GREGG MADSEN is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. My roommates and I took a walk through the snow Sunday afternoon. We were amazed to see the damage, tee 12-inch-deep snow and all tee people attempting to drive in tee horrible con ditions. As we trekked across southeast Lincoln, we encountered three cars stuck in tee uncleared streets. Without hesitation, we muscled up behind the stranded motorists and helped than get unstuck. It didn’t seem like a big deal to us at tee time, but for tee people stuck in the snow it must have been a minor miracle. In tee last couple of days, I’ve seen hundreds of neighbors help others shovel driveways, clear downed trees and push cars out of snowdrifts. Several temporary shelters have been established in Lincoln to help those without power in their homes. I know of several families who have electricity who have allowed others without power to spend tee night The city has been full of such self less acts of caring. The tragic nature of tee snowstorm we’ve had has brought out the best in tee people of Lincoln. If only it were this way 365 days a year. When trouble strikes on a grand scale as it did early Sunday morning, help is usually close at hand. The snow storm made national news. Gov. Ben Nelson has asked for Lincoln to be declared a national disaster area. And as tee magnitude of tee fallen trees and power losses reached our ears, we searched for ways to help out. It’s a tragedy that we all share. Who in Lincoln wasn’t affected ^ 1_it* n M uy uus muiiu: When we share the same problem, it’s not hard to give our time and energy to help someone else. It’s easy to convince our selves to help because we’re in the same spot as the ; other person - in this case, snowed in. The people of Lincoln have been a beauti ful example of this. It’s encouraging to see the helpful, loving attitudes out there. But what happens when the snow is gone? What about those times when only a few peo ple are in trouble because of circumstances less visible than a blizzard? What if die troubling experience isn’t one that has touched the whole city? Without a natural disas ter tp stirour seise of community, are wee still as apt to help a person in dis tress? ™ What happens when the neighbor two doofs down gets laid off from his job? His situation is easily worse than being snowed in, but where is our help and compassion? What about the elderly widow down the street who can’t take care of her yard and can’t pay a service to do it for her? Are we there to help out in these less visible times of trouble? There are countless examples of everyday problems we all have that go unnoticed because the aren’t as “large” as a snowstorm that brings a city to a standstill A problem that isn’t shared by the entire city isn’t any less of a problem, is it? It certainly isn’t to the one person or family who is experiencing it So why limit our helpful attitudes to times of distress that we perceive to be great? fkir UaIm ofAn nit«An mn nttAiir melts, because our hardships are going to be with us whether there is snow on the ground or not We have to ask our selves how we would like to be treated were we the people in need of help. When I finished walking through the neighborhood Sunday, I realized that in the last four years I’ve lived in Lincoln, those were the firsts three people with car trouble I had ever helped. It was a sobering reality for me to realize that many__ times I pass by those in need simply because I don’t see their problems as significant. I can’t count how many times I’ve passed by someone standing by his broken-down car on the side. of. the road, simply because I felt his prob lem wasn’t severe enough to merit my he|p. I’ve done it because I haven’t been putting myself in his shoes. I haven’t treated him the way I would want to be treated. The community has lost much from this storm, but it has benefited as well. The people of Lincoln have made many new friendships and strength ened old ones because of this snow storm. Community and relationships are built when neighbor helps neighbor during a time of emergency. Community and relationships are maintained for years when neighbor helps neighbor whenever the help is needed. Even without a foot of snow on the ground, anyone in trouble is still in need of help. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t sharing in the same trouble; oth ers’ troubles are still very real. 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