r/AskReddit • u/MildlyOnline17 • 7h ago
What’s a sign that someone is genuinely a good person?
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u/Glass-Complaint3 7h ago
They remember the little things about you and are always looking to give back to others.
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u/sandwichcrusader 7h ago
How do they treat people and animals who have absolutely no power or impact on their lives.
Do they leave situations, spaces, people better off then when they arrived.
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u/Sad-Reflection-3351 7h ago
When you get talked over or interrupted in a group setting, they keep eye contact with you and explicitly say, 'Anyway, what were you about to say?' Absolute top-tier humans
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u/Illustrious_Neck_2 3h ago
yes! or like i'm sorry you were intrupted, what do you have to say and then also make sure the group of people hear your opinion or thought as well. the best ppl ever!!
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u/nrg117 7h ago
How they live when alone. People change people.
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u/ImpactBetelgeuse 4h ago
This is paradoxical. I would never know how they live alone but if I go and live with them I won't know. I think installing hidden cameras and audio devices would help.
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u/JenNtonic 7h ago
They have never ever put a perishable item in the bread section of the grocery store
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u/Whataworldhuh1837 7h ago
Taking hit after hit and still treating others with love and respect. Those people always amaze me because I can feel my soul getting darker and darker every hit I take
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u/sunshine-warmth 7h ago
Someone isn’t a genuinely good person if they only care about APPEARING like a good person to others without actually doing the work of being one.
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u/PrestigiousMenu3483 7h ago
How they treat animals, cashiers and service workers, how they talk about a person who is not in the room. If they change their behavior depending on who's in front of them.
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u/Xylorgos 2h ago
Sometimes it's reasonable to change your behavior in order to accommodate children, for example, or someone who would otherwise have trouble participating in the conversation or whatever activity everyone else is participating in.
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u/Save_Your_Ink 7h ago
How they behave when no one is looking and there’s nothing to gain.
I once read that a good test if you’re a good person is if you return the grocery cart to its stand — there’s nothing for you to gain from doing so, you do it because it’s the right thing to do and makes that employee’s job easier. I thought that was interesting.
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u/The_Breastfed_CEO 7h ago
Treating the waiter/waitress with respect.
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u/Professional_Pace711 6h ago
I always do this. My ex husband used to treat waiters awful. Waitresses depended on if he was attracted to them,
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u/RedRedVVine 7h ago
Compassion for animals.
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u/Deep_Sun8665 7h ago
Bob Barker loved animals. He was.............not a good person.
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u/PotentialSand3264 7h ago
Hitler loved animals too
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u/Efficient-Peach-4773 7h ago
He did his dog dirty at the end. Fuck that guy.
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u/fermat9990 7h ago
This is not mentioned enough. He could have released it from the bunker and it might have survived.
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u/raffey_goode 2h ago
You can say all the what ifs but he knew what would happen to that dog in Russian hands.
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u/Bubbagump210 6h ago
I find this one to be a red herring often enough. I know lots of people that have way more compassion for animals than they do for people. If you’re cruel to animals, you’re a psychopath. But simply being overly compassionate towards animals? I’m not so sure
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u/planet_smasher 4h ago
Yeah, I've noticed that as well. Maybe the people who are assholes to humans but kind to animals enjoy having power over something that just adores them, like a pet.
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u/mem0723 7h ago
I struggle personally with the animals are better than people or only liking animals crowd
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u/Low-Discipline200 7h ago
Perhaps you should attempt to look at it in a more empathetic way. There is probably a reason.
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u/mem0723 7h ago
There may be definitely! Such is the case for many situations people find people to be “not good people” though. There’s often a reason. This to me fits into all of that. Putting animals above your human community ain’t it to me (especially being disrespectful to your community in favor of your animals)
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u/Low-Discipline200 6h ago
Fair point. Unfortunately, those people will not care if you have personal issues with it, haha.
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u/dyslexic_leonidas 6h ago
I think it comes down to who is suffering more.
Take away the anthropocentric view which is ingrained in us, and instead consider all life is equal. If you're viewing it this way, then the worst suffering humans in western societies are much better off than the worst suffering animals. (E.g. nobody has it as bad as a dairy cow in a factory farm).
