Email #33: We Have to Care About Each Other (7/29/16)

I was getting off the New York City subway a few days ago, which is a real joy to experience during a heat wave. As I reached the staircase leading to the street I hit a wall. There I was in a sea of people, staring at the bad summer movie ads, barely moving, wondering what was going on.

You know what was going on? A young man, all of 25 years old, was stopped in the middle of the stairway, checking his iPhone.

Maybe he was a covert operative tracking a dangerous assassin. But I doubt it.

Maybe his wife was in labor and he needed an update as soon as his phone found service. Unlikely.

Maybe he was playing Pokemon Go.

What’s most likely is this guy just didn’t care. He didn’t care about his fellow commuters, each desperate to get to the top of the stairs and out of the steamy subway station. He didn’t care that three steps behind him was an elderly woman, carrying several heavy bags.

We gotta start caring. We gotta start looking out for one another. Politicians aren’t going to do it for us. Musicians and movie stars aren’t going to fix our problems. All we’ve got are the people next to us on the street, the subway, the staircase. We need to give a damn about each other.

I was moved Monday night by a speech from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Forget your politics for a minute and simply read these words:

Share: