Be Kind

In 2019 when I was not able to find a job as a web developer and not being a good self promoter for my freelance work, I took a job at The Marriot Hotel in Everett, WA as a food server, thinking I would again become a bartender ( I worked for six years as a food server/bartender, 1984-1990). It didn’t take me very long to decide that I still don’t like dealing with drunks, and would stay a breakfast food server. I liked the women I was working with and we were a good team. It was great, I liked it when it was busy and we were practically running around trying to keep everyone happy. I wasn’t sure I would be able to do the job, but I was, and I got in the best shape I’d been in in awhile, even fit in to some old pants in my closet.

Then the pandemic hit.

My daughter also was a food server at a Sushi restaurant when we were both laid off/ on standby on March 16, 2020. My wife Donna was able to continue working from home so that was good.

I continued to look for work as a web developer and started learning a new web platform, Eleventy, a Static Site Generator (SSG) which turns your data you get from a database into static pages, just HTML, CSS and JavaScript creating a very fast website. I had a few phone interviews and finally had an in-person interview in late February and was hired on March, 4th 2021 to build a WordPress plugin for car dealerships search pages for their websites and their vehicle inventories. It has been a fun, learning and rewarding project.

That was a long winded rambling just to set up where this song came from.

There was a nice elderly couple that would come and stay at the hotel once a month, the gentleman would recite poetry for us servers. One day he came in with one of William Wordsworth’s poems and one of his own written out. I really liked his poem and thought I would try and turn it into a song. It was beautifully written, using the senses, about kindness. I tried to turn it into a song but I didn’t want to sing about how cool kindness is. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs, BE KIND. So I wrote my version. No yelling.

I did use one of his stanzas, with a little change. If I ever make any money off of this song I will make sure he or his family gets a cut.

I don’t feel comfortable sharing the whole poem because I have not got permission to do so, but I will share the part I used in my song.

When someone is nice to you
You feel understood and seen

Lyrics:

As you pass through this world
While you're living your life
Be kind, be kind, be kind

You are one of a kind
I hope you are the kind to be kind
Be kind, be kind, be kind

I don't like to tell you what you oughta do but
You oughta, you oughta be kind
Be kind, be kind, be kind

When someone is kind to me
I feel understood and seen
Be kind, be kind, be kind

As you pass through this world
While you're living your life
Be kind, be kind, be kind

You have a gift, a gift to be kind
A gift that is easily given
Be kind, be kind, be kind

You have a power, a power within you
The awesome power, to be kind
Be kind, be kind, be kind

When someone is kind to me
I feel understood and seen
Be kind, be kind, be kind