It went viral.
Was talked about – everywhere.
Made headlines the world over.
Has already generated millions upon millions upon millions of results on Bing and Google.
Hundreds of thousands of people “Like” it and more importantly, hundreds of thousands have already shared it.
And there are no cute little kittens, goofy dances or dancers, crazy stunts, embarrassing moments or any other contrived “make me a viral” moments.
In fact – it’s a simple story. The video was captured by chance and the actors and producer came together by the happenstance of life.
If you haven’t guessed yet…
New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo offered a homeless man true human kindness – basic goodness – no strings attached, no dogma connected, no qualifications required or requested – religions have been started with less. And maybe that is why the world took notice – precisely because he represented us all, did what we all wish we would (and clearly can) do, maybe even made many believe again….
Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad…fill in the blank…must have been smiling…this one little act – so easy to replicate, so easy to follow, so easy to share – this one little act renewed people’s faith in people…real people who walk the streets, live real lives and shed real tears.
Frankly – what made it all the more poignant for me was that I took part in a discussion about “social sharing” and what kinds of stuff people like to share – hence, the kittens. No one mentioned this – or referenced it as a benchmark in terms of values that are important to people, values that we share in ways we don’t share Gangnam dancing or kittens making faces.
I fear we are losing the human dimension – the random aspect – the connection to values that defy the “Give Me One Of Those” (GMOOT) attitudes we seem to be developing as we look for what we think is the right face to present to the digital world – afraid of being seen as old- fashioned.
So…how about we let an icon of what we worship weigh in…listen:
“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” Steve Jobs
Tools proliferate in our world today. They have become as ubiquitous as the term itself – a buzzword for the latest and greatest, the game changing and paradigm shifting and standard setting…you get the point.
Have faith in people. Have faith in yourself. And use the most powerful tool in your collection as often as you can – human empathy – face to face….
What do you think?
