I can’t stand when older generations (or younger ones, for that matter) bitch and moan about the terrible state of the world we live in now. How crime and violence are worse than ever before, and society’s morals and ethics are in the ditch. Oh, puh-lease…

My mother used to be one of those who are quite good at bemoaning about… well… anything heard in the news, practically. Violence, sex, drugs, global warming, politics – really, the supply of topics is endless. But she doesn’t do it around me much anymore, because I have suggested, rather forcefully and repeatedly, that:

a) she should do what I do and simply stop watching the news if it upsets her so much, unless of course, she enjoys feeling angry and negative,

b) the news is NOT an accurate representation of society and life and should NEVER be considered by intelligent people to be such, and

c) living in the times of pioneers when everyone was armed, women had only slightly more rights than cattle, and the only lawmen were several days’ ride away; or when slavery was legal and encouraged; or when the plague (or polio, or starvation, or the army of the day, or whatever) swept through entire societies and decimated them, probably wasn’t much of a picnic for those generations either.

My, how selective our historical references and memories are!

Let’s get something straight: none of this is new. It is all the same shit that humans have dealt with since time began, just a slightly different pile and different era. Variations on the details, but the theme remains constant.

Whether you were born in the 800’s, 1400’s, or 1900’s, you’re going to find people who do bad things to good people using violence, deceit, and greed. But you’re also going to find just as many, and probably more, good people doing good things – if you just open your eyes and look for it, instead of looking for something to whine about.

This story (and the follow-up story here) is a fine example. First found on one of my top favourite reads, Cheaper Than Therapy, it’s about two Grade 12 boys/men in Cambridge, NS who showed pretty effectively that the youth of our nation are NOT all smart-assed, over-indulged, petulant little beasts as some people are wont to believe.

(I know, I know - I should paraphrase and write this up myself, but I’m sorry, I’m too tired/lazy, so I’m going to just paste excerpts from The Chronicle Herald story. Chalk it up to MY immorality at the moment if it makes ya feel better. Then go read the full thing here, and the follow-up article, as they’re well worth it.)

Two students at Central Kings Rural High School fought back against bullying recently, unleashing a sea of pink after a new student was harassed and threatened when he showed up wearing a pink shirt.

The Grade 9 student arrived for the first day of school last Wednesday and was set upon by a group of six to 10 older students who mocked him, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up.

The next day, Grade 12 students David Shepherd and Travis Price decided something had to be done about bullying.

“It’s my last year. I’ve stood around too long and I wanted to do something,” said David.

They used the Internet to encourage people to wear pink and bought 75 pink tank tops for male students to wear. They handed out the shirts in the lobby before class last Friday — even the bullied student had one.

“I made sure there was a shirt for him,” David said.

They also brought a pink basketball to school as well as pink material for headbands and arm bands. David and Travis figure about half the school’s 830 students wore pink.

It was hard to miss the mass of students in pink milling about in the lobby, especially for the group that had harassed the new Grade 9 student.

“The bullies got angry,” said Travis. “One guy was throwing chairs (in the cafeteria). We’re glad we got the response we wanted.”

I LOVE the time that we’re living in! The mere fact that I can hear about this wonderful act of maturity and thoughtfulness halfway across the country within days of it happening is nothing short of amazing! And if you read the second article, you’ll find that the story is already spreading through Europe and getting an incredible amount of attention.

As long as we look for goodness, and revel in it and share it with others with joy and excitement when we find it, it will always be there.

Much like hope.