“I believe in the kindness of strangers."
This lyric flits in at the close of Lana Del Rey’s music video for “Ride”. It does not stand center stage by any means throughout her song, but its message is surprisingly powerful. Lana might have been onto something…
Hear me out.
You know when you drive past those people pulled over on the side of the road because they have a flat tire, or they ran out of gas, or whatever else went wrong, and they OBVIOUSLY need help, but you think to yourself: I am in the middle of nowhere, alone, and a 5’4” girl who, despite her years of mixed martial arts training, could easily be overtaken and never heard from again. So you don’t pull over, you don’t help them, and you hope that someone else comes along and does what you didn’t. At least if you’re me, that’s what you do.
This situation may seem overtly specific and not relatable to you. Maybe you’re 6’9” and could never entertain the idea of the situation I have described. But, I think we can all relate to the sentiment and general thought process involved when you are propelled through your day, carrying on the momentum of whatever it is you set out to do, and the thought of breaking from the course you have plotted for yourself in order to accommodate someone else is just not a priority.
“The kindness of strangers”, I thought to myself, huh, that’s pretty vague, isn’t it? I could not, in that instant, think of a time when I could relate to the message Lana was projecting.
For one, how does someone believe in the kindness of strangers per se? It’s not as if there’s much to believe in in the first place. Right?
Wrong.
It takes an incredible amount of faith to believe in kindness, especially when we are surrounded everyday by more and more evidence and instances to contradict the ability for humanity to be kind. However, it takes even more faith to believe in the kindness of total strangers. To believe that if you are ever that person stranded and without access to help, someone will just come along and take the time to help you, while profound and beautiful, is something many of us, including myself, would say, “What are the chances?” to.
There is a huge leap of faith in believing in the kindness of strangers.
But, someone has to be that kind stranger. Someone has to be that person who breaks the momentum propelling them on through their day and is simply kind for the sake of being kind.
Life is colored with moments that display the virtue we all place in unexpected kindness. You’re crying on the subway and some random woman comes up to you and treats you like a true friend. You're carrying a huge flat-screen TV up the stairs and someone offers to give you a hand. When someone unexpectedly holds the door for you when you’re in a hurry.
Those moments are moments that punctuate our day and ones we remember for years to come. Even though they seemed inconsequential, those moments where you look at that stranger and think, “If I had been you, I probably wouldn’t have been this nice,” and are thankful to your core that there are people like that in the world, are moments that validate our faith in humanity.
So, why is something that we all value so underrated? Is belief in the kindness of strangers enough?
As January passes and February begins, our resolutions for the New Year slip more and more from our priorities. As our New Year’s resolutions to eat fewer pokey sticks or go to the gym twice a day until our six pack makes an appearance begin to fade and we start to give up on the things we passionately committed to at 11:59 pm on December 31st, let’s make a new resolution, together. Let’s infuse the beauty encompassed by the kindness of strangers into our lives.
Let’s BE that beloved stranger.
