There is a hash tag, #YouOKSis, and I am going to
link to a story about that here for background:
I have only asked anyone once, and in that case it
was fine. They were arguing, but they knew each other and no one was in any
danger. It was better to ask than take the chance.
This post is not directly about that, but it all
connects.
It's no secret that this period of unemployment has
me feeling down, but it may not be clear how down - how worried, scared, and
powerless I feel. This is pretty bad on its own, but there are times it can be
worse, including when there are things I want to help and where I don't feel I
can.
This happened with the Orlando shooting. There was
the initial sorrow and heaviness that comes with something like that -
something so hateful and wrong that causes so much suffering. First it was for
the dead and their families, and then there was this feeling for how vulnerable
it must feel to be part of a group targeted for death. There was no way of
righting that wrong.
Around the same time a friend of the family died - a
really good man who left behind a lot of people who loved him - and I
misunderstood the date for the funeral and missed it. That was something with a
completely different scope, but they worked together to create this picture of
everything wrong in the world and I am not helping at all.
The hash tag kept coming back to me. It reminded me
that sometimes it can be enough just to ask. I reached out to some of my queer
friends and asked how they were doing. I sent a card to the widow.
None of it changes the world. I suppose if changing
the world were that easy, someone would have done it. It did give me a chance
to touch base with a couple of friends. I got to see the card they passed out
at the funeral. People were reminded that they are loved and cared about. It
doesn't solve problems, but there is value in the reminder that you are not
alone. Someone cares about your pain.
Sometimes it doesn't take very much.
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