I have been thinking (yes, occasionally I do that) of an interesting Kossack Christmas project. Since this community is worldwide, I think regular readers must have interesting but untold stories to share. Since it's Christmas, I propose the stories should reflect Kindness. It is a virtue I think all Democrats share in principle.
Kindness not only begets more Kindness, but I think it tells much about the inner character and basic decency of people.
Since I can't decide which of two stories to share, I will tell two below the fold. One of the stories is about a nice communication my husband and I received from Patrick Fitzgerald. The other is about one of my favorite musical groups, the Dave Matthews Band.
Patrick Fitzgerald came to Chicago on September 11, 2001. It was widely reported that he knew no one in the city. Before his arrival, newspaper coverage indicated that Fitzgerald was a dogged prosecutor who could not be influenced. This was unlike previous U.S. attorneys who generally did not disturb the Powers That Be and subsequently ended up running for office or in lucrative private practice.
Since I was a military brat from a family that moved often, I remembered the initial loneliness of being the new kid on the block. Just in case he might feel lonely at first, I decided to write a letter to Mr. Fitzgerald and extend a warm welcome and an open invitation to our home. I wrote a one-page letter, indicating that we intended only to offer our friendship and would not question him about his work or his investigations. I mailed the letter and promptly forgot about the matter.
Some time later, I opened the mailbox and saw that we had received a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office. Since I eventually tossed the letter, I cannot quote from it here. But unlike my e-mails to President Bush (who didn't even Auto-Respond), Mr. Fitzgerald's was a warm letter (and eloquent in its simplicity). He stated that although he was not able to accept at this time, he may do so in the future. But, for now, he simply wanted to thank us for the invitation.
What does this letter say about Mr. Fitzgerald? It tells me that not only is he a gentleman, he is a person who listens and is attentive to detail. How many others would just have thrown out our letter and failed to respond? After that day, I never again had a doubt that Mr. Fitzgerald would clean up any corruption he uncovered in the Seventh District. When he was chosen as Special Prosecutor, I knew the people would be well-served.
And now for a second story. Some time back, the Dave Matthews Band received some unfavorable publicity. It became known that the band's tour driver dumped the bus's waste (yes, human waste) from a bridge over the Chicago River. Unfortunately, at the time, there was an open tour boat with a number of passengers traveling beneath the bridge who were, shall we say, rained upon.
Although the band publicly apologized and ultimately donated $100,000 to environmental clean up as a gesture of goodwill, charges were brought against the driver by the Illinois Attorney General. Some angry letters appeared in the newspaper, chastising the band. But, my husband shared a different story of kindness to him by the band some years earlier.
He was attending a Dave Matthews concert in South Carolina. My husband uses a wheelchair, and when the music began, people enthusiastically jumped to their feet and remained standing. This unfortunately blocked my husband's view of the entire stage.
Seeing this, a couple of the band's sound technicians jumped down from their podium and lifted my husband in his wheelchair up onto their sound podium beside them. Suddenly, he had the best seat in the house and, to this day, says it was the best concert he ever attended.
Such kindness is never forgotten, and instead of excoriating the band as many have done, we forgive them the human error. (In fact, our lesser angels usually can't help laughing every time we hear the tour boat story. We like to imagine that the tour boat was filled with members of the fundamentalist Christian Right).
These are the little, simple acts of kindness I am thinking about this Christmas. Dismiss them entirely if you must. But, if you feel inclined, I hope you will share yours.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all Democrats, a good fight.