Welcome (or not) to Illinois: Where we rank on the kindness scale
CHICAGO - If you want to hang out with nice people, there are 34 states other than Illinois where you would be better off.
A new study commissioned by Verizon found that Illinois ranks 35th when it comes to kindness.
The top five kindest states were Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Georgia and North Dakota.
The states ranked the least kind were Oregon (#46), Florida (#47), Arizona (#48), Kansas (#49) and way down at the don't-expect-a-smile-from-us level, Maryland ranked 50th. (Though, Verizon insists the people in Maryland are still very nice.)
The pollsters called thousands of people in all 50 states to question them about kind acts they would be willing to do. The top three absolutely kindest things you can do, according to the poll, are:
• Donate an organ
• Pull a stranger from a burning car
• Adopt and raise a family member
Of course, it's not everyday that you're come across a burning car or an organ transplant patient, but the poll also ranked the top three everyday things you can do to be kind:
• Cover a shift for a coworker
• Cheer up a relative
• Call a friend to encourage them
The poll also found that at least half of all Americans would be willing to:
• Give up $6.40 if that meant a stranger got $10.
• 86% would donate part of their liver to a relative
• 72% would lend a friend money
• 53% would donate vacation time to a coworker
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