Kindness

I was sitting at a leisurely breakfast this morning at my local greasy spoon. My usual table, different server. This person looked to be having a rough day of it. Heck, maybe a rough life overall. First glance would suggest some poor life choices. Judgementally, I looked down at her neck tattoos and several odd facial piercings with some initial disdain but decided to treat her like anybody else, as we should to begin with. I wasn’t sure if she even noticed. The other patrons seemed to be impatient and gruff to her. I was polite and accommodating. When I paid and tipped my usual high amount that I do at breakfast, she seemed genuinely grateful. Her service was subdued through the meal but I’m hoping my minuscule amount of decency helped to make a better day for that person. It got me thinking afterwards about how little things can have a bigger impact. So little kindness can go a long way. If we were just a little better to each other, what would the world be like? You can still scream at someone in traffic, but maybe hold a door for someone or look a coworker in the face and say have a nice day. Our outrage culture notices every slight against us, try looking for the good and learning to appreciate the nice things that happen during the day. Can you remember any? Did you do anything memorable to someone else? Are you impacting the world, in what way? Breakfast makes me contemplative.