That Annual Hallmark Holiday
I'll bet all of you are expecting a social-political rant from me, seeing as how it's become a kind of Valentine's Day tradition for me: wake up in a bitter, cynical mood, hate the world, become disgusted by the overly sappy couples on the street who may as well be having public sex, considering the amount of tongue visible in their romantic exchanges, and then rant about how nothing in this country is done for the sake of doing it; instead, how everything has become a commercial endeavor and has no more soul.
However, I'm going to forgo my tradition and write about something a little less cliché.
Have you ever seen the movie Pay It Forward?
I just had a pay-it-forward moment, and I'm shaking so much it's hard for me to type this. I could say my hands are shaking because it's so cold outside, but I know that's not the case. (although really, wtf is up with this weather? It was so nice this week, and them BOOM snow. Yuck, lol)
It all started with a relatively unexpected trip to the CSU campus to see if there are any job positions open at the library. I was dropped off here and went to the employment office only to be greeted by the bad news that the only positions they had left were clerical and all required a cover letter and a resume (which sucks, seeing as how I have absolutely nothing to put on a resume to begin with). That took a total of 10 minutes, tops, and I wouldn't be getting a ride back for another two hours or so. So, to kill time, I went and checked out the library (which is fucking huge, it's beautiful and has more books than I've seen in a while). Then, after being blown away by the vastness of this beautiful place, I decided it was time for a cigarette (which, because I can't much afford them myself, entailed going out into the cold and bumming one).
I wandered around a bit, too shy to ask these people of higher advantage than me for a hand-out, and finally stood outside the library and people-watched for a good fifteen minutes. Finally, a kind-looking guy with a nicotine stick in hand rounded the corner and I got up the nerve to kindly and politely ask if he had an extra cigarette he would be willing to share. He said of course he did and handed me one, and while we murdered our lungs a little bit, I asked his name and gave him mine, and we talked for a bit. He asked me how long I'd been in school, etc. and I told him that I wasn't in school, just waiting for a ride, and he asked why I wasn't. I told him I really couldn't afford to go to college, and that I planned on traveling anyway, and he began talking about money and loans and all, asked a little about my living situation, which I kind of bullshitted about and said only that I was staying with a friend until I got a job, blah blah blah…
He told me all about how he was from Chad, and then lived in France, and is now getting citizenship in the US, and that he knew what it was like not having money, and how he had squatted for a couple months, dumpster-dove for his food, and all this incredible stuff. Then he began walking to a building across the street and indicated that I should follow.
He went inside a building and straight to an ATM machine.
And then he withdrew some money and handed me one hundred dollars.
I told him I couldn't possibly accept that, and he said that if he didn't have the money to do it, he wouldn't be giving me any. As it was, he understood what it was like, and that god had given him the opportunity to help out someone who was going through what he had been through. He also said that one day, he had full confidence that I would be able to return the favor, whether it would be to him or someone else who then would be going through what I had been going through.
I swear, I thought this kind of thing only happened in movies. As it stands at this point in time, I have (or had) very little faith in humanity. I know the goodness is there somewhere, but I believed that no one cared anymore, or that it had become so suppressed by what society dictates as necessary/unnecessary, or that greed had overcome the desire to reach out to anyone else - greed for money, for social status, for comfort.
But the universe, or god, or whatever, has shown me through this beautiful man that there is still hope for humanity, and that one day I'm going to show someone else the same hope I've been given today.
Today's Valentine's lesson is not of romantic love, but for love of fellow man, the tenderness that still happens (albeit on rare occasion). Love is alive, even in the coldest, dreariest days of the year, in the coldest and dreariest dregs of human existence.
And hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very excited and very proud to announce that humanity is not quite fucked yet.
And furthermore, this revolution of freedom, beauty, truth, and love is not quite so impossible as the government, society, church, parents, etc. would have us believe. People, join me! Help me spread this hope I've been given today! Help me get society to understand that acts of kindness are far more worth it than they can ever know, whether it be as generous as 100 dollars, or as trivial as a shared cigarette or smiling at someone on the street.
