This morning I stopped on the way to work at Dunkin' Donuts in one of the more "prestigious" neighborhoods. On the way out, a woman was heading in. I habitually stepped to one side to clear the doorway, half-expecting her to come barging through. Instead, she also stepped back out of the doorway and held the door open for me to walk through. I glanced up to her face and saw only kindness there.
Even if she was in a hurry, there was time for civility and respect for a fellow human, even one who was dressed far shabbier than her.
When I arrived at work shortly thereafter, I spied a co-worker unlocking the front door; she was the first one in this morning. She didn't see me approach as I approach from the sidewalk and not from the parking lot in the opposite direction. Just before my hand hits the doorknob, I hear the "click" of the lock being manually set from the inside. I dig out my keys and unlock the door. She saw me enter and apologized for re-locking it behind her; she was afraid to be in the building alone without the door locked - just to be safe. I used to do that too.
How much have we come to fear each other in this world? How much do we expect the worst in people? How much does our perspective of what harms we envision become self-fulfilling when we treat each other as though they were going to behave in certain ways, even when we genuinely hope for the opposite?
We are interconnected. What we send out - how we think about others - really does have an affect. I must strive to focus on the positive, not the negative. They are a part of me and I am a part of them.
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