👋
There’s a park we frequent that has a 1.7 mile loop that’s sandwiched between a lake and a zoo. One of the features of the walking path is that at a certain point it passes by this mini train track that belongs to the zoo so you families and kids on field trips passing by all throughout the day. We’ve been coming to this park for a few years and it hit me today that we’ve been partaking in an almost scared tradition every time we see the train: waving.
Without any hesitation, as the train passes, the kids on the train are ALWAYS waving at whoever is passing by. Runners, walkers, people with strollers, big groups, solo people — all being waved at by these children on a train. And you know what those people do? They wave back. Every single time. Doesn’t matter what they’re doing, they wave in response to the waves they’ve been given. And the kids smile. And the people smile. And kindness is spread through this simple act of waving your hand through the air.
I waved the kids today. My daughter waved too, although I think she might have been swatting at a fly. But it was nice in that moment to see that it’s those small unspoken moments of kindness that connect us as humans. Objectively, the waving didn’t move the ‘good in the world’ needle forward at all. But subjectively I know it made some 5-year-olds day to have me wave back at them.
Apr 30, 2024
Related Recs
🫶
I love to be surprised by a stranger offering kindness out of the blue.
Just now I was jogging to the train, as I do because I always leave things last minute - so I was on time to make it. But a guy in a car just stopped by me and asked if I was going to miss my train and offered a quick lift to the station
I declined because I was still on time (nothing against him) but I love how that random guy just decided to stop for a moment to offer kindness, such a nice little interaction to enter the weekend with :)
there’s still lots of love in the world, despite the richest trying to force barriers between strangers
Also reminds me of the times working in the supermarket where I saw strangers offer to buy things for others if the other person was just short, people they might never see again but decided to give money to.
Jan 24, 2025
👋
This is such an excellent gesture. So friendly and wholesome. A little ‘here ya go buddy’ good deed done. Simple little kindnesses
Sep 21, 2024
📱
A few weeks ago I was scrolling on Tik Tok and came upon one of those no likes / no bookmarks / (probably) no views videos. It was a guy in his 70’s doing reviews of sodas he liked and this one was about the Pepsi Nitro Draft flavor. I scrolled past it since it wasn’t anything I cared for…and then felt compelled to go back and comment. I don’t know what exactly moved me to, but I began typing about how when I tried that soda I didn’t love it but I appreciated something new. Maybe 3 minutes later I got a comment back, and I proceeded to reply back and forth for a dozen or so comments. At the end of the interaction he thanked me and said that it meant a lot that I’d take the time to engage. I clicked on his account and he had made roughly 50 or so videos, almost all of which had no comments or views. Made me sad to think that this was someone’s dad who was just trying to share his hobby and takes online but wasn’t getting any intersections. Naturally I went and watched them all, left a few comments, a cried (only a little).
It’s so easy to scroll past videos and photos and online posts and ignore them, even on here, because they don’t interest us. But someone made that online post, and put thought into it and posted it with the idea that someone would probably engage with it. I know it’s silly, but it did make me sad to think that guy kept posting without any interaction. And it hit me just then how it cost me absolutely nothing to reply and make that guy’s night, and maybe even his whole week.
Takeaway: Slow down and toss some interaction towards people online. You don’t have to fake it either; my comment was just my take on the soda, and that was enough. I think in this digital age maybe leaving a like or comment is equivalent to holding the door for someone or saying ‘bless you’ irl — common decency and kindness. It goes a long way. And it might just make someone’s day, and that’s worth a few minutes of your time.
Aug 28, 2024
Top Recs from @marianoleonczik
florinegrassenhopper riotgrrrl brendanooooo slowdazzle buck_mcgraw and indianjones — we did it. Not only did we successfully meet for drinks, but we also schemed the hostile takeover of this app from tyler tonight.
In all seriousness — weird that an app I downloaded in April would make genuinely want to drive back into Brooklyn during end of day traffic for a happy hour. Great app filled with great people.
Jul 20, 2024
♥️
I feel like there’s a special connectivity on this app that I haven’t felt in a long time, maybe since early 2010’s tumblr. The fact that you can’t promote yourself like IG is wonderful. The fact that there isn’t mass video content like Tik Tok is great. It’s not this monetized / paid sponsorship app. People are here because they want to be a part of something with nothing to gain besides friendship. Seeing the URL -> IRL meetups warms my heart so much (waiting for an NYC or Brooklyn meetup).
Thanks for your participation on this niche little app. I smile reading all the recs and all the comments and all the asks. Hope we’ll all be here for a long time.
Jun 15, 2024
🖥
I think a life rule for me is to surround myself with people who know more / are smarter / are cooler than me and just absorb their aura by listening / observing them. It’s made me the incredibly smart / cool person you all know and love.
I just never thought I’d feel the same way about URL friends. I’m constantly listening to the songs I see posted here, reading the articles, subbing to newsletters, and googling topics that get tossed onto the feed.
It’s nice to know you can become a more rounded person by just absorbing what your mutuals post on here. I’m going to sit on my couch, have a cocktail and digest my lovely feed. Happy Sunday!
Sep 15, 2024