Saturday, April 19, 2014

"the help" helped me.

today consisted of mimosas and "the help."


if you haven't seen this, go to your nearest netflix and order immediately. i watched this movie probably a year or so ago either over dinner with company or while folding laundry; at least while doing something that didn't give it my undivided attention. 

today was different. and it got to me. i don't know if it was the combination of two mimosas or just the movie itself, but i cried at least 10 times while watching this. that's not an exaggeration. it's no surprise that i'm an emotional person and okay, fine - i'd like to definitely give some credit to the mimosas after all, but you guys, it got to me. 

what's up with the world lately? national news is miley cyrus's concert getting cancelled {yes, i was disappointed; besides the point} or the videos that go viral about some guy beside a train taking a selfie and getting kicked in the face. what happened to real news? what happened to actual life changing events? i understand this movie was depicting another horrible time when all of humanity was not treated as equals; treated as way worse than that. i understand this movie brings to life and alerts the 1980 -2000 generations of something they never seemed plausible. and i understand how our news has changed since then. 

but what about news that involves humans helping other humans? people starting a revolution. starting a change. paying it forward. lending $5 to someone who doesn't have that. doing things for someone without expecting anything in return. that's what i want to see! that's what inspires others to do the same.

l'oreal paris tweeted this the other day. i loved it.


...and that being sad, i'd like to tell you a story.

about 8 months ago, i was filling up gas in my honda on south boulevard in charlotte. a guy next to my pump pulled up in his u-haul rented truck and got my attention. he said ma'am? i don't mean to bother you. i moved everything i had this morning as i was forced out of my apartment. u-haul makes us fill up the truck back to a half gallon and if i don't, they will charge me more than i already can't afford. i don't have the money. i won't ask you for cash or anything else. if you wouldn't mind at all, ma'am, please help me fill up this truck. just $10 will do. i am so sorry ma'am.

i was kinda shocked. lee was in the car watching his every move and my next response. it's no doubt he could have been bs-ing me - that all of the story he told was just a lie to save him $10 some dollars. i paused because i didn't know what to do or say, but the next thing i knew was my mouth saying sure. i'll fill it up in just a minute. 

he was so appreciative and i'll never knew if it was my kind gesture towards a stranger or a complete ripoff. but i did thank God that i had $10 to spare. either way, i helped one someone who seemed to be in need. my heart was humbled because of that.

there's one line from "the help" that stood out to me. it was the scene when the town was destroyed by a storm.

"18 people were killed in jackson that night. 10 white and 8 black. i don't think God has color in mind when he sets a tornado loose." - the help

that right there says it all. no matter what time we're from or what we've experienced - we are all humans. we are all equal. white, black, purple, green, blue, red. 

one nation, under God, indivisible and justice for all. 
united we stand. divided we fall.

post signature