Phone Calls, Good News And Finished Books
The call finally came in last night at 8:30 and the job we had hoped for and the job that Rob wanted came through. We will be traveling around the United States and sitting in a city for a month at a time. This new job gives me plenty of time to explore major cities, their food, their libraries and their museums, and did I mention the food?
The other call that came in this morning that made me equally, if not happier, was from Grace’s new family. She is having a ball playing with the other dogs and especially loves the cats. I’m not sure the cats feel the same way, as I’m certain Grace thinks they are just moving toys, and I’m sure spends the day trying to make them squeak. She is happy, and that is all I need to know, it’s a huge relief off my shoulders and can focus on the next adventure. First stop, Phoenix, Arizona.
The book I finished up today was The Returned, by Jason Mott. The premise of the book is dead people all of a sudden coming back to life, not in a zombie way, just the way they were when they died, and how the world reacts. It got me thinking about how people react out of fear. Not understanding things, which makes them fearful, which makes them angry. It also made me think how I would respond if the few people I’ve loved and who have died just all of a sudden came home. How would I react? How DO I react to things I don’t understand?
While I’m confident our dead loved ones will never just all of a sudden be sitting with us at the dinner table, there are a lot of things I don’t understand, and they make me angry. I don’t understand why we don’t care more about the poorest in our society. I don’t understand how a 90-year-old man can be arrested in Ft. Lauderdale for feeding the homeless because of a new city ordinance. I don’t understand why people insist that they have the right to tell me I’m wrong, and they are right. I don’t understand why people look at me sideways when I tell them my daughter wants to be a teacher in the low-income schools. I don’t understand why it matters who you love. I don’t understand why it matters what color your skin is, and I CERTAINLY don’t understand why it matters if your male or female. We are ALL one HUMAN race.
It is our job as a society to take care of those who can’t take care of themselves. It’s not enabling, it shouldn’t be done because people will pat you on the back for doing it. It doesn’t make you any better than those your helping. It’s just the right thing to do and should be second nature to all of us.
I never intended for this blog to take this turn, but it did, I just felt impressed to say, we should be nice to each other, always, without hesitation. Our mantra should always be “do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. I’m not a religious person anymore, for a lot of reasons, but two things have never left me, things I was taught almost every day since I was five. That Golden Rule is one, and the other is “Patience is a Virtue”. That patience one, I’ve struggled with for years and still do, but in the 66 days since I closed the bakery, I have been working on that one every day.
Go out there today and every day and be nice to someone, just because they are human, here and just like you.