Describe something you or others do that is kind but very few people do it.
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Compliments- I never hear them anymore
Buy some food for the homeless. It doesn't need to be alot, it doesn't need to be an entire meal, just a little gesture if kindness towards people who are just that... people. Even I go to an area with a fair number of homeless, I stop at Tim Hortons, buy a couple packs of doughnuts or muffins and then offer it to them. I try to sit down and talk when I can. I don't have much money and for some money can be problematic-- instead I think it's easy enough to do-- Buy them a coffee and let them know someone is listening and someone cares.
This is slightly biased... but. When you are dealing with someone doing a job that is relatively thankless (retail, city worker, waiter, nurse, etc), when you interact with them, thank them for what they did but also say "I appreciate it" or "I appreciate you."... I think, after covid lockdown those who were working on person immediately after (or worse those who worked during as well) had to deal with so much more past the normal level of thanklessness. It created such a fatigue (fewer coworkers, longer hours, no/low annual raises, fewer breaks, more customers/patients, angrier customers/patients, etc). It created burn out all across alot of industries. For me personally, where I was (keyword was), during lockdowns while some were complaining about working from home and being housebound, my part time job pivotted from customer interaction to 10hr shifts of manual labour, moving 60+lbs boxes on my own for curbside pickup. I would hit 10,000 steps within the first few hours. I was physically exhausted and broken and making less than I would have had my business temporarily laid me off. When things reopened and I went back to my normal job, in a given shift, I would interact with 100+ people (at that point I didn't qualify for the vaccine as roll out was slow, so that was its own level of stress). The vast majority were passively annoyed, curt and dismissive (waiting in a 2hr lineup to be told there's another 1hr line up for the dept would do that). But, I would have at least 10 people, per day (ie. A person an hour), get in my face and yell at me, call me stupid or a racial slurs or other colourful words... over things entirely out of my control (the customer not picking something up that we reserved for them because they didn't "feel like it" and now it's gone; online showing something was in stock when it wasn't; or them having to wait because more than half of the department quit wothin two months so there's only two coworkers on a saturday)...
And though that was my experience, my friends, who worked elsewhere in different industries had a similar experience. The difference it made in my day when someone would say "hey, you can only do so much, no worries."... I remember the first person to say that, I broke down sobbing it was just what I desperately needed to hear.
Had more people (managers included) just taken the time to say 'thank you', to say 'I appreciate you', to say 'there's only so much you can do'... maybe turn over wouldn't have been so high, people wouldn't have felt so content to take anger out on people just trying to get by, maybe I would have stayed. Before losing your temper, remember the person you're talking to is a person first and foremost and demands respect no different than you do.
Hold doors open for people
Manners- Barely ever get a please and thank you.
Help someone you see struggling to hold something. The number of times, I've been out and seen people juggling grocery bags and a kid trying to load their car while the cart keeps rolling away and people just walk by them... go help, it takes two seconds. Hold the cart still or hands them their bags. People struggling to get their laundry into their car after a laundromat visit, offer to take a basket out for them.
Smiling! I believe if someone smile at you, for some reason makes you feel better. So just smile!
In my religion, we’re taught that smiling at someone is an act of charity.
Anything. Once at Volcan I had a few quarters and I was going to use them at the little goggle machines (don't know the word) and I instead gave them to some kids who wanted to use it. It just made me smile how happy the kids were. Every time I see a homeless person I want to give them a million dollars. I want to take everyone I love and put them in a box and protect them from the world.
But maybe we can start by smiling back?
Don't forget your manners.
I work at a cafe/diner as a waiter. I rarely hear a please or thank you, or any manners.
