My fist weekly post of 2012.
So it’s a new year and I imagine that you-just as me-are trying hard to keep up your optimism and faith in us, the human race.
It’s not always easy though, isn’t? I just heard about two terrible cases that do very little to prove our worth and value.
I’m talking about that two-year-old little girl in China who was run over by two vehicles and then left there bleeding on the street as 18 other persons walked, drove or pedaled right by her without stopping to help or to call for help.
The other tragedy occurred in Mexico city this week in a Bancomer bank. A 60 or 61 year old man is standing in line with many other customers, all impatient to make it to the cashier to take care of their business. The man suddenly takes his hands to his chest, steps out of line and dies on the floor of a heart attack. Not one single person in the bank, customer or employee, did anything to help this man. Apparently they were worried and did not want to lose their place in line.
How can we explain this? What does it say about us? Is it fear that stops us from acknowledging the pain and suffering in others? Is it selfishness?
Thursday night I was watching a movie with Helen Mirren as the philosopher and writer Ayn Rand. Well, if I trust Rand’s philosophy, it would have been okay to not express sadness or to act to help these two individuals. From what I understood, Rand supports selfishness and the pursuit of one’s personal happiness without really regarding others.
Then Friday morning I was listening to Don Cheto, the Spanish-language radio personality , who so entertains me. He was born in my parents’ home state of Michoacán, and listening to him takes me back to their village, populated by uneducated and hard-working people. I love Don Cheto’s wit, his sense of humor and his obvious intelligence. He perfectly understands the immigrant experience, which means he perfectly identifies with his listeners. His co-host Marlene Quinto is a young woman, who can be likened to probably any of his listeners--uneducated, sometimes coarse, ill-mannered and crude, sometimes very inappropriate when speaking about sexual things (but most Mexicans I know are like that, loving to speaking in innuendos, double entendres and their “albures). What I like about her is that she seems to have an air of innocence and inexperience about her, that makes her sound almost like a child. It appears she has knowledge about living in the most feared neighborhoods of the LA area and knows about the “cholo” life. The other guy’s name is Felix but they call him Boro, he is the “braniac” of the group, the educated one, the non-peasant- middle-class-guy. They have a good chemistry between the three. Obviously Don Cheto is the star, in my mind deservedly so.
Anyway, Friday morning on my way to work, Don Cheto commented on the China and Mexico tragedies. And then he said something that struck me as true and correct in describing us, society members, and our ability to ignore so much pain and loss. He said that our worst sin as human beings was our indifference. I don’t know about you, but it hit home with me.
I hope 2012 turns a corner and comes to be a better experience to us all, here in the United States, as well as our entire and beautiful planet, places like Greece, Italy , Spain and my wounded Mexico. On my part, for my family and myself, I will continue to explore and look for freelance opportunities to make better use of my communication skills in Spanish.
Let us pray.
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