Kind kind

“Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?” Tom Waits asks himself in his song “Everything goes to hell”.

There isn’t any reward in my experience. Bad things happen to good people as well as good things happening to bad people. It’s almost pure luck. And bad people have the advantage of getting out of consequences through lying and cheating while the good ones take responsibility for their mistakes. And the truly kind ones will almost never boast about their good deeds, I’ve seen a bunch of videos where people help people in need, but it always bugs me. Did they help because of kindness or to shoot a good video for internet? Not to say the helped ones care, they got help to get them through the day. Being kind can even get you in some dangerous, or at least uncomfortable situations. Help a stranger on your way to work, and he follows you every time he sees you expecting more. Ask a stumbling person is he okay, and he curses you to mind your business. Get a child down from a swing when it cries, and its parents attack you and call you a pedophile. There are certainly more examples of this than of gratitude.

In the end, if you need help, will anyone help you? You certainly can’t expect it, not even from the closest friends, not even from family. Everyone has their own problems, their own lives to live. And maybe them too are disappointed and have stopped helping anyone because they have no more strength or patience for it.

So the question stands: Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?