So its not necessarily that "animals are better than humans". Its that "animals are equal to humans, and are presently facing much more oppression".
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u/mem0723 6h ago
You raise a good point that there is definitely a difference (to me at least) between donating money to animal welfare services and rescuing 4 pit bulls. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with this, but my experience is I used to work in a dog kennel and generally these were the worst dog owners.
Edit to add that the other major offenders were the tiny dog owners lol
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u/Adam_Sackler 7h ago
Compassion and empathy for those at our mercy is a pretty reliable sign.
It's easy for people to say they care about animals, but it takes a genuinely good person to go vegan because of it.
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u/tomchoioh 7h ago
How they speak of you when with others. Conversely, you can tell that by how they speak of others when with you. I usually see that as a good indicator of what this person would be willing to say about me to others.
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u/sandiercy 7h ago
How they treat others. Like if you go to a restaurant and they berate the staff and make unreasonable demands, then they aren't a good person.
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u/majestical_kangaroo 7h ago
They don’t have an ego and are down to earth and easy to talk to
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u/TheSmilingFool 1h ago
Sometimes good people have egos and they put them aside. You can see them visibly do this sometimes. That’s amazing to see.
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u/giddeyaboutdort 7h ago
They treat workers with respect, gentleness, and kindness (servers, waiters, etc.)
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u/ScottTheMonster 7h ago
If they routinely do things that do not benefit themselves. Taking the grocery cart back, waiting for others at crosswalk, donating money without asking for a tax receipt.
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u/Flaky_PoetHub 7h ago
If you two get along like the Hatfields and McCoys and they still help you out in a bind.
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u/HawkqueenYOLO 7h ago
Grocery carts. Do they leave it by their car or take 2 min to walk it back or to a drop off?
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u/nebulous_undefined 4h ago
How they treat people whose ideas and beliefs they do not personally align with
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u/HeyYouTurd 7h ago
doesn’t need to post every single thing to social media. does good works in their community. doesn’t need the applause of random people. shows their kindness in the goodness they do for others. and is not boastful.
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u/SeaWolfQ 2h ago
They don’t speak negatively about anyone behind their backs.
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u/KatKneelin 35m ago
a rule I follow is if I can’t say it directly to their face, then I don’t say it at all
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u/KatKneelin 34m ago
I like to imagine that person is in the room with us. would I break their heart if they heard me say it?
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u/Phresh-Jive 7h ago
They didn’t vote for a pedophile?
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u/666SpeedWeedDemon666 7h ago
Idk the non pedophile voters where wanting to go to brunch at the expense of the Palestinians being bombed.
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u/mismopeach 7h ago
They don’t turn every single topic into a political rant.
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u/hanumanCT 4h ago
MAGAs are bad people, no matter how hard you deflect, that is a fact. Anyone who lacks the empathy to justify voting for Trump is damn twat.
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u/what_me_nah 7h ago
When they don't make their political opinions their entire personality and restrain themselves from elbowing their political opinions into every single thread on reddit.
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u/Dizzy-Sleep113 7h ago
How they treat customer service staff or street animals when nobody is watching
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u/mworld1976 25m ago
It's quite a subtle sign: sometimes people remain anonymous in forums and go extra mile to contribute/help or offer suggestions. This too without showing much emotions. Then they just move on once the person expresses gratitude (sometimes without even acknowledging by responding).
Same way, strangers helping when you really need some help, and then just moving on.
Sometimes, people contributing/donating anonymously.
People do it because they don't want others to face same struggles they might have faced OR they can't see others struggling and feel that they should do whatever they could.
Some of us might find such wonderful persons too dry or emotionless, but for me, it just melts my heart.
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u/Delicious_Ratio_8648 7h ago
My definition of good person is the ability to speak truth . If one is pointing out my fault and genuinely gives advices than laughing about it. I'll call him or her a good person
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u/im_not_quiet 7h ago
Pets don't lose their minds upon seeing you. It's 100% effective. If my cats don't like you, I politely tell you to go away.
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u/abdul_haseeb_11 7h ago
I usually noticed by how they behave with service workers, waiters and strangers etc.
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u/Barbzgen 7h ago
Maybe the way they react in a difficult situation. Good people are usually positive and would not judge right away. I guess we would never really know what they are deep inside.
