Purposeful acts of kindness make a timely gift

Small acts of kindness: we make eye contact and smile, reach into our pockets for the bell-ringing Santa, we pick up something someone dropped, stop to help change a tire, shovel the neighbor’s driveway. We do these things, not just during the holidays but all the time. Kindness drives how we live together, and it ensures our own personal fulfillment as well. What is done for others circles back to the giver.  

This story from the 1940s I found in the Chicago Tribune names no heroes, those described asked for no reward, they saved children’s lives: “They must have felt they were being prepared prematurely for burial, the scores of children in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who were stricken with polio in the early 1940s. Treatment there involved placing the victims in wooden boxes with their heads protruding from one end. Their respiratory muscles paralyzed from the disease, they would lie in the boxes, sometimes for months, while nurses tirelessly manipulated valves to simulate breathing.” Others were rushed by ferry and by ambulance all the way to Detroit, kept alive by volunteers who worked pumps around the clock. Acts of selflessness, of community. 

Fear of polio dominated until a vaccine was developed in 1955 and subsequently made widely available. A popular and well-supported vaccination program saved countless lives. But measles, mumps, chicken pox, scarlet fever, whooping cough were common childhood threats. Sometimes these illnesses were mild; frequently they killed. The red QUARANTINE sign on front doors signaled danger. Most had no medical insurance and many — like my own family — could not afford a doctor. My mother had to stoke the coal-fired furnace herself; my dad had to stay away to be able to work. Neighbors left casseroles and lemon-honey tea on our porch. Mutual kindness met mutual need. 

“Vaccines are inarguably the most important medical advance in human history. … Ten historically fatal diseases have been reduced by 92-100% since the 20th century” states science writer Matthew Pennington.

Sadly, it’s not surprising that in 2019, measles — once considered eradicated in the U.S. — surged. Events that year conspired to lead to a decrease in vaccinations. Vaccine misinformation was spread by social media, used by political figures and power-hungry leaders taking advantage of pandemic fears. According to the WHO, “measles cases worldwide increased … claiming an estimated 207,500 lives.” 

We all know the terrible cost of COVID, and even today, even with proven vaccines, there are some who don’t vaccinate. That mutual kindness we embody in so many other ways … is missing. Fear became the enemy of community kindness. 

Doctors tell us this will be a bad winter for flu, RSV and COVID. Here in Michigan, hospitals are again stretched. 

We all act to help others; we all have that impulse. Thinking of vaccination as an act of social kindness can help the vulnerable among us. While sometimes there is a medical reason to not receive the routine childhood vaccinations, we all can otherwise follow CDC guidelines. Contagious diseases can lead to results more dire than a sore arm or missed school or work. 

How can you help others get past the influence of misinformation? You can be the listener who respects their concerns; you can help them find better sources of information; you can offer to go along for their COVID shot. A recent study showed people have a great influence in changing the minds of hesitant friends. “The people around us also play a major role, 59% saying they were influenced merely by having a conversation with … a closely connected person,” an April 2, 2021 article in Time magazine states.  

By sharing your own vaccination experience and by listening to others’ concerns, you can alleviate fears and restore mutual kindness in your community. 

The best gift you give this year might be that conversation. Your purposeful act of kindness will spread in widening circles; your shared understanding can save lives. 

Sharon Kourous is a member of Stronger Together Huddle, a group engaged in supporting and promoting the common good of all. She can be reached at mcneil102@icloud.com