The Simple Way<\/p>\n
Too often, I watch the news or tune in on the radio and\u00a0 here a story that is already finished. The character, names, places and\u00a0 situations are all the same. What’s new are the names or dates. Then the story\u00a0 tries to get interesting. It has to try, because it has been repeated many, many\u00a0 times.<\/p>\n
Today, I walked about a hundred yards to get to a table\u00a0 where two guys were sitting and collecting money for a local charity. I had\u00a0 driven past them and caught eye contact, briefly. At that moment, I decided to\u00a0 stir. I stirred the conversation by being another person who looks and keeps\u00a0 driving. I then stirred the conversation by walked from a distance to drop a few\u00a0 dollars in the jar and turn to go back without another task to complete in that\u00a0 area. What was the conversation then?<\/p>\n
Bad is around us like a heavy wet blanket. Good doesn\u2019t\u00a0 make the headlines in the news shows and has been relegated to forgotten space.\u00a0 Perhaps, my gesture was contrived, but it was genuine and hopefully lifted a\u00a0 corner of that wet blanket to give two guys a whiff of hope. It is important to\u00a0 recognize that it was contrived, but anymore, effort is required to change the\u00a0 course. Today, things aren\u2019t done because they are right, all too often because\u00a0 there is an expected reinforcement. We aren\u2019t correcting the path of a car, but\u00a0 rather a train that rides fast on track we have laid toward a destination of \u201cnowhere\u201d. Pushing a train requires effort. No longer do we have the luxury of\u00a0 turning the steering wheel.<\/p>\n
I remember a short story that described a few mythical\u00a0 characters with names like, \u201cnot me\u201d and \u201csomeone else\u201d. The story unfolded a\u00a0 path of action and inaction based on the folks with the dysfunctional monikers.\u00a0 The task wasn\u2019t done, but you knew it wouldn\u2019t be only a few short lines into\u00a0 the story. While I remember (roughly) the first time I saw the story, I will\u00a0 freely and ashamedly admit that it took a few decades for me stop being a\u00a0 character in it.<\/p>\n
Some nations change only with the nature. Crops fail or\u00a0 locusts swarm. Other nations wait to be invaded and assimilated into other\u00a0 nations. Some nations fall into obscurity. Even more will (to borrow a phrase)\u00a0 shoot themselves so often in the foot that the successive shots will have to go\u00a0 higher and higher up due to a lack of target due to that previous shot.\u00a0 Eventually they will be giving themselves a haircut. We are, sadly, all of\u00a0 these.<\/p>\n
What does it take to change a nation? People fear the\u00a0 unknown more than anything else. I cannot believe that there are more than a\u00a0 handful of different types of groups of Americans when it comes to the topic of\u00a0 fixing things: ignorant, uniformed, misinformed, apathetic, zealots, patriots\u00a0 and enemies. Sometimes, people can fit very nicely and easily into many of these\u00a0 categories.<\/p>\n
I choose a more simple way. Today, I made a point, quietly\u00a0 and anonymously to change the course of the train. Yesterday, I exercised\u00a0 courtesy. Tomorrow, I will perform a RAK (random act of kindness). Nothing will\u00a0 require much effort or money.<\/p>\n
Beyond the very easy, I will also change my nation in other\u00a0 ways within my control. I will respect the person while disagreeing vehemently\u00a0 with their position. I will speak up when things are not right, even if it means\u00a0 discomfort. I will not hide comfortably into a demographic, group, SES or\u00a0 political affiliation. I will also make every effort to remove or avoid personal\u00a0 gain from public endeavor. If you think about it, who pays you to till your\u00a0 garden? Our garden is just a bit bigger and has a few more weeds. I will tend my\u00a0 garden dutifully. Will you join me?<\/p>\n
— R. A. Grier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Simple Way Too often, I watch the news or tune in on the radio and\u00a0 here a story that is already finished. The character, names, places and\u00a0 situations are all the same. What’s new are the names or dates. Then the story\u00a0 tries to get interesting. It has to try, because it has been … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}