A little story that happened to me today that broke my heart a bit.

Dennisgarcia

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I have slowly been losing my faith in humanity these last couple of months. Watching people struggle with things beyond their control, and just seeing people near by pass through ignoring those people when they ask for help. Wether its a dollar to take the bus, or help jump starting a battery for a car, i've seen many people simply just walk by without even acknowledging the person. In my situation there have been times where these people have asked for my help. I didn't have a car to help jump start their car, or ask for a dollar when I myself didn't have a dollar to my own name. When I have the means for it, and someone ask for help, I do my best to try and help them with what little they have. Wether it being my leftover 10 cents, even though they asked for more. whatever i have and can help with i will do. But tonight, tonight broke me more than anything that has ever bothered me in my life.

Let me explain. My 8 year old brother is a humble kid. The nicest kid you'd know. He's just like me. Whatever he has he gives generously to whoever needs it. He's a good hearted boy. I went to walmart and bought him a 12 pack of twix bars. His favorite chocolate. Immediately he said, I only want one. Can i give the rest away to people at the mall? I want to do something nice today. I said of course. I was excited that he always wants to do good for other people. So we head to my local mall, he had his finn backpack from adventure time with the little finn hat. He said he wanted kids to think he was finn from adventure time and he wanted to put a smile on people's faces.

As we get into the mall entrance he sees a guy walking out of the mall, and he looks at me and i say "go ahead chris" so he goes up the guy, twix in hand reaching out to the guy and the man just passes by him ignoring him completely.

I told him "don't lost hope bro, keep going i'm proud of you." as he saw a lonely man sitting down at a table, possibly on his lunch break he went up to him. tried handing him the same twix he previously tried to hand out and the guy completely blew him off. I could see the look in his face of sadness but i kept on telling him "keep trying."

As he kept on walking around with a smile on his face, trying to make people happy with a small gesture, and everyone around him who he tried to make happy either ignored him, or was really rude to him. Nobody trust anybody anymore. Not even a child who was trying to honestly put a smile on someone, anyone. It broke me inside. It tore me up. I held my tears back and put on a smile, kept egging him on to go and keep doing what he was doing. No one even acknowledged him. It hurts. It hurts that as humans, we can't trust anyone. We're all to busy to notice the small things in life. The simple things. We're to amazed by our own technology and self loathe to see that the people around us are trying to get our attention. That when i hope on the bus, I can't talk to anyone because when i do all i get is a nod and a look away. Or the fact that when I go order a meal at a restaurant I get the "eye roll" and "ugh" not even a thank you. I haven't heard a genuine thank you in a long time.

It makes me sad, and it broke me. But it didn't break my brother. He stayed with his head held high, and just said. Dennis will you eat my chocolate? I said of course. and we walked around the mall and just ate our chocolates together. Knowing deep inside, that my faith in humanity had all been lost.

I'm sorry.
 

anon(4698833)

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If a random kid came up to me in the mall and tried to offer me candy, I'd probably ignore him too...look at all the psychotic parents out there that would see you getting a piece of candy from a kids hand and send an onslaught out against you assuming you were some kind of child raping pedophile! Seriously man, considering you don't know any of the people he tried to offer the candy to, you don't have the first flippin' clue what they were going through at the time...what if the "lonely guy" had just lost his wife? Child? What if he was just trying to enjoy a peaceful and quiet moment away from his family while eating? You assume he was being a jerk...maybe he just wanted to be left alone! Maybe your brother reminded him of his own child...maybe that child died, and your brother brought a memory he couldn't handle emotionally, so he turned his cheek.

You sit there crying because people are being "rude" in your opinion...maybe man up a bit and realize that people arnt always being "rude", sometimes what looks like rudeness is actually sadness, fear, confusion, anger or worse.

In my job I have come across lost kids a few times, and once a kid ran up to me and grabbed my arm and starting crying her eyes out...asked if I would help her find her daddy and then latched onto my arm like she was going to die if i didn't pick her up...I did, walked over to the building next to us and there was her dad looking all around in a panic...I walked up, in my full uniform that very clearly says police on the back of my body armor and the guy started flipping his sh*t..."DONT YOU EVER TOUCH MY DAUGHTER! WHO ASKED YOU TO PICK HER UP!?" and just went ape ****...the daughter, all the while, kept screaming "Dont yell at him! He helped me!" It was shocking, and i just walked away from the situation after warning the guy she could have ended up in many other hands that would not have ended in the way that day did...he responded "Go F*ck yourself PIG!"

Fun times huh? Random kid gets returned to parent by a COP (no less) and I get yelled at...lol. Your whole "broken heart" needs to wake up to reality...this aint the 1950's no more, kids arnt cute little rascals you can have fun with as a random stranger...you'll get maced, arrested and charged with some crime now days.

You're being quite judgmental of people while complaining about a similar issue. Pot calling the kettle black.
 

finn5975

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OP, having a little girl who is similar in nature and knowing the feeling of seeing the innocence and pure goodness in children, i completely see where you are coming from. I understand how it saddened you to see a little one whom you love get repeatedly shunned during his heightened excitement of doing something nice for others.

Don't get too discouraged. We live in an increasingly non-social time when emails and texts have replaced phone calls and visits. Who needs to stop by for a chat and a beer when we have Facebook, Google+ and Instagram to handle that? It's no longer common nature to extend a handshake let alone a smile to a stranger. They are 'too busy' and we are being 'pushy'.

Thanks for sharing your story. I, unfortunately, can relate. Good day.
 

hydrogen3

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I seen a bumper sticker this morning on my way into work. "People suck, the world sucks, everyone sucks." I sat in traffic wondering, what kind of person she must be...
 

