The message that is clearly being spread every day is "the world is a bad, bad place!": murder, terrorism, people exploiting people. And even beside the news, I suppose loneliness is the biggest problem of people in our society which is the clear result of people just not loving each other. It takes movies like "Love, Actually" or this video to remind ourselves that there truly is good in people, while it seems most of them either want to exploit, harm or even murder us (I'm looking at you, ISIS). Cynic as I am, I immediately believe that movies are just Hollywood and this video is a fake, and considering how even my best friends have sometimes deeply hurt me I understand my own cynicism. However, as a reporter I have more resources than anyone to actually see that the "news" are not just the bad stories of hate and injustice. And both Hollywood and these videos don't always just lie...
Not every homeless guy would do what the guy in the video did. To be frank, most of them would probably not spend the money on pillows and blankets. Yet, and I truly believe that, if you give any of them 500 dollars they would burst into tears. Maybe cynic people would believe they are just happy to be able to afford 50 bottles of rum; I personally believe they would be touched by a sign of affection I think many of them have never received. To a homeless person that may be money, but what it really is is care. Homeless or not, we all need affection and respect, and homeless people have fewer of both, even if it was misconduct or bad decisions that made them have to live in the streets. If you encounter a person with affection and respect, they would all be touched, even rich people.
Having said that, being a good person takes a lot less than a buck. In order to be charitable one does not have to save homeless people. Every single person knows someone who is in need of such affection and respect, and it usually doesn't take money to give that. There's plenty of people who have the financial means to help with money, most notably Bill Gates who lost the title "richest man in the world" because he gave so much or J.K.Rowling who is no longer a billionaire because she donated plenty of money. I know these people do it for no other reason than to enjoy giving because I would do the same thing with the same money. When I don't have money, which is usually the case, I try to find other ways to make people happy. The biggest lesson to learn from Hollywood might be cheesy, but "Pay it Forward" is literally the answer to all of the world's problems...
As a reporter, I seldom come across a news-worthy story that involves a person's choice of openly hating people. Sure, painting a true picture of the Trumps of this world is part of the news as well, but the stories I remember are the Macedonian Good Samaritan that opened her house for refugees walking past her house, giving them water, food and clothes, or the Egyptian cat lady that bought a house to rescue beaten up cats and dogs in Egypt's countryside. People all have this wonderful thing inside of them that just varies in how much they let it out. Even Donald Trump, the current epitome of hateful behavior, has given loads and has been an outstanding person to some (presumably white, privileged males). People like these stories more. Knowing these stories we all feel better. And there are so many of them out there...
So how does good always lose to the bad? Well, it doesn't. On the eve of Germany's latest mass shooting, I consciously made the decision to go out and celebrate, having thought the attack had been a terrorist attacking our freedom. Terrorists battling freedom are largely outnumbered and have no shot at winning this war of theirs, and what I saw that night made that clearer than ever. I was hanging out with a friend in a wheelchair and we decided to go dance. Upon arrival on the dance floor, people picked up his wheelchair numerous times and helped him dance as he was unable to do so by himself. In that moment, these people gave this man their affection and respect, and I knew I was surrounded by good people. Maybe they've done wrong before, we all have, but they went out of their way to make sure someone more disadvantaged had a good experience. I cried for minutes...
I often sound like I victimize myself, and I don't really mean to, however, I have had pretty bad experiences with people in my life before (even mre better ones, so no worries!): I had people lie, cheat and bully me, people I lived with evict me for gaining weight and people I begged to treat me right because I cared about them so much turn away from me without even saying a word. I know what it's like to not be treated with affection and respect. In these times, I was desperately hoping to give up, maybe just start drinking and live on the streets, forever alone. I can only imagine what people had to go through to end up in situations where their well-being isn't in their own hands anymore. My ambition prevented me from ever letting go, but I can't expect everyone to have the same luck. Unfortunately, the more a person has been through, the more they know how little acts of kindness, a hand reaching out, or simply an acknowledgement can change everything. So when we ask where all the good people went, it is clear to me: they lived life, they fell down and got up, and they realize we have tremendous power to love each other. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the majority. Not terrorists. Not false friends. Not liars.
Not every homeless guy would do what the guy in the video did. To be frank, most of them would probably not spend the money on pillows and blankets. Yet, and I truly believe that, if you give any of them 500 dollars they would burst into tears. Maybe cynic people would believe they are just happy to be able to afford 50 bottles of rum; I personally believe they would be touched by a sign of affection I think many of them have never received. To a homeless person that may be money, but what it really is is care. Homeless or not, we all need affection and respect, and homeless people have fewer of both, even if it was misconduct or bad decisions that made them have to live in the streets. If you encounter a person with affection and respect, they would all be touched, even rich people.
Having said that, being a good person takes a lot less than a buck. In order to be charitable one does not have to save homeless people. Every single person knows someone who is in need of such affection and respect, and it usually doesn't take money to give that. There's plenty of people who have the financial means to help with money, most notably Bill Gates who lost the title "richest man in the world" because he gave so much or J.K.Rowling who is no longer a billionaire because she donated plenty of money. I know these people do it for no other reason than to enjoy giving because I would do the same thing with the same money. When I don't have money, which is usually the case, I try to find other ways to make people happy. The biggest lesson to learn from Hollywood might be cheesy, but "Pay it Forward" is literally the answer to all of the world's problems...
As a reporter, I seldom come across a news-worthy story that involves a person's choice of openly hating people. Sure, painting a true picture of the Trumps of this world is part of the news as well, but the stories I remember are the Macedonian Good Samaritan that opened her house for refugees walking past her house, giving them water, food and clothes, or the Egyptian cat lady that bought a house to rescue beaten up cats and dogs in Egypt's countryside. People all have this wonderful thing inside of them that just varies in how much they let it out. Even Donald Trump, the current epitome of hateful behavior, has given loads and has been an outstanding person to some (presumably white, privileged males). People like these stories more. Knowing these stories we all feel better. And there are so many of them out there...
So how does good always lose to the bad? Well, it doesn't. On the eve of Germany's latest mass shooting, I consciously made the decision to go out and celebrate, having thought the attack had been a terrorist attacking our freedom. Terrorists battling freedom are largely outnumbered and have no shot at winning this war of theirs, and what I saw that night made that clearer than ever. I was hanging out with a friend in a wheelchair and we decided to go dance. Upon arrival on the dance floor, people picked up his wheelchair numerous times and helped him dance as he was unable to do so by himself. In that moment, these people gave this man their affection and respect, and I knew I was surrounded by good people. Maybe they've done wrong before, we all have, but they went out of their way to make sure someone more disadvantaged had a good experience. I cried for minutes...
I often sound like I victimize myself, and I don't really mean to, however, I have had pretty bad experiences with people in my life before (even mre better ones, so no worries!): I had people lie, cheat and bully me, people I lived with evict me for gaining weight and people I begged to treat me right because I cared about them so much turn away from me without even saying a word. I know what it's like to not be treated with affection and respect. In these times, I was desperately hoping to give up, maybe just start drinking and live on the streets, forever alone. I can only imagine what people had to go through to end up in situations where their well-being isn't in their own hands anymore. My ambition prevented me from ever letting go, but I can't expect everyone to have the same luck. Unfortunately, the more a person has been through, the more they know how little acts of kindness, a hand reaching out, or simply an acknowledgement can change everything. So when we ask where all the good people went, it is clear to me: they lived life, they fell down and got up, and they realize we have tremendous power to love each other. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the majority. Not terrorists. Not false friends. Not liars.
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