AS IF I HAD A CHOICE

As I was leaving Starbucks today, I noticed the sign that stated, "Thank You For Choosing Starbucks!" Well aren't they appreciative I thought. Yeah, right! Thanks for choosing? Did I have a choice? Well I guess in a sense I did. I could have chosen to sit in my car and write while I waited for three hours for Nico to finish school or I could have chosen them. Not much of a choice I would say. 

It would have been a bigger choice if more coffee shops were allowed to open within so many miles radius of Starbucks. But they aren't. There were some nice little kiosks that used to sell coffee around here until starbucks stepped in and demanded that these little places had to be closed or they would not open in any of the shopping centers. Of course these malls wanted their rent so the little places were shut down. So much for freedom of choice.

As I walked to my car I then thought about the wonderful little book stores that once existed. The ones that knew you and could say, "Hey, we got in a wonderful book  just recently that made me think of you. I know you'll like it." Remember those days? If you don't then your a young kids who doesn't know what community is. You only know Borders and Barnes and Noble. The big guys who moved in and closed down those little stores. 

Lots of places have been shut down by those big conglomerates. Grocery stores, fabric shops, hobby shops, and five and dimes to name a few. Sometimes it made things better but not much. My daughter is looking for a camera for Rachel as she needs it for one of her classes. She has been looking at one of those big office stores. Not one of the sales people can help her as they haven't a clue as to what an f stop is. And neither does my daughter. 

That is the choice we are left with. No interaction, anonymity, and last but not least  no customer service. And if you don't believe me, try walking a half a mile in one of the Home Depot's to find a sales person. 

In a way the price of gas going up was starting to give me hope. People have been staying closer to home. What would that mean for these big stores that are "conveniently" placed miles from your house? Well, I thought that would eventually mean that little stores would start popping up again like in the past. You would be able to walk to your little strip mall but this time it would not be so stripped. a little book store, drug store, hardware etc. might open for your convince and save you gas. We would once again have choice. And the biggest benefit of all would be we would once again become communities. Hum. Maybe we would get to know our neighbor again. What an old fashioned thought. And if I had a choice, that is what I would choose.

C&C or (s)iting and counting

I took my recyclables to the center to cash them in. It is an  ongoing fight with them. They are typical city workers. They move at a snails pace, slow down even more when they don't like you, such as me, then they keep the scales in their truck so that you can't see how much your stuff weighs and then they pay you what ever. Boy I hate government. You can't say a damn thing to these guys or they will pull some other crap on you that only makes you more mad. It all started when I showed up 10 minutes before there lunch hour. They leaned out of their truck to say that they were going to lunch in ten minutes. In other words they wanted me to come back. Well I told them I would not take longer the 5 minutes if they worked properly. And you know what? it did only five minutes. But they made me lift up the large rubber trash can with my plastic in them up to their truck. Great for me with my messed up hands and back. But I did it because I had no option. 

This recycling program has gone the way of the TSI workers at the airport. If you say anything you aren't going to get to fly. Why is it when ever they put some person with no education and low self esteem into a position of little authority they feel they need to make you go through hell just because they can. 

Last time I was there I brought one bag of bottles and it came out to around $7 dollars. This time I brought two bags and got $8 dollars. I guess I really will have to count them next time I go. Maybe I should show up again 10 minutes before there lunch. Hum, wonder what they will do to me then? I think I'd better find out how close to their lunch I can show up? And I'd better make sure I'm the only one there or they will take their time with the person ahead of me and then shut me out. Man they make me mad!

We're doing you a favor

How big do you have to be before you are considered a customer worth keeping? Where has customer relations gone? Is business so good that it does not matter if you keep a small customer? The following was my experience this past month with a company that has great coffee. Please, it's not Starbucks. 

I am lamenting the loss of community I guess. I remember a time when business owners didn't want to loose your business and would make amends to keep it. I'm not talking about giving you free orders but just a little gesture to say they were sorry things got messed up. 

