Is it just me, or is kindness an increasingly rare commodity these days? During my travels this week, I had to wonder why people need to be reminded to be kind. Shouldn’t kindness be our default behaviour?
The Sunday Spark is a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week. In addition to the importance of being kind, this week I look at harnessing the power of tides, the Eiffel Tower, online shopping’s environmental impact, and eco-friendly teacher gifts.
The Sunday Spark – Week 18
On my mind this week: a reminder to be kind
On Friday, after I boarded my flight home from Chicago, the captain made an announcement reminding passengers to be kind to the cabin crew. The man seated next to me said “Why do we need a reminder to be human?”
Sadly, it seems many people do need a reminder to treat others with respect. In addition to the verbal reminders, there are signs in the airport and in other locations telling people that abuse and harassment of workers will not be tolerated. It’s a sad commentary on the state of humanity.
When did we become so impatient and full of our own importance that we think it’s okay to mistreat employees who are just trying to do their jobs? Some blame the pandemic. Personally, I think basic respect and kindness were on their way out long before the pandemic.
It’s easy to get frustrated when you get poor service or experience flight delays. But the front line workers are not to blame. People working in the service industry are tired and overworked, not to mention underpaid. They’re doing the best they can, and deserve to be treated with respect and grace.
There’s an old saying that you’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Let’s practise empathy and show some kindness to the people serving us. When faced with delays, take a deep breath and try to find peace in the moment. When mistakes happen, pause and remind yourself that we are all human and no-one is perfect.
Let’s show some kindness to the people serving us. They deserve nothing less.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
The 14th Dalai Lama
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Three highlights of the week
Keeping the trend of celebrating big milestones and simple pleasures in life going, here are three highlights of the week gone by:
- My daughter Colleen won a silver medal in this week’s Skills Ontario provincial competition.
- I enjoyed two engaging and productive days of meetings in Wisconsin and, unlike other recent trips, I had no major weather issues or travel delays.
- During my trip to Wisconsin, we did an escape room. I have only ever done a virtual escape room before, so I spent most of the time in a state of confusion. My team somehow managed to escape with five minutes to spare. It was a lot of fun.
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Can tidal power replace diesel?
A new project in British Columbia is investigating the possibility of harnessing the power of the tides off Vancouver Island to generate power. This could be a way for remote coastal communities to replace diesel generators with a cleaner, renewable energy source. (Source: National Observer)
Is the Eiffel Tower an eyesore?
The Eiffel Tower is an iconic symbol of Paris, attracting millions of visitors every year. I learned this week that when it was built, the Parisian people thought it was an eyesore and a waste of money. (Source: The Strong Traveller)
Online shopping is better for the environment
Shopping online is so convenient but, did you know it has a 79% lower carbon impact than in-store shopping? And, you can further cut your carbon emissions by 50% by choosing standard shipping over express shipping. To learn more and find out your impact, check out ThredUp’s Fashion Footprint Calculator.
Sustainable living tip: eco-friendly teacher gifts
As we approach the end of another school year in the United States and Canada, you might be thinking about teacher gifts. Instead of another candle or trinket, why not consider a zero-waste or eco-friendly gift for your child’s teacher?
Check out 10 thoughtful teacher gifts that are kind to the Earth for ideas for gifts any teacher will love.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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I love that you didn’t have any weather issues on your trip – no lugging the suitcase up the stairs, thankfully! Great reminder to be kind. It makes such a difference!
And I’d assumed that online shopping was worse for the environment so wow was I surprised to read that it has lower carbon impact. Thanks for that education!
Oh my goodness. I took my regular-sized carry on suitcase this time instead of my under-seater. Yes…very grateful that I didn’t have to lug that one up the stairs. LOL
I always thought the same about online shopping. That was definitely a learning I had to share.
As someone who worked for years in retail, I can attest to the fact that kindness was on its way out long before the pandemic. It’s definitely a really sad reality.
I think that’s a funny tidbit about the Eifel Tower because I wasn’t impressed with it when I saw it.
That’s interesting to hear that you weren’t impressed by the Eiffel Tower. I have been to Paris twice and wasn’t impressed either time. I do like the Eiffel Tower but the city itself is unfriendly and unwelcoming. It’s not a place I would go back to.
Being kind is simple Michelle. We make it challenging sometimes when someone acts in an unkind way towards us; this is when we want to flex our mental muscles, smile and beam kindness because the individual doesn’t understand what they’re doing, in a way. Unkind individuals project their fear onto the world; we can not play that game by smiling and letting them go. Challenging in moments but it gets easier. Great message!
Ryan
Thanks for dropping by, Ryan. You make a great point about how we react to unkind behaviour. It’s so difficult to do in the moment, though.
I’m baffled why people take out their anger and frustration on the flight crew or any personnel in an airport for that matter. I see passengers berating counter people at an airport who are trying to find someone another flight when their original flight gets canceled. It’s as if they hold them responsible for their travel woes—talk about misplaced anger. It’s human nature to respond better to kindness than intimidation.
It is baffling, Pete. A few weeks ago when I was delayed at O’Hare because of weather, I was pleasantly surprised at how calm people were. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Congratulations to your daughter! Yes, sadly kindness seems to be an elusive concept today. There often seems to be less humanity in humans overall.
Thanks, Deb. It’s a shame we’ve devolved to the point where we need to be reminded to be kind.
I’ve always assumed that online shopping had a greater carbon footprint (and felt guilty about it…but not enough not to take advantage of the convenience). This is great to know! Thanks.
I thought the same Monty. I was surprised to learn that online shopping is better for the environment. I suppose, though, if the convenience leads to overbuying the benefits are negated.
I’m with you, Michelle, about kindness…why do we need reminders…and then I realized the captain’s message, given some of the crazy misbehavior ‘in the air’ seems necessary (sadly).
Glad you had an uneventful trip this time, weather-wise! But oh boy – your comment about confusion in the escape room? That’s been me the two times I’ve been swept up in that form of “fun”. It was NOT fun – LOL! 🤣
Thanks Vickie! Yes, I was VERY grateful that I was in that escape room with several very smart people who knew what to do, or I’d still be there. I’m glad I didn’t pursue a career in policing. Ha ha. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Oh my — me, too! I felt good knowing that I had “detective types” around me who were really into all of it…loving the puzzles. I think they were happy I didn’t engage or try to help much…mostly I felt like a sweaty mess standing in the corner! Hope you have a great day, too Michelle! 🥰
I also did an escape room this week, linked to Sherlock Holmes. As a teacher, I think we prefer ecofriendly gifts. Cool pooints!
The escape room we did was a James Bond theme. Yes, I wrote my original teacher gift blog post with some input from my sister-in-law who is a teacher. Thanks for reading Jamie!