random acts of kindness
While walking home today, the weather suddenly changed and it started raining like mad. Now, all in all this wouldn’t be anything worth blogging about, since this kind of weather is to be expected in the Netherlands, but something worth mentioning occured.
Before I continue, I’d just like to mention that you should try walking home some time. Be it from your office (if possible) or from a train / bus station … it’s relaxing after sitting all day long, it’s healthy and most important of all, it gives you time to reminisce on the events of the days, big or small. Treat yourself to a good walk home sometime, it’s cheap and you’ll most probably love it.
So, while I was walking in the rain, which is awesome (if you don’t have to walk for more than ten to fifteen minutes), I came to a ped crossing and was just drifting away mentally when all of a sudden a car stops in the middle of the street, in front of a green traffic light, a door opens and the driver asks me if I “still had a long way home” and if I needed a lift. Since I only had a few hundred meters left, I declined and thanked the guy.
My first thoughts, when the car stopped, were that someone I know must have recognized me and wanted to give me a lift - which would be perfectly normal, but no - a total stranger. I think that’s awesome. In today’s world, these random acts of kindness seems to be very rare … heck, if I’d been in his position, I don’t know if I’d have done the same.
I talked about this with a friend of mine and he mentioned the dangers associated with this kind of “help” … like getting into the car of a total stranger and all and I think that’s where it’s all going down the drain. If the first thing you think about, when someone you don’t know helps you, is that the person might try to rip you off / scam you / whatever … then there’s something really wrong.
Being alert is one thing, suspecting everyone of malintention is something else.
Either way, what I wanted to say is “Thank you!” to all those people-who-offer-a-lift-to-someone-who-has-to-walk-in-the-rain out there. You make our society a little bit better.
It hits home far greater when you least expect it. A great majority of people that WOULD pick up complete strangers, hitchhikers and the likes, have been abused or taken advantage of, or had bad experiences. Its a shame, because there are so many GENUINLY good people out there that would randomly do stuff like that.
Genuine kind people that wander like this person here, where a random kind act brightens theyre day, and makes them feel better about life in general, dont see this because of all the other people out theyre that destroy these “givers-of-kind-acts”. Society in a nutshell has changed from what it used to be. The old-world (Europe/Eastern, has turned into an americanized War-machine, with so many kind-hearted people being hurt psychologically, and physically.
Its all a viscious cycle. Think about this the next time you see someone hitchhiking, or walking in the rain alone, or even someone looking down on theyre luck. No matter how bad or depressed you think your life may be, as important as yours is, someone else somewhere else, has it worse off.