“What is wrong with people?”

I was asked this yesterday by a friend of mine. I often say this myself but I could tell she was watching the news closely. She really isn’t a news junkie and often will ask me what I think about things. She also doesn’t get online much as she is working, building a relationship and spends time with her family. I admire that about her as I miss my family quite a bit these days.

My friend is from Florida and knows about hurricanes. I’ve never been in a hurricane. She has.

If this hurricane comes through like meterologists are predicting, Haiti is in for some true further hurt from nature beyond their control. We discussed this at length yesterday. So many Haitians are living in tents after the earthquake still so how can they be protected from the ocean falling in on them. We talked about this for a long time. That country doesn’t have the resources that the United States does in rebuilding infrastructure if it is damaged. As she went back to work, I got online. I saw someone online talking about the GOP’s convention getting hit by the weather in somewhat of a snarky way. When she asked me what that was as she came to look at what I was doing, I told her.

Thus “What’s wrong with people” filled our conversation for awhile.

And I realized something I already knew. When did this become more important than the issue of caring for other people. You see, I can be snark girl and I own it, but I also know that everyone deserves compassion. Politics and news, my friends, has gotten to the point where I’m not seeing a lot of loving thy neighbor. I’m seeing blame and fear from every side.

We live in a world of entertainment news where substance has become less important than being direct and factual. We need style. We need sexy. We live in a world where celebrities trend and sell books when they “leak” a sex tape but that 19 folks where shot last night in Chicago and it barely blips. Of course New York’s shooting did because it was the Empire State Building and tourist traffic was everywhere.

And many people don’t listen as a whole. Are we listening to our neighbors who might need help? Are we thinking about those who might be in need? I feel that we have moved so far into being afraid of what we might lose (and we have lost a lot in the last decade) that we aren’t hearing anything because the noise is deafening. And one thing my friend said about the hurricane is that is was terrifying and you couldn’t hear anything. The wind was loud and angry filled with walls of water that don’t care if you are right or left, old or poor or rich or … and the list goes on.

I’ve heard a tornado once that filled the night and the sound probably was similar.

You couldn’t hear a thing.

And that’s is sometimes what I feel about the world of communication these days.

I think people who know me in real life know that I’m a pretty good listener. I do have some ability at building friendships and professional alliances. I have friends all across the spectrum on the left, right, different genders and generations that I could sit and listen to all day.

The key is listening and then feel like you are being heard. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, conversations can build fantastic things.

With political media on both sides of the spectrum acting akin to something like jellyfish, masses of scary stingers (ask Diana Nyad) that are out to just hurt, my hope is that we can get through where we can have conversations filled with knowledge and not throwing fear molotov cocktails at each other.

I guess that’s just what’s on my mind today.