Has Kindness Diminished In West Alabama's Communities?

We live in a world, and let’s not make it sound or appear like it doesn’t impact us here in West Alabama, because it does; it's becoming increasingly short on good.

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Goodness.

Kindness.

I’m not trying to say it was so much better when I was growing up, but there is no doubt it is different now.

Part of my teenage years was spent right here in Tuscaloosa and Northport, Alabama, and I know I never feared for my safety then.

I had no fear of going out for a late-night walk anywhere in Tuscaloosa or Northport, and sadly, I cannot say the same today.

Something happened to me on Skyland Boulevard earlier, and I just wanted to share a brief story.

I was in a hurry to make it to an appointment and make it back to work before too long, so of course, I wasn’t paying attention to anything but selfish me.

However, when I came to an intersection on Skyland, I just happened to glance over at the vehicle on my right, being driven by a young woman.

You know how you can see someone and instantly tell by the look on their face. Has it not been a great day? It was clear to me that she was not having a good day.

Your eyes connect, and I think we have all experienced it, but this looked like someone who needed any gesture of kindness.

I don’t know her situation, but she could’ve been a single mom stressed about making ends meet, going through something at work, or dealing with issues in her relationship with someone.

I don’t know, but at that moment, I did the simplest and easiest thing I could do and just waved at her to let her know that she could get in front of me.

You know how Traffic can get on Skyland. There are certain intersections where you can be stuck for quite a while.

Just a little tiny act of waving someone through and smiling at them brought a completely different look on this lady’s face, and I could tell that she really appreciated it.

My point is that I took nothing to do that, and how many opportunities in a day do I miss the chance to make someone’s day better or show them a little kindness?

I don’t know, call me crazy, but I would love to see a movement break out across West Alabama of people looking for opportunities to be kind and make someone’s day better.

What would happen if it started to spread across the state and then into the southeast?

I know I’m a dreamer, but it just reminded me of the missed opportunities every day to just show a little kindness to our fellow West Alabamians.