Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - A Plea for the Holidays · 3:06am Nov 27th, 2019
I want to talk for a minute about the holidays, and about kindness and friendship, and all that jazz.
Thanksgiving is hard. Really hard.
Right now there are grocery store workers busting their flanks twice as much as usual for the same amount of pay. Right now there are other retail workers dreading the Black Friday stampede.
It’s more than just extra work. It’s extra abuse. Harried shoppers - frantic shoppers - crowded shoppers, stressed shoppers - they turn into abusive people, and retail workers suffer because of it. It’s taxing on the body, and the psyche, and the soul. To add insult to injury, a lot of stores deny time off requests, and blast the same twelve Christmas songs constantly, doing mental harm to their employees.
But you have power. Be kind. Be patient. Tell your cashier that they have no need to rush. Even if they may be under pressure from their employers to increase their productivity, nothing puts people at ease more than telling them “take your time, you’re working hard enough.” If nothing else, it let’s them know that you won’t complain to their managers or make their lives even more hellish. That provides enormous relief, believe it or not.
Buy up gift boxes of cookies and things, and then spend Thanksgiving Day dropping them off at the Dominos Pizza, or the counter of any other local place else where workers are expected to miss out on dinner with their families. It takes a few minutes, but that kind of thought and caring goes a long way. It reminds people that they are human beings deserving of sympathy and respect.
Do the same for nurses in hospitals. They save lives, and miss out on feasting with their families to do it, and they get no recognition, adulation or respect for doing so.
Check in on your friends. The tired. The overworked. The lonely. Message them. Let them know that you know they are frenzied, and that they have no obligation to respond, but that you care about what they’re going through - that you’re there if you need them.
Check in on your queer friends, your trans friends. Thanksgiving can often be brutal on people with judgmental families. Take a moment to offer support.
Simple things like this can alleviate so much emotional suffering. They can even save a life. Suicide rates triple around the holidays, and simple kindnesses - simple decency has been known to snap people out of it.
Smile at people. Even when you’re in a rush. Especially when you’re in a rush.
You have more power than you realize. You can be a force for good in this world. You can embody the power of friendship - of kindness, generosity - of laughter, and honesty, and loyalty. You have the power to bring that magic to life, right here in the real world.
All you have to do is try. Just try. Seriously, it’s easy.
Equestria lives in you, and it is through your actions that its magic becomes real in this world. Now is a dark hour for millions of people for hundreds of reasons, and you can make a difference.
And if you happen to be one of the millions who suffer isolation or abuse during the holidays, please, please, please know that there are people out there who care. You have worth. You can get through this. We’re all rooting for you.
Discuss.
-Sprocket
The entire world should read this essay, Sprocket. You convey the ideals that we should all embrace. Those of us who have watched the show know them and live them.
We are the torch bearers who can show the way. We should show the way.
And I for one will. And I know I won't be alone, ever again.
Thank you for saying this.
A good post; thanks for making it. :)
An excellent message for any time of year, but especially this one. I had to make three grocery runs yesterday as part of Thanksgiving prep. The biggest problem was the other shoppers and their failure to recognize how their carts might be blocking entire aisles. The staff was always doing their best, especially the cashiers. Thankfully, no one verbally abused anyone... as far as I could tell.