Love thy neighbour: Why have we become so suspicious of kindness?

As a follow-on to my note about the sign in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, this Guardian article discusses the evolution (or, as some might argue, devolution) of our attitudes toward kindness.

The great paradox of modern capitalism, the ex-Thatcherite John Gray has pointed out (False Dawn, 1998), is that it undermines the very social institutions on which it once relied - family, career, community. For increasing numbers of Britons and Americans, the "enterprise culture" means a life of overwork, anxiety and isolation.

Nevertheless, in spite of our relentlessly resilient selfish genes, we manage to stumble back to kindness and generosity.

Yet still kindness is an experience that, so far at least, we have been unable to give up on. Everything in our contemporary ethos makes kindness sound sometimes useful (that is, effective), but potentially redundant: a vestige from another time, or just part of a religious vocabulary. Yet still we desire it, in some way knowing that kindness - the unromantic kindness, which encourages a feeling of aliveness as compatible with, indeed integral to, a feeling of vulnerability - creates the kind of intimacy, the kind of involvement with other people, that we both fear and crave. That it is kindness, fundamentally, that makes life seem worth living; and that everything that is against kindness is an assault on our hope.

via MeFi

Crime in suburbia

Editor's note: the region was hit by a severe (once-in-a-lifetime-so-far) ice storm starting on the night of December 12, 2008. As a result, most of the calls to the police and fire department for the past few weeks relate to outages of power, phone, and cable, as well as reports of downed trees and obstructed roadways.

From The Landmark (subscription required):

Holden

Monday, December 22

8:48 a.m. Well-being check requested due to pitbulls on premises on Doyle Rd.; no power, no heat, but all set
2:27 p.m. Report of contractor going door to door for tree work; should have HPD permit on Elmwood Ave.
5:46 p.m. Solicitors in station for permit
5:51 p.m. Party asked to remove dog from high school
10:19 p.m. Report of suspicious pickup truck, male parties with flashlights at residence on Doyle Rd.; OK, plumber doing repairs

Tuesday, December 23

9:59 a.m. Delivery from Trappist monks
10:40 a.m. Caller wanting to know how to get credit report without going online
11:04 a.m. Two calls from store wanting to reach town resident about package left behind
12:36 p.m. Report of resident avoiding paying for tree services

Wednesday, December 24

8:30 p.m. Report of a "glow" in neighbor's garage where no one is home

Thursday, December 25

8:00 a.m. Caller reports possible bobcat left tracks in his yard and roaming the area
9:10 a.m. Visitation exchange; mother advised to consider restraining order due to behavior of ex-husband in front of child
11:44 a.m. Caller apologizing for his behavior during custody exchange

Friday, December 26

10:18 a.m. Three boys attempting to have someone purchase cigarettes for them on Main St.; parents advised
6:51 p.m. Pharmacy reports resident given the wrong prescription; requests that police go to make sure she doesn't
take the pills

Saturday, December 27

3:45 p.m. Two golden retrievers found
9:25 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Industrial Dr.; individual looking for kindling
9:44 p.m. Owner of lost golden retrievers called; given number
of the nice people holding them

Sunday, December 28

12:07 p.m. German Shepherd on Flagler Dr.
1:18 p.m. Brown dog loose in area of Elmwood
6:23 p.m. 911 Seven calls reporting gun shots or fireworks behind residence on Windsor Circle
8:51 p.m. 911 Report of two black dogs escaped from garage on Bullard St.; dogs back home

Paxton

Tuesday, December 23

2:37 p.m. Domestic, Marshall St.
2:41 p.m. Male party driving an older black Chevy Silverado, NY tags, asking people for money, Paxton Center Marketplace
6:20 p.m. Parties into station to complain about earlier Marshall St. call.

Wednesday, December 24

8:00 a.m. Motor vehicle off road, Marshall St.

Thursday, December 25

5:09 p.m. Domestic, husband videotaping argument, Camp St.
8:47 p.m. AMC security calling with possible person in tunnel between Campus Center and Trinity Hall.
11:40 p.m. Worcester Police advising dead moose at Pleasant St. at Asnebumskit Rd. Negative contact made.

Friday, December 26

11:49 a.m. Owner of out-of-town tree company advising that another tree company keeps removing his signs

Rutland

Monday, December 22

11:15 a.m. Walk-in to report high snow banks that you cannot see around, Barre Paxton Rd.
3:01 p.m. Snow bank blocking the road, Pleasantdale Rd.
6:51 p.m. Report of snowballs being thrown in area, Main St. at Maple Ave.
8:05 p.m. Traffic safety, something is hitting caller's car, Main St. at Watson

Tuesday, December 23

7:10 p.m. Huge snow drifts blocking traffic, Kalloch Dr.

Wednesday, December 24

9:23 p.m. Party is locked out of car with child inside, Brintnal Dr.
11:40 p.m. Transformer sparking, Irish Ln.

Thursday, December 25

2:17 p.m. Suspicious person, Irish Ln.
5:05 p.m. Motor vehicle accident, Barre Paxton Rd at Irish Ln.

Friday, December 26

2:55 p.m. Caller locked out of car with keys inside and car running, Pommogussett Rd.

Sterling

Monday, December 22

7:50 a.m. Two medium-sized poodles by MDC gate, appears they have been there awhile, Justice Hill Rd.
9:06 a.m. Request to close Upper North Row Rd. between Heywood and Justice Hill due to heavy vehicular traffic and speeding
10:19 a.m. Report of dog howling for long time in area of John Dee Rd.
4:37 p.m. Report of two poodles in yard on Lucas Rd.

Wednesday, December 24

6:48 a.m. Report of dog stuck in a drain, leg twisted, owner retrieved dog, Clinton Rd.
10:18 a.m. Group of dogs running through yard, caller thinks they ate a dead rabbit that was in the woodpile, Chace Hill
Rd.
2:06 p.m. Report of annoying phone calls from a correctional facility, Bean Rd.
11:37 p.m. Transporting one male to town line, Flanagan Hill Rd./Pratts Jct. Rd.

Saturday, December 27

1:56 a.m. Caller reports kids "bowling" with their car against trashcans on Osgood Rd.

Sunday, December 28

2:25 a.m. Suspicious vehicle "checking out" a farm stand on
Chace Hill Rd.
12:38 p.m. Report of golden retriever, possibly lost on Campground Rd.
12:46 p.m. Caller reports finding a silky terrier, Chace Hill Rd.
9:32 p.m. Caller reports finding small dog, Chace Hill Rd.

First Day

After a cold, but fun tour of First Night Worcester, we had a sleepover, with Tess, Lily, and Cassie joining our normally sedate household.
The morning began with an exhibit of hats made last night at the Worcester Art Museum:

 Breakfast of blueberry pancakes, the last of Summer 2008's blueberries, followed. The morning concluded with the ladies of the house having a late morning tea party:

And so begins a new year.

Be kinder than necessary

We pass this sign, at the corner of Holden and Brattle streets, nearly every day. Many a day, the message on that sign has made a big difference, improving my attitude toward those around me.

This morning's Telegram reports that St. John's church is closing on February 1, a result of declining revenues. The parish has known for some time that they didn't have enough money to continue and chose to close the church, rather than relocating or merging with another congregation.

What Google thinks about Amazon's music offer

So, I get an email from Amazon, offering a $3 credit toward music downloads. Meanwhile, GMail, which has a feature that offers web links that are related to the email that I'm reading, offers a free trial of Topamax, a medication to treat migraines.