Richard Nieves

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If a random kid came up to me in the mall and tried to offer me candy, I'd probably ignore him too...look at all the psychotic parents out there that would see you getting a piece of candy from a kids hand and send an onslaught out against you assuming you were some kind of child raping pedophile! Seriously man, considering you don't know any of the people he tried to offer the candy to, you don't have the first flippin' clue what they were going through at the time...what if the "lonely guy" had just lost his wife? Child? What if he was just trying to enjoy a peaceful and quiet moment away from his family while eating? You assume he was being a jerk...maybe he just wanted to be left alone! Maybe your brother reminded him of his own child...maybe that child died, and your brother brought a memory he couldn't handle emotionally, so he turned his cheek.

You sit there crying because people are being "rude" in your opinion...maybe man up a bit and realize that people arnt always being "rude", sometimes what looks like rudeness is actually sadness, fear, confusion, anger or worse.

In my job I have come across lost kids a few times, and once a kid ran up to me and grabbed my arm and starting crying her eyes out...asked if I would help her find her daddy and then latched onto my arm like she was going to die if i didn't pick her up...I did, walked over to the building next to us and there was her dad looking all around in a panic...I walked up, in my full uniform that very clearly says police on the back of my body armor and the guy started flipping his sh*t..."DONT YOU EVER TOUCH MY DAUGHTER! WHO ASKED YOU TO PICK HER UP!?" and just went ape ****...the daughter, all the while, kept screaming "Dont yell at him! He helped me!" It was shocking, and i just walked away from the situation after warning the guy she could have ended up in many other hands that would not have ended in the way that day did...he responded "Go F*ck yourself PIG!"

Fun times huh? Random kid gets returned to parent by a COP (no less) and I get yelled at...lol. Your whole "broken heart" needs to wake up to reality...this aint the 1950's no more, kids arnt cute little rascals you can have fun with as a random stranger...you'll get maced, arrested and charged with some crime now days.

You're being quite judgmental of people while complaining about a similar issue. Pot calling the kettle black.

This is sad too though, you help the girl and then get yelled at? I think the point isn't so much the kid thing, its the attitude of people in general. For example, when I go to a grocery store and check out, and say hello and only get a nod, or open a door for someone and not get a thank you, or am friendly and get a rude answer back, that is very sad. As a police officer I know how important community image is to you and even on your worst days you are expected to keep a polite and respectful attitude, and I KNOW that's not always easy, honestly, I think you guys have to deal with some of the rudest people because there are so many people who think of police in such a negative way just because they get in trouble. I volunteered most of my high school life in a police station in the police explorer program and just from that I know that your jobs not easy, yet, most of the time, officers are civil, even when dealing with people like this father. There's no reason people should ignore or be rude to others who are being nice. It does say a lot about humanity in general, but I have noticed it does seem to change based on environment, but that's not an option for everyone. Now, I also understand when someone's having a bad day, or horrible life events, I get that too and many times people do want to be left alone. But, maybe its just me, but if a kid came up and nicely asked me if I wanted a candy bar, I would probably politely say no, and thank you. Maybe that's because I have similar thoughts about people respecting and being kind to each other, or maybe I'm just naive and wishing more people were genuinely nice, but it is heartbreaking. He's a kid and all he wants is to be nice. I know too many people who are cold and rude because they feel they have to be and its sad.

I do know though that in your profession I can honestly understand why you feel this way, as you probably meet so many different types of people, mostly with negative response like this father, all because your doing your job, which, in many instances is to keep people safe. You pull people over for speeding, and they get mad, call you names and make you guys seem like the worst thing ever, yet, you may have just saved someone's life because speeding can cause accidents. I don't think people appreciate each other enough. Whether its men in uniform that protect us from fires, other nations, crime, and even ourselves, or the little kid that is honest to god trying to be a good person. There need to be more people like that in this world :)

(Also, I can see why you would want to ignore the kid. I worked at the Y for two years and you don't know how many kids between 3-5 get scared or want attention and want to be held or comforted in some way and if you actually do hold them, here are parents out there that will complain, despite it being a daycare at a Christian based community center and my JOB was to watch and take care of them.... Yet, they will equally complain if you leave them be crying.... Not to mention I'm sure you deal with people who cry and complain when someone looks at them wrong or says hi to their kids so I totally understand where your coming from, but I'm sure we can agree it is sad and heartbreaking that that is how it is.)
 

bunjy

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But, maybe its just me, but if a kid came up and nicely asked me if I wanted a candy bar, I would probably politely say no, and thank you. Maybe that's because I have similar thoughts about people respecting and being kind to each other, or maybe I'm just naive and wishing more people were genuinely nice, but it is heartbreaking. He's a kid and all he wants is to be nice. I know too many people who are cold and rude because they feel they have to be and its sad.

This is exactly how I would handle this situation. As a father of 3, I would treat this child the same way I would want my children to be treated. Would I accept candy from a young child? No. But I would politely refuse the offer and thank him, not ignore him. If we want to live in a more civil society, than we have to treat each other that way.
 

Alik Malix

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This reminds me of:
Китай (KIT-I) - Моё сердце - YouTube

It's Russian, but the video kinda like what you said.

Hey, but I have to agree with SeanHRCC, primarily because of what's happening in courts. Everyone's being sued for every little gesture. I had parents flipping out when I was at the park with my daughter telling another kid to be careful that he may fall or something...
 

anon(4698833)

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This is a dual sided issue...people are becoming more and more cold when it comes to relationships with their fellow human being, but there's also a fear as well, a fear of trouble that people just don't want to deal with. It's a different world now...trust is so precious now, and is so hard to come by (and so easily destroyed), you just can't blame people for the way they react to things now days, it's really just not worth it to be nice so often that it makes it easier just to ignore to avoid trouble, which would present itself 7 times out of 10.
 

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