It's The Right Thing To Do

People are among Nature's most interesting studies.

Capable of almost anything, from delving deeply into subjects of great intellectual and physical intricacy to feeling emotions unlike any other member of the Animal Kingdom, we can be caring or callous, instructive or destructive, ambitious or malicious. Trying to understand what we're going to do next may be a matter only for historians, philosophers or physicists.

But there are only two things I know about people, things I try to practice every day, and each very difficult to refute. Yes, this is the internet, so while those who stay up for days at a time trying to find any conceivable glitch in another's point, hold on for just a little while. I'm sure you'll think of something. But I'll make it short, elemental. Here are 4wheelbob's Pair of Random Wisdoms;

First, and most important: Each of us has something to offer everyone - lessons of sorts, a thought, an image, a smile. Not all the lessons are warm, fuzzy and rosy - not all education is easily disseminated. But a lesson may be as simple as "hey, I smiled and she smiled back!" or as tough as "guess I shouldn't have gone for a drive after that fourth drink (sound of handcuffs clicking)". Some people seem downright unapproachable, distant, aloof, even angry. What lessons have they had to endure? What might we learn from them? Then the obvious: what can we do to help make their lives a bit easier to endure, if not completely enjoy? Each of us can learn such tiny, important things from one another.

The second piece is even simpler and more satisfying: what can I do to make another's life here better? Can I offer a joke, or a warm meal? A cup of coffee coupled with a willing ear? Perhaps even a room until a situation gets sorted out....
Being social beings, I find it perplexing that we can't use the technology that got us the internet, and the ability to look up or store vast amounts of knowledge on a hard drive to help each other. Yes, of course I see Facebook pages for every conceivable cause, including my own. Yet, when in close physical contact with our fellow humans, we back away, seeking instead to intellectualize every possible emotion, feeling, spirit....and missing the most basic primate behavior, that of talking, touching, joking, telling stories - communicating face - to - face, without the book. We retreat to our Blackberries to text another sitting across a table. We trumpet our achievements on social networking (what would Ben Franklin think of THAT?) sites, but sit on our hands when sharing a table, sitting in the cool, damp night.

I enjoy making people laugh, or challenging them to think. I love spouting off inanities, just for the simple pleasure of being inane and inviting people to look closer and see that I have a soul, a spirit, even a mystery that will take equal amounts of thought and poking to arouse. And as much as I enjoy using the computer to share thoughts like these with you, I'd be in my element if we were yammering to each other all night, being silly or thoughtful or reflective. Because on the internet, I can't see you smile or hear you laugh. I can't piss you off or argue sports in real time. No, that takes more effort. Effort which, I pray, you are willing to expend in order to make the most of this life.

That's all there is to it. Those of you who've met me on a trail and engaged me in conversation (not too hard to do) understand. Those with whom I've shared coffee and chatted about the beauty of the day and what it will hold within its boundaries understand. Those who've allowed me to be a part of their lives, as either benefactor or benficiary, friend or lover, jokester or foil understand.

Writing and posting this as I will may seem contradictory, but fear not. Stop me to talk if you see me on the street, and you'll know, too, of my passion for people and life. Break away, if only for a day, from your electronic bindings and listen to another, without anger, without judgment, without scorn. We'll all be better for the time when we can look only at the individual and our similarities and not the artificial factional differences that so frequently divude us.

Share a moment with someone you don't know. You might find it the most educational moment of your life.