A story of hope.

2 weeks ago we got a call from the Carson City animal shelter. They said they had what appeared to be an Irish wolfhound puppy with a broken leg. Being that they have no funds for food there, let alone medical care, they said that it would have to be euthanized. They couldn’t afford xrays let alone the medical attention this dog was going to need. So it was off to the gas chamber. End of story, another little life falls through the cracks of the system and the story ends there…

Except it didn’t. Not having a lot of money ourselves we decided the least we could do( and the most at that point) was to at least get her xrayed. Who knew? Maybe it was just something that could fix itself with a little time and nursing. Time we have. So we took her to our vet who said it was indeed very badly broken and would need surgery to fix it. A very expensive surgery. Right around $2500. There was no way in hell we could come up with that kind of money. Maybe $500 to have the leg amputated but no way in hell we could ever afford to have her fixed. Again end of story. Probably be kinder to just put her down. It’s a tough decision but one we are forced to make more often then we like.

But then something happened. My wife and I both got on the internet and bitched about the world in general and everything that’s wrong with it today. Suddenly people started to come up with ideas and cash and support we didn’t even realize we had. People sold things on etsy or dug into their own pockets and started sending us money. And money to our vet who was so touched by the outpouring of love. He donated his time for the operation. His staff donated theirs. And Zinda the puppy now had something she never even imagined she would ever have. A future.

So there you have it. A nice feel good story. But it goes beyond that. These people, ones we have never even met in person have gone out of their way and blurred the lines between the internet world and the real world. and every day that line becomes more and more transparent. People start out on chatrooms and facebook and comment sections. They start out sharing their opinions and end up sharing their lives. Little cells of people not hampered by imaginary lines on the globe become families. Strangers that would never have met if not for the old world wide web now care about someone they’ve never met thousands of miles away. The community we can’t seem to share with the guy next door we now share with the entire world.

The internet is still in its infancy. Its still growing and learning what it can do. Its become a meeting place for all of our little communities. Imagine what it can be like when it grows up.
In my case at least its made me a better person. I used to only share the good things going on in my life. Hey its not a bunch of strangers business whats sucks in my life. But after a while you run out of good. So you start to try to do more good things for something to share,. Eventually you become the good person you claim to be. Its not a conscious thing. It just happens. And you see others doing the same. Hey Bob just posted on facebook he donated a bag of food to the local food bank. Hell I can do that. Hey sally just went out and registered people to vote. I can do that. The next thing you know your doing kind things not for the accolades and likes. Your doing them because its really rather easy. And bam you just made your little part of the world a better place. And as the lines on the map become fainter and fainter the community becomes larger. People stop becoming numbers they start to become friends. They start to matter more than they ever did before. When you start to care for friends you’ve never met its only a matter of time before you start to care for strangers the same way. Give it another 20 years and kindness will be the norm. as all our tiny circles of internet friends become bigger until we are all, everyone on the planet a part of the community.
My little story is a small example of the things people can and will do. Not because they need to feel better about themselves or brag on facebook about how cool they are. But because it needed doing. Unorganized and without ego. Just people doing what needs to be done. How cool is that? How cool will it become? When hope starts to become reality its caused by people, not slogans or meme’s. I for one am looking forward to what we all become.