Helpers

This morning after our swim a friend came up to the house and we had a long conversation about all sorts of things. i was asked what i would write about today and replied that i thought it might be about Helpers. My friend had mentioned the Mr. Rodgers quote as an example of those people always in the background and i thought it would make a great topic.

If you aren't familiar with it Mr. Rodgers once said,  

“ When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

In other words without focusing on any particular event we all recognize that there are a lot of people out there that do not live for themselves, they are the hidden helpers, the Good Samaritans, the ones that appear when you most need them.

i'm sure all of us can recount some example of a stranger or friend coming to our aid. The guy who stopped and changed your tire, the mom that picked up your kids when your car broke down or you couldn't leave work or were sick, the friend that had the tool you needed to fix something, the cashier that called you back to get the bag you'd left behind, the person that found your wallet and returned it, the guy that brush cut the road without anyone asking, the other guy who filled in the pot hole with gravel he'd gotten at the quarry, the neighbors that picked up the trash along side the road and on and on.

There are people all over the world helping in ways we don't ever think about. They are doing it quietly with no notoriety but making huge differences in other people's lives. They are not a minority, helpers are doing something to make someones life better every second of every day. Our problem is we don't see it.

So just to focus on one person in the neighborhood that can make your day i'd like to introduce Otis The Fix It Man. Otis has lived in La Vallee all his life, he has a body shop where he puts cars that have been mashed up back together. He has kids, goes to church, and always greets you with the biggest smile he can produce. He walks with a limp but always manages to take a sea bath sometime during the day.

We park our cars in a row perpendicular to the beach when we go swimming. When Otis has flowers blooming in his garden he cuts them and places sometimes a bouquet or a single flower on each of our side view mirrors. If he has ripe mangoes he will dangle them off the mirror. His thoughtfulness can't help but make you feel good by his simple caring gestures. Its such a treat to come back to your car and find a little gifty hanging there. Thank you Otis.

We focus on the negative. We are trained by our news media to think only bad things are happening every day all day. Wars, disasters, fighting, murders, robberies, child abuse, rape...you hardly ever see or hear about all the good things going on all around us because it doesn't sell. People helping or doing something nice doesn't sell.

Here in the VI we have a lot of complainers that are way louder than the helpers and the doers.  Improving our community starts with all of us...so go out and help someone or do something nice instead of complaining. Don't pass up that next opportunity to stop and help someone in need...it will help you and it will definitely help them.

See ya next week.