Kindness doesn’t mean ignoring people when they do things that are unkind, wrong, ignorant, racist, or discriminatory. It doesn’t mean keeping quiet when you disagree with someone about a moral issue. But it does mean treating people with respect.

A nice person sees disrespect or some other unkindness happening and keeps quiet. A nice person may notice that the victim is getting off at their same stop and walks up to the victim as the doors close, with the laughter of the bullying crowd left behind. The nice person says, “I am so sorry that happened to you. They shouldn’t have done that.”

In contrast, the kind person sees this happening and gets out of their seat. The kind person goes and sits next to the victim. The kind person looks directly at the group and says, “What you are doing is not ok. It’s called harassment. Keep it up and I’ll call the police.”

So, are you nice or kind?