So there's this column in the Sunday paper here called "Rants and Raves". In this column, WA residents can write in and either "rant" about someone who did them or someone else wrong in a public setting, or they can "rave" about random acts of kindness displayed. I enjoy reading it every week to see the wide spectrum of do-gooders and assholes this world holds, and to remind myself to always do good and not be an asshole. Lately I've noticed, though, that the assholes are getting more and more careless and are devoid of all human compassion, while the good people we do have are being honored here for things that don't necessarily go "above and beyond". They are just things you should do as a human being! Case in point: one of this weeks "raves" was a guy who was giving a shoutout to all those nice folks who actually stopped and got out of their cars to help him when he'd BEEN HIT BY A CAR ON HIS BIKE! He said that these kind and gentle people saw him laying IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION and held his hand while calling 911. Seriously? Who would NOT stop when a man has been run down by a car??!! Ans it makes you wonder, did they only stop because he was in the way of their cars? I guess I'm just surprised that this is an extraordinary act these days. Then again, there's always the bystander effect, where people see an incident and figure everyone else will do something about it, so they don't really have to. I'm sure the "rave" for this guy was written to just thank those strangers who helped when he had no other way of doing it because they were anonymous. Let's hope that's the case and that stopping for the helpless and injured isn't something only those "exceptional" people would do...
Then we come to a death at the mall. There was a shooting among teens and a kid died. When talking to a friend about this, who had seen the actual newscast, she told me that in the same breath as the reporting of this tragic young death, they also reported "PLEASE NOTE: THE MALL WILL BE OPEN SUNDAY." Don't fret, oh ye of consumerism and greed. Get over it, get back out there and SHOP! They've mopped up the blood and removed the caution tape from in front of your fav store. Just a little shooting. Just a young death. With better outreach programs and schools, we may have been able to save him. But no worries, that's not your problem...just keep swipin that card...
Has this blog become angry and political?
I apologize.
I can't wait to come home this Christmas! the 26th through the 12th, in case you didn't know. I miss the people in RI that I thought were ignorant and rude and careless. They seem like warm fuzzy teddy bears now to me. No offense to Seattle. A city is a city, but there's nothing like a little New England town*...
*foreshadowing to where I will be living next...Check out Northampton, MA.
xo and juicy turkeys (in 2 days--have some Rhody turkey for me!)
