I have a confession to make: I hate people.
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you have likely heard me say as much. But do you know why loathe the human race?
Sit down, this might take a while.
I entered the workforce when I was 15-years-old, and have been working ever since. I have had every job you could ever imagine -- minus anything with any kind of pole --, but soon found myself firmly planted in the service industry.
I read Tarot cards for 900 number hotlines, I sold cars, I tended bar, I sold real estate, I worked in education, I worked for doctors, I worked for lawyers and even peddled alarm systems. And no matter the job, I have always (and I mean always) had a job where I have dealt with people on their absolute worst behavior.
You’d be amazed at the things you see when you tend bar; the lying, the cheating…it’s enough to make you hate every person alive.
You would be disgusted at the displays of deceit and greed you see in real estate –, and I’m talking about the clients.
You would turn over in your grave, if you had even the slightest idea of how dodgy the car business is.
You would blow chunks if you knew how many horrible things your waiter or waitress is doing to your food.
You would be flabbergasted if you knew how many people will run out on their bills, their families and their obligations and never look back.
And you would probably slap someone’s mother if you knew how many people every day give up on getting an education because “collecting money from the government is easier.”
And truly, I’m just getting warmed up. There’s more, but I think you get the idea.
Indeed, I have seen it all. I have heard it all. And I’m tired. I’m tired because it never changes. Because people never change. They make it easy for me to hate them.
Instead of living in an imaginary world, believing that people (at their core) are honest and that everyone just needs a little help, I got to see the majority of mankind when they were at their lowest points. And trust me, the majority of humanity is full of anything but good intentions.
But cynic that I am, I still believe that deep down I can make a difference.
About a year ago, I started “paying it forward.” I didn’t have a particular reason. I suppose it was just something I felt I needed to do – this type of thing happens to me often. One day, I just decided to do something kind for a random stranger, and have since repeated this routine for 384 days now.
Sometimes I get the coffee for the person behind me in line. Other days, I give a fast food gift card to a homeless person I see on the street. Still, on other days, it’s picking up the tab for the fella in front of me at Wal-mart who can’t pay for baby formula and motor oil, and giving him some extra “tide me over cash”. Yes, every day I do a little something for someone else. It’s tiny, it’s concealed, and it’s a random act of kindness.
The difference between me and many other do-gooders is that I don’t tout these things aloud. I believe that announcing your virtuous deeds cheapens them and robs them of their nobility.
So instead of touting my meritorious deeds every day, I complain publically about the person who couldn’t put their cart away or the rude fella on the phone, but if you are smart enough to notice – and wise enough to read in between the lines – you will notice that I am never doing such heinous deeds myself. I am solely crying out for change.
At the end of the day, all I genuinely want is a little change from my fellow man, and for everyone to strive to be a better person than the one they were yesterday.
My only remaining question is: when will they?
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