Cape Town, My City.

Between the media, American televangelists and my grandmother, the general consensus seems to be that the world is collectively heading down the moral tubes. Children don’t respect their elders, common courtesy has all but gone out the window and the words ‘bitch’ and ‘nigger’ has been resurrected as terms of endearment by a generation that don’t seem to understand the amount of negative connotations it carries.

So, what is there to do? Can any one person really make a difference? At the risk of sounding like a complete and utter wuss, I actually do believe it is possible. I believe in the power of random acts of kindness. Just because everyone else seems to think it is cool to adopt a laissez-faire attitude and give the world at large the big middle finger, doesn’t mean I have to do it. In fact I find it a pretty stupid way to lead your life. No man is an island, as they great John Donne postulated back in the 1600’s, and it remains true to this day. Why not try to get along and make the ride more pleasant for all concerned?

What prompted this blog was the fact that my mother fixed my pants. This may seem like a very ordinary thing for a mother to do, but if you know mine you would understand why this is such a big deal for me. My mother is a live-wire of note and sitting down with a needle and thread to mend a careless child’s clothing is not exactly at the top of her ‘to do’ list. She is from the ‘just buy a new one’ school of thought. Yet when I unpacked my washing after having been home for the weekend there my favourite pants were, patched to their former glory. This means:

1. She noticed my pants were torn
2. She noticed that the pants concerned were my favourite pair of pants
3. She got out a needle and thread and took the time out of her busy day to fix them for me
4. She did so without telling me

That is four acts of kindness in one go. This is pretty awesome, right? Now, what if we all went around doing little things like this for one another? Showing affection doesn’t have to come in the shape of big, expensive gestures. Remembering your friend’s favourite song, taking off your boyfriend’s glasses when he falls asleep reading, taking your dad on a spur-of-the-moment Cape Town tour to all the places he remembers from when he was young– these all count. Plus, you’ve got to love the look of surprise on the face of the recipient of your act of kindness. They never expect it and that utterly dumbstruck facial expression is all the reward you will ever need.

So, now is the time to get over the schmaltzy direction this blog has taken and to decide whether or not kindness is a worthwhile endeavour. I believe that it is, whether you choose to practise it is completely up to you.