• Flying Squid
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    719 months ago

    For everyone who doesn’t believe this sort of thing ever happens, there’s a reason why this former security guard is now sitting offstage to the left of Jimmy Kimmel every night.

    Kimmel started talking to him, befriended him, and eventually gave him a job.

    Some people are nice. Some successful people are nice and are friends with other people who are not as successful as them. Sometimes they even help them out if they can.

  • @dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    539 months ago

    I have no problem believing that someone was kind to a janitor. What’s weird is the “look at me!” points they were subconsciously (or consciously?) aiming to receive from posting this. Like, truly kind behavior doesn’t look for validation.

    • @Obi@sopuli.xyz
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      179 months ago

      Yes it also creates a baseline that the janitor actually is inferior by showing themselves as a good Samaritan just by having coffee with them.

    • @SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
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      149 months ago

      This is such an uncharitable interpretation of OP’s intentions. Perhaps he felt happy that the janitor had such an honest reaction and wanted to share it. Not everyone is an absolute narcissist who only ever looks for internet points.

      • @dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        29 months ago

        Needing the validation makes it cringe. People who are kind don’t look for praise about being kind. The entire tweet reeks of “I was SO kind to this guy!”

      • Echo Dot
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        19 months ago

        This is such an uncharitable interpretation of OP’s intentions

        Don’t mean it’s not an accurate one though.

        I payed for someone’s train ticket once because her purse was stolen, I didn’t feel the need to make a twitter account and tell everyone.

        • @juicy@lemmy.today
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          09 months ago

          Nah, you just kept in your back pocket until the opportunity arose to win some internet points with it.

          But wait, that’s not accurate, is it? No, because the most cynical interpretation of someone’s behavior rarely is accurate.

          My reaction to OP was to wonder who in my life could use a friend. I’d like to think that’s exactly what OP was hoping for.

          • Echo Dot
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            19 months ago

            Except I’m not winning internet points with it am I because I’m not declaring it to my name. It’s just a thing I did and I pointed out that I did it to demonstrate the fact that not everyone needs to go self-congratulate themselves whenever they do something even moderately pleasant.

    • @Hagdos@lemmy.world
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      69 months ago

      I read it as OP being a high school teacher (because I associate janitors with schools). Signaling this behaviour to the school kids would be a good thing.

    • @UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee
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      29 months ago

      Not everyone’s as bad as you think. My mum’s a very kind woman and tells me when she does stuff like this. I now do stuff like this too. You kinda need to be reminded of ways that you can be nice to people.

      (Also, people online are generally very nice. Sure, there are a couple of loud dumbasses. However, starting with the assumption that someone is nice is much better for everyone rather than the latter.)

    • @Davidchan@lemmynsfw.com
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      29 months ago

      On the one hand OP certainly appears to be fishing for praise and compliments.

      On the other hand, posts like these have a benefit to them, reminding people, especially those who live comfortable lives in well paying jobs, that everyone around them is still human and worth respecting regardless if they have the same skillset and background at you. Society as a whole would be a lot better if we showed everyone the same respect and compassion we think we deserve ourselves.

      • Flying Squid
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        29 months ago

        Yeah, I don’t really care if the post was done for vanity if it helps people realize that they should be kind to the people around them that most people don’t even notice.

          • @juicy@lemmy.today
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            19 months ago

            My favorite part of the internet is the way it allows me to make authentic connections with other people. If you’re unable to find that for yourself online, I’m sorry for you.

  • @MechanicalJester@lemm.ee
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    459 months ago

    The janitor my elementary got in trouble for being observed roller skating on the the roof of our gymnasium. Rumor started that they’ll fire him and every student promised violence if they did. Like, sure, maybe he should that but also otherwise he’s beloved so feel free to test your assumptions on the student response.

    • @Alpha71@lemmy.world
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      99 months ago

      when I was in grade school who had a very nice Japanese janitor. one day a girl said he touched her and he killed himself. Afterwards the girl later said she lied about it.

    • @dfc09@lemmy.world
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      49 months ago

      Thinking back to my middle school days, it’s entirely possible there janitor never rollerskated on the roof, the administration had no plans to fire him, but the students were still prowling around threatening violence over it 🤣

    • Flying Squid
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      39 months ago

      Roller skating on the gym roof is awesome! He shouldn’t have been fired.

  • @_number8_@lemmy.world
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    309 months ago

    is this really that unbelievable

    people have been known to drink coffee, sometimes in the presence of others, even

    • @fishos@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      As a custodian who is often treated like I might as well be invisible, this can absolutely happen. Those who show even the tiniest bit of respect to us are often the only ones and it is greatly appreciated.

      • @fartsparkles@sh.itjust.works
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        349 months ago

        I’m sorry if you’re not appreciated enough where you work and I just want to say a deep thank you for what you do - you keep the wheels turning. I used to be friends and neighbours with our custodian (before they moved to a warmer country and we lost touch) and having seen the state of the office in just one day without my buddy when he was off sick (people are such animals), it’s people like you that make a place nice and uplifting to be in. Thank you, fishos.

      • magnetosphere
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        99 months ago

        Well, on behalf of everyone who should say so but doesn’t, thanks for making our workplaces, schools, etc. less terrible. Y’all are underrated.

      • Flying Squid
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        59 months ago

        You are not invisible. I see you. You are an essential worker. Imagine what malls, offices and especially schools would be like without custodians. So thank you for the hard work you do.

