Minnesota Nice Rant

I'm going to rant in this post. Why? Because I can, so there. I know that was very childish, but hey we all have our days, and today is my day. So you can either deal with me or go read something else, because this has to come out.

Here in Minnesota we have a saying/title, "Minnesota Nice". Sounds like a nice place right? Usually it's your typical place to be. You have some people who go out of their way to be nice, and you have the people who are rude, and should be slapped. Then you have the one's who just don't care, and then there's the down right nasty. You can find this mix anywhere in the world. How Minnesota got this title I'm not sure. I'm guess it goes way back when people actually cared about others, and bent over backwards to lend a helping had.

Not so in this day and age where we are consumed with only gaining for our pleasure. Now I'm not saying that  everyone is like this. There really truly are people out there who go against the grain of today's society, and are just plain nice. I myself have been honored to have met such people, and they have been a blessing in my life. I can only hope I can repay the honors.

Recently here in Minnesota there was a young hockey player by the name of Jack Jablonski who suffered a severed spinal cord after being checked in a hockey game. Horrible, horrible turn of events. My thoughts and prayers go out to this young man and his family. The community has come out in full force in support of Jack, and that is a wonderful thing. The community needs to care for each other not the government, something we have forgotten about.

While I applaud all these people who are doing their part to support Jack or "Jab" as he is now referred to. There is something that is not sitting well with me, when I read about everything these people are doing for "Jab" I get the feeling of a rock in my stomach. Something just isn't right. The closest I can come to explaining it to myself is that what started out supporting this young man, has turned into something I believe is disgusting. Schools seem to be competing with each other trying to surpass the other school in showing their support. Celebrities who normally wouldn't even give this story a second glance are now getting their names in the paper while they support "Jab". Schools from different states are showing their support. It feels like it has become a "trend", and that is not ok. It pisses me off.

Where is this amount of support for the rape and beating victim in the hospital fighting for her life. Well she didn't make the front page of the paper. Nobody spoke out for her. Where is the support system for the single mother who is loosing her house, because she had to make the decision to either feed her kids, or pay the mortgage. She didn't make the news. Where is the support system for all the other hockey players in the past that this happened to, or for that matter any athlete who was tragically injured? Where their voices not loud enough to catch the media's attention? How about the baby who was murdered, and there wasn't anyone to speak for it. How about the family who is hiding the fact they are homeless because they are too ashamed to let others know about their circumstances? Let's not mention all the other people in the world who are suffering, maybe their suffering isn't being permanently paralyzed due to a freak accident, but their suffering is indeed suffering. 

We need to wake up and take notice of the people around us, and do our part in taking care of our communities. We can't continue to walk round with blind folds on, and only take them off when the media tells us it's a big thing. Let alone only take notice when it becomes a fad or a competition . Shame on us, and that includes me too. While I have not jumped on the bad wagon with "Jab", I have also not done anything, but at least I'm not fake. I am not proud to live in the state known as Minnesota Nice, because for the most part it only comes out when the media plants it in our face. We haven't earned the title yet or rather I should say we have lost the title.  Get out there and meet your community already so we don't need the media to only select certain stories that they deem important. Because everybody is important, and no one should be brushed to the side.