Being kind to others is good for your health
The only issue that I have, is that so many people (in my industry/nation/orbit) mistake kindness for weakness.<p>I live in New York, which has a basic culture of "hyper aggressiveness." It isn't "rudeness," as so many people like to think of New Yorkers. They can be aggressively kind and generous. They are just aggressive.<p>I'm also in the tech industry, which seems to have a very aggressive and competitive culture.<p>It doesn't stop me from being kind and courteous, but it gets grating.<p>My experience is that, when someone mistakes courtesy for weakness, they start trying to "game" me. I put up with it for a bit, until they push too far.<p>Then the till gets slammed on their fingers.<p>They get very, <i>very</i> upset. Far more upset than if I had just disabused them early on.<p>I'm learning to enforce my boundaries earlier. It doesn't make me as popular, but it also prevents those "psycho freakouts."