Have you ever experienced a moment that made you lose faith in the human race? Chances are the answer is yes. I seem to experience this somewhat frequently. I blame this on my
Here's a couple of things that make me more than a little disappointed in my fellow man:
- Failing to say "thank you" when a stranger holds the door open for you. Let's just say I'm that gracious stranger who is holding the door. It may be a small act that only adds up to a couple of seconds out of my life, but I didn't have to volunteer this act. I may be in a hurry; you don't know. It takes less time to say "thank you" than it did for me to hold that door open so make the sacrifice, please. It actually means a lot. (Because, if I'm being completely honest, your failure to do so makes me want to scream out, "Do over!", and I can promise you I won't be holding that door the second time around.)
- Gossip. If you were the subject of whatever you're talking about, would you want someone to continue on with the story? What's that? It's true?? Who cares!?! It's not your business to tell. If you like to tell people's business, why don't you talk about your own? Or are you just not that interesting? (Can you tell I have a bit of animosity built up for gossipers? Whoops.)
- Poor customer service. If you know me at all or read this blog even semi-regularly then you know the high emphasis I put on quality service. When I receive service that is less than sub-par, I usually try to make excuses for that person such as (but not limited to): they're having a bad day, they're going through a breakup, their pet just passed away, and so forth. While one of these excuses just might be true every once in a while, let's be honest--they probably just don't want to be at their job. I get it. Not everyday is sunshine and roses for me either, but have a little dignity and take pride in your work. Challenge yourself to be the best insert here you can be.
- Not letting the first person on the elevator off first. I realize this might be a lofty expectation, but if there are only two people in an elevator I believe it's only fair that the last person on is the last person off. After all, that's the person who delayed the other person in getting to their desired destination.
Okay, I think that list will suffice in getting my point across. The point of this post is not to air a bunch of grievances. No, the point is actually Newton's third law of motion:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
It seems that every act that leaves me shaking my head is always balanced out with an act of human kindness amongst strangers.
For example, I was recently in Savannah for work and got to be a part of something wonderful. As I was walking around downtown with a coworker, a utility truck hit the gas when the light turned green at a traffic stop. When he did this, several buckets full of tools and small pieces of hardware scattered throughout the intersection. Thanks, Inertia! It made quite the scene, as you can imagine. Everyone on the sidewalks stopped what they were doing and stared while murmuring things like, "That sucks." I know because I was one of them. Then, something great happened. I looked to see if cars were coming, turned to my coworker, and said, "Let's help him." And so we did. We hopped into the street in our pencil skirts that make it nearly impossible to bend down comfortably and high heels that aren't exactly built for speed, and began picking up the pieces of hardware, tools, and buckets. Once people saw us doing this, they quickly jumped in to help. Within minutes, the driver of the truck had all of his equipment loaded and was ready for take off.
I don't share this to brag on myself for doing something good. I share this because I had an opportunity to display human kindness. That act only took five minutes, at most, out of my day and it very well could have been the difference between a horrible day and a good day for that man. If no one had pitched in he would have had to attempt to pick up all those items in an intersection in of one of the most visited cities in the nation (and the area that sees the most tourist traffic). It would have taken him a lot longer and most definitely would have put a damper on his mood. But by five strangers taking time out of whatever they were doing this man was able to go on about his day without a big delay. And who knows? It might have inspired others on the sidewalk to do something special for someone when the opportunity arises.
There are so many similar experiences that I could share with you. They happen everyday. Some small; some big. Their impact is the same. It has a positive effect on someone.
I want to end this post with a challenge. I challenge you to be that equal and opposite reaction when you experience one of those actions that leave you disappointed in people.
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