Naturally Kind

I was at the Coop food store by 8am on a Sunday. It was obvious that time of day was very slow for them. What was also apparent was, it was a day for dads to take their tiny daughters grocery shopping. First encounter was in the produce department. This young man and his maybe year-old daughter were having a wonderful time shopping. She had her dress on and her sticky up ponytail on top of her head. She also wore yellow glasses. I decided my best approach would be to watch from a distance as opposed to running over there and gushing. Dad would pick something up; he discussed it with her, showed it to her and then into the cart. I just wanted to watch them and their interactions for the entire time. But I moved on, and lo and behold around the corner was the second dad and little girl. They weren't as interactive, but they were clearly enjoying grocery shopping together. I love watching girl dads. Moms are intense when shopping, dads putter more. They make constant references to the list, but they are certainly more chill. My shopping style is a "wanderer". I try very hard to position my cart out of the way as I go up and down, around and around finding what I need. I wander all over with no real plan.  

I was looking for cocoa and couldn't find it. Because I like to get everything on the grocery list, I asked the young clerk for help. He came with me to show me; I find that happens more the older I get. Once we reached the spot for the cocoa, there was none. Just a gaping hole of emptiness. He was most apologetic and offered to get it from the back. I assured him it wasn't necessary. He asked me what I was baking. I stumbled through explaining I kept baking supplies in my house because I had a baking business. He wanted to know where I advertised. This is how things spiral out of control for me. Once I babbled through an explanation, that made very little sense, he had my groceries run through. I came away from that interaction thinking, he is a kind person. He was also doing a good job of his job. It came naturally to him to know what to say. Who says, "so what are you baking today?", when you are helping someone find cocoa. A kind person does that is who. A person that really cares and someone who is "naturally kind". 

That small act of kindness made my morning, my whole day and now I am sharing in the hopes it makes your day as well. I thought I was brilliant coming up with the phrase, "naturally kind". You can imagine how surprised I was when I did a bit of a google search to find out naturally kind people have 8 characteristics. Here they are:

1. Listen to others and truly pay attention.

2. Offer help without expecting anything in return. 

3. Practice patience.

4. Show genuine appreciation.

5. Empathize with others.

6. Forgive and let go.

7. Respect boundaries.

8. Spread positivity.

I don't know about you, but I have never ever thought of someone who is naturally kind. I am now on the lookout. I like naturally kind people, clearly, they bring out the best in me. I think on any given day every person uses some of the characteristics described. Naturally kind people probably use more of them on a more consistent basis.  

I am sure that the clerk at the Coop store wasn't received in the manner at which I received him on a regular basis. I have watched people going through grocery lines and some aren't very nice. I have to admit that groceries have gone up and maybe that is why they are cranky, but it's not the person at the tills fault. 

I decided during covid that I needed to speak to every grocery store worker, every waitress, every gas attendant in more of a respectful and encouraging way. It is now a habit for me. One that gets a variety of results.  

I think my takeaway here is: we need to invest more in making people feel good about themselves. Tap into that one little thing that brings out the best in people. Some people are naturals at it, others struggle more. We all have the ability to be "Naturally Kind", so let's just do it.