The "Other" Guys

Please bear with me. This is a longer post than usual, but one that gets to a point eventually.

I spent my college years at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Furman was not a sprawling campus intermingled with a city. Rather, it sat off on it's own. It was it's own little world, which we aptly dubbed the "Furman Bubble". Sometimes I knew what was happening outside of that bubble. At other times I didn't. Much of what was important to me at that time was in the bubble. Not only that, but my perceptions were often times based on the bubble.

I think in most of our lives, we have our own little bubbles. They may not be physical bubbles, such as I had at Furman. Rather, they are bubbles of our own creation and our perceptions are often based on the bubbles in which we live. Yours may be centered around your job and your coworkers, or maybe it’s based on your faith and consists of church members. Despite the group that people see themselves as being part of, there tends to be a feeling of superiority that accompanies that feeling of belonging. If you happen to be Christian, then most likely you feel that you you’ve got it right and the other religions have it wrong. You feel superior. Same is true if you are of another religion. When you are sitting in your church/temple/mosque… you feel superior because you are right and everyone else is wrong.

Likewise, if you work 40+ hours per week, every week, week in and week out, supporting yourself and your family, then there is a good chance that you are not a fan of rampant government assistance. In fact, you probably look down on it. I've heard many hard working people bashing Welfare and the like. You probably feel superior due to the fact that you can provide for yourself and your family and do not need such help.

All of this made think about how we perceive those outside our bubble and more so, how we often perceive them in a negative light. I think the late Bertrand Russell, most noted as a philosopher and mathematician, but also a social and political theorist put it very well when he said:

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.

Wow. He may have said that decades ago, but it is no less true today.

The idea of this post came about due to an article that a friend sent me; one about a group of forgotten people, one about a group of people that most people see themselves as being better than, an article about some people that rose above their feelings of superiority and treated those other people (at least for that one day) like they belonged. It’s a really good sports story. One that will make you feel good having read it. click here to read about the special game between Grapevine Faith and Gainesville State School

After having read that it made me think about how others have taken a step to help those that most people chose to forget about. Those whom are less fortunate often go without, but thanks to those that participate in community service programs such as Meals on Wheels, or local soup kitchens, the same less fortunate are given the help they need. Just look at how we all come together around Christmas time. In December, like no other time of the year, you see people getting together to contribute to soup kitchens, to participate in Habitat for Humanity and Adopt-A-Family programs. It’s really amazing to see people help those that are in need…even if for some, they only help once a year.

Finally, on a topic close to my heart that goes right along with the previous examples is my wife and her last job. Before moving to corporate law, Stacy was a public defender. When most people hear that, they have a knee-jerk response like an sarcastic yet inquisitive, “oh, so you represent the scum of the Earth?” or a judgmental, “how do you do that…represent those people?”. It’s really amazing how judgmental many people are about others that have been charged with breaking a law. Almost nobody to whom I speak assumes the position of the law, “Innocent until proven guilty”. Rather, they have a response like I previously mentioned. They judge the people that they deem as criminals and see themselves as being better than “those people”. It doesn’t matter the crime. It only matters that “those people” are punished (unless of course, their buddy got a DUI or something like then, then the rules seem to not apply). But I digress. Anyway, I think that although we should all take a less judgmental stance…most do not. It takes a bigger person than most of us to show compassion to those that other people have chosen to forget about. It takes a big heart to defend “those people”. It’s not an easy job, but because of people like Stacy and her colleagues, the job gets done and "those people" are helped. Better yet, people are helped. I have more admiration for Stacy and other compassionate people like her, that either currently or have previously served those in need, than for most people that I have met at any time in my life.