So What Will YOU Do?

Something this highly respected blogger said in this blog set me to thinking. As I write this entry, the TV's blaring another round of bad news into the air in my apartment, courtesy of Astro, PPS is abuzz with the latest atrocities in...well just about anywhere, and the world looks like we're all poised to kick the can big time.

What a tumultuous time to be living in. Ironic, that when the human race has tamed almost every conceivable plague and disease, sent robotic vehicles to Mars (!!) and generally finally managed to find a somewhat comfortable niche to breathe in, some of us decide we need to blast each other to bits. Nowadays it seems the plotline of every other apocalyptic future B-movie/paperback I've ever read is slowly but surely coming true. Dickens might just agree with me when I say:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Anyhow. This post is not meant to add to the already ever expanding body of literature (formal or informal) on how the world is progressively going to heck in a handbasket. Take a gander at PPS, and look at how many blogs are already discussing and dissecting these unfortunate happenings, and at this stage I've decided that almost everything that an intelligent person can say has been said.

Some of us say so what? We can talk about it all we want but it won't make things better. GW won't listen. Hell, most of the time the bleeding slack jawed double chinnies who sometimes run THIS country won't listen. So what's the bloody point? Like Najah, I'm inclined to answer thus:

There's always something we can do. True, in the immense scale of the Big Picture, each of us are perhaps nothing more than flecks of dust. But then again, a well placed speck of dust can make the strongest person sneeze, or his eyes water. That same speck can ruin a whole silicone wafer. I guess what I'm trying to say is we can all change something, somehow, within the limitations of our jobs and other responsibilities.

So it can be as simple as sending an email, or donating some old clothes to charity. It can be as simple as calling someone up to say you care. Everyone, regardless of their job, has something to give. So I may not have the billions to finance my own cause for justice (or put together a kick ass team of commandos to kill someone) or the influence to make my opinion heard and taken action upon. In my case, I've been entrusted with the responsibility to direct and mold young minds. Not in any telepathic sense (although that would be highly desirable) but in the sense that through my vocation we have a chance to stuff something of substance into these kids' heads.

That's a scary responsibility. In the brief moment that I meet these individuals, I will have the chance to impart something more than just their lectures and assignments. Perhaps that is all I can do in this lifetime. If I can make even some of them think, then maybe, just maybe we'll all have a chance.

So that's my contribution. Sometimes I falter, and heck I dunno if it even means anything in the end, or if I'm even cut out for this gig. I do know this, however. I will have tried, and sometimes there's nothing more a person can give than their best, no matter what they do.

And I trust at least some of us will do the same.