When a young college student walks into their local Starbucks to purchase a warm cup of coffee right before class, that is about the only thing that is on their mind — leaving with a piping-hot cup of joe and getting back to their daily routine. Why does it almost never seem to register in our minds that the employee — the person taking the time to make the actual beverage — is in the same spot as every other person? Whether one has had a wonderful or “not-so-great” day, it usually does not seem to make a difference with their politeness. In today’s everyday world, the most common expression that is not seen as often as it should is kindness.

From sitting in the bleachers at a major league baseball game to simply walking out into your local neighborhood, the disease is almost everywhere and extremely contagious. Some may be grouchy because of plans not going quite as planned, and others may just have some sort of chip on their shoulder. However, even if this may be the case, is it too hard to give a simple “Hello” or “Thank you” to someone?

Personally, it makes me wonder about the many situations that could lead up to this phenomenon. For example, with the financial pyramid — lower, middle, and upper class, every single individual seems to almost always be defined by how much income they have: “a poor person” ends up meaning that one is useless and unable to take responsibility for any job given to them; “a wealthy individual” is somehow defined as an intellectual being who knows what they are doing, no matter what; “a middle-class citizen” slides in between the two classes as being average. With the three diverse perspectives, there is almost never a time where two of them are not disputing with one another, and the fact that there is no real basis for understanding ends up leaving the battle between social classes coming to no end.

In a sense, it is as though the phrase, “Survival of the Fittest,” truly does live up to its intended use. If one does not have the standards to work in the real world, then they are not needed, so in other words, it is a “dog-eat-dog” world — whoever comes out on top will be the survivor.

However, my point with this depiction is this: even as we, people, struggle through similar issues in our own lives, we are all judged, and this judgment leads to how we see everyone, as a whole, without even knowing their first name. It is as though our minds have already registered that everyone else is “evil.”

In a confusing way, this is what makes life even harder for our fellow workers, parents, and even children. Since we were toddlers who were just taking our very first steps, we have been raised with the teaching of shame, which in turn makes us feel rejected by the dimension we live in. With this, we start to take our frustration with the rejection out on others.

Now, from all of this unnecessarytension, what do you think the solution to this situation is?

Is it not obvious? We, as equal human beings, need to show respect towards one another. Everyone has the equal right to be themselves, and along with this, our attitude should not be one of negative nature — we should be polite, whether we agree or disagree with a characteristic. In short, show appreciation for your fellow man or woman when you go out!