Are we getting ... nicer?

An Observer reporter takes a walk outside the office not long ago. A construction worker from across the street is standing nearby. He's in his late 20s, in a hardhat, wearing shades. "Excuse me," he says. "Do you work at the paper?"

It's a question that often doesn't come with a smile.

But this worker is an avid reader. "It's really important what you do," he says, which in this hard time - for newspapers and so many other businesses - is good to hear. "A spontaneous moment of support," the reporter says, still a little floored, days later.

And with that, a question: Are we getting ... nicer in this recession?

It's a difficult phenomenon to measure - if it exists at all. We've heard - and told - stories here of unprovoked generosity. We get nice e-mails from folks who also wish the newspaper well, and others who'd like to support struggling businesses and people they've read about.

Are you seeing it in big ways or small - in grand gestures or everyday kindnesses?

The optimistic among us would say we've always been more nice than not. The halfway optimistic would say the nots are realizing - temporarily - that now isn't the time to be nasty. (And no, we're not saying that everyone is buying in, so you don't need to tell us about the stoplight gesture you received this morning.)

One thing we know: This recession has been more of an equalizer than most financial crises. More of us are in a similar place - worried about our jobs changing, our lives changing, with so little of it seemingly in our control.

Tina Weber sees this. She is a bartender at Lancaster's in Huntersville, and yes, she has noticed her tips picking up in the past month or so. But she's also noticed a different dynamic in her bar. Used to be that the varying groups of customers pretty much kept to themselves - the construction workers, the professionals, rarely mingling.

Now, those construction workers are getting laid off, and those professionals, too. "Someone tells their story," she says, "and people are listening, and then everyone is telling their stories, the whole bar."

That's what it usually takes for people to come together - not so much a common cause, but a common pain. You see it in ice storms and other disasters. Perhaps this financial crisis qualifies.

A spontaneous show of support, the reporter says. "It's kind of neat," Weber says.

Pulling together. Are you seeing it?

Tell us about it.

Your Morning Edge:

A look at the U.S. map shows the breadth of job loss in the recession, the New York Times reports.

Spend or save? Two columnists debate.

What's behind the government move to free up credit yesterday? The Wall Street Journal reports.