We’re all in this together

Small town events bring lessons in life, if one will just look.
There are leaders and then there are followers, the “little guys” who contribute mightily, but escape notice.
Some of them want it that way, others simply do what needs to be done, whether they’re noticed or not.
There are police chiefs and then there are officers, sheriffs and deputies, who risk their lives daily to keep the rest of us safe. They would love to collar the leaders in crimes such as drug proliferation and thefts from properties, but they also want the followers, the people who often “push” to survive. People who buy stolen goods brag about the bargains they got, not knowing if those items are tied to a crime, they will lose them, as well as the money spent purchasing them.
Usually, they won’t say who sold the items and, unless a big break happens, actually don’t feel they have done anything wrong.
The officers who investigate diligently work relatively unnoticed, while cameras are on the chiefs and sheriffs when a large announcement must be made.
It’s the same with fire chiefs and firefighters who and mostly volunteers.
Looking at the communities, we see people working constantly to improve life there, adding little touches when they can.
In a room filled with people seeking something or protesting something, there are the speakers and supporters. Warm bodies in a room can make a bigger impression than the comments
Back in my collegiate years, we protested the plight of the farm workers. It didn’t make a difference what their national status was, they deserved to live like other human beings.
I still believe this and cringe when I see film footage of children from south of the border still packed together in squalid conditions while no one seems to know where the parents are.
Even the Nazis at Auschwitz tattooed children to connect them with parents, even though they were all headed for certain death. Those who escaped still have numbers tattooed to their arms, a sign of lasting horror.
To quote someone who happens to be president, there were “good people on both sides…” Really?
Young lives are being lost almost daily as our nation’s ills come to light in violent ways, apparently condoned by those at the very top who could — and should — do something about it.
Back in the day, we packed meeting rooms, courtrooms and other places where our placards and picket signs could be seen. People who didn’t like what we were doing worked to shut us up.
It’s still the same.
Support does make a difference. The people holding candles at a vigil know this, as do people who march in opposition to injustice or in support of a cause important to our lives.
That’s where newspapers come in. These pages are forums of a sort in which people can learn of meetings being held on touchy topics and make their feelings known; reporters then quote them and change can be made.
We won’t try a case outside the courtroom, but we will be there when the case is tried, we will report when it’s filed and we will talk to people on both sides — sometimes, there are people on several “sides.”
The press is not the enemy of the people, but their friends, staunch supporters of what’s right and opponents of what isn’t.
In truth, there is no “fake news.”