Yesterday afternoon at a local shopping center, I gave a big hello to a passerby as I now so often do. This passerby responded to my greeting by wanting to speak with me.
His name is Mario, he's 62 years old, the father of two young adult daughters and he came to the U.S. from El Salvador 50 years ago, at the age of 12. He's an atheist and strongly pro- U.S. because the Constitution and the practices of its government guarantee Freedom of Religion. He dislikes the thought of Christian and other religious dogma being forced on him and concerned that some of the Republican presidential candidates would strive to make the U.S. a Christian nation.
Mario also loves the legal guarantee of "Pursuit of Happiness," and feels Americans can accomplish anything they put their minds to, a point he stresses to his daughters. He supports the U.S. educational opportunities, believing they are crucial to one accomplishing his or her dreams and crucial to the future of the nation.
Mario loves the Constitutional guarantee of "Freedom of Expression" and feels safe voicing his opinions and doing what he likes as long as it is legal. At this point, I couldn't resist and with a laugh I grabbed him and gave him a big hug. In the few seconds of that hug, he at first hugged me back but almost simultaneously saw three women walk by us. He called out to them, "we're not gay," as we ended the hug.
With a big laugh, I said, "Mario, they don't care at all." And as he looked at them his facial expression and body language relaxed and he smiled, agreeing with my comment. Chuckling, I shook his hand, telling him how nice it was speaking with him and he thanked me.
It's a wonderful feeling helping to uplift the lives of others and sometimes as it was with Mario, it is as easy as having a positive attitude and being a good listener for a few minutes.
Dick
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