We put in an order on July 20 for 4 pounds of Hazel nut coffee.  When it had not arrived by the 31st  we called to see what had happened. We were told that there had been a delay in the shipping and it was shipped out the 29th and that is should be arriving by the next day. When it did not arrive within the next two days I called again. They did not know what was happening but they felt sure that it should arrive soon and they would talk to someone to see if anything could be done because of the delay. I don't know how many calls I made in all to them as sometimes I would call and because of the time difference the computers would be down or there was no supervisor that could be contacted etc. So when the coffee had not arrived by yesterday the 5th, I decided to call this morning as now I am thinking maybe it was not shipped at all. Meanwhile I can't put a tracer on it as there is no tracking number and I'm thinking in the 8 years we have been ordering through them we've never once had a problem. 

So when I call this morning I talk to David, whom I always seem to talk to, a wonderful guy and  very personable. He said he was going to talk to the shipping department and call me right back. This is at 5:30 in the morning my time as I now need to make sure to call there when there is someone in the office. I've had to do this a couple of times. But it's great coffee and I like the people so I'm willing to work this out. 

The supervisor calls me back a half hour later and the first thing she says is, you will have to contact your post office and put a tracer on it because it was shipped out on the 25th. She tells me this in a Very matter of fact manner, like she is talking to one of her employees who has made a mistake. I told her I was told at least 3 times that it had been shipped out on the 29th. 

No she said that was a glitch in our system so you will have to trace it yourself. We never ship parcel post the day we receive the order as we wait for at least 3 packages to accumulate before we call the post office. 

 I said, why was I not told that in the first place? Why have I been waiting all this time? I've never had this problem it has always taken 3 days.  Couldn't someone have told me that in the first place? 

She said, You'll have to deal with it yourself. If you want we will ship you another order. I can't tell you when it will ship out because we have to once again wait for the packages to accumulate so maybe another 3 days before it will be shipped. All this time she is saying it in that voice of a supervisor who lords it over on her employees and she could care less if they stay or quit. I have dealt with people like that all of my working career and I've come to the conclusion that you must have that kind of a personality as a prerequisite to become a manager. She could care less about the customer she was giving me her spiel and to the point. 

I thought maybe because they had not given me accurate information in the first place and now I was having to be treated like a kid who had spilled his milk that maybe they would have taken it to the post office just as a goodwill gesture. But I knew it was no good to have said that to her because obviously my order of 4 pounds was a drop in the bucket and I now realize that bottom line my business will not be missed. 

Once again she asks me if I want it shipped and I told her well it's either that or have to drink coffee that has been sitting around who knows where getting stale and who knows when that will arrive, but this will be my last order. 

She said that's fine,as though this is one less idiot she has to deal with and it was a relief to loose my business. No "I'm sorry that this has happened and it's come to this" or any kind of gesture at all. Then she added just let me know when your first order arrives as it always happens after the fact. I was shaking by then and just hung up. As if I want to talk to her again. 

Now I must say in all fairness, I have just cut off my nose to spite my face. I will never have that wonderful coffee again and the Earl Gray is the best and I've not been able to buy anything to compare it too here in Hawaii. I will miss that store. But like my mother used to always tell me, where you are wanted little go none at all. 

So that is how I started my day this morning and it has been really depressing me. No one wins when you have these disputes least of all the customer.

Karen 

Who Can Say What I Am Worth?

Do you value your life? To the tune of what amount? If someone were to ask you how much would you sell your child for, would you put a value on your offspring?   

Well it seems that one of those many government agencies has re-evaluated just what an American life is worth. It is down one million. The worth is now $6.9 million in todays standards. So what does that mean for us little folk?

Say your living next to a government  chemical plant and it's giving off toxins into the air that you breath. You are told  that there is a way to put a filter on the plant so that it would be safe for the environment. How would you react? Of course you would want that filter put on because you and your family breath in that air. 

