The kindness of strangers

The kindness of strangers is something most people don’t believe in; sort of an urban legend, something to keep our kids happy and hopeful for the future while the adults know the truth and secretly despise each other just for being strangers.

Once upon a time, society was based a lot more on said kindness: hitchhikers and cars that stopped to take you with them, a beer on the house, and perhaps even a roof over your head just because someone found it in their heart to be a decent human being. But now, in a time of terror and corruption, it’s impossible to think that someone would be selflessly nice towards you, asking for nothing in return and with no hidden bad intentions.

Okay then, try to imagine the following scenario:
It’s 8:50 and you’re running late; you know for sure that if you’re not at the bust stop in five minutes you’ll have to spend thirty dollars on a cab and still get scolded by your boss. You put your shoes on in a rush, balancing your coffee in one hand and your keys in the other while your backpack is sliding dangerously off your shoulder and you’re trying to keep it in place with your elbow. You sprint down the stairs and yes, you can see it now! You have exactly one minute, you can make it, you’ll be on time, you’ll be voted employee of the month, you’ll get a promotion, you will…

And someone bumps into you.

You drop your coffee; spilling it on yourself and all over your clothes. You miss the bus, even though you ran after it for two blocks. You can see a new crack on your phone’s screen. Your first instinct is to punch the person who bumped into until you break their nose. Or at least call them names you’re the only one who knows how to use (like a stupid octopus) and try to make them feel bad. You expect to see an equally mad face, someone ready to give you the same treatment and probably comment on how you were running like a madman and wasn’t watching where you were going. But when you raise your eyes, you see something completely different.

You see a smile.

You see someone with honest regret in their eyes, muttering an apology over and over again and offering you a tissue. You see someone who feels bad about your little accident. And suddenly you feel terrible because here you were ready to lash out on some stranger who’s being nothing but nice to you.

The best part? They offer to drive you to work since they’re the reason you missed your bus.

Here you have it, the kindness of strangers.

Maybe in day-to-day encounters, it’s not as extravagant as all that; maybe people don’t really go out of their way to this extent to help you. But the kindness of strangers is a real thing. There are people here, on this earth, in your city too, that will help you if they see you in need.

They’ll offer you a hand when you need someone to pull you up. Some will open their arms and homes to you while others will just offer you a kind word and a smile. It all matters; everything counts. And the best thing about it is that it’s contagious. A stranger smiles at you while you’re walking in the street. You smile back. And then you can’t stop smiling; you smile to the little kids playing in the playground, you smile at the tired cashier. You give out happy vibes and sweet words to people you don’t really know and it makes your day.

It’s not hard to be one of the kind strangers. It’s not ‘the right thing to do’ to help an old man cross the street, you don’t do it because of some duty to; you do it because it’s the humane thing to do, what every one of us should do. Being nice isn’t all that hard. Everyone will have little misfortunes on a daily basis but being a grumpy cat and hating everyone around you just because of that can’t make the world a better place (nor will it comfort you).

A smile, on the other hand, can.