The Kindness of Strangers

Is it not a little ironic that I am posting about kindness in a blog bitch-themed blog? Then again, I love irony. And kindness should be discussed as bitchiness' more thoughtful older sister, no?

This weekend I spent in Melbourne with my parents. And what struck me most over the course of the weekend was the kindness of strangers. The man who sold me Jodi Picoult's Mercy at Angus & Robertson, who commented on my choice of book; the man on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth who sold me a copy of The Big Issue, who stuck up conversation about the weather; the woman at the Ian Potter Centre whom I helped show how to use her iPod as an audio guide (yes, the IPC has switched from audio guides to iPods as audio guides - an intriguing indication of the influence of the iPod.) These people all expressed small acts of consideration in the form of friendly words; I can't explain why it touched me, but it did. It just restores that hope and belief that people really are good at heart.

x
Just a girl