But now this agency has  stepped in and said that the amount of money it would cost to put that filter in would cost more then the value of the lives it affects according to their statistics.  So the filter is not put in. Suck wind you sucker, no don't breath in that air, well, ha, what do you do? 

Hum, reminds me of the old war move, "They were Expendable." 

I believe that there is to much, one hand washes the other, going on in the government and we are just powerless to do anything about it. If you don't believe me, try taking a trip via the airlines. Be pulled out of line and put into one of those booths that can x-ray and expose your body shape to be viewed by an unseen stranger. Hey, I don't even like to undress when I'm at the doctors let alone some idiot TSA agent on a power trip. 

Just look at what happened to that poor woman who was tackled by two huge agents and thrown into a chair then handcuffed because she got to close to the TSA agent as he riffled through her carry on. I don't  care if she told him not to wrinkle her clothes. I've seen how they push their weight around. And to top it off? They don't even x-ray what goes into the belly of the plain. Can you say "suicide bomber?"

Bottom line. We have no say and we are loosing more and more of our rights. And now, it seems, we are Worthless. 

 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,380447,00.html  Value of an American life. 

To see video of woman being arrested at airport with excessive force: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e3d_1215742342

Life and the empty tank.

What am I doing with this gas problem?  You know, I'm not doing a whole lot of traveling and for sure I've been combining errands so as not to waste time or gas. 

 I almost feel patriotic. I keep looking at the empty space in my garden and almost feel guilty as though I should be growing a victory garden vegetable patch. 

Giving my situation a lot of thought as to how I could contribute and help my daughter out, I decided to not come home after drooping my grandson off at school.  He goes to preschool three days a week for 3 hours a day. It is 22 miles round trip. 

Before this gas problem I would drop him off and then go home or do some errands. But with the car getting 19 miles to the gallon I felt as though I was throwing away one gallon of gas by going home.

So I decided I would have to stay around his school area and wait. What could I do in a little town that had not much more then  a small shopping center, Starbucks, and library?

 Hum,I'm trying to give up coffee, I'm also trying not to spend money. That left only the library. Yes I love to read but there was some ex-friend that frequents it and I did not want to run into her. 

Ah ha! I needed time to work on my needle work. Enter "Good Night Moon." Above is the project I chose to work on while I waited. 

Here is where I chose to wait. It is the local park in Mililani Town. I love it. Well, I must admit I don't get out of the car, I put on my earphone and listen to my pod-cast and work away all scrunched up in the seat.  I have really accomplished a lot in that time. I am listening to all of the latest news, book reviews and all about travel. 

I thought about sitting here under this tree as it is just so inviting and there is never anyone in the park but I didn't want to take the chance that some birds would make a down payment on my work. Like me sitting in my car looking out the window, other people pull up to the park and stay in there cars also. Or people walk, run, take there dogs into the parking lot too. Aren't we crazy. All this beauty but we just stay on the asphalt. 

Our we subconsciously mourning the inability to just jump in the auto and go where we want? Is our sitting in the car while at the park some form of rebellion? I don't know but I will say this, I would never have taken time for me, if I had not taken the initiative to save gas. This is one time I don't feel guilty for doing nothing. 

No Gas, No fun?

So how far can I go and stay within a gallon of gas? Well I decided to go to the taro patch that is about 4 miles down the road from my house.   Taro is a very important food here in Hawaii. if you have been to the islands or know anyone who has the first thing they usualy say, "it taste like paste."  I'm talking about Poi, the by-product of taro. 

Waipahu Taro Patch

I would say it taste more like non sweetened sweet potatoes. And for sure it is an acquired taste. Anyway, I'm four miles down the road talking to Mr. Wong the man who takes care of the patch.I asked him is he knew about the last owner.

Several years back I had met the past owner  in this very same spot. 

 He was lamenting that one of his workers thought he would import snails to grow and sell here in the islands. Only he did not tell this man that he was going to grow  them in his lo'i (Taro Patch.) As you can see in the photo on the right the Taro grows in water and this is where the worker dumped the snails.   They ate all of the owners taro. This is tragic .  In order to make a lo'i you must burn off vegetation, remove roots and clear boulders. The water has to be run into the soil several times and treading or stamping needed to pack the soil. 

