Whether it's New York City or State College, every community can benefit from even the simplest act of common kindness.
This fact of life is apparent in The New York Times' long-standing feature, the Metropolitan Diary. The weekly column includes a collection of anecdotes -- personal experiences, overheard conversations and the like -- from native New Yorkers. The stories are sometimes bittersweet, usually funny and always thought-provoking.
Above all, they show the extent to which run-of-the-mill courtesies can brighten someone's day.
Ever the tourist, I've always envisioned New York City as vast and kind of unfriendly. But as I read these heartwarming tales, I realize that even a major metropolitan community of about 8.3 million people can hold some small-town charm. This city, which has been fraught with social problems, can still celebrate what it has because of some truly amazing people.
In one memorable story, a woman writes about her husband, a recycling maven who picks up broken umbrellas, fixes them and hands them out to the unfortunate or unprepared on rainy days.
It's a basic example; staying dry in a rainstorm sounds like a simple comfort. However, it is these seemingly small displays of compassion that can make the most out of a bad situation.
If I were writing this column about the importance of common kindness and community cohesiveness last week, I would have offered complaints -- because I've always envisioned State College as vast and kind of unfriendly, too. The population is clearly unrivaled to New York City, but its highly divisive cliques -- certain frat guys, jocks and sorority girls, to name a few -- serve to segment the Penn State community.
After seeing Monday's unification of the student body in the heartbreaking case of Penn State student Joe Dado, though, I've changed my tune.
This week, the Penn State community bound together in a way that I had never before seen. I logged onto Facebook, and my home page was filled with my friends' status updates about the missing student. I walked around campus and saw fliers posted on lampposts and buildings.
The University Park Undergraduate Association and Interfraternity Council organized a meeting for Monday evening to gather people to search for Dado. Unfortunately, that search didn't come to fruition, at the announcement of Dado's death.
Even then, a graduate student, Kolby Kent Nelson, graciously purchased 300 candles for a makeshift vigil.
In the newspaper business, we journalists are forced to report a lot of things that aren't so pretty or whimsical. Whether it's a story about a missing student or the disgruntled reactions to the football ticketing situation, it's our job to tell the public what's happening.
This was a terrible, gut-wrenching, sorrowful story. It's one of the worst things that journalists want to report and one of the worst things that the public wants to read: the death of an 18-year-old who hardly got the chance to experience all of life's joys.
As I saw my fellow students' concern for one of our own, I was reminded of the famous quote by Amelia Earhart: "A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees."
To some degree, I think that happened this week, right here at Penn State. I hope it continues -- except next time, in less tragic circumstances.
Kindness, good will and a genuine concern for others need to be in the news more often. They should be part of our daily routines, just as regularly as we make calls on our cell phones or eat dinner.
They're the kind of color we need to shake up these newspaper pages of black and white.
