What animal lovers and children have to offer the news

There are often in the news stories that help us escape from the news, even transport us somewhere higher above it.

For our editor, Lisa Miner, the rallying of Chicagoans during a two-month search for a blind man’s emotional support dachshund has been one such. For me, it was an even more unlikely news story Saturday about a 9-year-old boy’s “compliments” stand in rural Sycamore.

I call these stories “unlikely” with some hesitation. It’s not that uplifting stories rarely make the news. They do almost daily. But at first blush, the search for a man’s lost dog or a child’s simple takeoff from the familiar summer lemonade stand wouldn’t immediately come to mind as compelling fodder among the abundance of stories about heinous crime, corruption and political controversy competing for public attention.

But they are.

The case of 14-year-old Bam Bam begins with the conventional outrage of a theft. The dog was stolen from Angel Santiago’s Logan Square yard more than two months ago. But the response to news and social media reports became inspiring. Groups of volunteers organized searches, and an outpouring of compassion produced a reported $20,000 in assistance for the effort. Tuesday night, two people who did not identify themselves dropped the dog off at a district police station and soon Santiago and his pet were enjoying an emotional reunion.

How can such an effort and such a happy ending not warm your heart?

Likewise, how can even the darkest cynic not generate some faith in human nature after reading the Washington Post story we carried Saturday about Ethan Wargo of rural Sycamore. The young boy spent his summer mornings sitting at a small table under an umbrella in his front yard behind a sign offering “Free Compliments.” As people walked by, he would invite them to tell him a little bit about themselves so he could come up with a compliment for them.

“Chatting with people is my favorite social thing to do,” he told a reporter.

And the impetus for his project could also provide a lesson or two for adults locked in all manner of conflicts. He had read a scene in a graphic novel in which people set up a stand where they gave passersby mild insults. He decided to turn that concept on its head and offer to tell people nice things about themselves.

“I was just thinking of it, and I was like, ‘Hey, I feel like there’s something in there that can be used,’” Ethan said. “I thought that was a great idea.”

His patrons obviously agreed. Many came back for repeat visits, and many gave him tips, though he wasn’t asking for money.

“I didn’t want people to pay to be happy,” he said.

Perhaps we should have our reporters spending more time with children and animal lovers. We may not get a perfectly accurate picture of what the world is, but we’ll certainly have a perfect one of what it should be.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on X at @JimSlusher. His book “Conversations, community and the role of the local newspaper” is available at eckhartzpress.com.