The wording of that sign by the front entrance to my apartment building is something I find particularly intriguing. "In a world where you can be anything, be kind." Yes. In a world where you can be anything. I am thinking of a documentary I saw once about our culture of narcissism where a little girl, to the tune of Frere Jaques, is singing in her little girl voice, "I am special, I am special, look at me, look at me. I am very special, yes so very special, you will see. You will see." There are so many options open to us, at least to the privileged among us, those who are able to get into university and finish university, those with the good fortune of marrying well, of having such social and professional connections already in place so that moving forward and upward should be the only viable option. Ironically, but not surprising, it is often the most successful who appear to have the least insight or compassion or empathy for those of us who do not rise to their level of success. We must be lazy or unmotivated. What they fail to see or appreciate is all the help that has been there for them, the very help that does not exist for the rest of us. And being born into privilege, the chances that they are going to change their minds and actually see and understand the culture of social inequality they have been born into, are slim to nonexistent.
Some of us can be anything. But not all. They are also the people who in some ways are the least deserving of kindness, and do you know why, Gentle Reader? Because almost any act of kindness to the privileged is going to be received as entitlement. Casting pearls before swine. Not in all cases or situations. and really, all people need to be treated with kindness, even the most privileged and least deserving. But it is how the kindness is delivered, and interpreted. It is also the privileged who are going to be the hardest on themselves to achieve and succeed. This is particularly evident in our culture of physical fitness and wellness.
Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wellness and fitness, and an awful lot that is right about it. That said, I have often heard people say, myself among them, how much we like bicycles, given that more people riding bikes means less cars on the road and less environmental pollution, and a healthier, more fit population. By the same token, as much as we like the bikes, we often equally loathe a lot of the people riding them. It isn't just the ridiculous spandex costumes splattered with advertising logos (Spandex, by the way darlings, is not a right, it is a privilege!) It is the absolute noisy arrogance of these gangs of middle class cyclists who will happily take out any pedestrian that gets in their way. They are obnoxious.
And don't get me started on joggers. Nothing at all wrong with joggers, my ducks. But a lot of them do not know where to run, and often take over sidewalks, sometimes busy with pedestrians, basically getting in everyone's way. Adding insult to injury, not all of them practice safe physical distancing, and simply do not think before running within inches of hapless pedestrians and breathing whatever petri dish full of microbes into our vulnerable faces.
I just mentioned to my friend in Colombia today, that I will treat everyone with kindness, but I draw the line at ableist narcissists who place their own wellness and physical beauty above the common good. Just as Jesus went into the temple and overturned tables and chased out the money changers, just as Jesus loudly and rudely castigated the Pharisees, so it is with us his purported followers. Sometimes our kindness is best delivered with the business end of a steel toe boot. I have grown tired of actually yelling at those idiots, and now I just try to watch my back when I am walking and if someone is running toward me, I simply hold out my arm at full length. If they still appear clueless, I will simply tell them as sweetly as possible, two of these equals two metres. Some of them are finally starting to get it, and physically distance for pedestrians. Others...well I still don't know. They are still hostages to the fascism of fitness. And they need our prayers, for of such is not the kingdom of God.
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