Two Children, Two Directions

I witnessed two events in recent days involving children. One profoundly uplifting, one profoundly disturbing.
I was walking from my home to the diner when I saw a little girl, maybe four or five years old, open the door and throw a plastic juice container out her front door onto the sidewalk, then slam the door. I made eye contact with her for a split second and I was amazed. There was no hint of regret for what she was doing in her eyes. She looked at me and proceeded to litter the sidewalk right in front of her home as if it was a perfectly normal occurrence.
This past Sunday I was privilged to witness the performance of a play called The Christmas Menorahs. I saw it at a temple in Montclair, NJ. It was a moving, hopeful, true story of a series of events that happened in Montana in 1993. A community came together to defeat the forces of hatred. It's as simple as that. The main players were children; educated, aware children who represent the best of what society has to offer. I watched in awe and prayed that my own children are growing up with this same kind of awareness. The play's humorous side focused on the differences between Jews and Christians and produced several full throated laughs. It was beautiful to watch the children execute their lines flawlessly and understand what they were demonstrating to the audience. The universal truths of love and knowledge can overcome any enemy, no matter how formidable. You only need to have the courage to display them for all to see and then it cannot be defeated. I wish every person elected to a position of responsibility could see this play. There would be less sadness in the world, less death, less hatred. What better Christmas present to give to the world than increased hope, especially in times like we face now.
I would like to think that the children in the play are more representative of the young generation than the child who is already jaded enough to throw trash out her front door. I hope the majority of parents are raising children to espouse the morals demonstrated in the play, rather than the callousness of that young litterer. Anytime I can see a display of the kind of awareness and maturity that a play like that brings out in children, I can look to the future with hope and believe that we will emerge from our present troubles a stronger, more moral nation. Therein lies our salvation. That is my Christmas wish for the world.

Maybe The Market Has Hit Bottom.......

....but we certainly haven't. We hit a new low on Friday. An innocent man, trying to earn some extra money for the holidays, was trampled by a frenzied crowd rushing to take advantage of early morning sales. The police are saying that suspects will be hard to identify. Anyone who was there should come forward to tell police what they saw. That is their obligation as citizens.
But the fact that a mob mentality could possess a crowd in such a fashion and cause a man's death because they have to have the lastest thing or a cheap piece of electronics is utterly absurd. It hearkens back to what happened at a Who concert in Cincinnati in the early 80's. Those were a bunch of drunken kids. I don't know the composition of the crowd at Wal-Mart but I imagine the average of the shoppers was higher than those people who attended the Who concert.
The main point, of course, is simple and is something I have been talking about since I started this blog. This country lacks self respect. If you cannot act in civilized fashion in a situation which is non-life threatening, you have no respect for yourself nor your fellow citizens. A society that emphasized a sense of decency instead of prioritizing retail sales would foster a mindset where a tragedy like this would not occur. And in the event that it did occur, you would have responsible citizens coming forward to identify those who would go so far as to trample someone to death in an effort to obtain the latest hot item.
President-elect Obama should take note of this incident and make a return to a spirit of civility a cornerstone of his social agenda. If people do not learn basic values as children, then they should be taught when they are adults. Every person who can be identified on that video, whether they are directly involved in this incident or not, should be required to attend a class on civility, and then should be required to provide eyewitnesses to show they are practicing what they have been taught. It is easy to say that that is wacky, but an incident like this demands drastic action.
How many fingers will the citizens of the world point at us to say that we are nothing but hypocrites when we try to impose American values upon the world, yet we allow someone to die at the hands of an ambivalent mob. Unless we return to a spirit of civility and self respect, we will have no way of proving them wrong.

Not Everything Has Changed

As a rule, I normally keep my literary life separate from my professional life, but, in this case, the irony of what happened to me on Wednesday makes it worth mentioning. I spend my days on the telephone trying to save companies money on their energy bills. It's a hard job because people are stuck in their ways and the idea of change frightens them. There are other reasons as well, but they are not germaine to the context of this entry.
A few weeks ago, I hit upon the idea of calling non-profit organizations. I figured that they would be one of the first rungs on the economic ladder to be squeezed as a result of current economic conditions, making them more willing to listen to cost cutting options. It's been true in a few cases. I've been able to arrange several meetings and a few of those meetings have resulted in sales. It makes economic sense to have a better handle on what your electricity costs will be when you're organizational viability is in question. Certainly, that is the case for many businesses across the economic spectrum at this time.
My normal approach is to view the organization's website and get an idea of what they do. Then I look for a staff listing hoping to find the right person to speak to. When I came across the site for the Center for Community Change, I was initially impressed. The home page has a picture of Barack Obama facing a crowd and the caption reads "The Meaning of This Moment." I looked at the staff directory and found the name of the Accounting Manager. I figured, what better organization to call than the Center for Community Change. Surely, they will listen to a concept to save money.
Wow, was I wrong. The woman who answered the phone in the New York office was named Margie. When I asked for the Accounting Manager, she asked who I was, and when I told her, her response was, "What makes you think he'd be in this office?" I responded by saying that I saw him listed as the Accounting Manager and I wanted to speak to him regarding cost cutting options. Her response was, "Well, I don't know you and I don't know your organization so I don't want to speak to you." Boom. Down goes the phone.
Since this happens to me a hundred times a day, I wasn't angry or depressed, but I was struck by the irony of the encounter. On the mission page of the website, under a section entitled "What We Believe" reads the following passage: We believe that only together – by sharing our hopes, connecting with each other, and taking action together – can we change our communities and nation for the better.
I had to laugh. I'm not expecting this woman to fawn over me and spend money in ten minutes on what I am selling, but the abruptness of a woman who works for an organization trying to affect social change by bringing people together struck me as completely inappropriate.
It perfectly illustrated what really does have to change in this country. We desperately need to return to a spirit of civility if we are ever going to realize the dream that the Center for Community Change is fighting for. Otherwise, their dream will remain a pipe dream, no matter how many organizational objectives they achieve. This lesson should be impressed upon Margie and everyone else in this country who feels they have the right to be rude to people just because they annoy them or they have the ability to maintain their anonymity. Everyone is a person deserving of respect. Only when that is accepted as Gospel truth will the real spirit of community that this organization seeks become even remotely possible.