| Don't give cookies to that woman | 2005-02-06 15:00 5 comments |
 by Flemming FunchIt got a lot of press, but maybe you didn't hear about it. Two teenage girls living in rural Durango, Colorado decided one evening to bake cookies and deliver plates of them to their neighbors, decorated with hearts and friendly messages. They baked chocolate-chip and sugar cookies, and cut out big hearts from pink construction paper, and wrote "Have a Great Night!" on them. Just to be nice. Random act of kindness. Pay it forward. But one of those neighbors, who apparently is living in her own little strange world of terror, where everybody would be expected to attack her at any time, had a fit, thought somebody was going to break in and burglarize her, called the police, and generally got so upset that she checked herself into the hospital, thinking she was getting a heart attack from anxiety. Sounds like she's somebody who really could have used a plate of cookies and a friendly unthreatening message of kindness. But no, she then sued the two girls for her medical expenses and some judge agreed with her and ordered them to pay her $900. For delivering free cookies to her. So, if you ever had planned to do anything unexpectedly nice for Wanita Renea Young in Durango, you've better take her off your list! Now, this little event in itself might seem terribly unimportant for the world situation. And yet it was mentioned in most of the news outlets I normally look at. And I'm sure lots of people quote it and talk about it and pass it around. And that is what is fabulous. Almost anybody who hears the story will be outraged. It is unjust, unfair and mean what happened there. Sends a message that kindness isn't worth the trouble. But the uproar about it sends the opposite message. There's plenty of people in the world who think that kindness is a great thing, to be encouraged, rewarded, cultivated. The majority of people, really. So imagine for a moment a world where you can't get away with even the smallest injustice. You might get away with it at first, but your public reputation will forever keep a record of what you did. That's a great benefit of easily shared communication. |