Company Blog

Zip of Kindness

by Adam Zack — August 6, 2025

“I’ve made the conscious effort to both notice and give kindness to people I
interact with on a daily basis.”

It seems like I am noticing and remembering more kindness lately. I’ve made the conscious effort to both notice and give kindness to people I interact with on a daily basis. Sometimes, I am totally blindsided by one, and almost have to do a double take as I say to myself “Did that actually just happen?!”

Monday I was going to the bank, as I do every Monday. It was around noon, and as I pulled my truck up to the front of the bank, I waited as a man was helping an older lady along the sidewalk toward her car. There was a kid at the ATM machine who looked to be finishing a transaction or not able to make a transaction. As the man and the old lady passed the kid walked toward me. He was probably 18-20 years old, with a nose ring across his nose septum and several more piercings across his face. He looked like the typical punk kid. As he approached, I was thinking that he probably was going to ask me for some money. He then said, loudly, to me, “Sir!” I waited for him to tell me a story that he needed five bucks to get something to eat or transportation. Instead of that, he looked down at my blue jeans and made the motion of zipping up his pants. Shocked, I immediately checked my zipper, and sure enough I needed to XYZ PDQ because the barn door was wide open! Slightly embarrassed, but more thankful that he let me know, I blurted “Thank you.” He kept walking and I realized the embarrassment I would have felt later if I entered the bank like nothing was wrong and it was just a breezy day down south. I shouted “Thank you!!” again, and he simply said “I got you!” as he walked away. It was by far the greatest kindness I had experienced in a while. I wondered, would I do the same for a total stranger? Would I tell someone I had never seen or met if their barn door was open? Or if they had a booger hanging from their nose or something in their teeth? Probably not. It’s very awkward to point out an embarrassment to a total stranger, but it’s far more awkward to walk around in public like you are auditioning for the peep show.