Some people say kindness is overrated. They believe that there is no time for making the effort to be kind. They see it as work.
For instance, phone calls. They really are annoying, aren’t they? Especially the ones we get from the telemarketers and the non-profits looking for our support. To be honest, I find those calls very frustrating. Especially the ones that hire professional callers. That annoys me very much because they are spending a lot of money to get donations. And I am particluarly upset if the professional caller argues with me about my not contributing. All in good fun, eh? That is their attitude, but I find it disingenuous.
I have my organizations that I make donations toward, and I am limited, financially, to them. Not that the other organizations don’t have worthy causes. I have been on the other end of a phone bank, and I know the rejection one can feel when being hung up on.
So I have to admit, I am usually not so kind to the telemarketers. And it makes me guilty every time. I used to give them the time of day to say their spiel before saying “No thanks.” But then I got the, “Ya, but can you donate just…” which would make me angry. So then I would pick up the phone and as they started their spiel, I would say “No thanks,” and hang up. Now, I mostly just hang up.
I’m a kind person, by nature, but I don’t always feel kindness in my heart. I don’t think kindness is overrated. But I do think some people (re: organizations and their scripts for phone calls) prey on other people’s kindness. That is equally wrong.
As I mentioned earlier, I have been on the other end of those calls asking for donations. I found that I preferred the person who just hung up on me. They were not disrespectful, they were just not interested in wasting my time or theirs. I thought that was pretty kind and considerate of them.