frustration/happiness

Things around this country seem really bleak right now. The other day, I was catching up on the news while riding the bus. There were just so many depressing stories out there. I don't understand why we are incapable of having a rational discussion in this country about anything. All you see on the news is scandal and screaming. I don't even actually know what's in this health care bill (is there one even?), but I know people enjoy acting like a mob over it! I have no idea what the Republican alternative is (or if there is one), because it's not covered on TV. How am I supposed to make up my mind if I like it or not without being informed? Isn't that the job of the media? The loss of public airwaves has striped networks of their responsibility to truly inform and act as the 4th estate. As a person who has been denied health coverage in the past, I think reform is definitely needed. I just don't know if the things being proposed will work.

So then I read about this crazy thing that happened in Florida last week. A woman was gang raped in the secure parking garage of her hotel in front of her children. The hotel immediately issued a statement saying it took no responsibility because the woman didn't do what was necessary to keep herself safe! Excuse me? You can say you don't take responsibility because the hotel had nothing to do with the act, but you don't blame the victim! It's just terrible!

So after a few stories like this I decided to turn off my phone. The next stop I come to, 2 little families get on, a Latino woman and her son, and a black man and his son. Both kids were about 3 or 4, and neither spoke the other's language. They had apparently befriended each other at the bus stop over a shared love for Thomas the Tank Engine. These 2 adorable boys spent the rest of the bus ride playing together and blabbering on to each other in differing languages, seemingly having the times of their lives. Seeing this made me happy. I think kids can teach us somethings that we forget. Perhaps we could all benefit from being more child-like, and less immature. Anyway, it's trite, but true. Kids are sweet, as long as they belong to someone else. :)