The long-lasting stories from tragedies inevitably revolve around the heroes, not the villains. If you’ve never seen Boatlift, the 9/11 documentary about 500,000 people being evacuated from Manhattan Island via a sandlot team of sea vessels, add it to your queue. When your heart sinks and can’t think of anything besides ‘what’s wrong with this world,’ to quote a surprising source of inspiration, comedian Patton Oswalt, “the good outnumber you, and we always will.” It's not only uplifting in down times or only warming when your bones feel a chill, it’s not only a safety net when you feel threatened, but it’s a reminder that no matter the region or the weather or the time of day, there are more people willing to help than hurt. And most people won’t have to sit on a fence to deliberate the consequences. The adrenaline boost of weary runners, dehydrated beyond exhaustion, who helped in any fathomable way, is nearly inconceivable. I can barely wipe the treadmill down after 3 miles.
Not long after the scope was beginning to be understood, the magnitude of the chaos felt, the realization of who and how many people were now in the streets of Boston without a cell phone, a change of clothes, an idea of what to do or where to go, a Google Docs spreadsheet arose. When I first heard about it via Twitter, an immensely powerful and dangerous addition to breaking news, the list was 1,200 people deep. Bostonians with a place to stay, offering their name, phone number, email address, neighborhood, and details about their conditions to anyone in need. Even offering to drive and pick people up. Boston isn’t known to be a friendly city. Whether the stereotypes are true (1,200 is a relatively small sample size), there are a lot of Boston residents that made a lot of visitor’s lives better.
This was a public event. This was a worldwide shock. The repercussions will be felt for a long time. At the end of the day, I’ll focus on the above and not the politics. I’m less concerned with who did it, how they did it, or if it will happen again, and despite Fox News’ attempts, I surely don’t care what we call it (I was on a treadmill, it was not a choice). There was a mass of people, with the cameras rolling, that all strapped on cape and became heroes. It’s undeniable.
But a hero, and a person of great character, might not be one in the same. Having character is not about reactions, instincts, adrenaline, or panic. Character is dictated by what you do when no one can see you. What you would do if there were no consequences.
In no way am I claiming that the first responders, paramedics, fire and police of Boston, runners, first aid volunteers, or anyone else involved with the events of Monday don’t have character. It’s a transition.
As members of our current society, one filled with instantaneous social media sites, high quality cameras in every pocket, and everything else that has changed how our lives are documented, it’s become harder and harder to fly under the radar. When the spotlight’s always on, your character isn’t often tested. Your actions and reactions and comments and mistakes and boring, monotonous, mundane, crossing the street, drinking water type activity, it’s all seen or heard or observed or felt. Until that one moment, that instance, that passing passage of time, where you are presented with a choice, to act with integrity, or to turn away, with absolutely no chance that anyone would ever find out. It’s how you act in that moment that defines you. To quote a hero, ‘it’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.’ And with Bruce Wayne, he contributes to society under the shield of a mask, in a situation clearly seen, but one where consequence doesn’t hold the same as it would for the playboy billionaire himself.
The question isn’t what stops us. I don’t care why, when I’m alone and have to choose between option a, the socially accepted option, and option b, the socially rejected option, I choose option a. I don’t care why anyone does it. Whether it makes you feel good to help someone else in need, or whether you believe you’re influencing the foundation of our society, without which civilization would crumble, makes no difference to me. I’m not the moral police or the eagle eye. I guess I just hope that regardless of the means, we all reach the same ends.
This has already been quote-heavy, so to leave you with one more, from another unlikely source at least in my eyes, since I never knew much about who he was or what he stood for, some inspiring words from the late Roger Ebert, ‘“I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.”
