… There’s no doubt a crowd can bring optimism to individuals. Earlier we noted the daily well-wishers' demonstration outside Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. That began as a one-man action by a health care provider who once said goodbye to a young patient who was to be discharged the next day. Therapist Steven Brosnihan is a cyclist, and the bike route home ran past the child's window. He stopped, flashed his lamp, and the patient briefly flashed the room light in return.
Steven decided to do something similar for more patients, and as other road users heard about it, they joined in, every night at 8:30. Just wishing goodnight. When Covid broke out, the greeting extended to also include nursing staff, and now police patrol cars, ships passing by on the Providence River, walkers with cell phones, and store front lights nearby also join in. The children in the hospital love it; it encourages them.
Or this example, from Turkey. Muharrem Yazgan is deaf, he lives in Istanbul. On December 24, 2014, he took his sister Ozlem shopping, because when you’re hearing impaired in Turkey, navigating the crowded streets and stores by yourself can be challenging. Hardly anyone masters Turkish sign language, but Ozlem does. They walked into a bagel store, and suddenly the man behind the counter gestured with his hands that he had hot bagels today. Muharrem was pleasantly surprised. Outside, someone dropped a bag with groceries, Muharrem helped pick them up, and the man thanked him in sign language. A woman bumped into him and gestured that she was apologizing.
A Youtube video that has now been viewed millions of times shows what was happening. Phone company Samsung had set up a video call-in center specifically for deaf people and wanted to raise awareness of it. With the help of his sister, they found a teacher who, unbeknownst to Muharrem, spent weeks teaching the neighborhood sign language. On that one day, everyone brother and sister encountered on the street addressed Muharrem in his own language. Look it up, watch for yourself, and see how he reacts when he discovers how the entire neighborhood is trying, literally, to lend him a hand.
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History is written by optimists & so is the future