Two years ago I went to a concert with my mom, godmother and friend in the fall. We went to a kiosk where they were selling merch from the band. We had a gift card and each purchased something, but we still had some money left on the card. My mom was kind and decided to give the woman standing next to us the card. She barely batted an eye and muttered a half hearted thanks. My mom was very annoyed by this and my godmother commented something about the cost of the ring she was wearing and how she didn't need the money.

I agreed with how rude she was up until a little while ago when I was thinking about this memory. I was also thinking about the other times I felt I hadn't gotten the gratitude I deserved for holding the door or other small gestures.

I believe that you should always hold the door and not wait for the thank you.

The reason you do kind things is not for the satisfaction it gives you but it's to make someone's bad day easier and good day better. Sure, it's good manners to say thank you but you shouldn't regret a kind thing you did because of a bad reaction. You also never know what is happening with the person you just held the door for. You don't know how heavy their bag is or what they were talking about with that person they were calling so give them a little grace.

Next time you give a little kid the stuffed animal you won from Pop-a-Shot and they don't hug you with tears of joy in their eyes, don't come home to your family complaining about how kind you were and how much of a brat they are, remember that you did the right thing and to keep doing that. Help because you want to help.