Sometimes, some people are born with a kind of "blessing". It makes them totally unable to understand the concept of "evil". And it could create people, children most of the time, that are so pure and innocent that even the most ferocious beast or darkest dark lord wouldn't even think about hurting it. -- Anon Guest
There are people and things that are too good to be real. Well-behaved puppies. Ball pits filled with plushies. The really expensive salted caramel ice cream. The people are less likely to occur. This cruel existence tends to wound them. Break their heart and soul. They happen in fiction way more often: Dudley Do-Right, Wander, and other Unbreakably Good Guys.
But consider, just for a moment, Benny Goodkind. There are two ways to go when one's religious mother has named you Benevolence and Benny chose the path less travelled. To actually live up to his name. To willingly see the good in people, things, and happenstance. And, when deemed irredeemable, to roll with the punches and carry on without malevolence.
He hasn't filed a dime in taxes because he gives his every spare dollar to charity. Including the money that the IRS gives him for over-donating. He has a nice job on a help line, and lives frugally on the wrong side of the tracks. He helps children tie their shoes, and goes through his days unharmed by the naturally hostile or untrusting on the streets. He buys food stores in bulk to save money, and then uses those stores to make up meal boxes for the homeless in his area.
When he asks, "How are you?" he is genuinely interested in the answer. He has good advice for those who see no way out, and has helped more than one soul away from one last, giant leap of their lifetime.
He made the conscious decision to stay with a less sophisticated mobile phone. The newer ones take his attention away from the people around him, and even encourage such behaviour. Though he never thinks less of anyone who has fallen down the smartphone vortex. He never thinks less of anyone.
So when a crowd of white supremacists marched through Benny's neighbourhood screaming about how they were irreplaceable... Benny did something mean, for the first time in his life. He arranged an instant counter-protest.
He armed the neighbourhood kids with super-soakers, loaded with gentian violet - a stain that is not easy to get rid of. He gave out packets of harmless, coloured powder to the homeless, and staged a riotously colourful counter-protest.
The kids marked all of these white people where they'd never be able to hide it, and devoted a good portion of their ammunition to ruining these men's expensive clothing for good. Those who were still at home at this point began blasting Melting Pot by Blue Mink out of speakers they set in the window. Some even made it down to join in the fun.
The racists fled.
And Benny went to the nearest police station and reported himself as the instigator of the conflict. The attending officer, upon hearing the full report, and after he stopped laughing, took three calming breaths. He still struggled to keep a straight face.
"Mister Goodkind," he said. "Go home. We're not going to be enforcing any charges. And I don't think the courts will take any lawsuits seriously."
Benny still insisted on spending some time in prison. Which he did, coaching the inmates on how to choose good.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / andreacrisante ]
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