What’s a subtle sign that a person is a good person?

[YouAreNotBatman]

As in you can just tell they are good people in an average situation.

Not really.

All of them are at your mercy - they are in a position where they can be at the sharp end of abusive behaviour, and not be able to do anything about it.

😂

When someone has dropped something I think decent people automatically move to pick it up. If someone falls over, good people automatically go and ask if they’re ok. Nice people who want to help but have anxiety issues or aren’t great with social situations sometimes hover because they’re caught between helping and their own inhibitions. Arseholes just carry on walking or laugh.

They don't tell people they are a good or kind person. Those who do always turn out to be vile.

Hitler was an animal lover and a veggie..

Something the truly good people I’ve known have in common is a lack of interest in clothes and grooming beyond being clean. Same for their interior decor - they just don’t care. I guess they literally value substance over style. As an averagely vain person I’ve always admired it.

Someone who elevates other without any thoughts or desires to make themselves look good.
I’ve had bosses like this, and it makes them stand out as true leaders too, as well as an all round nice person.

I agree. I find 'being nice to waitresses' not to be signifier of goodness. And a total cliche. Beware of anyone who is overly nice to staff. Narcissist alert!

And who isn't nice to staff? In all my years I have never seen anyone be rude to people in restaurants - and I have worked as a waitress myself and in bars and pubs.

I am awed by genuinely nice people - I know them and wish I was more like them, the kind of people who don't have an edge to them, who are just really nice and want the best for people. I love being around lovely people!

Exactly.

Stops to help other people life buggies or suitcases up the stairs on the tube. Assuming they physically can.

I would absolutely never go out with someone who failed this test.

I think that good people are people whose behaviour and presence has a positive effect on those they come into contact with. If people make us feel uncomfortable by their actions or words (and that will vary), we wont see them as good.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

Not so for the Titanic...

is your name Camilla...

So, for everybody who sneered at my 'clean shoes' analogy, I'll tell you where I got it from.

When I was in my mid-20s, I went through a horrible, horrible breakdown and the person who pulled me through was, quite frankly, the singularly best and kindest person I have ever met.

They always wore well-polished, well-kept shoes and one day I commented on it, as I found it hard to believe that, with everything they did for other people, they had time to do that, too.

They said that they liked wearing clean shoes for themselves and, if they could take the time to do that one small act of kindness for themselves, they could find time to do the same for others.

So there you go.

When I meet someone for the first time, I assume they are good, kind and nice people. It’s only if I then see something they do, or way they make me feel, that isn’t good that will then change my judgment. So not so much a sign of them being good, rather the opposite of your original question OP-sign of them being not good! I’ve met some pretty awful people who have been lovely to waitresses-some people know exactly how to charm!

I do think you can tell a lot about a person by the friends they choose and how they treat those they are responsible for like pets, children, and employees.

Good is something you are, not something you do. Being nice to people and animals doesn't prove someone is good. It just shows they can be good to people and animals. I've met some really "good" people. Everyone said so. "Good" Christians, charity givers, worked with the homeless etc who deep down were the most bigoted nasty racists I've ever met. Someone doing good doesn't mean they're good.

Sorry the shoes thing and trolley example are just silly.

Oddly true.

Absolutely this. Along with how they treat animals.

I'd actually argue the exact opposite. We all have capacity to be wonderfully 'good' and terribly 'bad'. Unless you believe in some kind of immortal soul, I suppose, what else determines our goodness than our actions?

interesting question.

Actions speak louder than words so I think that it can take more than first impressions or subtle signs.

For me it's those who stick by you when times are really tough. It's those who might wonder if you are doing the right thing but trust you enough to stick by you even when they don't necessarily agree with you.

In my experience this is a rare trait.

I agree with the lifelong friends idea. My mum is the most empathetic person I know and she is still friends with girls she went to kindergarten with. She's 87.
Also, there is that type of person that resonates kindness - a doctor I met springs to mind. It's something about the voice, the smile and the eyes. Hard to describe but you know it when you meet it.

On a similar note: if they are kind to people who would be considered ‘beneath them’ in some way.
When I’m hiring I often send our most junior person in to do something with them and see how they behave. Decent people aren’t just nice to those they think are important.

@Petros9 you forgot self-control