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Mom, me, and Kenny in 1964 on the road to New Mexico. |
Recently, after hearing distant thunder, I wondered about the forecast. Unfortunately, my phone was not within reach. And being too lazy to fire up the laptop, I turned to my Echo Show and asked, “Alexa, what’s the forecast?” My dutiful digital assistant quickly responded. When “she” finished, I responded, without thinking, “Alexa, thank you!" My Mama always taught me to say please and thank you, but I am not sure this is what she meant. I laughed at myself and forgot about the incident, though Alexa's kindness in response to my "thank you" did linger. You see, Alexa thanked me for my kindness. Obviously, Alexa's Mama, or programmers, also taught her well.
Over the years, I have thanked Alexa for forecasts, adding things to our shopping list, or updating me on the headlines. Each time, Alexa responds with one of several responses thanking me for my kindness. It has become a little game, but I suspect it is actually more than a “little game.”
I don’t know about you, but I sure miss kindness! Being considerate has become rare in our internet-driven, hit-and-run culture that is less concerned about other’s feelings than our own impulses. Rudeness is in! We refuse to acknowledge when we are at fault and never apologize. Taking other's generosity for granted and taking it as our due without a thank you. Mocking people who struggle and disrespecting people who disagree with us is the order of the day. This is nothing new, but this bad behavior has never had the social acceptance it enjoys. It’s called rudeness and reveals our culture's fundamental lack of kindness.
I could drone on about why the change happened and parse the various ways we have become so uncaring and inconsiderate. But I suspect there is no going back. While the history and analysis might be interesting, they will not likely take us back to what one GOP President described as a “kinder and gentler America.” Nope, now we must look forward and discover ways to restore consideration and respect for others in our daily conversations and interactions. My suggestion? Two simple words: discipline and practice.
My Mom considered kindness a skill rather than a deep-seated value grounded in a lasting compassion and respect for ourselves and others. (I said I wasn't going to parse it out, but I couldn't help myself.) I suspect she believed that her “little heathens” (she raised four boys) needed to acquire the skill of kindness, and the understanding would follow. So, we were taught to say “Please” and “Thank you.” When a grandparent was talking, we listened. When someone was on the phone, everyone else remained quiet. No one took the last serving of mashed potatoes. If you bumped into someone accidentally, you said, "I'm sorry." If someone’s hands were full, we opened the door for them. Did she stop and explain the why and when of each incident when we transgressed Mom’s rule of the road? Nope, for Mom, "the look," usually followed by the question, "Did you forget something?" was enough to prompt our kind response. My Mom understood that we needed to practice more than a lecture, and she helped us “practice” kindness, whether we understood it or not. She trusted that as we grew, we would come to see and appreciate kindness for its own sake, and her "guidance" would no longer be needed. (She was, after all, an optimist.)
Mom understood that being courteous and sensitive to others is not only about them. How I treat others is about who I am as a person. The world sees us through our words and actions far more accurately than in the carefully crafted and coifed face we present each day. Being a good person had nothing to do with success and bank accounts. Being a good person was all about how we treated others. She taught her boys that our consideration and respect for others said far more about us than anything else we would ever do or say. In her book, being kind is a fundamental skill for a good person.
Mom has been gone for almost 30 years, and I am still working on this skill. There are people whom I find it very easy to disrespect and treat inconsiderately. I find it especially easy to be unkind to people who did not have a mom to teach them the importance of kindness. When I slipped up, I saw my Mom look and heard her question, “Did you forget something?” This kindness stuff requires lots of practice regardless of how long I have worked on it.
I suspect many of us need much more practice at being kind! I also suspect that if we want to change the world around us, we might start by being a lot more intentional about practicing kindness. For me, that means thanking Alexa as often as I think about it. Kindness is not necessarily just about being kinder. It’s called practice at being a decent human being. And I know with absolute certainty that our world needs another good and decent human being.
Bob
For s little inspiration, click here.