From time to time, we all need to be cheered up. No one has a perfect life. That is an important thing to remember. If someone seems rude to you when you’re out at a store or a restaurant, they might just be having a really bad day. You really never know what is going on in a stranger’s life. To a certain extent, you can’t know what is going on in the life of anyone.
I am guessing that several people reading this need to be cheered up. Heaven knows that I do. This has not been a great month for me or my friends—and it is also really cold! I have a friend who just loves the colder months; I frequently tell him that he is wrong. There is nothing fun about the cold. For one thing, it makes my skin all dry, which ages me. No one under the age of 21 want to look older than they are.
Fortunately, in addition to allowing you the option of buying stuff without having to actually go to a store, the internet offers up pictures that might cheer you up a bit.
Here are twenty pictures from the internet that might make you smile a bit.
1. The Group That Cuts the Lawns
There is a group out there in the US that cuts lawns for people who can’t do so themselves—the elderly, the disabled, etc. They do it for free. They’re not looking for anything in return. They’re just trying to help out people who have terrible luck or have lived a really, really long time. It is such a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but it must be so important to the people on the receiving end.
If you’re not in the best of health, cutting your lawn can actually be a pretty arduous task. Take this from a guy who knows. Nine years ago a neurosurgeon told me that I had the back of an eighty-year-old woman. Thank goodness I don’t have much of a lawn.
2. The Kids and the Hug
It is my understanding that these two children were not well acquainted prior to this hug. Kids being kids, however, they decided to hug. Kids like to hug. This took place in a fast food restaurant, as you can clearly tell.
When you are an adult, you can’t just hug people. I have to know someone for at least three months before I will give them a hug, and even then it feels awkward. When you are a kid, you can do pretty much whatever you want. No one judges you for anything.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the parents of these two kids ended up becoming friends because of the hug? That would be a really nice ending to the story. They could schedule play dates and such. I doubt it happened, but it is a nice thought.
Anyway, the kids are adorable. I hope they had a good day.
3. The Driver
So the story here is that an Uber driver took a guy to a hospital; the patient’s family doesn’t live nearby, so the driver was cool enough to keep the patient company. If you know anything about being an Uber driver, which I do because my friend was one until his car met a rather unfortunate end, you’ll know that the driver’s decision to keep the guy company cost him a decent amount of money.
I have a couple of questions, of course; why didn’t the patient just call 911 and get an ambulance to pick him up? Are things really so bad here in the United States that people have more faith in Uber drivers than tax-funded services? I guess so. That’s sort of wacky, as well as extremely disconcerting.
The driver’s name is Beni, by the way, and he might be the coolest dude ever.
4. The Little Kids and the Subway
I think it is nice to see everyone just getting along in this picture. The kid seems happy, the parents seem happy, and I am assuming the baby is happy. It looks like she is, anyway.
The mom probably wouldn’t be smiling if the baby weren’t happy. I don’t have children of my own, but I have interacted with babies from time to time; if they’re smiling, you’re smiling. If they are miserable, you are miserable.
5. The Patient With Dementia
Don has dementia, which is awful. He was alone at Christmas, which most people would consider awful. This lovely woman made him a part of her family, which apparently cheered him up. I don’t know why she’s sticking out her tongue in that one picture, but I guess that’s just what people do now when taking selfies.
I have only ever been alone on one holiday. It wasn’t so bad. I spent most of the day playing a video game and then fell asleep after eating a sandwich. I spent one birthday alone, too; I played a video game, treated myself to dinner, and then fell asleep. I enjoy naps a lot. I’m training for when I have to live in a nursing home.
It really does suck that Don’s family couldn’t even visit him at Christmas. What kind of people do that? I shouldn’t judge, though. I have been around enough people with dementia to know personalities change; at a certain point, they are not the people they once were.
Anyway, Nikki seems like a sweetheart. I bet all of her other patients love her a lot, too.
6. The Non-Profit and the Suits
So there is a non-profit out there that gives away suits to men who have been released from prison, and I think that’s great.
If you go to prison, you obviously did something messed up, so you need to be punished; I suppose there is a fairly decent chance you were falsely convicted, but let’s not go there.
It must be hard getting out of prison. I can’t imagine many family members are happy to take you in, first of all. They might put up with you for a few weeks, but that’s about it; therefore, you need a place of your own, and that costs money. In the United States, prisoners have jobs, but they don’t exactly pay well. I think they get paid less than a dollar an hour.
If you’re a guy, you often need a suit to get a job, so this non-profit is definitely helping people out. I have no idea why you have to wear a suit to get a job in this day and age. I could understand it if we were all still living in 1954; men wore suits while at home and eating dinner. I don’t know of a single guy that wears a suit at home. If I met one, I would consider him a bit eccentric, frankly. They’re not exactly comfortable.
There are aspects of modern society that I don’t particularly like, but I do love that it is appropriate to wear a t-shirt almost everywhere. I went out for Thanksgiving dinner this year because no one wanted to cook; we went to a nice place, though, and there was a guy in a t-shirt and jeans. I actually thought the place had a dress code, but apparently not. I was jealous of that guy. I wanted to be in a t-shirt and jeans.
7. The Little Boy and the Shoes
This is a very sweet story. I love this. She is obviously a very nice young woman. That said, if you’re shopping at Victoria’s Secret, you probably have money to burn. Just buy your underwear at Target like the rest of us!
Furthermore, why do shoes cost more than $75? I don’t get it. They’re shoes. The technology hasn’t really advanced in the past few decades, so you would think the cost would come down.
