Sometimes I really really love people

The fabulous Mary Pols (@MaryPols on Twitter), tipped her hat to Dan Barry (@DanBarryNYT), a New York Times writer who’d written a piece on the heating oil hardship Mainers are experiencing this winter. He focused on an aging family who live on a small income, and the owner of the oil delivery company, who struggles to reconcile the financial concerns of his business with his caring nature. I got a little teary-eyed reading the article, but actually starting crying (like, requiring tissues and nose-blowing crying) when I read the follow-up in a Maine newspaper, about how people from all over the country had donated to a local assistance fund, to the tune of six figures on one day alone! The article came out on Saturday, and Americans from all of the country responded to the need they read about.

I am so encouraged when I read things like this! It’s easy to get the impression that the entire world is made up of jerks who only look out for themselves and a small circle of others, and I’m always so grateful to be reminded that this is not always true. It’s probably not even mostly true. It’s times like this that I appreciate the reminder the most people are decent, it’s just that jerks like to trumpet their own awfulness, while people who do things for others are not as likely to throw it in everyone’s faces.