Next Time I'll Throw A Parade

Traffic was heavy as I tried to pull out of the gym the other night. I waited my turn but it didn't let up enough for me to squeeze in. Finally, the light changed and a woman in a large SUV left a half car length of space for me to pull in. I nodded in appreciation and proceeded to pull into the lane. About 30 seconds passed before the woman started honking her horn, waving her hands wildly. It was fairly apparent to me that either she hadn't seen me nod or she expected me to throw a parade in her honor over her grand gesture of leaving me all of 4 feet of space to pull into. At this point, I could have appeased her by showing some sign of appreciation but I was too busy watching the show she provided by her antics. Her face now bright red from screaming vulgarities, still honking the horn and waving wildly. And finally a one finger salute that I'm pretty sure meant I was number one in her book. All this because she thought I didn't say thank you for being let into traffic.

The whole production started me thinking about what we expect when we do something nice for someone else. Random acts of kindness are our way of showing that we can still act civilized in society. Yet too often we perform them with an expectation of receiving something in return. When I hold a door open for someone whose hands are full, I don't expect to be thanked. Sure, it makes the feeling of helping others even sweeter but I don't do it for them. I do it for me. I do it because I like to know that in my hectic day I can take a few seconds out to help someone else. Shouldn't the feeling of doing something nice for someone else, especially for a total stranger be payment enough?