E :
What I’m about to say isn’t meant to take anything away from Carlos or the genuinely kind gesture he made. Credit where it’s due, it was a classy thing to do.
That said, I think we tend to put celebrities and athletes on such a high pedestal that when one of them displays basic kindness or common courtesy, it gets treated as something extraordinary. In this case, he simply opened a door for a staff member, a polite and respectful act, but also the kind of thing most people would consider normal human decency.
The gesture deserves recognition, but perhaps the level of amazement says more about how we view public figures than about the act itself.
We see this all the time. A CEO is praised for being friendly to employees, greeting the cleaning staff, eating lunch with the rest of the team, or simply treating everyone with respect. People act as if these are exceptional displays of character, when in reality they’re just examples of basic manners, empathy, and human decency.
Maybe the real issue is that we’ve become so used to stories of arrogance, entitlement, and people in positions of power being disconnected from everyone else that when someone behaves like a normal, respectful human being, it suddenly feels remarkable.
It’s good to acknowledge and encourage that behaviour. But at the same time, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that being kind, respectful, and considerate isn’t extraordinary, it’s the minimum standard we should expect from everyone, regardless of status, fame, or success.
2026-06-07 21:25:16