Happy Valentine's Day, humanity. Make it a good one, not just to your "significant other," but to any and everyone you may encounter.
And don't just let it be for today.
However, I'm going to forgo my tradition and write about something a little less cliché.
Have you ever seen the movie Pay It Forward?
I just had a pay-it-forward moment, and I'm shaking so much it's hard for me to type this. I could say my hands are shaking because it's so cold outside, but I know that's not the case. (although really, wtf is up with this weather? It was so nice this week, and them BOOM snow. Yuck, lol)
It all started with a relatively unexpected trip to the CSU campus to see if there are any job positions open at the library. I was dropped off here and went to the employment office only to be greeted by the bad news that the only positions they had left were clerical and all required a cover letter and a resume (which sucks, seeing as how I have absolutely nothing to put on a resume to begin with). That took a total of 10 minutes, tops, and I wouldn't be getting a ride back for another two hours or so. So, to kill time, I went and checked out the library (which is fucking huge, it's beautiful and has more books than I've seen in a while). Then, after being blown away by the vastness of this beautiful place, I decided it was time for a cigarette (which, because I can't much afford them myself, entailed going out into the cold and bumming one).
I wandered around a bit, too shy to ask these people of higher advantage than me for a hand-out, and finally stood outside the library and people-watched for a good fifteen minutes. Finally, a kind-looking guy with a nicotine stick in hand rounded the corner and I got up the nerve to kindly and politely ask if he had an extra cigarette he would be willing to share. He said of course he did and handed me one, and while we murdered our lungs a little bit, I asked his name and gave him mine, and we talked for a bit. He asked me how long I'd been in school, etc. and I told him that I wasn't in school, just waiting for a ride, and he asked why I wasn't. I told him I really couldn't afford to go to college, and that I planned on traveling anyway, and he began talking about money and loans and all, asked a little about my living situation, which I kind of bullshitted about and said only that I was staying with a friend until I got a job, blah blah blah…
He told me all about how he was from Chad, and then lived in France, and is now getting citizenship in the US, and that he knew what it was like not having money, and how he had squatted for a couple months, dumpster-dove for his food, and all this incredible stuff. Then he began walking to a building across the street and indicated that I should follow.
He went inside a building and straight to an ATM machine.
And then he withdrew some money and handed me one hundred dollars.
I told him I couldn't possibly accept that, and he said that if he didn't have the money to do it, he wouldn't be giving me any. As it was, he understood what it was like, and that god had given him the opportunity to help out someone who was going through what he had been through. He also said that one day, he had full confidence that I would be able to return the favor, whether it would be to him or someone else who then would be going through what I had been going through.
I swear, I thought this kind of thing only happened in movies. As it stands at this point in time, I have (or had) very little faith in humanity. I know the goodness is there somewhere, but I believed that no one cared anymore, or that it had become so suppressed by what society dictates as necessary/unnecessary, or that greed had overcome the desire to reach out to anyone else - greed for money, for social status, for comfort.
But the universe, or god, or whatever, has shown me through this beautiful man that there is still hope for humanity, and that one day I'm going to show someone else the same hope I've been given today.
Today's Valentine's lesson is not of romantic love, but for love of fellow man, the tenderness that still happens (albeit on rare occasion). Love is alive, even in the coldest, dreariest days of the year, in the coldest and dreariest dregs of human existence.
And hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very excited and very proud to announce that humanity is not quite fucked yet.
And furthermore, this revolution of freedom, beauty, truth, and love is not quite so impossible as the government, society, church, parents, etc. would have us believe. People, join me! Help me spread this hope I've been given today! Help me get society to understand that acts of kindness are far more worth it than they can ever know, whether it be as generous as 100 dollars, or as trivial as a shared cigarette or smiling at someone on the street.
Happy Valentine's Day, humanity. Make it a good one, not just to your "significant other," but to any and everyone you may encounter.
And don't just let it be for today.