Just Caring a Little Is Not Asking a Lot

Having been laid off, downsized, reorganized, streamlined, made to be lean and mean; having started my own small business and failed, or whatever you want to call it; I finally saw something that gave me hope.

On Nov. 15, about 1 p.m., just about two months after the Sept. 11 disaster, I was walking along the Seal Beach pier when I saw two children walking along the beach picking up trash, bottles, cans, etc. I wanted to call out and say “thanks.” But they were too far away. I watched as their mother or guardian was doing the same thing. It was not part of a marathon or some kind of pledge drive, or something else that the media promoted; it was a family that was not about to be intimidated by some foreign power or threat. It was somebody who just wanted to keep things clean, and give her children some values, something that others couldn’t care less about but, if asked, take for granted.

Next time you empty your ashtray in the parking lot, throw trash out of your car window or just don’t give a damn about anything but the cost of gas, the price of cell phone calls or, heaven forbid, the price of a new SUV, take a moment, smell the coffee and put real things in perspective. And care a little.

M.W. Sandford

Garden Grove