Behind the Ironic Column

Like Blanche DuBois, I was raised in the South.  I think that’s really about all we have in common, although I’m sure some of my friends have occasionally considered that there might be more. 

Blanche’s famous quote “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” really applies to everyone, not just those of us with Southern heritage or with a tendency to overplay or otherwise create drama in ordinary life.   We’ll save those Southern women stereotypes for another discussion. 

The kindness of strangers, though, is necessary lubication for the gears in the daily grind.  Without it, we are easily mangled in those same gears.  And it doesn’t take much to make a big difference in someone’s day.  The driver who stops to let me (the pedestrian) cross the street  in a pouring rainstorm doesn’t lose much time on his way home.  The young couple who jump-started my car for me this afternoon (after I foolishly left the lights on for two hours) could have said they were in a big hurry to get on their way (we were out at a storage room either putting possessions in or taking them out).   But they were both kind and gracious.  It only took a few minutes  – and definitely improved the quality of my day.  The facility manager also offered helpful advice – even though he’s not permitted to actually work on a car problem.  They could have ignored my problem (it definitely wasn’t their fault) and told me to call someone or get a tow truck. 

The act of helping someone else usually makes the helper feel good as well.  Whether this is storing up karmic good points that we believe will return to us later or whether it’s simple altruism isn’t really clear.  It may be that those are two sides of the same coin.  I read some articles not long ago that discuss altruism in other species.  We’ve considered it to be a uniquely human characteristic, but that may not be accurate.  Chimps, for instance, sometimes help other chimps or humans, even when there’s no obvious reward for them.  (see an article in the New Scientist) http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12132    Maybe helping strangers feels good to them as well.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS