COLE THALER | June 21, 2019
There’s something better than a random act of kindness.
Years ago, a popular bumper sticker proclaimed, “Practice senseless beauty and random acts of kindness.” This philosophy encouraged us to pay tolls for the cars in line behind us, to leave a few extra quarters at vending machines, to tuck a flower or a gift card in a stranger’s mailbox.
The idea is that, by brightening a stranger’s day, we can make them feel special and increase the amount of happiness and goodwill in the world. Maybe those strangers will even “pay it forward” to another stranger, creating a chain of random good deeds.
I’ve followed this philosophy myself. I’ve quietly handed a cashier extra cash to pay for the groceries of the person in line behind me. And I’ve been the recipient of random acts of kindness. Just last week, I pulled up to the gas station to find that an anonymous stranger had pre-paid $20 on the pump.
There’s something very satisfying about being that anonymous, kind stranger.
So what’s better than a random act of kindness? Or rather, what’s the problem with random acts of kindness?
The truth is that I could have easily afforded to fill my tank with gas. But maybe the person who drove up to the adjacent pump recently got laid off and was down to their last few dollars, and could have really used the help.
The problem is that our needs, and our suffering, are not all the same.
The truth is that I could have easily afforded to fill my tank with gas. But maybe the person who drove up to the adjacent pump recently got laid off and was down to their last few dollars, and could have really used the help.
Better than a random act of kindness is a strategic act of kindness. Giving money to the man at the exit ramp whose desperation is written on a battered cardboard sign. Doing laundry for the single mother whose minimum-wage paychecks don’t allow for trips to the laundromat. Giving carefully-chosen books to the impoverished child who hungers for stories featuring strong Black children like her. Giving socks and hand-warmers and protein bars to homeless people in winter.
In Atlanta and beyond, we are not equally burdened by injustice, poverty, and oppression. And these wounds will not be healed by random or scattershot good deeds.
This is kindness with a justice agenda: intentional, targeted kindness, which makes people not only a little happier but also a little less despairing, less overwhelmed, less isolated.
If you are a lawyer, kindness with a justice agenda looks like representing a low-income tenant in eviction court. It looks like your signature on a letter to her slum landlord, demanding that repairs finally get made. It looks like taking the time to explain some legal jargon to your client so she can understand her rights.
In Atlanta and beyond, we are not equally burdened by injustice, poverty, and oppression. And these wounds will not be healed by random or scattershot good deeds. We must all pull in the same direction, steadily and with intentionality.
Strategic acts of kindness are a way that we can work for justice for our neighbors.
Cole Thaler
Director, Safe & Stable Homes Project
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Cole serves as the director of AVLF’s Safe and Stable Homes Project. He oversees the Saturday Lawyer Program and the Standing with Our Neighbors Program, among others.
Before joining AVLF, Cole was a supervising staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program, where he represented low-income rural Georgians in a variety of civil matters. Previously, Cole worked for Lambda Legal, a national legal organization that works on behalf of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV. Cole attended Williams College before receiving his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. He shares his home with two rescue dogs, three rescue cats, and husband.
