Month: September 2026

The mainstream view of kindness to a stranger is pure altruism: doing a good deed without expecting anything in return. But is it possible to view kindness as more of a mutual give-and-take process? Recently, I found myself instinctively reciprocating the kind gestures I received from strangers on the same day. This led me to rethink acts of kindness as anticipated reciprocal relationships. While we may not expect an immediate reward or automatic payback for a random act of kindness, we tacitly hope that when we are in need, a stranger will extend the same favor to us.