charliesmum | Deep Thoughts on a Sunday (Reply)

Last evening I was outside with Charlie, as he was playing with his sidewalk chalk. We live on a busy road, so cars were zooming by as he was making this elaborate 'race course' with his chalk. A car pulled over and a young couple with a toddler in the back seat, looking very harried. They had been driving for over an hour, and were very lost. I didn't recognize the street they were looking for and they didn't have a phone, so I offered my cell, but the person they were looking for didn't answer. I eventually sent them back towards the Ben Franklin bridge, as they thought they could just start over again. A few minutes later the woman they called called my cell, and I told her where I was, so if they called again, she could tell them where they went wrong. (They were in the completely wrong town.) Charlie and I were still outside when they drove by again, going in the right direction, and the husband honked as they drove by, and they waved and pointed, indicating they finally knew where they were going. I waved back. The point of this long story is that I felt good about this encounter. Not because I was particularly helpful, but because I made human contact with strangers. It occurred to me that whenever I do something like that, I feel better about life, but I don't do it nearly enough.

Being nice. It is one of the first things we are taught. Do unto others, share your toys, say please and thank you, etc. You would think it would be an ingrained habit, yet the easier path seems to be one of indifference, or hatred, or violence. This is why every single belief system tells us to be, well, nice. Because it is the hardest thing for human beings to do.

But I'm hopeful. Things like Live Journal shows me that people do have more similarity than differences, and that gives me hope for the world at large.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a world leader who didn't take the easy path? That instead of retaliating with violence, he (or she) took the time to find the path of kindness, and tried to find a peaceful solution? But no. It would take too long, and would likely not have the same dramatic effect as dropping bombs on a country until there is nothing left of it.