The snails were dug into the ground beneath the water so I am not sure how he got rid of them but he was telling me that he thought he would have to drain all of the patches and let them dry out. And that is what must have been done. Now the taro is thriving. but under a different owner.

It may look like the taro is growing in the ground but those are ponds between the dry land. The root or Corm is what is pounded to make the poi. It grows beneath the water line. The leaves above are highly prized also. These leaves are used to wrap pork, fish or beef to make a meal called Laulau. This is baked in the ground along with the pig when preparing for a luau or it can be steamed on the stove. The leaves taste exactly like chicken. No just kidding, they taste exactly like spinach. They are my favorite part of the meal. 

I had a great morning talking to Mr. Wong and his wife, Mrs. Wong pictured here working the lo'i. I was happy to see the taro growing once again, enjoyed taking the photos and entertained myself under one gallon.  How can I complain after all, I live in Hawaii. The whole island is a vacation.

Take This Job...

Are you a team player? Do you know what a team player is? I was taught if you played the game well, according to the rules, encouraged your teammates and above all played your best, you were a team player.

My friend Kay called to tell me about her new job. It is one that requires her, among other things, to be a team player.

She is a very congenial person, and gives 100% in all she does. She tries to please regardless of what is required of her.

Catching on quickly, and even making suggestions that the company implemented, Kay has done well in her new position. But is she a team player?

Kay was hired for a specific position but was subsequently moved into a “temporary position.” One that she soon discovered no one else wanted.

Twice she was asked to pull a14 hour shift. She did not mind as she welcomed this overtime. But, she was told that she needn’t return to work for the rest of the week. She realized that she would not qualify for overtime, as she would not be working over 40 hours. She felt taken advantage of.

Because she was doing so well they have added more responsibilities to her job description. After completing one of her long shifts, Kay was pulled into the office for not discovering a mistake by a co-worker. She was told that a team player is responsible not only for her work but for that of the other team players as well. Ultimately the buck stopped with her.

It is only fair to say that management expresses concern for the team’s morale by periodically handing out a movie ticket to a few team players. This one movie ticket is considered a reward for having played the game so well.

Kay is now looking for a new job. My advise to her, if she sees an add for a company looking for a team player, she had best make sure it isn’t the 20 mule team looking for a new ass.

And the winner is...

On the door of my granddaughter’s second grade class there were two photos. “Students of the Week” the caption proudly announced.

When in Kindergarten my granddaughter would come home and tell us that she was the student of the week. We’d check her class for her photo only to find that she had made this up.

Her picture never went up. She was a talker and would get carried away in class. She was also a talker at home. It was a hard road trying to get her to talk at the proper time without stifling her desire to communicate.

Feeling bad that my granddaughter was so affected by this school practice I began to think about the kids I knew who would never have made that mark.

There was Elise, who’s mother had died and her father sent her to school in blouses so sheer that everyone could see through. He didn’t mean anything by dressing her this way he just had no idea of how to dress a child. Kids teased her so badly she was always angry.

Then there was Ed whose father was a drunk and beat him. Ed had a chip so big on his shoulder he walked with a limp. There was Cindy who’s father molested her. She was always tired from staying awake at night watching the door to her bedroom never knowing if the lock worked or not.

Of course as I have stated in the past I was the bully of the school and was fortunate enough to have been shown kindness by Mr. Silverman the vice principal. That kindness made me feel so special it wiped away all of the mean things that were ever said to me.


If not for Mr. Silverman’s kindness, the tickets might have gone to a “child of the Month.” Thankfully we did not have such a program; I don’t know how it would have affected me.

Maybe we can’t be giving circus tickets or even the Purple Heart for bravery under fire for those who are beaten, abused and neglected. Children who come from happy homes with parental support in what ever they endeavor, are already getting a reward. Making them child of the month becomes redundant.

