Our Habitat, "Everybody's Habitat"

As I sit here writing this month’s column, I’m watching the Hand-in-Hand telethon on Sept. 12. I’ll tell you what, the folks that put these telethons together do a really good job. The performances, the pleas for help from the celebrities, the images from hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the celebrities on the phone bank … it’s emotional and it’s inspiring.

We’ve all see the countless photos and videos. People from all different backgrounds and all different walks of life banding together, working together, surviving together. Those are the images you see anytime there’s a crisis. Wayne County knows. We experienced them here last year during Hurricane Matthew.

We know what our habitat is capable of when confronted with a common, external enemy.

It does makes me wonder, though. Do our true natures show through when faced with crisis and we’re trying to survive, or when things are going well and we have time to argue?

I hope it’s the side of us that shows through in times of crisis, because that’s when we remember that this habitat we’re living in is not just ours. It’s everybody’s. We all share it. It’s the only habitat we have. Like it or not, it’s not likely that any of us are going anywhere else.

So when we’re confronted with issues that divide us, just think back to those pictures of people carrying each other to safety, and rather than push your neighbor down, lift him up as your friend.