Just Passing By This Holiday Season

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about helping others. How do we walk by people clearly in need of assistance, whether it be a friend or a stranger? Who am I to walk by another human being in need and not wonder if there is anything I could do to help?

These thoughts have not come about randomly. No, I have encountered some instances in the past few weeks to make me question the people in society today. I usually like to think our society is not much different from in the past, but I am not sure anymore. I see people who are afraid to lend a hand in fear that something will happen to them, and I really can't blame them because of stories circulating in the media. But, I like to think that if I help someone, they will help others in the future and all in all, it will make the world a better place.

Over the weekend, I went to Cleveland to visit a friend. One night, my friend Nicole and I joined her two friends and were driving in the city when we came upon a woman sitting in the middle of the street. A man stood in front of her and two men from a car stopped behind her were approaching. We had no idea what was going on, but from the perspective of a woman, I saw a woman alone, surrounded by three men. Nicole told her friend driving the car to stop, but the driver had no intentions of stopping. Both Nicole and I yelled at her to stop the car and started moving to get ready to make our exit from the vehicle. Being trapped in the back seat of a two door car, I could not get out, but Nicole opened her door as we were still moving to get the driver to stop. Finally, she stopped and we ended up having to call the police to make sure that the woman got out of the street and went unharmed by the man forcibly trying to move her.

However, the instant arrival of three cop cars was not the most interesting part of this incident. In my opinion, the only option was to stop and help this woman, but the girl driving said no because "we worry about ourselves before we worry about others." I could not believe the words were leaving her mouth when I heard her say it. How hard was it for us to stop the car to make sure a woman clearly in danger was safe? Of course I am going to worry about someone else in harms way when my prescence could make a difference. But, the driver thought we were putting ourselves in danger because we did not know who the people were. I could not imagine passing this scene. I would have always wondered what happened to that woman.

But, I am not always the most helpful person either. I walk by people who have knocked things over, can't find their cars in Walmart's parking lot and my mom and dad hastily trying to cook dinner without thinking twice about helping out. Today as I was driving, I saw this little old woman walking along the side of the highway. Sure, there are houses along the road and she could have possibly been walking to get her mail or visiting her neighbors. As I passed by, I noticed she had a walking cane, and I think she had passed at least two mailboxes. I thought about turning around to see where she went, but the car was low on gas and I continued on my way home instead. 15 hours later, I sit here wondering if that little old lady had to walk a long distance to wherever she was going, or if she was just checking her mail. If I would have just turned around, I might not have this nagging question in my head.

Why did I help in one instance and not the other? Is it something about being the driver that makes you not want to stop your car? Or is it the fact that I had others with me who wanted to help in the first incident that reassured me it was the right thing to do?

As my unrest thoughts continuously remind me, I have to help others. I need to know if someone who looks like they may need assistance gets it. I know that this is part of who I am and I will never forget the day I decided I could not go without helping those in troubled times. -- Yes, I speak of the day when I sat beside Marie at lunch as she choked on an ice cube. I remember laughing as she coughed, but when she started gagging, I thought she really needed help. I knew I could not sit there and watch someone die. Since I didn't know it was an ice cube that would eventually melt, I stood up and called for help. Now, I admit that I had been laughing and perhaps the last smile had not yet faded from my face, but at this point I was serious, yet no one in the room even looked to see why I had called for help. I may blame it on the fact that we had been laughing as the reason for why no one came to save Marie's life when I called for help, but it still makes me wonder who would help me if I sit dying beside them.

I'd hate to end on such a morbid thought, especially during the cheerful holiday season. Therefore, I'd like to thank the people who helped an old friend in need of some money to buy his kids gifts for Christmas. He could not stop thanking me and telling me of his pure amazement at the willingness of others to help him. He managed to get each of his kids a toy and clothes, knowing that the money would be better used to buy things they needed rather than toys. I am happy to know that I am surrounded by loved ones who are willing to give a helping hand, and hopefully if I begin to choke as I sit beside you, you will have more success at getting me help than I did with Marie.

