Kindness
by Meri Thomason
SedonaKind has made an impact on me. The group has encouraged me to see things through the lens of kindness and reach out to others from that place within me where compassion and kindness dwell.
Recently, a Facebook posting showed a tee shirt for sale at a big box vendor that concerned me because of its implied violence against journalists. Searching online to see if this was, indeed, an item for sale, I found that the offending piece had been pulled from the shelves by the vendor. To my dismay, I also found that ANOTHER vendor had chosen to sell the shirts.
I thought about this, and then contacted the vendor. I wrote, “Just because you have the right to print this on a shirt doesn’t mean you should choose to do it.” I then posted online to my friend, “This is a really tough question - how do we temper the idea of free speech with things that are so offensive to us? Hate speech attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender - so "journalists" don't seem to fit. Not included in our First Amendment is speech that leads to illegal activity and/or imminent violence, obscenity, defamation, and libel. A good case could be made that this shirt is not expected to lead to such activity. SO - where is the case to say they can't do this? I think, perhaps, that they can.”
To my surprise, I received the following from the vendor, “Thanks for your response to my Journalist shirt. Thank you for saying what you said respectfully. I agree you are right, but I also feel people are a little too sensitive these days. You can't joke about anything. In the end I do agree with you. Thank you for sharing your feedback.”
I was delighted that my kindly-chosen wording had been appreciated. I wrote back to ask if I could share our communications. Once more, I heard back from the vendor. “Thanks for your reply. I actually just removed all selling of the shirt. I saw one of my employees list it and did nit (sic) think much of it until you responded. It was refreshing to have a dignified conversation, rare these days.
Once more, I wrote back to the vendor, “Thank you for removing the shirt - I think there will be a little less agitation in the world as a result.” and this time, I signed my comments with my first name.
It wasn’t long before I again heard back from the vendor, who I realized was male when he signed with his first name, “You are very welcome. I should have stopped it when I saw it. Sometimes things don't register fast enough for me, or worse I separate my morals from my business which is inexcusable. People are more important than money. Thank you again for being so kind, I truly enjoyed our communication.”
Sometimes it takes a little more effort to be kind, but, oh my! what a wonderful reward we get when we take the time and engage our hearts.
Recently, a Facebook posting showed a tee shirt for sale at a big box vendor that concerned me because of its implied violence against journalists. Searching online to see if this was, indeed, an item for sale, I found that the offending piece had been pulled from the shelves by the vendor. To my dismay, I also found that ANOTHER vendor had chosen to sell the shirts.
I thought about this, and then contacted the vendor. I wrote, “Just because you have the right to print this on a shirt doesn’t mean you should choose to do it.” I then posted online to my friend, “This is a really tough question - how do we temper the idea of free speech with things that are so offensive to us? Hate speech attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender - so "journalists" don't seem to fit. Not included in our First Amendment is speech that leads to illegal activity and/or imminent violence, obscenity, defamation, and libel. A good case could be made that this shirt is not expected to lead to such activity. SO - where is the case to say they can't do this? I think, perhaps, that they can.”
To my surprise, I received the following from the vendor, “Thanks for your response to my Journalist shirt. Thank you for saying what you said respectfully. I agree you are right, but I also feel people are a little too sensitive these days. You can't joke about anything. In the end I do agree with you. Thank you for sharing your feedback.”
I was delighted that my kindly-chosen wording had been appreciated. I wrote back to ask if I could share our communications. Once more, I heard back from the vendor. “Thanks for your reply. I actually just removed all selling of the shirt. I saw one of my employees list it and did nit (sic) think much of it until you responded. It was refreshing to have a dignified conversation, rare these days.
Once more, I wrote back to the vendor, “Thank you for removing the shirt - I think there will be a little less agitation in the world as a result.” and this time, I signed my comments with my first name.
It wasn’t long before I again heard back from the vendor, who I realized was male when he signed with his first name, “You are very welcome. I should have stopped it when I saw it. Sometimes things don't register fast enough for me, or worse I separate my morals from my business which is inexcusable. People are more important than money. Thank you again for being so kind, I truly enjoyed our communication.”
Sometimes it takes a little more effort to be kind, but, oh my! what a wonderful reward we get when we take the time and engage our hearts.