Kindness of Strangers
We're being short-changed. All of us. Incessant negative press has turned John Q Public into a mass of egotistical, road raging, selfish, ungiving and uncaring assholes. Think about it. What do they report on? Crime. Usually just crime and fires and the latest political scandal. Well, you were out today weren't you? Who made you smile? Anyone hold a door for you or help pick up something you dropped? Really think about the general public you come in contact with everyday. Do they hold up to their reputations?
What is this belief that so many of us hold near and dear? Why do we insist that all humanity has gone to shit? Who are we protecting? What are we so afraid of? And mostly, what is this blind faith in the 5 o'clock news?
If we are raising our kids right and if our parents raised us right... then shouldn't the vast majority of us be decent humans? Aren't you a nice person? Then why wouldn't the person behind you in the grocery store line be just as kind?
I went to the grocery store today and no less than a dozen people made some general "niceties" aimed in my general direction. Granted, I had the boys with me and they were awfully adorable. A woman actually struck up a conversation with me while we were loading our cars with our bags. And it wasn't even a "twin" conversation (are they identical, are they natural, are they alike...).
I learned the other day that a friend at work hitchhiked all over the country for 2 years with a friend of hers... they did this in 2002. 2 years of getting free rides, free meals, free places to sleep and even free clothes. The world is so much more than we give it credit for. We as a people are more than we take credit for. Our mothers raised us to be kind, to be careful, to smile when saying hello and to hold the door open for the person behind you. We are taught to say "please" and "thank you", to obey the law and respect our teachers. We're taught to be neighborly and help our sisters and brothers.
Give and take credit where credit is due. We may never have to live off the kindness of strangers, but it sure makes a trip to the grocery store a lot more fun.
What is this belief that so many of us hold near and dear? Why do we insist that all humanity has gone to shit? Who are we protecting? What are we so afraid of? And mostly, what is this blind faith in the 5 o'clock news?
If we are raising our kids right and if our parents raised us right... then shouldn't the vast majority of us be decent humans? Aren't you a nice person? Then why wouldn't the person behind you in the grocery store line be just as kind?
I went to the grocery store today and no less than a dozen people made some general "niceties" aimed in my general direction. Granted, I had the boys with me and they were awfully adorable. A woman actually struck up a conversation with me while we were loading our cars with our bags. And it wasn't even a "twin" conversation (are they identical, are they natural, are they alike...).
I learned the other day that a friend at work hitchhiked all over the country for 2 years with a friend of hers... they did this in 2002. 2 years of getting free rides, free meals, free places to sleep and even free clothes. The world is so much more than we give it credit for. We as a people are more than we take credit for. Our mothers raised us to be kind, to be careful, to smile when saying hello and to hold the door open for the person behind you. We are taught to say "please" and "thank you", to obey the law and respect our teachers. We're taught to be neighborly and help our sisters and brothers.
Give and take credit where credit is due. We may never have to live off the kindness of strangers, but it sure makes a trip to the grocery store a lot more fun.
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