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.
The helpful attitudes we’ve had in
the aftermath of this snowstorm are the
attitudes we should have all year long,
not just during an emergency.
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