By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
May 31, 2022 | It was a small act, a bit of kindness and courtesy, and it cheered me up on a week when a lot of us were upset over yet another shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas.
Here I was at Lowe’s buying one item, waiting in the left line where there were two cash registers. I was third in the lane, and there were two people in the right lane. My lane was moving slowly, and the right lane was down to one customer. A guy with a flat cart with several heavy items arrived in the right lane after I got in line.
In my lane, I was now second when the lady in the right lane completed her purchase. That’s when the guy with the cart behind the lady in the right lane said to me “Go ahead, you were here before I was.”
I took him up on it, thanked him, and bought my item within 30 seconds, and left the store.
Then it hit me. That guy moving me to the head of his line was performing a kind act. He didn’t have to do that. But he understood propriety, giving me the courtesy of checking out ahead of him since I had been standing in line long before he arrived.
You don’t see such common courtesies as often these days. Some of today’s youths don’t have the nourishing family lives that many in my generation did. Many live in single-parent and often broken homes. Standard tools of raising children aren’t as prevalent as they once were.
That train of thought took me back to the Uvalde shootings. No longer will this town be known as the home of John Nance Garner, who served from 1933-41 as vice president for Franklin Roosevelt. From this time forward, that small Texas city will be known as where 21 people died from a crazed youthful gunman who legally bought a gun that mowed 19 unsuspecting children and two teachers down.
And it makes you wonder: at what time will our Congress, and especially Republican senators, realize that they are the ones blocking legislation to curb violence? Do they realize that they bring continued mass shootings to these United States because of their dependence of support of campaign cash from the National Rifle Association? When will they understand that semi-automatic rifles should be looked upon as weapons of mass destruction, not as “sporting rifles?”
Think too of our recently re-nominated Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. How does he speak of sadness for the Uvalde victims when he signed legislation to allow open purchasing and carrying of weapons in a state when shootings and death occur almost every week? How does he live with himself?
Legislation, of course, is not the only remedy. Many are right that mental health comes into the picture. How do 18 year olds grow up with hate in their heart and commit these random shootings? Here we must look to parents to bring up their children right, so that by the time they are old enough to buy a weapon, that they won’t go off on a rampage.
By Robert Ariail, courtesy Charleston City Paper.
So in a week when Americans were upset because of shootings like Sandy Hook and Columbine and El Paso and Buffalo and Las Vegas and Orlando and Sutherland Springs and Blacksburg and Charleston and Uvalde.and yes, Atlanta…an unexpected kindness had a terrific wallop.
We need more of these common acts of courtesies. Take the time to find ways to help your fellow man. They will appreciate it, and it might cheer their day.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us