There's an old saying that goes, "It costs nothing to be kind."
Smiling at a stranger, saying hi back to a young and socialable child, holding a door for someone, and maybe even exchanging a pleasantry or two at the checkout line costs nothing more than a few words passing our lips and showing a little kindness.
But it seems in recent years, particularly since the pandemic when we had to wear masks, stay inside, and generally operated from a place of constant worry and concern, showing that kindness feels too burdensome—if not completely unnecessary—to many.
This realization for TikToker @karaandlife came in the form of an interaction with a Walmart greeter.
Sitting in her car after doing her shopping, the TikToker asked her community:
"Can we normalize smiling at the Walmart greeters?"
"Because mine just thanked me for smiling at him this morning, and I'm like, 'What? Doesn't everybody do that?'"
You can watch the video here:
Though TikToker @karaandlife only called for people to smile at the employees that they see when they walk into the store, her observation started quite a debate on the platform.
There were absolutely some TikTokers who agreed with her and felt that a renewed push for kindness was needed.
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A few pointed out specifically that they'd noticed a shift since the pandemic, which seems incredibly plausible.
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But there were others who did not see the point in smiling at the employees for a variety of reasons.
For some, the shopping experience is already overwhelming, and adding one more thing, like worrying about the people around them and interacting with them, felt like an additional, unnecessary stress.
For others, they felt there was little return on the investment of showing kindness, either because the greeters did not show the same kindness back or because of the large corporation they were working for as a whole.
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Showing kindness, especially something as simple as smiling at other people, seems to be one of those things that seems simple and straightforward on the surface, but actually contains a multitude of layers and motivations for some people.
Whether it's because of the pandemic, fewer third spaces than ever before, or even online dating, and dating and friendship culture, there are many people who simply think that it's too high of an investment with no guarantee of reciprocation.
@WhiteHouse/X
