kappeler/EPA
The two heads of state were having a private chat during the G7 summit. The photo ended up being used on front pages all over the world.
Macedonian border police clash with refugees
Photo credit: Georgi Licovski/EPA
The Macedonian police were trying to help the scared kids avoid the crush of the refugees trying to push through. It was a very emotional photo for Licovski.
Palestinian boy asleep in a sandstorm
Photo credit: Suhaib Salem/Reuters
The boy seems enveloped in a different world after the huge sandstorm that swept war-torn Gaza.
Aerial view of explosion in Tianjin
Photo credit: Chen Jie/Visual China Group/Reuters
A view from above the warehouse where toxic chemicals caused the massive explosion that killed 165 people and injured 100 others. The photographer climbed on top of a building and then used a drone to take this shot at 300 meters.
Model ‘wears’ a model
Photo credit: Francois G Durand/WireImage
A model carries another model on her shoulders as she struts the runway.
Homeless boy uses light from McDonald’s to do his homework.
Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk/
9-year old Daniel Cabrera was spotted studying late at night just outside the restaurant in Mandaue City, making use of the light that spilled from the interiors so he can read. He was using a makeshift bench as study table. During that time, medical student Joyce Torrefranca was walking along the street when she saw the boy. Moved by this touching scene, she took a photo and shared it on her Facebook page. It quickly became viral and the netizens became impressed with the boy’s perseverance.
Flowers and candles at Le Carillon, Paris
Photo credit: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images
This was taken on the Sunday after the horrifying attacks. During that time, the people were silent although the place was very crowded and a radio was playing a Jacques Brel song, If You Only Have Love.
Highline walk
Photo credit: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA
20 men were taking turns walking the highline strung between the two sides of Moleson Peak. None of them couldn’t walk the entire length of the line without falling off. Good thing they are actually attached to the line with a little rope, but the scene was terrifying nonetheless.
‘Blood moon’ eclipse
Photo credit: Phil Walter/Getty Images
Taken in New Zealand using a 600mm lens on a tripod. It has been cloudy most of the day and they weren’t sure of seeing the eclipse at all.
Usain Bolt is felled by a Segway cameraman
Photo credit: Rolex dela Pena/EPA
The fastest man in the world was doing his victory lap after winning the 200m at the Beijing World Championships. Dela Pena clicked at the exact moment when the camera guy following Bolt hit the athlete from behind with his Segway, causing the champion to fall backwards.
The body of Alan Kurdi
Photo credit: Nilufer Demir/DHA
The photographer told Turkey’s Dogan News Agency,“At that moment, when I saw the three-year-old Alan Kurdi, I was petrified. The only thing I could do was to make his outcry heard. At that moment, I believed I would be able to achieve this by clicking the shutter of my camera, and I took his picture.
“We were covering the illegal transition of migrants to the Greek island of Kos from Bodrum’s coast. Suddenly we noticed the lifeless bodies. We recognised they belonged to toddlers. We were shocked, we felt sorrow for them. I have photographed and witnessed many migrant incidents since 2003 in this region – their deaths, their drama. I hope from today, this will change.”
A man climbs the security fence in Calais
Photo credit: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu/Getty Images
This was taken the night in Coquelles when migrants were running, hoping to evade the police.
African refugee rests after arriving in Gran Canaria
Photo credit: Borja Suarez/Reuters
A refugee rests after an exhausting ordeal of spending days on a boat before making land at Gran Canaria.
Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open
Photo credit: Filip Singer/EPA
Filip waited for three days to be able to take the shot. It was 45C outside and Sharapova was all hot and sweaty. He managed to take the picture the moment she sat on the bench and before she was covered with an umbrella to shade her. Filip wanted to showcase the athlete’s power through her sweat and muscles.
Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover
Photo credit: Annie Leibovitz/PA
Leibovitz told Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, “That was one idea with the corset. I originally wanted to be more conservative with her and was looking at photographs of Katharine Hepburn. I realised that whatever look she had was going to be an acquired look. This was an acquired idea of ‘What is a woman?’ What should a woman look like? How does a woman dress up? Who is Caitlyn? I think our whole team really wanted it to be successful for her, and we wanted to take her over the hill. Now I think she has a long road still to go but I think what she’s done so far is pretty amazing.”
A victim lies dead outside the Bataclan theatre in Paris
Photo credit: Jerome Delay/AP
Delay spotted this body on the pavement and instantly took three frames. It was a hectic moment at the 18th arrondisement and he had a hard time getting through the rescue teams.
