They're Out There.

OK, took a little siesta there for the month of January due in large part to a sudden attack of the "It's winter, I fucking hate the winter" blues. Spring is in my sights and I can almost hear the geese scheduling their boarding passes. So...

Saw a dead guy the other day. Not that that is impressive in and of itself. But, saw a dead guy nonetheless. My friend and I were cruising down the highway when we rounded a long turn and came upon a frantic situation with cars slamming on their breaks and people running all over the place. And there he was! Lying just outside his limousine door, Dressed in a tuxedo, flat on his back, arms and legs spread and looking straight up into the morning sky. We slowed and were prepared to stop but there must have been a dozen cars already pulled over, everyone with a cell phone in hand. I assume the were calling for help and not fulfilling some kind of perverse photo-Op. I said to my friend as I watched and older woman place a towel under his head "someone should be jumping on that guy's chest...he's not going to make it." And sure enough in the following morning paper...he didn't: "So and so...stricken ill on the side of the road....wife and kids....no mas." But here is the reason I'm writing this. I think this is going to stay with me a while. Not for the fact that I witnessed a human being departing the living. I've witnessed that in more gory theatrics than that. No, what is going to stick with me is that I am a cynic by nature. I have come to believe that humans are a selfish lot and will rarely, if ever, extend themselves beyond what is absolutely necessary...and even then only if it will benefit them. So, I was amazed to see so many people, with honest intentions written across their faces, leaping into action to help postpone the death of this stranger. Maybe I am just delusional or have fallen victim to the Blitzkrieg of human negativity the media shamelessly passes off as news, but I think I might have witnessed the chink in the armor that the vast majority of us have buried beneath our cloak of cynicism: compassion. And this is an encouraging first step toward salvation if we are going to continue functional as a whole on this fucked up little blue rock!