We hear so much today about conspiracies involving evil people, I felt I had to write about my experiences with people who have gone out of their way to be kind to others.
For starters, I live in a multicultural neighborhood with a lot of immigrants from many countries (China, Jordan, Poland, Russia, India.) I also have one family of Muslims living in four of the townhouses in my development and a Jewish neighbor who is one of my best friends. She told me a few years ago that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She has had it three times, but this was the second time, I believe. One of our Muslim neighbors told her to ask for help if she ever needed it. They said their religion requires them to help others.
Marcie herself helped me avoid a job loss with her skills in human resources.
When I moved to be near my parents, I had no job and no money. The first gift I remember was a member of my church giving me frozen chicken breasts to help feed my children.
That Thanksgiving, I received a free basket of food and the person who had created it put a Christmas hand towel on top. That act of thoughtfulness stayed with me all these years (31) and I now collect Christmas decorations for those in our community who live in poverty.
There have been so many others through the years, I will limit this to just a few to illustrate my point. In November, I traveled to Queens, NY to see my daughter. We saw a woman trip and fall on the cobblestone street. My daughter pointed out that a dozen people stopped to help her, and said that people in New York are always helping each other. I have noticed since then that our natural inclination is to help each other. Giving directions to someone who is lost, helping a person with a technology problem, making quilts for charities, pouches for kangaroos injured in fires, providing clothing for immigrants with little or none. It is human to assist others when we can. We do not have less when we give to others. When we share, we all have enough.
I recently drove from St. Petersburg, Florida to my home near Chicago. I made it halfway between Chattanooga and Nashville the first day. It was a small town named Kimball, Tennessee. I woke up at 3:00 AM in a panic attack thinking about dicey situations I had driven through, like high-speed intervals between two trucks with a crazy lane-changer going in and out wherever there was space. I didn’t get back to sleep until 4 or 5, then woke up at 6:15. I decided to try to drive the rest of the way home if possible, no pressure. I did, in fact, make it home by supper time but had forgotten the bag with my technology in the hotel. The hotel owner is sending my computer, and I am so grateful I don’t have to change all my passwords. I couldn’t afford a new computer easily either. So I am grateful for honest people and am sending him a reward, and to the housecleaner.
I had also lost my debit card that day. When I tried to look at my online banking, there was a problem with my browser. The bank had two people helping me for at least 20 minutes. They were patient and kind and I finally got things working.
I will get preachy here, so forgive me. People are good! The best part of our social interactions was the confirmation of my belief that we are all here to help each other, and that the wisest people know this.
1) Social Climate Research, Bennett, J. B., https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0885, accessed 1/31/2020.
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