Dominoes

Growing up I lived in a neighborhood with a bus stop. Every morning, I would walk to catch the bus; with all the other neighborhood kids; to go to school. If I had to guess, the walk was no more than a quarter mile and I am sure took no more than five-minutes.

The bus stop was it's own animal. I am actually sitting here shaking my head thinking about all the craziness that would happen in a mere 15-20 minutes. It really quite amazing that no one every was seriously hurt --at least not physically.

Today I am on a time machine going back to a very cold and snowy day walking to the bus stop. My mom had done her best trying to wrap me up like Randy from a Christmas Story. How cold was it? I really cannot remember but if I had to guess, 20 degrees and lots of snow everywhere.

My mom thought I needed extra time to walk to the bus stop in my 20lbs of clothing that morning, so off I set in the winter wonderland. (Snow fall is pretty magical if you take a moment to appreciate the beauty.)

I have no idea how much earlier I arrived but apparently all of our parents had a phone conference on bundling up and shipping us out that day because I was not the only kid to arrive earlier than normal.

Our bus stop was on a corner, just on a sidewalk, in a neighborhood, close to a white house. One of my schoolmates lived at that house. I'll never forget because on this morning his mom opened the door and had all of us kids at the bus stop come in their home to stay warm. She made us all a cup of hot cocoa and we sat there in their living room watching Scooby Doo.

I'll never forget that day and the kindness that was shown not only by the homeowners but all of the kids showed kindness and gratitude towards one and other. If there is one thing I know, is that I'm not sure this story could ever repeat itself in today's society.

First, it seems like this type of weather we went to school on this day, like any other winter day, would have school canceled today. Also I highly doubt anyone would just invite kids into their home for hot chocolate. Or, if they were invited in ,there would be one kid that would make up a crazy story about being mistreated; because that's why they see and hear on TV...kids are still kids, they all want attention.

There has been a very weird shift in society with the power that is often given to children. Want to know why all these kids have crazy allergies? They do not go outside and eat dirt anymore. I can't tell you how many mud pies I sampled as a young child. What to know what young kids are so whiny and complain? Because their every want is coddled to. They can go to school when it's cold (the school has heat). They don't need to have hand sanitizer every five seconds. Bad grades are deserved.

I really do not understand the mentality of most people today. They complain over things I would never think complaining about in a million years. They write comment cards and post on social media things they could never tell someone face-to-face. Passive-Aggressiveness rules our society and it's time for it to stop.

Our world would be a much better place if my snowy day at the bus stop could happen again in our society. But it won't. Because we are all too selfish to open our hearts and our homes. We are all to worried about making face. We are too preoccupied with what is in our walls. We are unable to have empathy to our fellow man. It's all about what's in it for me, not for us. I challenge you to stop today ,because I know you will find yourself doing this, and ask yourself why. Then ask yourself how can you be a better person? If you give a compliment to the fast food worker, they go home happy. If they go home happy, maybe they don't hit their child. If they do not hit their child tonight maybe they will not bully yours tomorrow. Everything has a domino effect. What kind of dominoes are you putting out into our world?