Stupid Kindness
Why is kindness taken as stupidity?
I’d like to start out by saying I’m a nice person. I like being polite, kind, and helpful to others (hey, I’m a librarian, so it comes with the territory). I appreciate it when others treat me with the same decency and respect that I show them. What I don’t understand is people taking a good quality, like kindness, for stupidity or weakness.
The saying, “don’t smile until Christmas,” is a serious mantra among schoolteachers. Veteran pedagogues often tell their newbie colleagues that if you command your class like a drill sergeant at the beginning of the year and dole out plenty of work, the little darlings will quickly fall in line. Try to be nice and friendly, and you’re in for one hellish year.
Even when it comes to dealing with setting up appointments, kindness will not get you very far. For instance, once when there was an Internet outage at our house, my husband, who is ever so calm and polite, called our provider and was told that a technician can come out to take care of our problem in 10 days. Hearing that, I got on the phone with our Internet provider and said firmly (albeit politely) that 10 days is unacceptable as my husband has a home business that requires the Internet. Guess what? Our service was restored the next day.
I have no idea what makes people respond more to kicks in the butt than to old fashioned courtesy. If you ask me, I think it takes more strength to be kind to people who are angry, upset, or simply jerks than it is to just hash out your frustrations on them. With so many people these days being rude and inconsiderate of others, it’s important to show a little kindness but even more important to recognize and appreciate it. Why can’t we all practice some random acts of kindness in our day-to-day lives?
Why, indeed.
Kindness should never go out of style. It is true that our changing world sometimes makes it harder to show that kindness but we must never resort to apathy or nastiness. We must be an example to our peers and the younger generations. I always told our kids, you’ll never be sorry for treating someone kindly.
No, kindness should never go out of style and I hope it never does. If each person practiced just a little kindness each day, the world would be a better place. It may be cliche, but it’s true!
Random acts of kindness are the jewels of life. Everyone should participate in the rewarding sense of joy of being kind to others. The personal satisfaction of being kind is payment enough to give one a meaningful sense of fulfillment in life.
I agree that being kind to others is not only a gift to others but a gift to oneself. Science has proven that kindness is actually good for our health (https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/science-of-kindness.html). I like being kind, but on some days with some people who never return kindness or give acknowledgement, it feels like a slap in the face. I don’t know if others feel this way sometimes? Maybe I should return to Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements!