It always feels good when you get to stick up for your friend or family member—but what about a stranger? If someone you don’t know is being untreated fairly in public, what would you do?

In a Reddit thread, people shared a proud moment they had when they defended a stranger in public. Read on for the amazing stories that may motivate you to do the same!

1. Defending Domestic Abuse

   “When I was I guess about 18 or 19 I was home visiting my parents. I’d been out in the yard playing baseball with my little brother. I was sitting on the porch when I saw our neighbor’s wife run out the house with her child, her husband chasing her. As I’m watching the husband grabs her by the hair, punches her and starts dragging her back towards the house while their child watches. My dad tells this story and says, “All I saw was you step into the house, pick up a Little Slugger and walk out the front door.” By the time my dad got outside I had walked up to the guy, had the bat over my shoulder and was saying, “Let her go or I start swinging.” By this point my dad and a couple other neighbors have run over and are standing with me. I said again, “You have till the count of three. I’m a state champion softball player.” The guy dropped his wife and ran back to the house. Police were called, the guy was arrested and the wife eventually left him. My dad said seeing his teenage daughter threaten a grown man with a baseball bat was one of the proudest days of his life.”

2. Killed Them With Kindness

   “When I was about 15 or so, was driving home from a holiday somewhere and stopped in a country town (this is rural Australia). We stopped at a cafe next to a park and were having lunch; in the park next to us was a Chinese family having a picnic while their little girl (who was probably about three) was picking flowers. Some old hag was walking down the road, saw the little girl had picked about two flowers, and proceeded to call her a ‘stupid chink’, ‘foreign brat’ etc. So us and everyone else in the cafe proceeded to stand up and call her all sorts of lovely things to the point where she drove off.”

3. Telling Off Jocks

   “A group of football players were mocking a clearly autistic/aspergers girl, and [my SO] got up and gently led her away while telling them off. It was the sexiest thing I have ever seen a man do.”

4. Wheelchair Help

   “There was a guy in a wheelchair stuck on the curb in a city near me. It was after an awesome interview so I was in a good mood. I stopped to help him out. After 5 minutes of maneuvering, I got him back up on the sidewalk. He thanked me and his friend in a similar wheelchair and he rode off. Then their “helper” came from around the corner and said, “there are angels in this world! Merry Christmas!” There was no better satisfaction than that.”

5. Hair in Food

   “I was in an indian restaurant and this woman made a wayyyyy over the top scene over finding a hair in her food. I understand if that’s a problem for you, but she really gave the waiter a hard time, and made absolutely certain that everyone in the restaurant could hear what she had to say. The poor guy she had been berating was also the waiter for my table, and when he looked like he had settled down a bit, I called him over and said “Excuse me, I found a hair in my food, and it was DELICIOUS!” I got a few laughs, but more importantly I could tell the guy enjoyed the fact that the woman had been embarrassed, without having to risk getting in trouble himself.”

6. Annoying Music

   “I was on a bus when a teenager in the seat over the row from mine starts playing music through his phone’s tinny speakers at maximum distortion volume. I ask him to turn it off, he asks “What are ya gonna do about it?”. Complete silence on the bus. The normal hubbub has died to see what happens next. I ask, again, quietly “Please turn your music off, it’s really annoying”. He looks confused, grumbles and shuts it off. No smiles from the passengers, just silence and awkwardness. Blissful silence.”

7. Spilled Coke

   “I was on the bus when this idiot teenager decided to start throwing out parts of his lunch on the floor, including his coke can that wasn’t quite empty. The lady beside me got fed up and picked up his shit and dumped it right onto his lap without saying anything. About 5 minutes later the kid (probably took him the whole 5 minutes to think of this) said: “You’re not going to save the world with your Green Peace sh*t lady.” To which the lady responds quite angrily with: “I wasn’t trying to save the world, your drink was spilling out onto people because you were too f*cking lazy to hold onto it,” I guess that kid got embarrassed enough that day, and spent the rest of the bus ride looking at the floor.”

8. Stayed With an Injured Man

   “I was at a pub standing outside having a cigarette and I could hear two big buff guys starting to get into an argument. I kept an eye out, and noticed things started getting more heated. Then, one of the guys just went in and started beating the living shit out of the other guy who fell onto the ground and his face was covered in blood. Me and the bouncers at the pub intervened. They restrained the guy who started it, while I went to help the one who got a hiding. I sat down with him and let him rest his head in my lap while I tried to keep him awake, talking to him and cleaning him up as much as I could before the ambulance arrived.”

9. Helping an Innocent Child

   “I was at a grocery store. A kid about 2 years old was standing up in the front part of the cart. The mom yelled at him to sit down. He didn’t so she pushed the cart very hard and he fell out and hit the floor face first. He was screaming in pain with his hand over his swelling eye. The mom continued to scream at him. The clerk brought the kid ice. Mother is still screaming at the kid. I called the police. They got there before mom and kid left and took statements from everyone. I don’t know what ultimately happened. Poor kid. If she does that to her kid in public I can only imagine what the kid goes through in private.”

10. Costume Store Spooks

    “When I was 8 or 9, it was around Halloween, my family and I went costume shopping. Some ass decided to put on a mask and scare my 4 year old sister. He wouldn’t stop so I told him off the best my 8 year old self could until my dad came to the rescue.”

11. Cashier Sisterhood

    “While I was standing in the checkout line at a grocery store the other day, the woman in front of me attempted to use a coupon for an item other than one that she was buying. The cashier politely pointed out that the coupon was for a different item, and asked if it would be ok if someone would go and grab the correct item. The woman rudely brushed her off, and then turned to the bagged and said, “What a b*tch!” The cashier looked absolutely shocked. I work in a grocery store, and I absolutely hate it when customers mistreat our cashiers for no reason. I spoke up to the woman and said “Just because you’re the customer gives you no right to talk to her like that! You’re not better than her, and this situation is your own damn fault!” The woman attempted to sputter a response, but by that point I was already taking my items to the self checkout. I walked out of there with my head held high that day.”

Have you ever stood up for a stranger? We’d love to hear your story, too!