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Recognized Social Butterfly

A MINUS AND A PLUS

A Minus and a Plus

Today at high noon, while waiting in my car for the light to change, I was disturbed by a report on NPR about the anti-Semitic venom spewed by fanatical Christian nationalists. In the midst of a broadcast ceremony led by one of their leaders, I heard an ear-splitting noise that lasted for about a minute. I figured that maybe a driver behind me or beside me was road raging on his horn, but I was wrong. The NPR commentator revealed that the traditional Jewish ramโ€™s horn (the shofar) was the source of the blast. In Judaism, blowing the shofar is reserved in the synagogue for the yearly High Holy days. But why was the shofar high-jacked at a right-wing extremist Christian gathering? What gives? Perhaps the ramโ€™s horn was used to signify the triumphant angelic trumpet calls that, according to the Book of Revelation, are to usher in the Second Coming, an apocalyptic event that will cast into Hell Jews who reject Christ.

I wish that the prolonged piercing sound of the shofar was actually the frustrated bellowing of an aggressive driver instead of the proclamation of militant and terroristic anti-Semites.

Later in the afternoon, I took my routine walk in Waikiki, a venture that can get a little scary. Most of the sidewalks I navigate are narrow, so it could be dangerous if I move slightly to the right or left as people on bicycles, skateboards, or scooters invariably zip by me without any warning: rarely do I get an โ€œExcuse meโ€ or โ€œPlease let me through.โ€ I would appreciate some sort of acknowledgment that an oncoming vehicle (motorized or not) is about to approach me.

Today, however, was different. A gnarly man on a rickety bike, instead of trying to peddle through a tight spot next to me, slowly rode on an adjacent, slick patch of grass before passing by. He didnโ€™t even have to alert me. Such courtesy! What a good deed: except that the man making the detour could have catapulted off his bike if he wasnโ€™t careful to avoid skidding on the wet grass.

If I ever get discouraged because people arenโ€™t as considerate as Iโ€™d like them to be, I always find an exception.

Listening to the dismal news on NPR temporarily stifled my Aloha spirit; but during my walk, it renewed itself, with a little help from the kindness of a bedraggled stranger.

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