Everywhere Riverguy goes, I hear people talking about "the new normal." The sad thing is, it is never in reference to anything good. Flooding? That's the new normal. High winds? The new normal. The government going broke, and taking us down with it? Yup, the new normal.
But Riverguy has noticed something else. There is an explosion of compassion going on. Things are bad for many people, and their neighbors are waking up, and taking action.
People are sending things to our area from all parts of the country to help us recover from Hurricane Sandy. Truckloads, in fact. Organizations of all types, and sometimes even individuals, at their own expense. Even people with little to give are giving what they can. Sometimes the most humble are the most generous of all.
There was a news story the other day about a little girl whose dog was stolen (on Christmas Eve, no less). A lady saw a man in the park selling a dog, had a bad feeling about it, and bought the dog for $220 to get it away from the man. She took it to a vet, where they found that the dog was "chipped." Long story short, the dog was reunited with the little girl. The lady that spent $220 to intervene sure had a strong desire to help, to make things right. She put her time and money on the line.
Today, I went over to look at the destruction in Seaside Heights. I guess I looked a little forlorn as I looked at all the sand where the boardwalk used to be. A young girl approached me and asked if I lived around here. She was from a church group that was coming to town to help remove debris and help in other ways, for free.
It occurs to me that something has changed all right...more trouble seems to be coming our way, and at the same time, people are stepping up to help each other, maybe much more so than in the past.
The new normal now includes people working togther to help, whatever else the new normal brings.