      • @Davidchan@lemmynsfw.com
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        49 months ago

        Worked part time as custodian after getting out of the military. Definitely felt invisible and unappreciated, but always had someone breathing down my neck if something wasn’t cleaned to their standard. But never a thank you or good job.

        Now Im a supervisor, (different company) and I always make it a point to talk with cleaning staff when I see them. They work too hard to be taken for granted, and Im always pushing up on my managers that our cleaning staff are underpaid. I’ve figured out what drinks and snacks they enjoy so made it a point to leave them in my office with a note for them to enjoy, and a couple of times managed to convince their team lead to let me buy them all dinner after they cleaned up some real messes my team left. Do my best to keep my team tidy and not leaving the place a disaster but our custodians are humble people who like to remind me they get paid to show up and clean up what my team can’t. If I could get a keg into my office without getting myself or them fired I probably would.

      • @bort@sopuli.xyz
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        -29 months ago

        do you awkwardly go to people at work and say “thank you for being my friend”?

        • Flying Squid
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          59 months ago

          If everyone else ignores me or treats me like shit and this guy spends time with me every day to make my job less shitty? Yeah, I’d thank them and even buy them a coffee.

            • Flying Squid
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              19 months ago

              I just don’t get it. Certain people here think being a friend takes effort. It doesn’t and it’s appreciated from people who don’t get noticed as often as they deserve to be.

              It’s like that person who said they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a janitor if they were rich as if the janitor and the rich person wouldn’t have grown up steeped in the same pop culture.

        • @fishos@lemmy.world
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          09 months ago

          If it’s been a really shitty day where things have been being piled on and I’m struggling, yeah, absolutely. Why do you find this something to mock or ridicule or disbelieve?

          • @bort@sopuli.xyz
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            19 months ago

            Why do you find this something to mock or ridicule or disbelieve?

            because the OP paints custodians as awkward and outcast. While OP paints themself as a white knight, they backhandedly paint the custodian as a damsel in distress who needs the OP to rescue him. OPs like this deserve all the mockery.

    • @Marleyinoc@lemmy.world
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      49 months ago

      This guy’s (image not op) whole thing on Twitter seemed to be post something like that and then 5 donation posts. I couldn’t determine if legit but seemed sketchy so I blocked.

    • More like r/nothingeverhappens God, it gets old interacting with r/thathappened peeps. We get it, you don’t believe a downvote is enough, or are “too good” to use downvotes. No one cares.

      • Echo Dot
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        19 months ago

        All the posts are along the lines of “I was walking down the street and I found a $100 note on the ground”, yeah, it’s entirely possible that it happened, stuff that’s unlikely isn’t impossible, especially given the global population of 7 billion people.

  • @JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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    199 months ago

    Good man. The cleaners at my dorm in college were the same. Seemed genuinely grateful to pause and chat when I’d ask about their day. After that I’d chat when I met them in the hall.

    • That’s what it’s all about right there. You could lean into your lizard brain and learn to see every other being as something that will either eat you or not eat you, reacting accordingly with emotion, or you could lean into your rational brain and learn to connect with anyone, to be involved in mankind.

        • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
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          9 months ago

          For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne

          No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend’s were. Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.

      • @humbletightband@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 months ago

        I wonder why my comment provoked such a reaction. Imagine that you drink coffee with a person that barely has their ends meet, while you live a decent life, having a nice apartment, access to therapy, a car, and a motorcycle.

        But you both work in the same building, and you know that this is unfair. Moreover, you probably couldn’t offer help or even buy them coffee because they would think this is offensive.

        And the only thing I feel is the shame of taking advantage over them.

        • @Pogbom@lemmy.world
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          169 months ago

          This is a great sentiment but you really have to work on your delivery haha. Your first comment gives the impression that you feel superior because you make more money.

        • Flying Squid
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          139 months ago

          I have plenty of friends richer than me. Some much richer. Why would that make me resent them? I’m happy for their success.

            • Flying Squid
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              139 months ago

              Where the hell do you live where Janitors are paid $300 a month? Because that sounds like the real problem, not you being friends with them.

                • Flying Squid
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                  49 months ago

                  But I also don’t think you understand that these are two entirely different issues.

                  Let’s say that Janitor was paid $300,000 a year. They’re still probably not going to make anywhere near as much as the senior engineer at the company where they clean. That doesn’t mean the senior engineer shouldn’t befriend the janitor or feel guilty that they make more money than the janitor.

                  Should janitors get paid more? Absolutely.

                  Should people who get paid more than them be friends with them? Also absolutely.

                  Being friends with someone who doesn’t get paid as much as you helps you advocate for them to get paid more. After all, you’ll never know that the janitor is being underpaid if you don’t talk to them about it.

        • MeepsTheBard
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          49 months ago

          What’s the difference between befriending someone who’s worse off than you who works in the same building vs someone off the street? Your ability to help them is ~ the same, but you could give them a person to talk to.

          They’re not aliens, or pets to be taken care of. If a grown-ass man wants to chat with another grown-ass man about something mutually interesting to both, then why bring prerequisites into the equation?

          Now, if it’s a “we hang out every single night and discuss finances and aspirations and such” situation, sure, I can see a disconnect if the higher-up person doesn’t try to help, but your comment almost sounds like a internet-fueled caste system when taken too literally.

        • oce 🐆
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          9 months ago

          I understand but giving them consideration is already something important. Don’t force your help, but if you get to learn about them and see where they are struggling, you can suggest something more naturally. For example, if you know they are looking for another job, you can suggest reviewing their CV or maybe share a contact you have a relevant one. If they think it’s offensive, then too bad, but you did your human part.