Kindness is important.
Honestly some of the kindest, least self-centered people I've met that brighten my day are people society often treats 'less than'. I met an elderly thrift store cashier lady (Gail) and "panhandler" (Scott) trying to get a bus ticket. I loved hearing Gail's laughter at my weird sense of sarcastic humor, and little did she know, she made ME feel understood and even validated for joking in ways someone appreciated...and I felt comfortable and relaxed enough to be so lighthearted with a stranger. And then Scott stopped me to ask for money when I had no cash, but I listened, made eye contact, shook his hand, wished him the best of luck. Walking away, I realized the was the most respectful and polite person I'd interacted with in weeks.
It always gives back to be kind. We always think of being kind as some kind of gift we give to others but I think people who truly care are just being loving because that's how they believe people should be treated, no matter who they are.
The ego is ugly, attitudes of superiority / self-importance are genuinely a red flag of narcissism (which many aspects of our society glorifies and thinks is a priviledge of being glamorous; "you can act how you want, because ______, I'll overlook/look past that because you are ______"). No matter what your status, I think a little humility goes a long way in how we regard ourselves and others.
Character & how you treat other people is more important to me than the recognition, fame, talent, or title people have. If you view yourself as better or more important, if you act in ways that only promotes your agenda/serves yourself in the end, you probably are hurting people in your path. You may not care, but I think it matters if we at least on a base level care about how we interact with the people around us. We glaze past a lot because we have no relationship and don't know strangers aka "other people". But by setting ourselves apart from others, we take away some humanity in forgetting how much we all feel & experience, want & need the same- in a deep way.
None of us should be excused from a little kindness toward each other as we exist together on this planet. We don't live forever, wouldn't you like to brighten someone's day because they interacted with you (vs. making it more negative, cause you know we all have enough negativity to go around in a given day) ?
And you may just realize in humanizing everyday interactions, by treating 'people' like each one is a person like yourself -imperfect yet worthy of love- and choose to withhold prejudice (pre-judging) who they are or what they're like without knowing them, you will discover a lot of pleasant surprises. Being kind is so underrated; like being patient or giving, even when it's not convenient or may take an extra second of your time...it's worth it if it makes other people feel treated like they're human being who has value for no bigger reason than they exist and should be treated with the same kindness we ourselves want to experience.