Teachers may never know what adversities some of their students face. Praise them all not just a few. Don’t make them fight another battle that they can’t win. It may be that one act of kindness that brightens up the rest of someone’s life.

Because I can!

I went to the "Open Market" this morning for the second time. My daughter couldn't make it so she asked me to pick up some of the Tuba Rose stems that she had picked up last week for $1.00 dollar a stem.

That was the first place I stopped at, as they go out quickly. They were sitting in a bucket without water in the morning sun and they were not as nice as last weeks. But I knew Chris would want them so I picked the best I could find.

The lady next to me asked the guy, "How Much?" I was ready to say to her $1.00 a stem when he said, "they are $1.25 a stem." I looked the guy in the eyes and asked him did it cost him more gas to get them here then last week? he just laughed and said, "No Auntie (there's that Auntie again) it's Memorial Day" as though paying a higher price for the flowers honored the Vets!

Needless to say I was upset. I continued to meander through the stalls to buy the fruits and vegetables. As I got to the sellers that I had patronized the week before I had notice that everything had gone up. I checked other stalls and all of the prices had gone up. I am not sure what the reason was. The holiday? Maybe you had to cook more food? The cost of gas to get to the market? Or was it "hey everyone else is doing it so why not?"

There is not a person I have talked to that is not upset with the price of Gas nor are they happy with the conglomerate's that are responsible for it. They complain about how we are being taken advantage of and that they are only getting rich off of the little people because they have us over a barrel.

But after my trip through the market I began to wonder. Do we do it to ourselves? These are little farmers and sellers, they are not a monopoly, and yet they are taking advantage like the big guys. If these people who bring there products to be sold who maybe traveled 10 miles to get it there as there are lots of farms around Kunia or maybe they did come further away so they may have to make a 50 mile round trip at the most and that would not be very many of them, are they passing the price of gas off on us? The prices ranged from 19¢ on the dollar to doubling the price of the week before.

Or is it in all man to be selfish and stick it to his fellow man because he can? What is going on with people? We complain and complain about the big guys but can't see what we ourselves do to our neighbors.

We see it happen time and again. The holidays are a very good example. Christmas being the biggest one. Thanks to commercialism Christmas has lost that specialness to me. I can't be excited about a holiday that starts in July and by the time Christmas arrives I am so sick of all of the advertisements, plastic globe blown snow on a fat, red cheeked, non personal Santa and "buy this buy that," being shoved in my face that I am ready to take the tree down before the day even arrives.

But the cost of flowers going up because the retailer knows that you will want to lay the flowers on the grave of someone who has sacrificed their life so that this retailer can do just such a thing turns my stomach. And to say it with such glee?

The ancient Hawaiians did not like peddlers. They looked down on them with such disdain as they felt if you had extra of anything you gave it to others who did not have. I can't imagine what they would feel if they could see what "peddlers" do today.

I worry, times are bad and in the back of my mind I think we need to all pull together during these days but now I am worried because I don't think it will be possible.

And yet, I bought the bedraggled flowers for the asking price, paid the extra 19¢ a pound on the papaya, the extra dollar on the Okinawan Potatoes. What choice did I have. It's the market or the stores who charge even more.

But I will put my feelings about gouge thy neighbor out there and try to tell as many people as will listen. Even if my daughter, (who thankfully was not with me this morning when I questioned the flower seller), gets upset when I speak out. It may get me in trouble one day but just as the flower seller can gouge prices in the memory of a fallen solder I can speak out due to their sacrifices, and this I will do because, I Can!

Getting by

Chri and I went to the open market yesterday for the second time since we moved here 6 years ago. I always work at the museum on Sundays so we just never went. Since we’ve been working on the house I took the rest of may off from the museum and so I suggested we see how the Market was doing.

