Why be so nasty to each other?
In the wake of a year packed with loss and anger, from the victims of the Joplin tornado victims to the standoff with Congress this summer to Occupy Wall Street, I wonder how much more negativity we Americans can stand or will stand for.
Some things are beyond our control, like the weather. Other things, like how people responded to the Joplin community, are within our control. So I ask why we can come together for a community many of us do not know, but treat our neighbors — the everyday people in our life — with such contempt?
Read the Fencepost section on a regular basis or the comment thread of any Daily Herald story. For the matter, don’t stop with the Herald. The problem is not exclusive to them.
The stories I’ve read just this year are appalling and totally unacceptable. Kids are killing themselves because they are being bullied. How are the bullies supposed to learn to stop bullying when their parents conduct themselves the way they do online?
Why can’t we treat our neighbors with the respect and hospitality like we did the residents of Joplin, New Orleans or Haiti? Why is that so darn hard?
We are still the masters of our fates, are we not? Do our Blackberries and iPods really have the better of us, forcing us to disconnect from humanity?
I ask this with fervor, at the holidays and every day.
Allison M. Kramer
Carpentersville