Letters to the Editor
Contemplator
Published Letters: 11
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More personal stories of interpersonal disconnection
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I tend to a) be more aware of my surroundings and b) be less able to ignore people in trouble. The combination of these two factors means that I have to deal with situations. I am always suprised at how unaware the rest of the populace is towards people in trouble and also how some times my concern ends up biting me. Example: In a large parking structure attached to a hospital. My mother is recovering from open heart surgery and many complications, so I am strung out and stressed. I have an hour off from making sure the doctors/nurses don't F*** her up (like they tried to already) and I am going to my car to go to the drug store. As I walk, there is this woman with a small child holding her hand, and in the other hand an infant in a carrier seat. She looks distressed and is saying "Oh baby, I don't know where we parked! What are we going to do!?" People are just walking right by her, driving by her, everyone ignoring her. I really need to leave and get back to take care of my mom, but after 2 sec. of hesitation I walk up the ramp to her and engage saying "Maam, theres a booth at the bottom level. There is a guard there and a car. They can drive you around to find your car." She looks at me and keeps saying "I don't know where my car is!" I repeat what I said. She looks like she is comprehending a bit better but no firm acknowledgement. I then notice a phone on the wall, and say "Maam this phone will reach the guard station. They can help you find your car" To which I got some kind of minimal noncommital acknowledgement. At which point I left and walked to my car. So I had two things happen: I observed no one lending help to an obviously distressed woman with two small children. When I did offer help, there was little acknowledgement, and definitely no gratitude. Of course I didn't do it for the gratitude, but you would think that if you were really desperate, and someone finally stopped, you would be glad. No such luck.
Second incident: I'm driving down a street and see a man gesticulating by the side of the road. Waving arms wildly. Of course, all the cars driving by are ignoring him. I try to as well. He makes brief eye contact with me as I drive by and something in the back of my mind says "OK, there is a 10% chance this is for real. Maybe his jogging partner is having a heart attack on the side of the road". So I pull over, get over to a parallel street and drive back. I pull up and say "Whats up?" He says "I just had a car accident" I say "Oh wow" He says "yeah, I live at 138th street, I need to get 10 dollars for cab fare to get home" at which point I realize that this is scam, a new version of a familiar scam, but a scam none the less. I look at him and peal out. So this is the price you pay when you listen to that "voice of responsibility" sometimes. You still got to do it. Then there was the time that I was picking up some chinese food in the dead of winter and a man approaches me saying "Im waiting for the bus over there and I'm absolutely freezing to death. I don't know if it is ever going to come. Can you please drive me to my home?" I look at him and he does look frozen. Then he says "I'm just a harmless fag!" and I look at him and sure enough, he does kind of look like that. So I say, ok, I can drive you to your house. And I do, and he seems pretty grateful. So sometimes things work out. I was aware when he was sitting next to me while we were driving that he might be a psycho and attack me, so I was very alert. But sometimes you have to be a bit brave to do the right thing. Of course the graveyards are filled with people who did the right thing.
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This is an article about unexpected achievement
[Read the article: The 18 best Jewish ballplayers of all time]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is a context to this article, and that context is that society on average has stereotypical ways of thinking about different ethnic groups. It is fascinating to me that a) there may be some element of truth to these stereotypes and b) that despite this, individuals can achieve "against type". So we do see these lists, as a way of letting people know, that yes, this underrepresented group can achieve, and so maybe you too, little Timmy, one day will be a ball-player, or scientist or whatever, even if your parents and grandparents had no affinity for that activity, or weren't encouraged by their family or society as a whole to pursue it. Many ethnic groups have stereotypical representations that are propogated by society and the groups themselves. These representations end up limiting individuals, because they limit the possibilities that they see for themselves. I don't think that people are getting that aspect of this article. Society has placed a stereotype on a group, and this list goes counter to that stereotype. There is a larger theme here that you may learn something from, if you can get past the fact that this is an article about Jews.
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Article an obvious plant
[Read the article: Why Hillary Clinton should be winning]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This article is the written equivalent to the carnival geek sitting on the collapsable platform, jeering at the crowd, egging them on to hit the red target which will plunge the geek into the pool. Nya nya nya he says, and it feels so good when you hit the target. And so the people buy more tickets. This is an early spring gift to the readers of Salon.