A photo from Haiti. A daughter watches over her father while waiting outside of the hospital "Emergency Room" tent in the heat of the day.
A 911 call came to us last night, respond to a convenience store only a few blocks from where my EMT partner and I were sitting. Within moments as we arrive to find four squad cars rocketing in and out of the parking lot, one of the officers is eagerly motioning for us to come inside and attend to the patient. I remember thinking that these guys are amp-ed up, this level of activity is normally reserved for gunshots.
An older Asian woman sits slumped on a stool with an obvious laceration under her eye. She's in quite a bit emotional and or physical pain. The story goes that a man came into the store, got himself a large cup of hot coffee and threw it onto the attendant's face. He then viciously punched her in the eye, grabbed the money out of the open drawer and fled through the front door.
As my EMT treated the lady I couldn't help but be moved by the degree of violence and inhumanity that had just taken place. Why would anyone do this and moreover, what was going through their mind? A question that I've wrestled with lately is, does everyone in the world consider themselves "deep-down a good person", conversely are there people that simply know that they are at-root evil and devoid of humanity and kindness? How can someone commit such a barbaric act and still view themselves as a "good person"? Sadly, I realized my answer last night.
1 comment:
How we view or consider ourselves is often different than how we are viewed in the eyes of others. How would we recognize good if there were no evil?
Thank you for continuing to write, question, and enlighten.
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