Frankly, I am surprised that the cost of video games hasn’t really gone up since I was a kid. If you factor in inflation and such, the cost has probably gone down; however, the quality of the games has increased dramatically. They’re like movies now! It can cost well over $100 million to develop a really quality game.
8. The Fan and the Umbrella
In case you are wondering, this is a JROTC member, which means the young man is a high school student. The guy with the umbrella was showing him respect for being interested in something other than—well, whatever most high school students are interested in these days.
The last time I interacted with a high school student was a few years back. He seemed interested in girls, video games, and Netflix. Those are the things I am interested in, although not really in that order, so we had a lot in common.
9. The Guy Doing the Reading
The story behind this one is that one guy can read and one guy can’t; therefore, the guy that can read spends his lunch break reading to the guy that does not know how to do so. That’s very sweet.
I still find it curious that people in this day and age don’t know how to read, but according to some studies literally millions of Americans can’t. I don’t understand how this is possible, but apparently it is.
In this case, it might be possible that the guy can’t read because of vision issues.
10. The Police Officers and the Little Girl
According to the parent of this young lady, the child decided to open up a lemonade stand; that’s a thing kids do here in the United States to make a little extra cash. There are video games about running lemonade stands; they are about as exciting as one would expect.
Anyway, it was a Wednesday and not particularly warm outside. Business was unsurprisingly slow. Frankly, I wouldn’t drink lemonade made by a child. I have a little neighbor who is a nice enough kid. When she gets a bit older, she might try to sell lemonade; if she does, I’ll buy a glass, but I’ll fake a sip and then pour it out when she’s not looking. Kids are kind of germy.
It warms my heart, though, that these police officers stopped to get a glass of the kid’s lemonade.
They probably made her day. Police officers often have a bad reputation in the United States, which isn’t fair. These two officers are proof that they are mostly good people just looking to keep the community safe in exchange for pay that isn’t too great considering they might get shot while on the job.
11. The Men and the Elevator
As you can clearly see, the young man is helping the older man down the elevator. The young guy was clearly raised by compassionate parents.
I wish more people were like him. I once had to wear a back brace for three months and people wouldn’t even hold the door for me. I have seen people flat out refuse to hold the door for people who were clearly over the age of 80. It is nice to be reminded that there are actually nice people out there.
12. The Officer and the Bus Stop

This is just more proof that police officers are, in general, decent human beings. Sure, there may be a few nasty ones out there, but they are generally pretty cool people.
This officer was just keeping someone company at a bus stop; if there were no crimes going on, why not do that? The guy in the wheelchair doesn’t seem to be in the best shape.
13. The Grandma
This young man grew up in an orphanage due to the fact he lost his parents. The woman worked there at the time; he had to move out due to his age. The woman, who was retiring, took him in; fifteen years later, the two are still celebrating Christmas together and are clearly the best of friends.
Sometimes it is really important to remember that there are kids out there who need you, even if they are not your relatives.
14. The Guy and the Tie
It is surprising how many young men don’t know how to tie a tie these days. I went to the sort of school where you had to wear one every day, so I learned how to do so early, but it definitely is not the most natural thing in the world.
As regular readers know, I hate ties. It isn’t the tie itself, exactly, but the collared shirt. If I could wear a tie with a t-shirt, I would do that, but I would also look like a moron.
Anyway, it was very nice of the older gentleman to help the young man with his tie. I assume the young man was on his way to a job interview, and I hope he got that job. He certainly dressed to impress.
15. The Free Hugs
This took place at a protest in Portland, Oregon. The kid was 12 at the time.
This is yet another example of just how kind people can be; it is also proof that people genuinely want hugs. Very few of us get enough hugs from day to day. It is also proof that most police officers are the kind people who just happen to have dangerous jobs. I would not want to be a police officer. I would be scared every day.
Then again, I get scared when I have to leave my house.
16. The Food and the Homeless
The lovely people in this image are giving food and gifts to the homeless, which is important to do—especially around Christmas.
It is very easy to forget that ninety percent of us—or more—could easily end up homeless if we lost our jobs and couldn’t find one within a couple of weeks. Jobs aren’t always easy to come by, and landlords aren’t particularly forgiving. In a lot of places, not having a car could result in the loss of your job. Most of us are just a bad situation away from ending up on the streets; that is a situation that is card to come back from, honestly.
17. The Baby and the Professor
In this case, a woman had to bring her baby to class. It got fussy, as babies tend to do. They are not the most easygoing creatures in the world, sadly, which is why it is surprising that so many people have them.
Anyway, the professor decided to feed to the baby and tend to it during his student’s exam. That was nice, I guess, but it was not much of a sacrifice. Who has ever said no to playing with a little baby? They are cute and smell good. The problem comes when you have to let one live in and grow up in your house.
18. The Classmates and the Kidney
One guy needed a kidney. The other guy was his classmate. They barely knew one another. Still, fifty years after going to school together, a kidney donation was offered. That’s pretty sweet.
The donor is a nicer guy than I am. I would not do that for any classmate I have—with one exception. I would probably give a kidney to my parents if they actually asked for it, which I doubt they would. I would definitely give one to my dog, but I don’t think that would actually work out for him.
19. The Woman Who Is Over 100
The one person in this image, and it should be obvious who it is, has actually managed to live for 112 years. That’s impressive. I can’t imagine living to 40, but that’s just me.
The happy part is that someone brought cookies. The sad part is that the person who is literally over 100 years old hasn’t had a visitor in three years—according to a nurse.
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