I’ve had the idea for this thread for a few years now and I’m finally getting around to posting it. If it belongs in another thread, that’s cool.
The idea is: Thank that stranger who bailed you out that time. You know, the guy/gal who gave you a hand and left before you could buy them a beer (or tea if that’s your thing) or otherwise properly thank them.
I was at that second-run movie theater near the Tong-Hua night market one night with my wife-to-be. After the show we leave and then I suddenly realize that, due to my habit of slouching in the seat, my wallet had slipped out of my pocket. We rush back in and search the floor (ew, sticky). The place is deserted except a foreigner and his lass, just arrived and waiting for the next show. He notices us (me cursing probably) and mentions that some shady character was just there snooping around, giving us a description, “red jacket,” and giving me his cell number, in case. Cut to the night market where unbelievably my wife-to-be spots this red-jacketed fellow. We confront him and he gets all antsy, probably wondering how the heck we tracked him down, and denies everything. He has a point: where’s the evidence? I remember my new friend and give him a ring to help me ID the man in the red jacket. Plus, if things get ugly it’s nice to have help. Mr. Red Jacket coughs up the wallet before the cavalry arrives, and we meet him on his way and encourage him to get back to the show.
So thank you, Mark, for leaving your girl alone at the theater to help out some poor schmuck you just met. Cheers! 
Moralistic editorial, feel free to ignore: Too many times we avert our eyes or ignore the other castaways sitting next to us in the boat, especially in the role of foreigners in Taiwan. But the older I get the more I realize that life is too short to be too-cool-for-school, to be cold and blank, or to need justification to give “the nod” (you know the one) to a stranger on the street. Be good to each other.