Thursday, January 21, 2010

Heroes

A word about heroes and heroism.

What the @#%& do I know about heroism? Very little. But, like everyone else, I get to have an opinion, and here it is.

Virginia Montanez (aka: Pittgirl), is taking time off of her blog to recuperate after a nail-biting week negotiating and haggling and badgering and informing and worrying every possible ally who could assist in getting the BRESMA girls and their orphans out of Haiti. You can read up on the story at her blog, That's Church. She says she's not a hero. I disagree.

Thefreedictionary.com offers a long list of definitions for hero. Here are some of them:
  1. someone who fights for a cause
  2. a person who rules or guides or inspires others
  3. someone distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
  4. someone who is idealized for possessing superior qualities
  5. a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose

For the record, Pittgirl scores at least 99% on the hero scale. A feisty fighter who guides and inspires with exceptional courage, and is idealized [by her many followers] for her superior qualities and nobility of purpose.

Perhaps I'm blowing this up into a bigger deal than it really is. If you ask the two girls from BRESMA (heroes in their own right) and 54 orphans though, I think they'll disagree. Last week they weren't sure if they would live or die. This week, they are safely in Pittsburgh. There are many, many heroes that played a part in their deliverance, and Pittgirl is one of them. Never mind the miniscule faction of sour pusses that try to detract from what happened. Pittgirl played her part well, and won in the end.

Haiti will need heroes long after the TV cameras are gone. People that have the focus to change the small part of the world within their reach. You may have read the starfish story, but if not, click here. That's my kind of heroism.

Out here in boondocks Upsala, our heroism is limited to cutting folks out of smashed cars, dumping water on fires, and trying to stayed trained and ready, knowing that our moment of 'heroism' may never come. Perhaps that is the essence of heroism: faithfully doing your part whether anyone cares or not. That's Pittgirl to a T.

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs"

(attributed to both Malcolm Forbes and Minnie Richard Smith)

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