Kindness, Niceness, Respect, Words have meanings

 Jane Goodall passed away in her sleep. She was so much more than the chimp lady. The work she did has opened a whole new way of thinking about both animals and people.

 

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to

make.”

— Jane Goodall 

 

Kindness costs you very little. Kindness should be one’s first go to. A kind word can make someone’s day especially if they are having a bad one. I compliment someone’s hair or outfit or shoes, many times they smile, and their face brightens up. I have recognized them as a fellow person in just the comment. I try to be kind to all. I don’t know what sort of day/week/month/year they had.

 

Polite is a good reflex too. It doesn’t matter who it is, they deserve politeness. I try to be polite even in difficult situation. It’s just good manners. I have gotten a lot further with taking care of problems with being polite. I watch that play out at DragonCon when I went to check in. It was two different people checking in. One was being rather rude. They kept harping on their status with the hotel and how dare his room was not ready right now. The other gentleman took the news rather graciously and gave them his cell number to call when the room was ready. The gentleman was called back in pretty short order and got his room. The other guy came back about the same time I did to get his room. There was a lot of muttering about calling corporate about how long he had to wait. It was about an hour.  I told the clerk whose name was Susanne that if she needed a witness as to what happened here is my phone number since I had been there for both incidents. She thanked me but said it was not necessary due to the camera system they have set up there.

 

Nice is a reflex with me. I always try to be nice. Again, it costs me nothing except breath. Everyone deserves to be treated nicely. When I was at MoMI two weeks ago, I gave information I knew to others who had questions I could answer. I helped some new puppet owners how to operate their puppets. One said they hope they are as cool as me when they get to my age. I said keep practicing.

 

Respect the other person. Not that easy when the topic is a tough one that one will never see eye to eye. I am of the “agree to disagree” group. There are times that one can totally lose respect for the other person. It is about the time the discussion becomes a war of words and ideas. Shouting is not winning an argument in face it is pretty much losing it. Slurs, implied or blatant, are the end of the argument. “I know you are, but what am I” is the kiss of death. We, as a society, need to relearn how to debate.

 

I learned most of this from my parents who live what they say. They were my models on how to act in public. They also taught me some tricks to discussion and debate. Other things I learned from mentors in my life. 

 

I am grateful for the people to raised me.