Anne Frank wrote in her diary: “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” I believe the same thing. But I also believe that mob mentality and the need to “fit in” sometimes drives people to behave in ways they wouldn’t normally do.
My mom passed away at the end of 2024. I had to return to my hometown in northwest Georgia. It’s the same district that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene represents even though there’s criticism she doesn’t really live there. Anyway, it’s a very conservative district. And it’s a very, very racist and bigoted area.
Not to name any counties, but for almost a decade, the Calhoun school district refused to play a school district in the same region because of a past incident in which the black students, athletes and spectators were called racial slurs. The drum major of the marching band at the time was a black man who was both tall and heavyset. Yet, he reportedly got the blunt of some of the racial slurs.
That was in the late 1980s. On a band trip in the early 1990s, we passed by a stretch of farm land returning to the band room and one student pointed to a wooded area of a pasture and commented the Ku Klux Klan meets there on a regular basis. Yes, it’s private land and they can do just about anything they want. Needless to say, a lot of people still want to wave the Confederate flag. The high school did away with “Redneck Day” during Homecoming Week activities when a bunch of students drove around the school property waving a huge Confederate flag in the bed of the truck.
That all being said, people have turned out and support my family, because that’s what you do. While I am a little disappointed some people my brother and I went to school with didn’t even stop by the funeral home for a few minutes, I understand with all the comments on social media, it’s hard to do sometimes.
On Sept. 11, 2001, people in New York City, who had never spoken two words to each other, banded together in city parks, parking lots and and businesses to construct makeshift stretchers for the victims of the terroristic attacks. I was working in Americus, Ga., at a newspaper and people turned out in record numbers for an American Red Cross blood drive. Communities hold benefit dinners when people have health issues and need medical bills paid. Following the dangerous tornadoes in Oklahoma during the spring of 2013, I took the opportunity of the upcoming Summerfest activities to accept donations to have cream pies in my face. The manager of the local Walgreens donated a lot of the whipped cream.
People care. They will help anyway they can. Some can’t do a lot while others can do a lot more. It all helps.
What doesn’t help is all these criticism of how the people of California deserve is because so many people have issues with Gov. Gavin Newsom. If all you have to offer is a fire-and-brimstone sermon to people who have lost their houses, their possessions or even the lives of their family and friends, then by all means shut the fuck up.
If people want to hear a church sermon, they’ll go to church. They don’t need to hear criticism from people who don’t fully understand the situation. As of this posting, it’s not known how the fires started. It could’ve been set intentionally or by accident. I’m almost certain it was connected with climate change somewhere as there was high winds and dry conditions. There’s high winds and dry conditions almost every year in Oklahoma where they tell people there are extreme fire dangers.
And let me tell you something, I’ve covered fires that can get started by bad wiring or someone throws out a lit cigarette. They spread fast. Yet, there are still people who want to criticize because they think it’s just celebrities and the liberals who have been affected. A week from today, Donald J. Trump will become President again. This man doesn’t have the best response to natural disasters and anything that doesn’t revolve around him.
What’s fucked up is that people would normally help out but since Trump and the Republican Party don’t want them to, they won’t. They just want to talk about End Times. The problem I have with some Christians is they look at every school shooting, flooding, tornado, wildfire and hurricane and think it’s a sign of the end of the world. How narcissistic is that?! They don’t feel they should help because it’s interfering with the end of the world.
Personally, I think it’s all bullshit. They’re using it as an excuse not to help. That’s why they always say “Thoughts and Prayers.” It’s the very least they can do to prove they care but it doesn’t take any real action nor effort. I mean, how do you even have proof someone prayed for you? At least when someone makes a donation, there’s something tangible even if it’s a dollar.
We never know what the future holds. Some guy on a thread of a social media friend said he has a fire protection plan on his property and can’t feel sorry for people who didn’t have a plan for theirs. A plan is just that – a plan. It’s not definite. What happens if he’s at work or asleep and a fire starts? Needless to say, he had a description on his profile that he praises God and wants to help others. But I feel his idea of help is just telling others about God.
As a writer, you shouldn’t tell, but show. And now we live in a society with atheists/agnostics are doing more than the so-called Christians.
Below is a link of GoFundMe campaigns:
Below is a link to a USA Today story on organizations you can donate:
Please help if you can or share these links without others who can.
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Zane Says 