You wonder what would happen if everyone minded their own business and let eveyrone else do the same. And I mean EVERYONE.
I’m all for people helping people, communities pulling together, volunteers working like busy little bees to accomplish what others said could never be done...
But nothing will put the binders on a project or an individual’s best intentions faster than someone else butting in with their own opinion of how something should be done.
Someone posted a joke last week on Facebook that said: If everyone in the world smoked a joint at the same time, we’d have world peace for two hours.
I don’t know about the method, but what a thought. Everyone groovin’ together, smiling and peaceful. The opposite of the Vancouver riots. No one having to fear for their lives, no life or death arguments taking place...
Most of us have opinions, and most of us feel strongly enough about a few of them to rise to a challenge. I don’t think most of us would resort to physical or verbal violence in order to bludgeon our opponent. But some would.
What is verbal violence? Being verbally abusive. In some ways, the scars last longer than those inflicted by physical violence.
Neither one should be tolerated.
We seem to be sliding further down the self-centred path that allows everyone to do whatever they think will make them happy, even if that means putting someone else down. (Our parents and their parents probably thought the same thing.) I see it every day in the disregard people have for each other, especially in the cities, but even in our own little communities.
If we can’t reverse that trend here in our little town, then no one can.
I really enjoyed Pastor Victor Koop’s column this week about the joy of giving, and about doing special kindnesses for people on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).
What do you think? If we all made an effort to mark this one day only with kindness, do you think it would spread to the other 363 days?
Wendy Coomber is editor of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal.