(no subject)

[needlegrrl]

okay, so i admit that a lot of people have had suggestions for what to do on 9/11, and most of them, I've glossed over, because I don't want to spen dmy whole day not on the internet, and thinking about this event. and maybe that's selfish, and I'm okay with that - but *this* makes sense to me. and I'm for it. (stolen from technomom) anyone up for it?

On Mon, 26 Aug 2002 20:20:57 -0400, "Frank J. Perricone"
wrote:

On Mon, 26 Aug 2002 19:55:07 EDT, wrote:

> On Wednesday, September 11, 2002 everyone in the USA who will be driving
> a motor vehicle is asked to drive with their headlights on during
> daylight hours .

Wouldn't it be a lot better if, instead of this empty gesture, everyone spent that Wednesday actually *doing something good*?

I bet if you could get one of those firefighters that were in the towers when they fell, and asked him, which would you rather people did next year to remember you -- turn on some headlights and waste a little gas and add a tiny bit more pollution to the world, or go donate a pint of blood... which do you think he'd pick?

Turning on headlights is just an empty gesture that lets people feel like they're doing something without requiring them to actually do anything. Don't turn on your headlights. Instead, find someone who needs help and help them, or pick up a piece of trash on the street, or smile at someone, or plant a tree, or teach something to a child, or carpool, or make arrangements to volunteer at the local hospital or woman's shelter. Bake some fresh bread for someone who can't do it himself. Plant some flowers in a public place. Repaint a wall at the local school. Find someone who's doing a thankless job, and thank her. Read the newspaper, then write to your representatives about something you read. Make a stranger in your home town feel welcome. Adopt a kitten. Improve your car's gas mileage with a tuneup and correct tire pressure -- or just take the bus. Help a little old lady across the street if you can't think of anything else. Just for one day.

If you already do these things, good. On every other day, you do those things yourself. On 9/11, you're instead doing those things for one of the people in the towers who would have spent the day doing something good for someone, but who can't, so you're filling in for them.

Please pass *this* idea on to everyone on your mailing list, and ask them to pass it on to everyone on their mailing lists, and let's see if we can make the world a better place, not just a slightly brighter and more polluted and just as empty place.

Comments

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

That makes sense to me. Thanks for sharing it.

Re:

[needlegrrl]

you're quite welcome - i was glad to come across somehting that made *sense* and clicked.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

i already drive with my headlights on. i do so for safety/visibility reasons. lots of folks do this. heck, some cars automatically have lights on when the car is turned on. i think headlights during the day makes no sense as a "reminder" issue. it's silly.

Re:

[needlegrrl]

absolutely. my saturn automatically has headlights that are on. but i do think that this would be a lovely opportunity for me to find a homeless shelter out here and help cook dinner or something, as well as continue to do so, because *that* is what is important, to me.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

yeah. i can understand what you're saying.

myself, i'm not going to celebrate/commemorate that day at all. i'm going to rent a bunch of videos/dvds and disconnect the satellite so i don't have to see what's on television at all. it's a wednesday, so i won't have plans in town. i might not even leave the house.

(

Re:

[needlegrrl]

that, also, sounds appealing. :) however, i have to go to school, so i'll be exposed, no matter what.

[(Anonymous)]

While I don't do mass forwards, I certainly like this idea better than the headlight one. The headlight suggestion reminds me of a candle vigil email that was going around after the attacks. As one friend of mine observed, all those candles being lit probably had terrorist organizations quaking in their boots.

I don't know what I'm going to do. Not fly. Probably be grateful that I will not be in the same place I was last year on 9/11--a hotel less than a mile from the Pentagon.

Instead, I'll be there a week later. :P

--Magi

Re:

[needlegrrl]

wow. it's also normal's birthday, so we'll probably celebrate on that day - which is a little odd, i think. we tried a birthday dinner last year, and a couple people came, but it was.. odd.

[karenthecroccy.livejournal.com]

They're talking about boycotting gas that day. As in, don't buy it. I think that's goofy.
I'll probably burn some candles and think nice thoughts about *everyone* I know.
Perhaps I'll even venture to see if my veins will allow me to donate blood.

Re:

[needlegrrl]

that's not going to hurt anyone but the gas station owners - because it just means people will fill up the day before and day after (so maybe it won't hurt snyone). in a way, i wish that people would quit looking for a day long memorial, and start chaging the way they do things in general. don't boycott gas - but start to carpool. or rude the bus. something.

[irana.livejournal.com]

I rather like your idea. that is perhaps what I will be doing.