One of the definitions of reciprocity by the English dictionary says;
It's a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence
I went further to check the definition of reciprocal and I got a nice way of describing this act as being a feeling.
Of a feeling, action or such: mutual, uniformly felt or done by each party towards the other
By English Dictionary
Reciprocity to me is a feeling/act of returning a favor or a mutual action done on contract(agreement by two parties) to pay back a favor. Personally, I have reciprocated good deeds and I have also had people who did the same to me, not because I asked, but because they felt like giving back from the little they had. Reciprocity is an act of appreciating the other for something he had done for them either in the past or present.
What Reciprocity isn't
Reciprocity isn't an exchange. It's termed "barter" . It's unfortunate that people sometimes see reciprocation as a form of exchange, giving out what you have to get what you want. When an act has no mutual feeling to give back, it fails to fall within the context of reciprocation. Except if it's on contract, it doesn't come with an expectation of return. It happens on a natural course with no pressure.
A time my deed was reciprocated
In the year 2015, I traveled to Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria to write a post UTME examination. It was scheduled to start by 8:00 AM but after all the screenings, the exams started by 5:00PM and we finished late. It was after the exams that I met someone who we later became friends with. This is what happened, I was having some money with me while he had nothing on him with the expectation that his aunty would send him some money before the examination ended but she didn't- we all assumed it was the bank Network. He had no place to sleep nor had any money with him to feed that night, meanwhile I was still having some money with me. So, I decided to buy a meal for the both of us that night with the money I had on me and also stayed with him that night looking for a place to sleep.
I couldn't go back to a friend's place who had accommodated me for the period I was to stay in Zaria because I had used the money I had with me for transportation to buy us the meal for the evening. So we decided to find a place to sleep that night with the hope that we'll both travel to our different locations the next day. I didn't tell him I used all the money I had with me to buy the food for us nor was he aware that I had no transportation fee left, I only hope I'll find a way to sort things out the following morning even if it meant asking a friend to send me money. Fortunately, he insisted on returning the favor by paying for the transportation fee for the both of us.
