How to tell if someone is a good person
March 2nd, 2008Do you know how to tell if someone is truly a good person? You could tell if they’re a good person if they stand up for something that is right, whether it’s popular or not. They stand up for it even if the consequences are severe.
Something to keep in mind.
Or you can let your dog judge their character.
Agreed. Dogs know, because people can’t hide their true selves from dogs.
that’s one way for sure.
Lime - Oh, there are plenty of others. Tshsmom hit on a full-proof method.
Spot-on with that observation.
(Came here from House of Lime)
David - Thanks.
LOL @ tshsmom
Spot on ZS and tshsmom!
One way I try to tell the character of a person is how they act around children. Its not perfect but it is telling.
beach bum makes an excellent point. i’d also add….how do they treat their elders?
Miladysa - Thanks. Actually, her dog story is quite sad.
Beach and Lime - Yes, both children and elders are a good way to see someone’s true colors.
Another way to tell, watch how they treat people like waiters and customer service folks. Be weary when you meet someone who treats waiters and customer service people shitty.
ZS, I agree totally, and just an honest question, did I inspire this post at all? J/w
Ben - Actually, I got this idea from a Pro-Gun website. The writer was talking about the few politicians who stood up for the Second Amendment after Columbine.
The sick thing is there are always politicians who use tragedy as an excuse for more government power, like the Democrats who used Columbine as an excuse to ban guns or President Bush who used 9/11 as an excuse to get the Patriot Act passed. The Gunowners of America wrote a few god articles on the Patriot Act. Here’s one:
http://www.gunowners.org/fs0307.htm
But yes, indirectly. You did remind me that I need to blast political correctness more often. I sometimes worry that I’m becoming soft.
My way to tell is if they abuse helpless animals.
Humans haggle too much over what’s right and what’s wrong, so I’ll go with the dog method - tho it’s not foolproof. Hitler’s dog thought he was cool.
I like all the suggestions here. How someone interacts with the world, even in small ways is telling. I once attracted a four-month girlfriend (more like a sex partner) because she had observed me being “sweet” to an elderly woman co-worker. It’s a special person that can get through to difficult animals and children.
This one resonates with me most, and jibes with the idea of how one treats a waiter: “Judge a man not by how he treats his equals…”
At a company party hosted by my boss, a notorious a-hole, I was blown away at how his neighbors absolutely adored him. I liked him, but in a disfunctional-can-take-abuse kind of way. He was genuinely warm and lovable at home, but at work he could be a monster.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, I will remember to the day I die Mase Warner of Novasoft in Burlingame, CA, a man who gave respect first and got it two-fold in return.
Some people will never be in a postion to be tested, and sadly sometimes the test comes along after many years of association. And when that friend fails that test, it is a heart break.
As for those first round picks, Dallas traded away last year’s to Cleveland. Cleveland got Brady Quinn if you remember. That was courtesy of us. Poor Cleveland now hasn’t a single one in the first three rounds. However, with Deon Anderson their newly franchised quarterback (big contract) perhaps they could trade Quinn to a desperate team. There’s plenty that could use a QB.
Well said.
Kate - Yes, that’s a good method.
SME - Are we sure about that? Hitler’s dog may have hidden from him on more than one occasion, especially when Hitler became more and more of a meth freak.
Scott - Your co-worker at Novasoft I would have loved to have met. My kind of guy.
Thanks for the explanation about the Cowboys. I was wondering that.
As for the “Judge a man not by how he treats his equals..,” reminds me of when the Playboy Adviser had a definition for a Gentlemen. Part of the definition consisted of he neither steps on those below him nor kisses the boots of those above him.
Leslie - Whoops, I hit Submit Comment too fast.
Thanks.
positivity does have a good impact on many of us. Just the other day our secretary was telling the whole lot (in a ministrial meeting) how clean and organized our workplaces are (specifically ladies of my department). From then on, i sort of make sure that everythin is in place when i am gone after 5.