Began the day pretty lowkey, bidding my cousin and her ridiculously photogenic family farewell and getting brunch (that's what I call it when I skip breakfast and go straight to lunch, usually around noontime).
I knew I had to interview someone. Near us I saw to young dudes in business casual attire, probably on their lunch break. They looked like young urban professionals (or yuppies, as some may know them) and I was feeling apprehensive about approaching them. So that only reaffirmed the idea that I had to interview them. If I'm too afraid to even talk with them, how are other people supposed to connect with them? So I asked them a few questions, I did not want to take a lot of time from people on a lunch break. I'll expand upon this later but I got a feeling of indifference on their thoughts on the community of Scottsdale and where they live.
There were a number of questions of mine answered with something along the lines "It's fine, I guess, I'm not too worried about it."
Things to consider about these guys, David and Ryan, though:
-They're from out of state. They've known each other for years and went to school together at Mizzou, and have only been in Scottsdale for a couple years.
-They're young. If they're only a couple of year out of college then they're probably around 24. They have A LOT of life left to live and experience. As a young person myself, I'm 18 as of the time I'm writing this post, I know that there are a number of activities and ideas that a young person wants to occupy their self with, and that is expected of them, they need to really figure out what they're about before they can settle down and really figure out they're trajectory.
-They have presumably stable, good paying jobs. One is a sales rep and the other a sales manager. These are jobs they got right out of college. There are a number of issues that they aren't preoccupied with because it does not affect them directly, and they are physically removed from it because, as they said themselves, they "live in a pretty safe area."
It is easy to not worry about issues when they are not your own. We need to be exposed to others who may have drastically different lifestyles than our own, and often times they are not that far away. It is difficult for me to sympathize with something if the only interaction I ever have with it is a video I see on my Facebook News Feed that I watch halfheartedly, feel bad about for a moment, then forget all about 10 secs later. Or, arguably worse, share it on my feed (I constantly do this) and get the idea that I am actually doing something to help the cause.
People often say that all the tragedies we see on news nowadays desensitizes us from these gross injustices and makes us care less and less over time. And that is partially true. But also,
-Sometimes people need to be shocked into action. And people need to be aware. If the alternative means that these resources designed for informing the public about the world we live in would ignore that these events are actually happening, then I am glad that we have these stories of our fellow humans to help us be more cognizant of what is going on.
-There is no substitute for firsthand experience. People can get involved in a number of ways, one of the most notable ways is volunteering. You don't have to organize a political rally to help whatever cause you believe in, but every cause could use some support, ESPECIALLY if they are trying to go against the status quo. This could mean going against the power wielded by big business.
I'll continue with the rest of how this day went on the next post.
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