Folded thought of the day:

I guess I need to stop reading the news before I come to work 
because I don't really want to turn Below the Fold into a 
topical-discussion venue.  But I see the headlines about 
the office shooting in Hawaii and it gets me thinking...

I know there's nothing I can write about the phenomena of 
mass shootings that hasn't been written a hundred 
times by now.  We know how common they've become and we 
know it must mean something is wrong and we have to listen 
to a bunch of academics spin their theories on the nightly 
news and meanwhile we keep an eye on our co-workers.

So, yeah, what can I write about this?  But, in many ways,
I don't write about anything else.  Not specifically, 
but it's all tied together.  Some people write in to me 
saying that I must be a very depressed and/or negative 
person -- which just isn't true.  I'm just a little sad.  

I'm sad because I know that we could do better.  I see 
the beauty of this world and then I see someone trying 
to destroy an aspect of this beauty.  I'm sad because 
I know we could care about each other more and be nicer 
to each other... that we could go out of our way for 
something that didn't benefit us directly and that would 
make the world a better place.  But we are underachievers. 

Yesterday I requested that you let someone you care 
about know exactly how much they mean to you.  And I 
hope you did and I bet that the person was very happy 
to receive your call/email/hug/whatever.  

Now, what do you think would happen if you went out 
of your way to do something kind to a complete stranger? 
For example, what if you handed a rose to someone 
you never saw before?  One would like to think it 
would brighten their day, but more than likely the 
person would be taken aback and not accept the 
gesture -- thinking that you wanted something from 
them and perhaps being frightened.  

Am I wrong?  Try it out and let me know.  

And what does this have to do with the shooting?  
I don't know.  Maybe nothing.  Maybe everything.  
I think we have completely lost any sense of 
community... that it is out of the ordinary when 
someone  does something nice for someone else but 
it is commonplace to read about tragedies such as 
this shooting -- when it should be the opposite.  

And when we lose our sense of community, we create 
alienation.  And when we feel alienated, we get 
depressed and negative.  

And that makes me sad.