Kindness Is Always In Style
Guest Post by Dennis Miller at Miller On The Money
Growing up as an only child, I loved our trips to Tennessee. Aunt Martha had six children; playing and bonding with cousins, while surrounded by loving family are some of my most cherished childhood memories.
My older cousin Janet, married a man named Jim Baxley, and they had five boys of their own. I was in my mid-20s when I got my first real two-week summer vacation, with the ability to load my young family in the car and head to Tennessee so they could meet their ever-growing number of cousins. Janet and Jim invited us to stay with them in Bristol.
They were warm, loving, humble people; our family quickly felt welcome and comfortable. We all slept on the living room floor, and loved every minute of it.
Jim was a true southern gentleman, a clever sense of humor, with a demeanor similar to TV character Mr. Rogers, very easy to love. He was a well-known fixture in his local community as the editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. His readers looked forward to his comments regularly.
I was surprised to see his son (JB) post one of his columns (dated Sunday October 16, 1988) on Facebook, commenting:
“Dad’s National Day of Kindness will soon be here, the 17th of October, as always. I think he would say, don’t wait until tomorrow to spread a little kindness, start today.”
When I read the column and his comments, I was in the middle of drafting another agonizing article about all the negative crap going on in the world. I immediately stopped, deciding not to “wait until tomorrow,” as JB suggested. I inquired (a special “thank you” to JB) and have permission to reprint his column. Jim Baxley’s words ring true today. (The print was hard to read so I retyped the column.)
“The general state of kindness in the world, sad to say, is not good.
Hostages are still being held in Lebanon; human rights violations continue in every hemisphere; armed conflict, much of it stemming from religious differences, has abated but not disappeared; hate abounds, with extremists at both ends of the ideological spectrum shouting obscenities and insults at those they perceive as their enemies….”
Every yard down here in Podunk has a little sign in the yard that says “BE KIND”. In the city every house has a sign that reads “This Property Guarded By XYZ Security Company”. Places with too much population are not so kind anymore.
Other than For Sale signs, around here the only lawn signs you see are ‘HATE HAS NO HOME HERE’. These signs depict hands of different colors holding different hearts that contain the alphabet people flag, symbols for all religions, the Canadian flag, symbols for people with disabilities, the Every Child Matters logo for Indigenous people and the BLM closed fist logo.
The signs are a good way of identifying people you should avoid.
Cricket, we just don’t have that here and rarely in the city do I see the signs of which you speak. I would relocate if that were the norm here.
Everyone with a “Hate Has No Home Here” will openly tell you how much they hate Donald Trump, who the sign wrongly refers too. What a bunch of hypocrite morons.
It would be nice to see, just once, the roles of the cover picture reversed. That young man owes that old battle axe nothing…
Cloud- I guess you would let your old rickety mother walk home with sacks and not care if anyone cared to give her a helping hand? It’s attitudes like yours that make modern life way less tolerable than back in the day. You help people because you are a decent human being here on this plane, it’s not about owing something to someone but because it is the decent thing to do.
Look, Cloud…..you will be elderly one day and need help, just sayin’. GLWT
My buddy and I exited the post class six after buying beer. Old man in the parking lot in a wheelchair. His van had a flat. We quickly offered and changed the tire and refused money. He asked our names and unit. Next night we are told to report to our LTC, the provost marshal. The old man was his dad. Himself a retired officer. We got a five day pass, no duty, no formations no pt for 5 glorious days. Pays to be nice.
Nice article for a brief respite.
I still endeavor to uphold the Boy Scout motto. Old and gay, I’m sure, but it serves me as being right.
A Scout is:
Trustworthy,
Loyal,
Helpful,
Friendly,
Courteous,
Kind,
Obedient,
Cheerful,
Thrifty,
Brave,
Clean,
and Reverent.
I still (at 63) have issues with obedient and reverent in the case of current affairs, but I do my best! And I am ALWAYS prepared . Kindness never hurts the situation, just makes you a chump on occasion, but always the better man.
Peace, L.