Restore My Hope in Humanity
Texas took its name from the Tejas Indians, and it is a word that means “friendly.” Texans are known worldwide for their Texas pride and for being hospitable and friendly. We wave at people driving in opposite directions on the road whether we know them or not. Texas A&M University is known especially for saying “Howdy” to friends and strangers alike. When Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi and Louisiana, Houston and other cities in Texas became a refuge. People went out of their way to help.
Wednesday my article was posted later than usual. I was interrupted by a call from a neighbor. She is 89 years old and lives with an old, small dog. Apparently she had fallen the day before and landed on her head. Unfortunately she also landed on her right arm, which was swollen and bruised. I immediately stopped writing my article and ran down to her house.
She looked awful. Purple bruises, a knot on her forehead, and like I said before her arm looked suspiciously broken. I am not accident prone despite the fact that I have endured at least 10 broken bones in my lifetime. I have broken both bones in my wrist 3 times, once with both arms simultaneously. Anyway I have a pretty good idea of when a wrist is broken.
A nurse and therapist had visited her the day before after the fall. They told her it was not broken. I took one look and advised her to get an x-ray, which she agreed to do. I took her myself to a clinic and spent a good portion of my day waiting with her at the doctor’s office.
I was glad that I was at home and able to help her. Both of her bones in her wrist were in fact broken, but this is not the point of my post. Throughout the morning and afternoon, nurses, receptionists, doctors, patients all made comments about me. Without fail they would ask, “Are you her grand-daughter? Her daughter? You are not any relation to her?” When I answered with a, “No,” to each question, then they would ask, “Well, who are you then?” I responded honestly, “I am her neighbor.” Then they would shake their heads and look at me in disbelief.
After a while, the same reaction from the different individuals started really bothering me. I did nothing extraordinary. I was helping out a neighbor in need. She was an elderly woman with injuries after all. In my opinion there is absolutely nothing unusual about what I did.
Hopefully you feel the same way. Plus, I am a Texan living in Texas. Like I said before, we are known for our friendliness, hospitality, and helping those in need.
The reason I am sharing this with you is to ask, “Is this what our country has come to?” “Have we fallen so far that we think it is unbelievable that a younger woman would help an older woman?” Please tell me that it is not so. Tell me that we are not such selfish people that we would not drop our plans for the day to help out someone in need. This cannot be the state of our society.
If it is, then the United States of America is much worse off than I thought we were. I hope it isn’t. I hope the people I met on Wednesday were the oddballs and not the norm. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in a country where helping an old woman in need is extraordinary. Eventually I am going to be an old woman, and I hope that someone will help me.
Please let me know what you think. Email me at lndehaven@aol.com or leave a comment here for all to read. Hopefully you will restore my hope in humanity.
I have to say what you have found is becoming the norm. We are leaving town and moving back to the country just as soon as possible. I live just north of Austin and sad to say it is not the place nor type of people we have grown with over the last 30 years. The majority are from somewhere besides Texas and think the roads belong to them and the rules are for others. There are still some good people out there but they are few and far between. It is easy to lose your faith in humanity. It is scary how rude and in a hurry people are in the grocery store, gas lines or anywhere else these days. People will run over you to get a parking spot closer to the door of whatever box store you are pulling into. They are becoming totally selfish as a whole and the lack of manners is unbelievable. I recently was at a function at a high school here where people kept their seat and continued talking during the pledge. I was mad and then just sad. It makes me want to just cry sometimes as I do not know how our kids that we raised to be kind and put others first will be able to cope and survive.
I’m with you! I cannot believe our country has come to such a state. Even with our busy lives, we must take time for one another. I, too, live in the country (not Texas, however) and houses are often 1/2 mile or more apart out here. Although I can’t say I know all my neighbors, I do know some of them and our family tries to welcome new neighbors when possible. It’s also been my privilege to take an 84-year-old friend/neighbor to the clinic in town (about 30 miles away)for pain shots in her neck. She always acts like I’m doing her such a HUGE favor, but to me it’s the way we should treat each other. After all, we all reap what we sow, sooner or later.
Well honey, I, for one, agree with you! I would’ve done the same thing you did. Sadly, I’m not sure those people you dealt with that day were oddballs. I do think there are more of US out there than you realize though, and that makes me hopeful for the future. It’s even more important that we raise our children properly too – if we have the ability to be helpful to someone in need, then we have the responsibility to be helpful (and we should be glad in doing it!).
I also would have helped her. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping her out. I also wonder about the state of our society sometimes.I wonder if these people that looked at you strange are just CITY folks who dosent know what a real neighbor is. Thanks
again for caring.
When I opened my email today, I was amazed at the number of people who took the time to personally write to me concerning this article. Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing similar stories with me. Then I checked the comments and am just as pleased with the response here. Your words and comments are certainly encouraging and even inspiring. They might not have completely restored my hope in humanity, but they have surely restored my hope in the type of people who read Texas Homesteader. My writing, life, and stories obviously appeals to like-minded people, which means that I am not alone. Finding a community, even a faceless one online, with whom you can find support is absolutely wonderful. I thank each and every one of you, Lara
How sad that people were so surprised! A few weeks ago my husband was having trouble attaching his post-hole digger to the tractor, and I called our neighbor who is a retired mechanic and asked if he would mind helping us. He came over and spent probably two hours helping us–and he did it so willingly! They are true neighbors, in the same way that Jesus taught about the good Samaritan!
By the way, I have been unable to follow your blog for several months because my old PC wouldn’t let Internet Explorer open. So I went out and got a Mac, and now I can follow your blog! Well, I didn’t really get the Mac in order to follow your blog, but it IS one happy benefit!
Susan,
I am glad to have you back. You made me laugh with your clarification. I would never had thought you bought a new computer just to follow Texas Homesteader. And, it sounds like you have a great neighbor.
Lara
Recently, I became concerned about an elderly neighbor. His lawn was dead and his trees were dying. I rang his bell but got no answer. I consulted with our nextdoor neighbor and she agreed that she hadn’t seen him around for some time. Then again, with the intense heat, we’re all hiding inside. I decided better to be safe than sorry, and that nosy wasn’t always a bad thing. I called the police, who did a well check and found that he was OK, but extremely hard of hearing so he didn’t hear the bell. The police even called me back to let me know he was OK. The direction our country is headed can be reversed if we work at it. That’s my prayer, anyway.
Carol from Georgetown TX