Why can't people be kind?

I'm watching Superbowl 55 today and a commercial struck a chord with a poignant question - "Why can't we be kind?" I was stunned for a moment, then responded with some bitterness. Why? Oh, I have the perfect example of why we can't be kind.

When I was living in a little motel room in Keansburg, New Jersey, I was mostly happy-go-lucky. People don't like to see someone happy. They leave you alone if they think you're miserable. But if you're strong and happy, they want to knock you down. This is a fact per my experience. I still don't know how to hide it when I'm happy. I wish I did for my own protection.

I had purchased a bike from my neighbor for $20. It was a beautiful Diamond back, purple women's bike with a wonderful basket over the back tire. It road smoothly and everything worked just fine on it. I wanted a beach cruiser because I prefer fatter tires for the bumps on the road, but for the most part I was happy with the bike. I was enjoying riding it around town and it was useful for shopping and laundry with having the basket.

One day another neighbor asked if he could borrow my bike. All of the bike riders except for maybe one kept their bikes locked up to avoid theft. I was a little apprehensive about loaning out my bike. I didn't want it to disappear. That's not what happened. The bike was returned but it was damaged. The tires and the brakes were damaged. I was not compensated for the bike. A friend of mine wanted to repair it and got new tires, but neither he nor I knew how to fix it so it never got fixed. Eventually I gave my friend the new bike seat and the basket and the bike got dumped. It was a shame because it was a perfect bike and it was destroyed simply because I was "kind".

Lo and behold, history repeats itself and sometimes so fast it makes your head spin. I'm in Florida with my husband today. I've been back here with him since November. Before Christmas I purchased a bike for him for $40. A nice bike, nothing wrong with it, with a good ride. We went riding together several times. As the weather changed we locked up the bikes and decided to wait until we were more motivated.

A young man asked my husband if he could borrow his bike. I wanted to say no immediately, but it's not my bike and I know what people think of other people who say no right away, so I kept my mouth shut. My husband allowed him to borrow the bike. The bike is now useless and completely damaged. The back tire and rim are destroyed and the brakes and gears are all messed up. That was my husband's reward for being "kind".

So please don't ask me why people can't be kind? Please don't ask me why I say no when someone asks me to borrow something that cost me time or money to obtain. Please don't ask me why I'm so "cruel" and say no to "pan handlers" on the street. It's not because I don't know how to be kind. It's because they don't. I have to be kind to myself, because they won't be.

Instead of asking "Why can't people be kind?" why not ask this more important question: Why can't people be responsible?