Are people not nice anymore? This is a question a TikToker asked after the reaction she got for doing what she thought was a sweet gesture.
We all try and live by the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Try not to be a jerk’.
That might not actually be an accurate quote, but the message behind it still stands.
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Well, a TikToker has stirred a debate after recalling her interaction with an older gentleman while shopping at Costco.
Speaking to her 36,000 followers, Caroline who goes by @theblondebackpacker on TikTok, explained that she saw an elderly man waiting in a different line to her while she was moving forward at the checkout.
As a gesture of goodwill, she told the man to go ahead in front of her as he only had a couple of things.
“He was like ‘really’? Isn’t that like [normal]? People allow me to do that all the time, people always do that for me,” she said in the video that has been viewed more than 38,000 times.
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“I’m always very appreciative, you know when you only have a couple things in the grocery store and you’re behind people with cartfuls.
“He went ‘wow’, and his reaction just made me think do people not do these things anymore? Is that a normal action to me it is.”
Her comment section fell into quite a few camps on this issue, surprisingly.
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Some users remarked that the decision to let him go in front was rare and they never really saw this behavior anymore.
“A great deal of people are very selfish so to answer your question. No people don’t do nice things anymore” one user remarked.
“I still see it around me, but I live in a town that is just...very friendly. I didn't see it much when I lived in big cities,” another added.
However, others suggested that his reaction was likely of surprise because it is unnecessary as waiting in line isn’t a big deal.
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“If it makes u feel better i work in a grocery store and i see acts of kindness like this every day,” another user wrote.
“It’s not unkind to not let someone ahead of you at checkout lol waiting in line isn’t a punishment,” another wrote.
“As a cashier I see it all the time. I like it only when it doesn’t conflict with me checking ppl out,” commented another user.
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Do you see these little acts of kindness often or are they becoming more rare?
Gerrard Kaonga