Be Good To People

Across the Fence #296

The idea is simple. It’s black and white. Be good to people.

Have you ever had someone be rude to you or say something hurtful? Maybe someone thought you were too slow pulling away from a stoplight and gave you a one-finger salutation. How did it make you feel? Chances are you became irritated or angry and wanted to retaliate against that person, or more likely, the next person you encountered. You probably fumed about it for a long time afterwards. It ruined your day, didn’t it?

It’s like throwing a stone in the water. The ripple affect from that act keeps moving outward and touching everything it meets. If someone was good to you instead of rude, those ripples can have a positive affect too. A smile or kind word can make someone’s day.

Be Good to People. Those simple words have become the central theme for the business of Kris Wittenberg, who lives in Eagle, Colorado. Those of you, who have been reading Across the Fence for a long time, know I’ve often written about the adventures I shared with my cousin, Sandra, who spent every summer on the farm with us until she was in high school. Kris is the daughter of Sandy and her husband, Lou Wagner. Sandy died of cancer several years ago at the all too young age of 60. Kris, her husband, Augie Wittenberg, and their two children live in Eagle, where their business is headquartered.

The idea for Be Good to People was inspired by a rude experience that Kris had back in the spring of 2008 while running errands at lunch. The exact bad experience has long been forgotten, but the idea that people need to treat each other better has not.

Once back in the office of her promotional materials company, SayNoMore! Promotions, she exasperatingly asked, “Why can’t people just be good to people?” Given her entrepreneurial spirit and her longing for a friendlier world, she researched to see if the phrase was trademarked and if the web address was taken.

She found everything was available and took that as a “sign.” She knew she had to act, so she secured both the name and the web address, and Be Good to People, the brand and the movement was born.

Being Good to People is as simple as giving someone a compliment, holding a door open for someone, paying for the person’s coffee behind you in line, carrying a heavy bag for someone, bringing flowers to a nursing home, bringing toys to a children’s hospital, sending an email to a loved one, leaving a server a large tip and saying thank you as you leave, making amends with someone you’ve hurt, or simply smiling at the next person you meet!

Being Good to People is performing simple acts of kindness. It gives, both you and the recipient of your kindness, a renewed feeling of hope and relief from today’s negative news. It helps spread a positive message. Be Good To People is a movement, changing the world, one person, one kind act at a time.

I wish Sandy was still here to see the positive affect her daughter is having on the people she touches through her business. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Looks like she also got her father’s entrepreneurial spirit.

I hope this movement takes off and that major department stores will soon be offering items with the Be Good To People slogan on them. It’s hard to be nasty to people if you’re wearing a shirt or hat that says “Be Good To People.” That would be a bit hypocritical.

The more I’ve thought about this simple statement, the more I think the story and idea needs to be told. When I look around, I see a lot of people who don’t seem to be very happy. They’re always complaining and tend to take out their frustrations on people they come in contact with. If you listen to talk radio or watch the talking heads on television, there is a lot of anger and tearing people down. Politicians are always at each other’s throats and there is plenty of name-calling and blaming. What ever happened to the words civility and compromise? They seem to have been thrown out of our dictionaries.

The world has become a series of straight lines instead of the circle of life. The leaders of countries, governments, organizations, and even some religions, aren’t being very good role models for the young people. They don’t see a whole lot of people being good to people, especially if the people have differing political views, religious views, lifestyle views, etc., etc. The list could go on and on. I guess that’s why those simple words and sentiment appeal to me.

I know this is a departure from my usual columns, but there comes a time when a person needs to make a statement about life, and put it down in black and white, with no shades of gray. Kris has done that and has developed a business to help promote what she feels. She’s trying to change the world, one person, one kind act at a time. It’s a monumental task for one person, but if each of us would imprint “Be Good To People,” in our mind, think of the changes it could bring about. It’s worth a shot.