Kindness Is Cool!

 I was standing in line at the checkout of my local Publix today and turned to the elderly man behind me and greeted him,  "How are you today?"  At first he looked blankly at me and then a smile crept on his face and he replied, " Pretty good for a 90 year old.  Thanks for asking, how are you?"  We talked for a minute and then it was my turn with the cashier.

"Hi! I hope you are having a good day!"  She replied, "Thanks, you are very nice.  Not many people ever ask!"  I finished the transaction and started to leave the store when a random woman came up to me and remarked, "I noticed that you greet everybody.  It is not often that you see that today."  I replied, "Yes, try it and you will find that Kindness is Cool!"

My wife tells me that I know no strangers and talk to everybody, wherever we are.  I see that as a positive, not a criticism, and wonder if more people would show the simple politeness in their attitudes and behavior around others, that maybe this would be a better and more productive society.  We are all so wrapped up in our own daily activities, problem and challenges and forget that a kind word, a greeting or the showing of a little interest goes a long way in not only our attitudes, but the attitudes of others.

There are those that would call me "WOKE," but I believe that the showing of respect to everybody around you is the right thing to do.  It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or Republican; straight or gay; old or young; white, brown, black, yellow, green or purple; man, woman or neither; rich or poor; blue collar or white collar; laborer or executive or professional.  EVERYBODY deserves respect.  You don't have to agree with any of these people to show kindness.  So, if that make me Woke, then so be it...I am Woke!  The bag boy at the grocery store can feel invisible until you greet him with a smile, a nod or a quick hello.  The toll taker on the highway or the parking attendant in the garage are doing mundane jobs, but if you take 5 seconds and ask, "How are you today?" then they feel noticed!  Try it!  Kindness is Cool!

There is way too much hate in the world today.  The venom spewed by certain political candidates is beyond normal and calling your opponent racially motivated slurs and anyone who disagrees with you the "enemy within" is totally unacceptable.  Our children and grandchildren are watching and if this becomes normalized acceptable behavior, then we are in for a world of hurt and pain.

My son, Brad, is the Executive Director of an overnight camp in Northern California whose mission is rooted in the Jewish vision of creating a more environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually connected world.  At Eden Village West, campers feel safe and free to be themselves.  They are committed to giving every child that wants to attend Eden Village West a possibility to be a camper.  They are taught that Kindness is Cool and the more we instill those values in all of our children, the better off this world will be. 

If you agree and are able, please consider making a donation to this non-profit camp to help. Just go to this website and give whatever you can:  https://edenvillagewest.org/campershipcampaign/  Thank you!

And The Journey continues.....

I Can't Believe.....

"I can't believe this is the world and the country we live in today...."  I heard that lament today on a newscast and I have to say that I can relate to this person's distress.

All my childhood I was taught that the United States was the greatest country in the world.  Our democracy and freedoms were the bell weather for the whole free world to emulate.  But, the way things are now, that is no longer (or maybe it never was) true.  Women's rights have been stripped away because a Christian Nationalist movement has convinced the highly partisan Supreme Court to overturn Roe Vs Wade and now abortion is illegal, for all practical purposes in 26 states.  The movement by the Heritage Foundation to repel the separation of church and state as evidenced by Project 2025 continuing its efforts to move us toward a caste system much like 19th and 20th century India.  It is more important to many to have unfettered access to weapons of war than to enact some measures of safety for our children in schools, shopping malls and other places people gather.  There is no attempt at equal rights for ALL Americans and a growing effort to promote racism, anti-semitism, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant (legal and illegal) and a continued promotion of misogyny as a consequence of patriarchy.  And, there is something inherently wrong with a system that has teachers, fire-fighters and first responders paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and corporations.

Everyone in this country, except for those descendants of the indigenous tribes that originally occupied this land, are one, two, three or four generations away from their immigrant forefathers, but we seem to have forgotten that inconvenient truth.  Why?  Because a large percentage of immigrants over the last 50 years are darker skinned, speak Spanish and are not white skinned Europeans.  A lot of us have grandparents or great-grandparents that came to this country to escape oppressive governments and find a better life for their families.  Today's immigrants are coming here for the exact same reasons.  Now, I am not suggesting we should condone illegal immigration.  However, we should have a system that allows these immigrants to receive a fair and speedy chance at asylum and a path to citizenship.  But, when there was a non-partisan bill aimed at moving us closer to that goal, tRump instructed his faithful followers to vote against it so that he could personally benefit from no action.

And while we are at it, when did lying become the norm rather than the exception.  tRump and Vance continue to just make stuff up to enrage and engage the MAGA crowd.  Immigrants eating pets, lies about FEMA, conspiracy theory lies about election security, and even revisions on the economic performance of the previous tRump administration.  They even lie about what we all saw with our own eyes on January 6th!  When multiple former tRump administration officials and Military leaders warn us about another tRump administration, we damn well should listen.  Believe him when he says he will be a Dictator on Day One, that he will cozy up to Putin and forsake our Allies, try to disband NATO, that he wants to suspend The Constitution and use military force against his political enemies.  If he is elected, there will be no more "Adults in the room" to stop him from doing whatever he wants. 

Morality and civility no longer exists in the political world. As I have said, a number of times, never over-estimate the intelligence of the American public.  Due to constant telling and retelling of lies, and lack of intellectual curiosity to even fact-check those lies, the (collective) we are so misinformed and ill-informed to even know enough to rationally make an intelligent election decision!  

The whole world is watching and laughing at us for even giving this convicted felon a shot at The Presidency.

Twelve years ago, Aaron Sorkin wrote and Jeff Daniels (who incidentally was born in Athens, GA!) performed a soliloquy in the first episode of "The Newsroom" in response to the question:

 "What makes us the greatest country in the world?"

"Its not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

And with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT! Educate yourself to the realities, quit believing the bullshit, and focus on the truly important things and we will all be better off. AND VOTE!

And The Journey continues........