We’d be a whole lot better off if members of the in-group reached out to those in the out-group.
This goes for all situations:
From the head cheerleader texting the smelly kid to the boss working the line to cops saying they’re sorry.
What if the landlord had soup with his tenants?
What if the governor sat on the porch in the woods?
What if the warden got on his hands and knees and cleaned the cell of an inmate?
What would that do to the home, the farm, the jail?
Kindness doesn’t change the power dynamic; it merely changes the impact of that power.
You see, if you’re on the inside — any sort of inside — and you don’t use your power to reach out, you’re missing the opportunity to rid the world of the difficulties you wish to be gone. And I don’t mean this in some esoteric, la-la sort of way.
When you’re robbed, when you’re wronged, yes, you deserve empathy like anyone else, but you must also realize that, as a citizen of a shared society, you played a small part in the crime. And that the other person deserves empathy much the same.
Because people generally don’t take shit from other people when they feel like someone is reaching out to them.
So, why not be that someone now — share some soup, take a seat — and save a couple of lives down the road?