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forstier -> RE: WE ARE IN BUSINESS (4/9/2008 3:20:53 PM)
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Abujassim
I am a Forester – grow forests, I harvest them, I have lived among them. While I grew up in a major American city, I have lived in small rural towns at the end of the road for most of my career. I know {or knew} what goes on in the small towns I lived in, I know what goes on in my profession, When I watch the news, and find what they report, about the things and people I know something of, I find it so far removed from the reality that I see that I cannot trust what I hear reported.
Living in the small communities, I also learned to recognize what I see. I also worked as an EMT on an ambulance, because my industry is rife with accidents and injuries. I once saw a man, homeless, on the streets, on a night when the temperature was -40°. I am sad to say that I did nothing for the man that evening. The next day I transported him to the hospital in the ambulance for injuries received from exposure, injuries he did not recover from. When I see something I must assume it is for the purpose of my taking action. Another man’s injury is not for my enlightenment, but is a thing which requires action.
I know that violent things are being visited upon the peoples of Iraq. But I do not even listen to the news anymore, so I do not know, I do not see what is happening.
I believe I will be held accountable for what I do about what I see. I cannot talk to Maliki or Sadr or Bush or Petraus. I can talk to you. I can listen. I can act upon what I see and hear.
I am no particular fan of politics. The most boring days of my life were spent listening to my father in laws family take every turn of events anywhere in the world and relate it back to Lithuania regaining its freedom from the Soviets. An earthquake in the middle of the pacific ocean could be described in how it would affect Lithuania’s escape from the Soviets. The only finger lifted to do anything was the one that read the Lithuanian newspaper dedicated to inspiring more talk about politics followed by massive doses of inaction and more blather.
But having lived on the border and worked with peoples of two languages and multiple heritages, I am excited about dealing with people. I am an American and know who I am. I am not necessarily here to help, but first to listen and question. When the moment arrives, I will act. The moment is not yet ripe for me and I intend to hasten it.
Abujassim, I do not know if I can satisfy your question completely. I have a sense of what drives me here to listen. My first attempts to communicate were by telephone. I determined to call Iraqis directly and do what I have just said, listen and question. Well, there is no telephone directory to give me a number, ad at the time there was not very much I the way of a working telephone system.
I have tried various forms of internet contact – penpals, chat rooms etc. All I got from that was 72 proposals of marriage. So far no one has proposed to me at Iraq4u, so I feel somewhat safe here, and inspired by the dialogue.
Forstier
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