It was wonderful. We got such good bargains on vegetables and I was able to pick up some very good papayas and bananas. Of course they are not to cheap but a little cheaper then the store. The papaya were 90 ¢ a pound and the bananas were $1.00. I pay 1.90 a pound for local banana at the store so this was a good buy for me. It’s funny that we can get bananas all the way from South America cheaper then what we pay for local. What is wrong with that picture?

Now I am trading off every other week with the neighbor to take the kids to pre-school which is a good 20 miles away. So that will save big time on gas. Maybe I can start making dolls to do trades for other things. The trick is to find owner run business that would be willing to do that. Well it gives me something to think about.

Our heat wave started yesterday. I liked to die in my bedroom as I worked in it. I drank so much water and ate a ton of tangerines to stave off my thirst. Now today the mountains are gone. Covered with rain. I managed to get my walk in but the rain clouds were gathering as I walked. Thank goodness I didn’t get caught in it with Max. He is such a smelly dog as it is I sure did not need to bring him home wet.

Trouble in Paradise

I got into an argument with my daughter this morning when I mentioned how high the cost of gas was going up. I mentioned a few thing I might be able to do to cut back on gas consumption. She was fine with that. Then I said “you know the gas going up won’t just affect the car but what we consume in Electricity.”

She hit the roof. “Don’t you think I know how much electricity has gone up? I pay the bill don’t I”?

I just thought maybe we could discuss ways to cut back on that too not meaning that she was ignorant of what was going on. I wonder how many households are playing out this exact same scenario? I hear people complain about immigrants who can collect social security and yet never have paid into it. Complaints about gas going up and worried about how to get to work and yet the bus system does not improve. Instead a billion dollar transit system is being proposed that will not help one bit. On and on it goes but nothing gets done. Why can’t we have more access to voting on these things instead of letting the politicians do it? Maybe the same way that they do in Switzerland.

The ancient Hawaiians believed that their Alii were in touch with the gods. If they had a good relationship with the gods then the Alii would prosper and hence the common man under him would prosper too. But if things went wrong they could remove the Alii because obviously he was not doing the right thing.

I think that is what we should be able to do. Of course that is a bit over simplified it was a much, much more complicated system then that just stated and we know that our leaders have nothing to do with any thing in the heavens. But the way things are going maybe there is a good argument that our leaders are a little closer to hell. Perhaps what we need is an exorcism of the government. Hey maybe the Rev. Wright might want to take on the job?

Over the Border

I hate grocery shopping. For that matter I don't like to shop at all. But, hey sometimes you have to eat and when my clothes get tattered I have to shop. But one thing I do like to shop for is a book. If I have the time I will travel a far distance just to buy my books from independents.

Some times I am forced to shop at Borders.

When Border's first opened here on the island it was a novelty. What a great way to spend the morning, sitting and reading the paper or my favorite magazine, checking out the latest books to see if the story was what I wanted. Oh, and those cushiony Chairs. They welcomed writers and provided coffee and someone to guide the group. Now you can't even get a chair to sit in.



Now when I go to Borders, the chairs are gone, the wonderful selection of magazines have disappeared and even the ones that they carry are not regularly there. I feel like Push Me, Pull Me from DR. Doolittle. I find this great photo magazine from England, I go back the next month, it's not there and the next and it's not there. Then several months later I go in, and there it is. Not just that magazine disappears but others too.



Every-time I look for a book, they don't have it but they would be more then happy to order it for me. Now I can do that myself and get it cheaper from Powells. So I ask myself do they want my business or is this a gimmick? Are they pulling a Wal-Mart? (They have my business and they have chased everyone else out of town then they start to drop the variety of merchandise.)



And now, the biggest pain of all, parking spaces that accommodate Mr. Bean size cars. I've had it, all the stores are repainting their car stalls and there is no way you can park a van in a regular stall and get out of it. There is no way you can park a compact in a compact space and get out of it. Believe me I've tried. I've taken to parking in two stalls so that I can open my door without chipping the paint on my car.


Why do I drive around and around at Borders looking for a space big enough to let me out of the car so I can go into a store that has no books and maybe or maybe not the magazine I want to read?
Well The nearest independent is a 45 minute drive to the other side of the island and I'm not always able to get over there.

