I'm going to have to face it: I like people.
Look, I know that I'm supposed to be bogged down by the crushing weight of my knowledge of how sucky humanity is. I know that I'm expected to be all cynical, especially because I'm a cop, and know the evil that men and women do.
But I just can't muster the across-the-board disgust. The fact of the matter is, most people are just folks, and most of them are actually kind of interested in doing the right thing. And, without looking too very hard, you find that there are a lot of really nifty people out there.
There are area experts who are willing to share their knowledge, for free, just for the price of you asking them to.
There are bakers who will work hard to make something tasty, just to see you smile when you try their wares.
There are fellow travellers who will stop and help you when you're broken down, just because they really would want someone to help them.
There are store clerks who genuinely want to know if you're having a good day, and then hope that they can help your day get just a bit better by the time you've left.
Vine and I, while getting gasoline and soft drinks at an Omaha convenience store, found ourselves chatting with a friendly clerk. She was a middle-aged Mid-Westerner, with just a hint of Fargo in her voice, who smiled because she wanted to, not because the job made her do so. We walked out, pocketing our change, and commented on how that one person had managed to brighten our respective days. I sort of felt like this guy.
I don't expect you to become a fat, dumb, and happy person all the time. Not in the least.
But I do wish to remind you that there's a whole world full of decent, pretty awesome people, who did NOT make the news last night. People who put in an honest day's work for nothing more nor less than their pay, and go home at day's end to lead uneventful but decent lives. These people don't make the news. They're not "Everyday Heroes", because they're not heroes. They're just good people. That segment of society is under-represented onscreen, which means that people seem to forget that they are literally surrounded by good people.
This is not a rant. The day that I find that this blog has been reduced to nothing more than a vehicle for rants is the day that I close my Blogger account.
Labels: Adulthood, confessions, public service message, The people you meet sometimes, yay us
posted by Matt G @ 3:51 PM
7 Comments:
Matt, concur, but good people don't sell movies, newspapers or lead on the MSM...
Ironically, Old NFO, three things I could happily live without :)
Matt you see good. Just keep it balanced. Warriors see far to much of the real bad. So keep seeing that good also. It's what you fight for.
As tough as it is to stay positive seeing the depth of criminal behavior on a daily basis - I dare say the cruelest examples of a lack of common decency are witnessed in a office full of women.
Of all the misogynistic things to say, Bryan. If it weren't consistent with my own observations, I'd tell you what-for, Bryan.
Well, I _want_ to like people, but I find most of them rather hard to get along with. I can barely stand to be around people I really love for very long.
Yes, I'm afraid I'm one of those excessively earnest, socially awkward folks, who have trouble looking you in the eye.
On teh wimminz: At one time I thought of printing up some t-shirts with the legend, "Neurotypical women frighten me."
Oh, to find an Aspie chick in this benighted town!
"Oh, to find an Aspie chick in this benighted town!"
Are you sure that would help? Given the wide range of the spectrum, what are the chances that her view of the world would match your own? [Asked sincerely.]
Honestly, prolly not much. Gals like that are so rare, that I feel lucky to have had a chance to hang out with a couple or three. I recall poring over the pics at the Autistic Adults Picture Project. There are a few hot babes there. They are, of course, already married to somebody else, and squeezing out strange offspring.
Hmm, I should screw my courage to the sticking place, and look up that Publix clerk who got my autistic jokes, and agreed with me that we both are at least half-Aspies. You don't have to be autistic to be shy around girls, but it helps.
P.s. If I'm ever in yer jurisdiction, and you pull me over, and I don't look you in the eye, it's because I'm trying to pay more attention to what yer saying to me, not less.
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