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u/cloudy_ft 7h ago
Acknowledging your boundaries and remembering the small things you tell them, showing they really listen.
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u/Rude-Nebula3835 7h ago
They treat others with respect and kindness, especially when no one else is looking. “Good people” are generally not selfish, self-centered or self-serving.
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u/Curious_Event5304 6h ago
No se aprovechan ni abusan de los demás, ni siquiera un poco, especialmente cuando estos son más débiles o vulnerables o están en una situación desfavorable. Aunque nunca nadie vaya a enterarse. Simplemente no lo hacen. Para mí esa es la prueba definitiva de que alguien es buena persona.
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u/callmeStephen19 5h ago
How someone treats or responds to an animal is usually a good indicator of other traits.
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u/Generic_Midwesterner 5h ago
None (or at least very few) of us are 100% good or 100% bad. The whole good people/bad people dichotomy is something I wish would go away. I've had good days, months, and years, and less good ones.
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u/Illustrious_Neck_2 3h ago
how they react to wild animals. if there's a wild animal is it going to "hang out" near or next to them or are they going to walk or fly away.
i would also say if someone smiles and they smile back or say hello back.
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u/CULLDOZER 3h ago
When they have done something that was obviously inconvenient for them that benefits someone else and they have nothing to gain from it.
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u/rach2bach 3h ago
My asshole friend who has dragged me to some amazing parts of the world is a total scumbag.
He also has fed a lot of kids and poor people in all of the countries we have visited. We fed a whole school of kids in India, and every trip he does something like it.
He'd hate that I'd share this about him, lol.
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u/Joshua9699 2h ago
How they treat people they don’t need anything from. That usually tells you more about someone than how nice they are to people they want to impress.
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u/FriendshipNeat1077 2h ago
Lots of people think it’s when they make the least amount of mistakes but it’s actually more about their behavior after they make a mistake. There are people that can say all the right things but still not really mean well and there are people that accept being a flawed person but still care
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u/raforad 2h ago
The thoughts and narratives they choose to believe when they reach success. A person lacking in mindfulness will buy in to stories that overstates their competence while ignoring the role of luck. This is why we see people shift to a "F U, got mine" value system despite coming from humble beginnings
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u/NatePerspective 1h ago
How they act toward a server when the meal is wrong, and nobody important is watching, says alot more than any nice speech does tho
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u/Glittering_Act_8528 1h ago
When they are willing to hold back when winning the argument matters more to the other person (like when the other person is sensitive)
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u/douce-ann 35m ago
I once saw a coworker stay late just to help a new hire finish a project they’d never met
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u/Halter-Amphibian533 15m ago
I will underscore what many have already mentioned: how you treat others when there is nothing to gain. Especially restaurant servers.
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u/Mr_Donair 14m ago
They return their shopping cart to the cart corral rather than leaving it scattered in the parking lot.
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u/threats-of-care 8m ago
The best indicator that someone is a good person is that they notice when other people are not and it bothers them.
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u/M25commuter 7h ago
Taking their trolly/supermarket cart back and not leaving it in the middle of the car park.
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u/asisz 2h ago
Today our building's guard has to work double shift without meal. He didn't bring lunch as he was running late to work, I gave him lunch, tea, and when I heard he has to double the shift for night I bought him a dinner as well.. felt really bad that someone needs to work 2 shifts of 12hrs without sleep and meal. I did as much as I could and felt good although I'm broke rn ! Lol. Not to brag but i feel I'm good one ig..haha
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u/EndGreyhoundRacing 7h ago
They’re atheist
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u/Poonchild 7h ago
When you find out they did a good thing from a third party, rather than them setting up the camera and lighting to film themselves doing said good thing before posting it on SM.
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u/Spin_Critic 7h ago
There's no such thing as a selfless act.
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u/KatKneelin 44m ago
noo not true :( a complete stranger comforted me after having a panic attack at the denver airport. everyone else ignored me (tbh i preferred that) but she calmed me down, had me repeat affirmations and gave me a hug. to me that is about as selfless as it gets. It costs nothing to offer kindness to your fellow humans
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u/IvyMoonlitGlow 7h ago
How they treat people when there’s nothing to gain from it