I am amazed whenever I see a random act of kindness from someone who just wants to help make the world a better place.

And I am appalled when I see, or hear of acts of violence or anyone who shows a lack of compassion to his or her fellow human being.

Recently, I found it hard to comprehend how an adult would strike a baby for crying out of discomfort when the pressure in the cabin of an airplane changed. Not only did the adult strike the baby, he also used the n-word.

As an adult who travels by plane quite a bit, I often feel like crying out when my ears start to pop and hurt as the airline pressure changes. So, I understand why the child cried. What I don’t understand is why the man who struck the child didn’t. Stories I read about the incident said the man was intoxicated. If that was his excuse for striking an innocent child, I don’t buy it. The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That man’s actions toward the child came from the bottom of his heart. which seemed to be filled with hate and racism. When a person’s heart carries the heavy load of hate, it doesn’t take much for the hate to be manifested on the outside.

On another occasion, I listened to the 911 call on the evening news last week, where a nurse on duty at a senior living facility refused to try to save the life of a woman who had passed out. Now, I understand that there are rules. But in a case like this, I believe the rule should have been broken. Maybe applying CPR to the dying woman would not have helped her. Maybe the woman would have died anyway. But I believe the nurse would feel a lot better today if she had made an effort to save the woman’s life.

Then, here at home, there was the incident where an 82-year-old woman was pulled from a train because she was singing and playing her tambourine. I never saw or read where any of the other passengers on the train had complained about her "noise-making." So, when a big, burly guard told her to stop, she just kept on singing her song. Maybe she didn’t hear him. Whatever the reason, the guard thought it proper to pull the frail, old woman to her feet and drag her to the door. She fell to the ground as the guard jerked her off the train.

My heart was touched when I saw the film of the incident. A little old woman who was entertaining herself and, perhaps those around her, was humiliated and dragged of the train like she had committed a terrible crime. I’ve seen dogs treated better. As I watched that clip, I wondered if the guard had a mother or grandmother. I wondered, too, if he would want someone to treat his loved one in the same manner. Then, I wondered — where has all the love and respect for each other has gone?

All these incidents happened within a week of each other. And during that time, I had a nasty fall in the elevator of a local department store, when the elevator floor did not go all the way down. I tripped while entering the elevator. It was a nasty fall and I blacked out for a few seconds. I was taken to the hospital and after several x-rays, I was relieved to know that I hadn’t broken any bones.

But what hurt just about as much as the fall, was the fact that, after almost two weeks later, nobody from the store has even called to see how I am doing. What’s with that?

In spite of these examples of uncaring, lack-of-tolerance and just mean-to-the-bone people, there are some people who still believe in exhibiting their concern for others. They show their concern everyday in small, but significant ways. I have a friend, Elaine Davis, who each morning sends me a text message to encourage me. Her texts are only a few lines, but the messages are so encouraging. And I thank her.