It's a feel-good thing

When it comes down to it, we all like to feel good. Whether we do volunteer work, help someone out in need, donate to a local food bank or children's shelter ... we all do things that make us feel good inside. That give us that tingly, warm sensation ... that feeling that we've made a difference in someone's life. I normally find myself in such situations in the oddest of places.

Last week, on the bus between downtown Athens and my residence hall, I had the fortune to meet an older black man who had a story to tell. As I boarded the bus I saw another passenger disregard the man, shrugging his shoulders with a look of disgust on his face as the man attempted to share a conversation with him.

The man, a Vietnam veteran, obviously had been drinking and smoking as I immediately smelt his well before he sat down beside me. He proceeded to ask me how my day was going. So I replied, "Good, and you?" Luckily I had plenty of time, and was enjoying my coffee, so I didn't cut him off mid-sentence as I am often seen doing. I decided this man had a story to tell and it was worth listening to.

I learned from him the terrors of the war, heard first-hand how America's response to the brave souls that went to Vietnam and made it back truly affected lives, and about how hard soldiers struggle to maintain or restore normalcy in their lives after fighting for their country.

My new friend, who could barely speak between slurs and deep coughs from years of smoking, announced he was writing a book. He pulled out his hand-written manuscript from a dirty, stained manila envelope. In big, elementary letters was his story ... one that few will likely hear. Regardless of whether I am right, I felt deep down that listening to him made validated his story. For once, someone wasn't blowing him off, but instead giving him a chance to air out his history, to share something that had been weighing him down.

And to boot, it made my day. I continued feeling good about myself, with a rejuvenated sense of the world. So, the moral of this story is that sometimes it's good to just listen. We all too often find ourselves scrambling around in effort to "get things done," but we far less often find ourselves listening to those around us with open ears and an open mind. Do yourself and the world some good and just listen one day.

Buenos noches, amigos!

Josh Barnett
957 D