These big merchants have broken down are communities. No longer can I walk into the fabric store and talk to the sales woman who knows exactly what I'm looking for and also give me help with the pattern.

The salesperson who suggested wonderful gift books for children has long gone. Your lucky if you can get someone to show you where the children's section is let alone suggest a book. Tis to laugh! HA!

All of the neighborhood stores who were part of the area have been run out of town. (Where's the sheriff when you need one?) There underhanded and up to no good.

So, I am subscribing to magazines, and going to the library. Yes I'm saving money but I'm loosing touch with other people. Look, I'm even writing to myself. What a sad state of affairs.

Who Was That Boy

My daughter was getting into the car after having picked up a plate lunch at the shopping center. As she got into the car she explained that a young boy approached her and said he was hungry and wanted money. She felt bad, as she did not know if he was telling the truth or not. As we were sitting in the car he approached me on the drivers side.

I asked him many questions. He was 19 years old had been living with his older brother because his step dad had beat up his mom and she moved back to Washington where they were from. He chose not to go but to live with his brother. His brother was now incarcerated and so he (his name is Kawika) was living in his brother’s car.

His story was compelling, but I didn’t know this kid. But in the end my daughter and I chose to give him money for food. As we drove away we could see him entering the plate lunch place. Of course that may have been for our benefit and then he could have taken off to buy drugs or what ever. But we chose to believe him and what he did from there was his decision. Either way it was a sad comment on our Community.

Who is this Boy?

We here it everyday, our world is shrinking. And yet as a community, were are all strangers. How is it that on a trip home from Las Vegas to Honolulu, I would meet a friend from Hawaii whom I had not seen in a while and yet I don’t even know or see the people in my own neighborhood? I make it a point to talk to my neighbors. I want to know who lives around me. But it is not easy. In this day and age when people are rushing off to work two to three hours early to beat traffic coming home discombobulated after sitting in traffic forever, people don’t seem to be in a mood to talk.

Communities are not the small neighborhoods they used to be. It seems the closer the houses the more you try to hide inside yours in order to have your own space. We walk by one another as though that person is not there. When I take my walks I make it a point to greet who ever is passing by. They will make a quick and quiet salutation back but you know that not all are comfortable greeting me.

And not one will take the time to talk for a few minutes. Yes they are all in a hurry and probably don’t want to bother meeting yet another person that could cut into what little time they have.

As a child in the 50’s our neighbors knew everyone and everyone’s business.

My neighbors would have known that boy, where he belonged or what he was going through. They would have known if he was hungry or just pulling our leg.

And that nosy neighbor the one everyone complains about? Because she knows everyone’s business she would have known what and who to contact.

I’ll never have the close-knit neighborhood of yesteryear our communities have spread out to far. And how often do we lean over the fence and talk to the neighbor? For that matter how many of us even know our neighbors or even want to know them?

Would you know when strangers are checking out the house next door? Or would you even know that the house next door is even being cased?

In this small, small world we are a vast community of strangers. So how do we know when someone genuinely needs help if we are so far removed from everyone? How can we send money off to far distant lands to help other cultures and yet we can’t truly pinpoint those right around us who need help.

I know there are shelters and I also have talked to people who have lived in them and heard about their nightmare experiences. But sometimes we need to go outside and see what is happening around us and try to get to know one another, learn the names of the clerks, post office workers, and the people who walk by. Talk about what is going on around us. We need to narrow that gap so that when someone approaches us we know who he or she is.

Oh I know this is to far fetched and there are many, many factors that make this impossible but I only wish I had enough faith in Kawika’s story to have done more. I only wish that my world was smaller and that I had a nosy neighbor who could say “you know so and so’s boy is in a bad way. We should get together and help.”

It’s a sad time that I am living in when I have to worry that if I helped this boy I could be endangering myself. Unfortunately he is one neighbor I will never get to know.