Tag: humanity (page 1 of 1)

December 12, 2013 / 0 Comments

Humans of Los Angeles

“Man woman, you might as well dance. Get down, Zulu.” – Q-Tip, ManWomanBoogie

This image showed up several times on twitter a few days ago.


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I disagree.

I don’t know what I think the percentages might be but I do know that on most days, I see more acts of kindness than I do cruelty.

I’m splitting time between two offices until the new year, one of which is downtown. This has allowed me the opportunity to make metro my primary way of commuting and that allows me to spend more time in close contact with a much larger and more varied collection of the humans of LA.

Despite what you’ve heard, LA’s public transit system is well used. The Orange Line and Red Line are packed to the gills during commuting hours filled with all kinds of folks. 

Yesterday, there was the guy with the incredibly well behaved service dog. The tall kid mean mugging who seemed to think everyone walking past him was intentionally bumping him. The high fashion young italian tourists who had little sense of US norms for personal space and who truly embodied “talking with your hands.” The mom with the precocious toddler who could only be calmed (sort of) by the glowing screen of the smart phone. The other toddler strapped tightly into her stroller who couldn’t help but swing back and forth wildly, smiling at everyone who happened to give her a glance. 

And, while I do regularly see the tactics women have to employ to avoid unwanted suitors or harassment or the men who take up too much space on the train or the obnoxious teens who get loud in the hopes of menacing or making uncomfortable the rest of us, far more often, I’m aware of the little moments of kindness.

At least once a ride, I see someone go out of their way to clear a seat for an elderly or disabled person or weary mom. Yesterday morning’s commute featured a battle for graciousness between an older gentleman and a slightly younger than him lady over who should take a recently available seat. People help each other with directions. Regular commuters nod and smile at each other across a train with common understanding. People, for the most part, leave our homeless and mentally ill, who frequent the trains, be. And sometimes, they offer a few dollars and/or a little dignity.

We’re all just humans of Los Angeles.

So, no, three out of every four Americans don’t got me fucked up.

Three out of every four Americans got me wanting to do better.

January 3, 2013 / 0 Comments

Faith

“Only Mother Nature knows, knows the reason why.” – 4Hero, Morning Child

Getting old, like most everything, is a leap of faith in the humanity of others.

I said that recently in a chat about mortality. Faith is an interesting thing. We Americans are a religious lot so I get the sense that we tend to equate faith with a deity, with an after-life, with something greater than us as human beings.

But our society runs entirely on faith and trust in each other, doesn’t it? In other people to follow the rules of the road, or of basic decency, or to give in an extraordinary fashion when the chips are down out of something as fantastical as love or friendship or community.

I don’t put my faith in gods. I put my faith in you. Whether that you is kin or tribe, stranger or authority figure. I trust that we are all trying our best. That when the going gets tough, some of you won’t run away but toward me with an open heart and a helping hand.

I believe that to be true today and imagine it to be just as true when i’m closer to the end of my days.

Joshua Topolsky recently wrote at The Verge:

Yes, there are reasons to despair. To doubt. There are reasons to worry and wonder, and if you’re unconvinced or unsure that there are troubles in the world, you can always fall back on familiar, modern malaise or good old boredom. It’s so easy to worry, and it’s so easy to get bored. It’s easy to go dark.

But you shouldn’t do that. You should be excited. You should be ecstatic, overjoyed, energized, invigorated. You should be hopeful, because there are also reasons to feel hope, and if you’re down in the dumps about some pressing problem that’s threatening humanity — well, that should be a good reminder of how much work it takes to make things good.

Even in the roughest times, look for the good. Especially for those working to make it so.

Mr. Rogers called them the helpers.

I hope that, more often than not, I’m one of them.

Amen.