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"Relying on the Kindness of Strangers"

In Deborah MathisÆ (2000, p. 536) Relying on the Kindness of Strangers, the author makes use of example to help illustrate her primary theme of this essay that ôMost strangers arenÆt jerks; most arenÆt too wrapped up in their own world to acknowledge a fleeting act of kindness; most donÆt mind being friends for a moment; and most arenÆt as strange as the name implies.ö

In her essay, Mathis provides examples of different types of individuals she encounters in order to show that sometimes strangers are not so kind. One of these is a woman in a pharmacy where Mathis is shopping. Mathis (2000, p. 535) makes a ôwisecrackö in passing the woman, believing that she will return the kindly gesture in some form. Instead, the women becomes offended at MathisÆ (2000, p. 535) attempt to make contact and replies, ôExcuse me. IÆm minding my own business: would you mind doing the same?ö

This encounter throws Mathis off kilter a bit, because she did not expect such an abrupt and harsh comment from the women. She begins to think about her character traits, of being friendly and outgoing with most people she meets, as possibly traits that are not so positive. At this point, she uses another example to show that when people are kind they are often taken advantage of by others. She uses the example of her former supervisor and how he dealt with staff absenteeism. He seldom if ever checked on the stories of employees who did not show up for work. On one occasion, when one employee who called off sick was ôspotted at the racetrack, having a high old time with the Daily Double,ö the supervisor loses his faith in his employees and declares, ôIÆm not going to be nice to people about this anymore,ö (Mathis, 2000, p. 536). Mathis reminds him that when you are nice to someone and they take advantage of it, it is that person who has the problem.

Mathis (2000, p. 536) uses the examples of the pharmacy encounter and the ôrenegad...

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"Relying on the Kindness of Strangers". (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:19, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711130.html