Good People

You know, our country and the world are filled with problems caused by unthinking and uncaring humans. Sins of comission and omission. Wars, poverty, hate, greed, perverted sexuality ("using people"), profligate use of resources, you name it. One can become downright depressed by all the crap going on in the world. I would be one of those depresssed people, except that I know so many really good people.

I know people who work hard and make very good money, then turn around and give a whole lot of it away to people and groups who really need it. I know people who work all day, then volunteer on the ambulance and take an old lady with diarrhea to the hospital. I know someone who regularly visits a very bright younger woman who has cerebral palsy so bad that she uses a stick, attached to her forehead, to punch computer keys. I know someone who leaves her suburban house two days each week to work for free in a city school where she lets kids who may have head lice sit on her lap and listen to stories. And I know a lot more people like these good people. They give me hope. And the neat thing is that all of them are happy people.

What ugliness will the unthinking and uncaring people of the world need to commit before we are so grossed out that we say "enough" to those who create wars and poverty, foster hate, cruelty and perversion, and savage our planet? How empty must celebrities' lifestyles become for society to understand that we need pay no attention at all? Will the world get hopelessly out of control before we realize that good people are the answer? I'm perhaps unduly optimistic that humanity has a chance, because there are still plenty of good people around.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want a lot of laws and forced conformity. I want people to be free to get naked, say a swear word, or smoke a joint without going to jail. I want people to work hard in the hope they can live well, and I want lazy people to live low. I want the earth to be full of people who see possiblities rather than obstructions, and full of people who smile when someone "different" walks by. But I want to see hate, cruelty, exploitation and violence called out and named for what it is - poison for the world. Good people do good and call out the bad.

Thanks, good people, for giving me hope and inspiration. And, since there are so many of you folks around, I'm looking forward to meeting some more of you tomorrow.