DO WE CREATE OUR OWN WALLS?

Sometimes I have my supper in a small restaurant near me.  Generally there is no specified seating nor is there a host or hostess to seat customers.  People pretty much go to a table with friends.  Sometimes
a customer will go to another table with strangers where there is room for others.  When this happens there is a good chance to get to know people I might not know otherwise.

That was the situation I was in a few weeks ago when I sat down with two women of color.  We chatted in an amicable way and then they told me they were waiting for another friend.  I offered to leave but they wanted me to stay.  I did  and we found a number of things to talk about.

We seemed to be enjoying ourselves until their friend arrived. It was clear to me their friend seemed annoyed with my presence so I excused myself and left.

Afterward, I wondered what had annoyed their friend who I also knew. Was it because I was of another color?  Was it because they simply wanted to have a private conversation?  Or was it because I imagined an anger displayed toward me?  I don't know.  What I do know is that we were at table with four women who might have enjoyed an evening together had we not allowed anger or anxiety to place a wall between us.

I thought too about the precious time we spend building walls when we are with people with whom we could share so much, yet in a mistaken effort to protect ourselves we create our own wall.

MY "WHAT IF" AWARD

There are more awards in America than you can count.  There are book awards, thousand  points of light awards and cooking awards.  Because of something that happened here recently I want to create the "WHAT IF AWARD" for  people who have the ability to call into play experience  and action when things do not go as planned or are not neatly outlined in job specification.

I live in a ten-story apartment building.  On each floor there are about ten apartments with just two some-time working elevators.  People who live here range in age from job holders to retirees who are  mid-life and older.  Most are mobile.  Some use walkers.  Some are in  wheelchairs.

On one of the coldest nights of this long winter both our elevators went kaput.  Some people were stranded coming into the building.  Some residents were stranded in the drafty lobby at a function that was taking place.  Only one member of our full-time management staff, our director of community services was on duty and about to leave for the day.  Our maintenance chief had just pulled out of the drive way toward home.

When the elevators broke down our maintenance chief turned around and came back to work.  The director of community services took off her coat, grabbed some chips, cookies and water and distributed them to residents who did not walk up the steps but stayed in the lobby.  Within a few minutes the fire department and local police arrived to assist with people who needed help.

The next morning the elevators worked. Our staff was weary. Residents talked of the help they received from people who extended themselves even when things did not go as planned. For this, I give them all
my "WHAT IF AWARD."