YES, PEOPLE BEHAVE BADLY. BUT MOST PEOPLE ARE CIVIL.
On an early morning drive to the store to pick up groceries for Thanksgiving, I watched as some cars ran through the intersection at crazy high speeds. The drivers paid no mind that the light was red, let alone have any care or concern about others on the road.
When I got home, I tried to put them out of my mind. I picked up the newspaper and read about death threats that were made to members of a local school board. I had already been reading about the San Diego County Board of Supervisors experiencing their share of hate-filled speech from members of the public and most recently a death threat made against three of them.
On the news, there were reports of an incident where a male passenger punched a female flight attendant on an airline flight. The assault forced the pilot to divert the plane.
Here it was, almost Thanksgiving, and it felt like the world had gone crazier than usual. What was happening to people?
Worse, it wasn’t just members of the public behaving badly. At least one elected official decided to up the ante. His disgusting and uncivil behavior was on full display when he, as a member of the House of Representatives, made a video showing him killing another member of the House. Yep, he made a video!
I took a deep breath hoping to find something for which to be thankful because it’s easy to get rope-a-doped by the daily barrage of negative news and events.
When we see people running red lights, punching flight attendants, shouting profanities and vulgarities at meetings, and making threatening videos, it’s easy to believe that this is how everyone behaves. But it’s not.
It’s not normal behavior for the majority of people. I know that being thankful won’t change the reality that this kind of behavior happens. It won’t make the bad people good, turn sinners into saints or stop the lunacy of those who are intent on seeking attention by causing others harm, creating chaos or just not caring. I know there will be days when I will be overwhelmed by the negativity.
But a little thankfulness will allow me to see that there is more good than bad and more people behaving in a civil manner than an uncivil one.
Plus, there are many brave and caring people who speak out against the madness and work to hold people accountable for their intolerable actions. I am really thankful for them.
I also take solace in knowing that one of the reasons this foul behavior gets so much of our attention is precisely because it is not normal.
For this Thanksgiving, I will be thankful for all the bad stuff that doesn’t happen and try to see more of the good stuff that may not be readily apparent.
As Howard Zinn said, “The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
Happy Thanksgiving.
For this Thanksgiving, I will be thankful for all the bad stuff that doesn’t happen and try to see more of the good stuff.
is a former San Diego City Council member who lives in Clairemont.