The Crestfallen Kind

I think even though we forget about them all the time, downtrodden
people never forget about us more fortunate people because they once
were like us or they have always wanted to be like us.

Just want to do something meaningful, you know? Yes, writing a novel
or coming up with the answer to the origin of the universe is
meaningful, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I just want to be nice not just to the people that have taken niceness
for granted. People in the mainstream world expect niceness out of
each other. If the receptionist talks with less than a smile, they
automatically assume that he or she is just rude. They go
complaining. Niceness is not just nice anymore. Niceness is
required; it's part of the etiquette. Common practice.

And then there are those that receive no niceness because of how they
dress, or how poor they are, or whatever their circumstance. They are
greeted not only with no niceness, but treated with no dignity. When
the days grind on you like that, you'd have forgotten what niceness is
and how it feels like by the end of the day. Well, guess what? Even
the meanest person travelled down a path to arrive at where they are;
they have reasons to be the way they are. So what about them? We go
pointing fingers at the receptionist who's stressed out? We accuse
poor people, the downtrodden, the homeless for the community's
problems? We call people we've wronged terrorists? I just wish that
I could stay quiet and watch and listen and understand.

I feel like I should be volunteering right now because I don't want to
forget.