i left work early yesterday to go volunteer at 2nd harvest food bank for a couple of hours, sorting food for hurricane victims (and others). as i drove out to metrocenter, i was feeling pretty damn good about myself. here i was, a guy who had already given money, tried raising awareness, etc., who was going the extra mile to give his time. i'm here to tell you today:

i'm nothing. absolutely zero.

like i said, i show up ready to rock and on a little bit of a high horse. that ended pretty quickly when i met jeff. jeff was from new york and had been volunteering all week in the warehouse. i don't mean he grew up in new york. he flew in just to volunteer. for the week. then i met "the ladies." that's what i call them, since there were 6 of them and i didn't catch any of their names. they were school cafeteria administrators (or something like that) from all over middle tennessee. they were in town for a conference and, instead of doing what you and i would do - going to a bar afterwards, they decided to go sort food in a warehouse. i was humbled by both jeff's and the ladies spirit and willingness to pitch in.

a lot of times i see the "bad" americans when i look across the melting pot (which reminds me of how our immigration policy sucks, but that's a different story). i see the couple in france who complain about the food, the culture and refuse to learn even a hint of the native tongue. i see the rich guy who tells the homeless person to get a job, or who ridicules him instead of lending him a helping hand. i see the leaders who insist on an "our way or the highway" mentality. i see all those people that embarrass me; make me ashamed to be associated in any way with them.

and then, every so often, i run across the true citizens of our country. the jeffs and the ladies of our stew. these people see where help is needed and they go there. true american's aren't the assbags in franklin who are complaining about evacuees moving in their precious camelot (kudos to the mayor for telling them to shove it.). they're not the people i work with who see this event as a "great selling opportunity." it's the people who, like jeff and the ladies, see that help is needed and then go about the business of helping. it's people like that who need to be in power, to have influence. people who are all about the business of helping.

there are alot of things about our country and our government of which i am not proud. i rail about them all the time in private, sometimes in public. you may now scratch our citizens (as opposed to residents) off that list.

they make me proud to be an american.
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by the way, if you'd like to volunteer at second harvest, you may do so by just showing up. they're open from 9-7 m-f and from 9-4 on saturday. i'm going to try to be there tomorrow and saturday, if you'd like someone to go with.