Dear Editor,
After reading the article by Robert Markland titled “We’re all just children in the grand scheme,” I felt compelled to write and offer some of my own thoughts, in the same vein.
Markland is correct in that we are all someone’s child and that is one of many things worth consideration in our interpersonal relationships.
His article tends to focus on what not to do, and I say that we all take the pro-active stance, where we not only act preventively as Markland endorses, but we do our best to contribute to the betterment of others through actions.
This brings me to the concept of cool. Now I realize that it is important that a person be confident and feel capable, and that acceptance by one’s peers is vital to that end, but there are other ways to achieve this – and in a richer, more rewarding way. And the drive to be accepted often becomes all-consuming and completely defines the person.
I see too many people who are overly cool – they are a product of what they think is acceptable. In the process, they have lost some key qualities of humanity, like compassion and altruism. This, my friends, is not cool.
So what is cool, then? Helping people in need. Smiling at someone who obviously needs one (you can tell who that is, if the cool-cloak is not disabling your observation skills). Holding the door for someone. Most people have no idea what impact the most trivial of acts can have on another person, but simple acts can make the difference in a good day or a bad day, simply.
-Mark Estes

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