Marriage Moats-Watching Kindness
Published: Tue, 05/07/13
| Marriage Moats | Caring for Marriage | ||||
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 I grew up in the sixties, and along with fire drills we had air raid practices, where we all climbed under our desks in preparation for an attack by Russia. I suppose it gave me a dark impression of people across the Atlantic, to think they would want to bomb me. I had no idea that my own government was capable of atrocities as well. They didn't cover that in third grade history class. Slowly I have released my grip of prejudices about an entire nation of people. Fiddler on the Roof helped, as did the Nutcracker. Then I had the good fortune to meet a few natives, and realized that labels have limits. But this video melted all residual distrust. It is a compilation of footage drawn from the dashboard cameras many Russians have to document accidents. Interestingly, they are in a good position to catch kindness as well. None of the interactions lasted more than a few seconds, yet seeing them in a ribbon of goodness between strangers moving cars out of the snow or escorting grandmas across the highway moved me. It also showed me, rather than told me, what benevolence looks like when the rubber meets the road, as one person steps out of indifference or laziness to extend help. The captions are written in letters I do not understand, but the actions are offered in a universal language. I would like to be a world class kind person. My marriage is a good place to start. Next time John needs help finding his keys I will imagine the security cameras in my own home are running. When we are the grandma and grandpa one day it would be fun to watch a stream of small ways we have lightened each other's burdens. Photo by Joy Feerrar
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