Letter from the Editor: Follow the Leader
Birds following their leader high above Main Street on Sunday evening.
From the Editor:
On Halloween night I was able to hand out candy in the Compo Beach neighborhood with one of my fellow EMTs. Though I thought I bought enough candy, we ran out at around 7:30 - just as a group of teenagers walked towards us and our EMS vehicle.
“We’re all out” I shouted, anticipating them turning around or pelting me with eggs.
One of the boys kept walking towards me; I braced for impact as he opened his pillowcase and said “Here! Take what you want for other kids.” As he did this, another boy rushed over and offered his candy, too. If I could have given them every piece of candy that we handed out that night, it still wouldn’t have been enough to show how impacted I was by their act of kindness.
A while later, a toddler ran up to us holding out two Reese’s Cups - his grandfather explaining to me that the child wouldn’t go back to the house without us taking his Reese’s. We ate them immediately as he ran back to his stoop to wave to us as we drove away; peanut butter stuck to the roofs of our mouths.
—I knew I wanted to write an email ahead of the election tomorrow, but knowing that people will be upset regardless of who “wins” challenged me. So I wrote down “candy” in my Notes app as a story for this email, because regardless of any election and who are leaders are: we will be in charge of our own kindness, and we always have been.
Yesterday I sat at Gold’s and, after botching the Wordle, noticed a table of three teenagers. They sat amongst Dunkin Donuts bags and other garbage all over the table. I got annoyed thinking that they would be leaving it to be cleaned up by the staff.
And then, again, I was proved wrong. One stood up, wiped his crumbs into his plate, and took his trash to the bin. The other two followed. They all went back to push in their chairs, and checked to make sure it was clean before they paid and left. I added the phrase “cleaning table” to my Notes app before I walked out, too; making sure my spot was clean, too.
Those two good moments sit amongst an unknown amount of good in our community - some of it noticed, some unnoticed. I’d like to think there’s more good than bad, but that’s just me. I’d also like to think that they have nothing to do with who’s elected because in that moment: they were the leaders; they can’t even vote.
Those two good moments also sit against a stark backdrop of tension and division that unfolds ahead of any political season. I see it in the news, in social media, in conversation. You may see it, too. They aren’t just political comments - they’re personal and designed to hurt. I’d also like to think that they, too, have nothing to do with who’s elected because in those moments: we are the leaders. We are responsible for the hatred or anger that we foster or push.
—I am not confident in what tomorrow’s election will bring.
I am confident that whatever happens tomorrow - however you vote/d - our community will still have good in it come Wednesday morning because our kindness is not reliant on who’s elected, or who isn’t elected.
We always have a choice to follow “the leader” - to fall in line behind them. Who is a “leader”?
I hope as we go through this week, that we all follow the leaders who guide us to be better humans - not just political leaders - but our own local leaders, right down to our local teenagers and toddlers who lead us to remember that we are in control of our own kindness.
Go vote if you haven’t already, and regardless of who our next elected officials are: we are in charge of our kindness, not them.
I’ll remember that every time I have a peanut butter cup stuck to the roof of my mouth.
In partnership,
Jaime Bairaktaris