hu·man·i·ty noun
: the quality or state of being human
: the quality or state of being kind to other people or to animals
: all people

I forewarn you – this post combines a multitude of things and will be scattered, but if you read my blog normally – would you expect anything less from me?

What happened to treating others the way you wanted to be treated? What happened to caring for one another, even strangers. I remember a time that I wasn’t raised by just my mother and father, but by a neighborhood. A time where adults weren’t afraid to speak up, discipline, and you respected them. Now a days, we can’t say anything when a child is acting out in public without getting screamed at by the mother in defense.

But something does still remain. We don’t talk about things for fear of airing our “dirty laundry”. We chose not to get involved when we see someone hurting thinking someone else will do something. When you might hear screaming from a fighting couple but just turn up the TV to tune it out, hoping it would go away.

Maybe it was because I recently saw a PSA from No More, which is an organization working to end domestic violence and sexual assault by encouraging people to speak up. No more turning a blind eye. Or spending time with children at the Tennyson Center for Children where we played games with the children that are part of the Residential Treatment Program. “24-hour care for children ages 5-14 with significant emotional and behavioral concerns. We integrate therapy, education, health, spiritual growth, and recreation opportunities to help children and families stabilize, establish safety, resolve conflict, develop successful coping skills, and prepare for reunification. Average length of stay is 5 months”.

I have always wanted to volunteer but never found my passion or niche on where I wanted to step in and help. I do know that I wanted it to be local. I don’t know why people spend so much time wanting to help a community in other lands when there are people in their own backyard needing it more.

There have been two recent incidences with different neighbors having a domestic dispute. The old me would have been irritated and attempted to tune it out but the new me chose to pay attention. Watching them from the balcony, opening the front door to check on both the man AND woman, listening to their angry words. I got to one point where I stepped outside asking if everything was OK or if I needed to call the police. Or there was the time when my downstairs neighbors were yelling so loud inside their apartment that I could hear the details of what they were arguing about, ending with a flat screen TV end up on the patio. Yes, it could be dangerous to intervene but I would hate to turn on the news only to find that someone was hurt, abused or even dead due to me not speaking up.

I recently dated a man who made me want to become a better woman. I have found myself being confident with who I am; wearing dresses that expose my legs (something I haven’t done since gaining weight from my meds), feeling confident and secure in my magnificent body (even dressing a little girly). He made me feel beautiful and probably didn’t even know what he did to me, yet I want to do more – striving to be a better person – a happy, healthy, fit and volunteering; and that makes me happy.

In fact, we were walking home from a date and I saw a guy, passed out on the 16th street mall due to drinking too much. His head balancing between the metal bars of a gate as he was passed out and I felt compelled to speak up. I know that my voice may not have heard but I couldn’t walk by and not say anything. I walked into the bar and let them know the situation, but they used the excuse that his friends were with him; and apparently that made it OK. Just because his buddies, who were drinking too, were with him didn’t mean squat. How could a bunch of drunk group of guys determine how intoxicated their friend was. I tried the reasoning with the bimbo at the bar, that they could lose their liquor license of over serving in an attempt to grab someones attention. I am not sure if I changed anything but I felt better stepping up and saying something instead of walking by, letting a man lay on the ground possibly suffering from alcohol poisoning.

I am standing my ground and hopefully this post will inspire you to do the same. I saw this video and couldn’t help but see the issues that happen every day. Standing back and hoping someone else will take care of it. Yes, there is a chance of being duped and taken advantage of, but that is when you get the authorities involved; to keep yourself safe.

Why is it that we pay attention to the man in a suit but ignore the man dressed in casual clothing, perceived as possibly homeless.

Don’t be afraid to speak up if you need help. Don’t be afraid to reach out to those that are too afraid to ask for it. We are all human. Even though we may come off as being cold and shut off, we have hearts and feelings which can be changed with just a smile from one person to another. Don’t be afraid to offer a helping hand, even if it is later declined. Speak kind words to those that you care about or instead of putting your head down, pretending to be occupied by your cell phone, look up and say good morning to a stranger as you walk by; it may lift their spirits. You never know how you can change someones life – to do something out of the ordinary that may not seem courageous to you, but can end up rocking their world dramatically.

humanity – hu·man·i·ty [hyoo-man-i-tee
: the quality of being humane; kindness; benevolence – desire to do good to others.