Only kindness matters

I was on my way to work this morning with my iPod plugged in and the song "Hands" by Jewel came thru the shuffle. I love this song because of its message- "my hands are small I know but they're not yours they are mine own and I am never broken..." "In the end, only kindness matters." There is nothing more poignant and simple than that. Only. Kindness. Matters. Think about it- what do we remember fondly in our lives? What do we treasure? When we die, what is the legacy we want to leave? That we were kind. That our presence in the world was valued. That we will be missed.

And then I got to work and read an article in the NYTimes about a Mexican immigrant who was stabbed to death in Patchogue, NY by some high school kids who liked to "get drunk and mug people" as a diversion. They decided on that fatal night to "mug a Mexican" so they went into a largely Hispanic neighborhood, punched this man and stabbed him. This man who labored in the U.S. for 16 years night and day to send money back to his mother in Ecuador who has been fighting cancer.

My heart stopped. My blood pressure is still up.

What the HELL is going on in our world??????? I'm sorry. When 5 17 year olds "get drunk and mug/kill people" as a diversion, I want to vomit. Then I want to pray for them. Then I want to show up at their doorstep and tell them I think they are ATROCIOUS and throw their asses in jail to rot.

I am getting sick to goddamn death of hearing people talk about "minorities" with disdain or following thru with hate crimes for FUN. Is your life THAT awful that you feel the need to KILL someone you don't know because they're different?

And you know what? Live for a day in their fucking shoes. I'd like to see any of these poor schmucks from NY or elsewhere, living in upper-middle class whitebread communities survive for a DAY in the shoes of a poor immigrant who hardly knows English, working 3 jobs to send BACK to their sick families in war-torn, impoverished countries.

They are doing what our great grandparents did and trying to make a better life for the people they love. They are human beings. They are not "aliens" or "less than." They are HUMAN. Get rid of the geographical lines and colors. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE and people deserve love.

To you kids who were trying to have "fun?" I abhor your kind. Go ask daddy for some more money for an iPod upgrade you bastards. Pathetic.