Although we were busy working in Bonn this weekend we of course heard and saw news about the hurricane Irene. On the train journey back to Wiesbaden we wondered how the situation was in New York at that time. When we arrived home, we were happy to get to know that the storm was not as bad as it had been expected. Obviously people had been very afraid and for the first time in history the president declared the state of emergency for the city. People of some parts of the city had to be evacuated and even the subway trains left those parts of town and stopped running for the dangerous time period.
It was of course horrible to see all those preparations, people trying to get out and save as much of their precious belongings as possible, some finding shelter only in the emergency halls provided by the government. Inhabitants, landlords and shopkeepers boarded up their homes and stores to try to prevent bigger damage. They were afraid for the safety of what they have.
As shocking as those pictures may have been, there was also something nice to see: people helped each other. Neighbours helped one another carrying things in and out or putting boards onto windows. People went to stay with their family and friends and whoever was in some way close to the danger zone even updated others over internet so that they need not worry about them. I read that also during the time of the storm people helped each other by passing on news about the current situation.
Seeing this is good and makes you feel really as though people now stopped thinking only of themselves. Unfortunately this had been one of my impressions when visiting America. People think very much individually and of themselves.
I have seen people leave the air conditioning running the whole day long, even when they are not in their homes for eight or ten hours, so that their flat is nicely cool in the evening when they come back home. Instead, they could think of how much energy they waste, and just switch it on when they come home. It will take only a few minutes for their home to cool down but the discomfort of waiting these minutes is too much for them.
When we were walking on the road once, we were accompanied by someone who unwrapped a chewing gum and threw the paper onto the road. Ramona, coming from Germany, could not help but ask her why she had done that. The reply that she got was ‘I pay tax, it is the city’s duty to clean the roads.’
These are just two small examples of this individualism that I have seen. It continues of course in bigger and more important parts of life. You see politicians who don’t want to give up their point of view merely because of their ego, without thinking of the society around them. You see many people wasting a lot of food without a thought of those who are hungry. It is of course not only America, it happens all around the world, but with these pictures of people helping each other I realized that this is one of the impressions I had in the US. I hope my American friends don’t take me wrong, I have met a lot of wonderful, helping and supportive people there, too! In general and to people all over the world I would like to say that we need to think of others around us, not only of ourselves. We are destroying this world in our egoism and nature shows us exactly that. We need to think of the generations that come after us and not leave them a big mess just because we felt too comfortable and were too lazy to clean up and do something different.
Helping others in times of emergency but also in normal life is such a non-egoistic behavior. I know that the hurricane is not over everywhere yet and although the metropolis New York has been spared from the worst, there are other areas in which the storm has caused serious damage and has also cost some lives. My blessings, prayers and best wishes are with the people in those areas and with their families and friends.
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I have experienced the same when there was an earthquake in our area. All of a sudden neighbors came together to help each other, to save precious good or even lives. And when it was finally over, it felt like in a big celebration, we all made it together through this time. It was just a great feeling of community, even though there is not much of a community usually.
The US is the country of extremes. Selfishness on the one hand and being very social and helpful on the other. Remember when you wrote in the diary last summer about obesity and the XXL-life on the one side and the obstacles to buy a normal cheese or milk that is not ! non- or low-fat on the other side?! A balanced life is (to many Americans) not the way of living. But I love Americans nevertheless! :-))
Being American, I strive in life to teach children compassion n that we r the same it’s the only way to fix this sad confused place I call home
It’s true– America typically functions as a place divided among individuals, rather than families, groups, and communities. It is a such a big place that sometimes we forget that we are connected and that we need each other. It’s sad that it takes a natural disaster to create a sense of community…but at least people help each other in times of crisis! I can only hope that people start working together in small communities, creating family where they are.
Unfortunately mankind often has to wait for such catastrophes to happen so that they can show their feelings and come together. Also when a family member suddenly dies all the others share their feelings in this moment. And when the pain fades away, they think they don’t need each other anymore. But we could try also to let our feelings flow without catastrophes!