The other day as I walked into my bank, I noticed they were putting down a new floor. The teller smiled when I mentioned it, noting that it made the employees there feel pretty secure.

“They’re not going to remodel if they’re closing the branch, right?” she asked.

Her relief was palpable across the counter. I reveled in the observation with her, a human moment among blaring headlines about bailouts and foreclosures.

The next day, as I waited for a life coaching client in a café, I noticed an elderly woman standing at the coffee station near the milk and sugar. She was piling lemon wedges into a napkin. Then she tucked them into her purse and left. She had not made a purchase. Where once I would have thrown a disapproving look her way, instead all I could do was wonder if those lemons would be her next meal.

On this Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday, we are called upon more than ever to dig deep into our well of kindness. The ever-worsening economy is causing underlying tension for so many people in more ways than we can even imagine. Perhaps it’s time to, at the very least, give others the benefit of the doubt.

The nice guy serving you coffee a bit clumsily might just be an out-of-work executive trying to keep his life together or give his kids a decent Christmas. The friend declining your invitation for a fun night out might not be able to spare the money for dinner and a movie and she’s too embarrassed to say so.

Give others the benefit of the doubt.

So often we get mired in our own stuff -- I’m including myself here, trust me -- and we take things personally or lash out in judgment. I see it happening in some way every single day.

For instance, there’s an eatery in my town that offers free WiFi to customers, and there has been some tension over the fact that it has covered up some of the outlets that were once reserved for computer users. So many of the comments and postings I’ve read on this topic center around people using laptops in public being “posers” showing off the fact that they’re working.

In fact, there are a myriad of reasons why people work in public places. There’s the self-employed father who can better concentrate when he’s not at home with his adorable but distracting toddler. There’s the college student who needs distance from her high-drama roommate and finds this a neutral place. And there’s the person who can’t afford high-speed Internet at home and appreciates the opportunity offered by the eatery.

Give them the benefit of the doubt.

In last Sunday’s edition of The New York Times, there was a story about a man who was providing shelter for the homeless in a church in Brookville, Pa., very near its quaint downtown. He’s being sued, essentially pitting zoning against the work of a church. Isn’t helping fellow human beings what so many churches do best? At the heart of the controversy is whether it’s really just residents not wanting homeless “messiness” in their idyllic neighborhood.

Sigh.

When my extended family goes around the table on Thanksgiving and we each say something for which we’re thankful, I think mine will be that I have learned from my own financially trying time to be kind and to be more mindful of giving people the benefit of the doubt. Amazing what a layoff can do.

It reminds me of my Buddhist meditation class last week, when our teacher talked about this quote from the Dalai Lama: Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it, I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

Truly, that will change your life in ways your finances never can. Give it a try.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.