Even though parents try to instill respect within their children; churches encourage kindness among their worshippers; and businesses expect employees to treat customers with consideration; an epidemic of rudeness is infecting the well-being of our world and society.
WHAT ARE WE TO DO?
Rudeness costs us time, energy, and money. It infects the well being of the human race. The Farmers’ Almanac has always advocated the benefits of kindness and consideration. There is good in the world, and we try to remind people of it.
THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL
There are many organizations dedicated to promoting, inspiring, and sharing the ideas, benefits and stories about kindness. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that was formed to “inspire and facilitate the practice of kindness throughout the world.” According to their Web site, www.actsofkindness.org, their mission is to “demonstrate the extraordinary power and importance of simple human kindness by promoting the practice of kind acts, large and small, on a regular basis.” On their Web site, the foundation offers inspiration, leadership and ideas about how to inspire kindness, individually and collectively.
Some of their suggestions include calling a lonely person, offering a person a ride, sponsoring a kindness week, and developing your own Random Acts of Kindness group. Their Web site also offers a forum where people can exchange kindness stories.
“KINDNESS HAS MORE POWER THAN COMPULSION.”
No one can argue with the fact that rudeness is an obstacle in our world. But how to reduce the level of rudeness seems to have a very basic answer—be kinder to everyone. Don’t let everyday stresses and routines get in the way of smiling at strangers, saying hello to neighbors, or lending a helping hand to others. Spreading kindness one small deed at a time will make a lot of headway in conquering rudeness.
A few suggestions the Farmers’ Almanac recommends include:
- Treat rudeness with kindness.
- Don’t ignore an inappropriate behavior; take gentle measures to point out the bad behavior. If anger is at the root of the rude behavior, or your response to it, wait until later to call the person’s supervisor, or write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
- Encourage children and schools to recognize and inspire kindness.
- Write letters to your local media to remind them that news about the good in society can also be hooks that increase audience size and support for the media outlet.
Share your ideas of how to promote kindness here.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
