Simply Kind Tuesdays : Week 33 : Freaky kind people?
I thought I would share a video today about kindness. Using my friend Google, I googled the word Kindness.
Then watched all these oddballs tell me about kindness. One guy talked about living among Hobbits (I kid you not) then beginning to understand Jesus. Another guy looked like he was high. Another was a liquor company using a funny spin on it’s name. Everyone is selling something – a book, a website, a training class.
I wouldn’t stand next to these people in an elevator, let alone post their video on my blog.
Where are all the regular people? The normal folks who just want a little kindness in their lives?
Holy crap, am I one of those freaky weirdos? (Desperate, I click through Google pages hoping beyond hope to find a normal face.)
It seems like people are more and more interested in kindness. And yet, our little Simply Kind Tuesday’s started with a bang and has dribbled down to just a few people every week.
I’ve read that charitable giving is down. More people are going to food banks. Food stamp systems can’t keep up with the demand. And that’s here in Colorado where the economic downturn hasn’t had the largest impact.
My fear is that as the world continues to change, we will become insular, self oriented, and forget that our strength is when we stand together.
Is it the economy? A shift in perspective? Or is kindness simply out of the mainstream?
What do you think?
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I think that for most people, kindness is not a way of life but a luxury which they allow themselves only when all their own needs are met. Until the common perception changes, I fear that kindness will become more scarce and remarkable as the economy worsens and people hunker down within themselves.
Every day I notice evidence that it is being replaced by rudeness, aggressiveness, self-interest and attitudes of entitlement, all of which seem to be the new mainstream.
I would really like to be wrong about this, so please don’t shoot the messenger.
I think the problem stems from overcrowding. There was some research done in 1966 on overcrowding in rat populations and behavior never seen in rat populations emerged. My best guess.
Kindness by its very nature is something never reported or heard about. That is as it should be. The world may have more need of kindness but when was this not so? The kind souls among us are still so.
Them that give to charities, while not an unkind thing, usually have an ulterior motive. A closet with too much stuff in it, need for a tax deduction, a desire to make room for new stuff. This is the kindnes that is down and you know about it because it is quantifiable through statistics.
I am not disheartened when statistics fall because I know there are just as many kind people now as there were last year doing just as many(or more) acts of kindness as usual.
The regular people put signs on the doors of their small businesses that say
Found that on http://www.fluentself.com/blog/stuff/unexpected-kindness/ and think very much like @TVM kindness has never been reported much, no sensationalism or shock value to it.
I agree with you that more and more people are looking for kindness and trying to be kind….or maybe I am just gravitating toward those people and leaving the meanies behind.
I need to get back in the habit of doing SKT. Leaving the meanies behind might make a good topic for next week!
Heart in SF – I think we are seeing the same thing. It’s a horrifying to see the aggression and agitation so readily present. Shocking really. Let’s both hope you’re wrong, but plan in case you’re right.
The CEO Monty – You may be right. Certainly our little neighborhood has more building, more condos and more frustrations.
TWMark – I’m not sure why, but your words are very comforting to me. It’s nice to know that kind people are out there doing kind things. Phew.
LaShae – What a wonderful thing to hear. thanks for sharing it. And you’r right – unless you’re sensational or selling something, you never make the news.
Perpstu – Either way, that’s a pretty good thing. I’d bet that you are gravitating toward kind people – and that’s a very good thing.