In Their Hands
With all the negativity in the press surrounding the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe (my criticisms included) I wanted to post some positive reflections to keep things in perspective...
First, don't be so quick to judge the people of New Orleans and how they behaved during the early hours following the storm. Two reasons: every city has it share of degenerates - don't judge an entire city by the actions of a few that were sensationalized by the general media. and, those people just watched their entire lives literally get washed away in the span of 24 hours - they were starving and thirsty, living in the closest thing that comes to hell on earth. Although we'd like to hold ourselves to a higher standard, we don't really know how we might react to such, and so how can we possibly judge them? I am not defending criminal activity...just suggesting that we stop to consider the extraordinary circumstances.
Second, as we saw immediately after 9/11, this catastrophe has also brought out the best in many. Some examples in this immediate area that I wanted to point out...
Driving through Chatham on Sunday afternoon, my fiancee and I came upon three kids selling lemonade on the street corner to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Three boys, none over the age of 10, told us that they wanted to do something to help the people who lost their homes and figured this was the best idea. 10 years old, completely unaffected by the whole thing, yet they took the time to do this rather than ride their bikes, play stickball, or just be 10 year olds.
On Monday, another group of kids in Morristown decided to bake cookies and give them away in exchange for donations to be forwarded to the Red Cross. And these kids meant business - they would literally stand in the road to stop passing cars and solicit them for a contribution. When we met up with them at 6 in the evening, they had already collected over $400.
Unfortunately, mainstream media doesn't capture these moments. And they are the small moments that really make a difference, not only monetarily, but because twelve kids learned to be appreciative of their good fortune, and to help neighbors in need - even if they are thousands of miles away. Some people say that we should be worried about this country's youth; that when they are in charge, we will all be in trouble. Based on what I saw this past weekend, I don't think we have anything to worry about at all!
First, don't be so quick to judge the people of New Orleans and how they behaved during the early hours following the storm. Two reasons: every city has it share of degenerates - don't judge an entire city by the actions of a few that were sensationalized by the general media. and, those people just watched their entire lives literally get washed away in the span of 24 hours - they were starving and thirsty, living in the closest thing that comes to hell on earth. Although we'd like to hold ourselves to a higher standard, we don't really know how we might react to such, and so how can we possibly judge them? I am not defending criminal activity...just suggesting that we stop to consider the extraordinary circumstances.
Second, as we saw immediately after 9/11, this catastrophe has also brought out the best in many. Some examples in this immediate area that I wanted to point out...
Driving through Chatham on Sunday afternoon, my fiancee and I came upon three kids selling lemonade on the street corner to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Three boys, none over the age of 10, told us that they wanted to do something to help the people who lost their homes and figured this was the best idea. 10 years old, completely unaffected by the whole thing, yet they took the time to do this rather than ride their bikes, play stickball, or just be 10 year olds.
On Monday, another group of kids in Morristown decided to bake cookies and give them away in exchange for donations to be forwarded to the Red Cross. And these kids meant business - they would literally stand in the road to stop passing cars and solicit them for a contribution. When we met up with them at 6 in the evening, they had already collected over $400.
Unfortunately, mainstream media doesn't capture these moments. And they are the small moments that really make a difference, not only monetarily, but because twelve kids learned to be appreciative of their good fortune, and to help neighbors in need - even if they are thousands of miles away. Some people say that we should be worried about this country's youth; that when they are in charge, we will all be in trouble. Based on what I saw this past weekend, I don't think we have anything to worry about at all!
posted by bdonin at
9:05 AM
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