Merry Christmas :)

Yes, The Week From Our Nightmares: Finals Week

Since my brain currently consists of only social psychology, sociology and political science terms, reasons people want to ban Harry Potter, and why buying textbooks online is cheaper than at bookstores, I have decided after about two drafts of this blog posting to instead post a picture to try to make this week a little bit brighter.

For those of you anxiously awaiting a funny story that I ensure you is somewhere under these terms that I will ban from my vocabulary once I sell back my textbooks and leave campus for break, I promise I will post again when I arrive home.

In the meantime, enjoy the snow and dream of a white Christmas :)

Or, if you're not ready to embrace the holiday spirit, enjoy my picture from those summer days not too far away!

Adding a Bit of Excitement to the College Life...

As I walked back to my room last night in the cold, wind, and rain, I had time to think. Not about homework, studying, or finals (... ugh), but I actually had time to think about life and how I am living it. Just days after writing my first post, I had once again joined in the normal hustle and bustle of every day life, completely neglecting my own ideas about how life should be lived.

Yet, as a college student who wants to be successful, I have to fall into this societal stampede that forces us all to rush though life. I wish I could escape this pressure to hurry through school and learn what I need as fast as I can, but with the weight of student loans and knowing bills will undoubtedly form a mountain on my kitchen table when I graduate, I cannot resist the mind frame of school and work as the two most important aspects in my day-to-day life.

However, I have realized that just changing up the daily routine makes life a lot more enjoyable and gives me an outlet to notice the little things that turn just another day into a great day.

For example, the reason I walked in the cold, wind, and rain was to go the Rec. Sure, I could've taken the bus, but who wants to bother with trying to figure out which bus to take and at what time when the option of freezing your butt off walking uphill there and back is available? Okay, I know I should have taken the bus. But, I honestly did not realize how cold and how far away the Rec was until my legs went numb and I had to check if they were still there about halfway to my distant goal.

But, the peacefulness of the night is not something I get to enjoy each day. Even with the rain and wind, the calmness of the night went uninterrupted. The rain in the lights from the street lamps and the sound of the wind could have almost fooled me to believe that I was on the beach looking at the waves and listening to sound of them crashing on the beach. Yea, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but the point is that without the comfort of my backyard, I can't just go sit outside and look into the night sky as often as I'd like. (And I guess the fact that everyone would think I was weird or a creeper just looking into the sky randomly in the middle of the dorm buildings has prevented me from doing such on a regular basis.) This one change in my daily schedule to go to the Rec made my day, just by allowing me to spend some time outside during the best part of the day, in my opinion at least.

So, one little journey to a far away land brought a little excitement to my mundane life of work and school. What else can I do to change it up and make each day a new adventure?

Well, for starters, maybe I should try a new food each day. Probably all of you reading this know that I like my regular food... and apparently those serving me my food have noticed too. Today I was again (yes, again!) asked by yet another server about my choice of two soft tacos. Hey, what can I say? They are absolutely delicious! But, maybe I should take this as a hint that I eat too many soft tacos and try a new food. One of these days I'm bound to find a new favorite, right?

My other ingredient for my spicy new life (yes, these little changes really could make that much of  a difference) is to study in different places every now and then. I mean since I have been trying to leave my room as much as possible, I have found that I get a few more laughs when I study elsewhere. Like when I discovered that the big projection screen in the basement only allows you to change the volume and not the channel. So no matter how fast I press the + button, I will not get to channel 35 soon enough to watch the season finale of The Buried Life. (And yes, 35 is loud enough to hear the TV for the entire basement, and probably the first floor as well) Or as my fellow basement studier found, waving your arms wildly while sitting in your chair, will not activate the "motion" detector lights no matter how many times you try.

So, from the time that I have taken to smell the roses, I have realized that although I feel like I have only the options of doing homework and working, I can still make miniature adjustments each day that could possibly make each day filled with a little spontaneity. A new food here, a different place to study there, and a sprinkle of talking to a few fresh faces will make this next semester a bit more bearable to get through, I hope.

(Scheduled spontaneity for the day = check)