A Little Kindness

My story of thoughtfulness for today starts with me going to the bookstore. I know, exciting, rights?! Well, I was on my way, and was just turning out of my cul-de-sac when I noticed a vehicle parked in the middle of the road, and someone standing outside of it looking confused. As I got closer I realized it was a girl I go to school with. I thought for sure that her truck was broken, and she was freaking out, so I stopped to ask if I could give her a hand.

Turns out the reason she had stopped was not because her truck was broken, but because a tiny little chick had run across the road, and under it. She was now crouching in the middle of the road [I live on a fairly deserted road, so it wasn’t like she was stopping traffic] calling to this little birdie so she could take it to safety, and be on her way. I stopped and helped her call it out from under the truck, and eventually it became less scared, I presume – I am not a bird, nor do I communicate with birds on a regular basis – and out it came, waddling and chirping wildly. My comrade grabbed it up in her hands and looked at me and went “Now what do I do?!” we discussed it for a minute or two, then decided that she would take the bird over to the house it was next to – which keeps chickens.

I was well on my way somewhere, so I had to get going, but I was very impressed at the kindness my classmate had shown. She’s the sort of girl that does that sort of thing, so I wouldn’t have expected anything less, but it made me wish that more people were like that.

You don’t have to donate all your life’s earnings to AIDS research, or spend your entire 20’s building schools in Nepal to be a good person. I think our society could actually do with a little less of that, and a little more common courtesy from everyone. Holding doors open for the person behind you, saying “please” and “thank you”, even just smiling at someone as you pass them on the street/hallway/anywhere else you might be.

I am not saying that I do all these things all the time, sometimes I don’t want to smile at people, but I’ve found that if I manage to plaster a smile on my face for long enough, it sinks in, and even if I didn’t want to smile before, I’ll be happy as a clam by the end of the day.

I want to be one of those people, and so as one of my changes to my attitude, etc. I am going to work harder to be a gentlemanly type of person. No that doesn’t mean someone who wears suits, and a monocle. No no. It means I want to be the sort of person that holds doors open for people, no matter what, and nods courteously. I encourage you all to try it out too!