a comic i drew about the strangest act of kindness I've ever experienced. Read body for more context!
Hey everyone, pride month's about to end so I wanted to make something, I had an encounter that completely restored my faith in humanity, and I really wanted to share it with this amazing community through my comic :D
I live in a city where there is no IKEA and I badly wanted a haj! and online delivery to my pincode wasn't available by IKEA so getting my hands on a Blåhaj seemed completely impossible. Desperate, I posted on a local subreddit asking if anyone living near an IKEA would be willing to buy one and mail it to me, promising to cover the cost of the haj and all shipping charges. Out of nowhere, a kind stranger from a far away city (about 2,000 kilometers / 1,200 miles away) slid into my DMs. His workplace was right near an IKEA, and he offered to help. True to his word, he went the very next day, secured the shark, and shipped it out to me.
When he sent the shipping photo, I was so ecstatic and immediately asked for his bank or PayPal details to transfer the money. But instead of sending his information, dat kind mofo dropped a complete plot twist: "Can I ask you to pay it forward? Spread the love so to say?"
I was in absolute shock. I couldn't just take his money, so I tried to compromise and asked if there was a specific charity or NGO close to his heart so I could donate the amount on his behalf and send him the receipt. His response completely broke me. He told me I was missing the point entirely and that this wasn't about money, it was about love. He told me to just buy a meal for a starving stranger, take a friend somewhere they've been dying to go, or just be kind to my own inner child. Then he shared the deeply moving reason why he did it:
"As a gay kid, i was bullied, I had lost faith in humanity. So I decided I would restore it and not damage it." I went online looking for a silly haj, and instead, I crossed paths with a real-life angel who took the pain of his past and used it to teach a stranger a lesson in pure, unconditional kindness. I received my haj, and it will forever stand as a reminder of the absolute best of humanity. In this comic, I've tried to honor his amazing deeds, hope y'all like my comic! Spread love :3 also I've intentionally faked the reddit user's name to protect their privacy!