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It's the Simple Things

LIFE'S GREATEST GIFTS ARE COMPASSION, EMPATHY, LISTENING, & TIME

11/6/2011

10 Comments

 
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In America today we take for granted so many things, water, air,  television, internet, electricity, and each other. So many of the older generation and women are taught it is better to give than receive. While much of the younger generation in our society has learned, that only money or the gift of “things” is important.


If we aren’t getting things, then we aren’t loved, respected and appreciated. Our media and politicians lead us to believe that someone else has to take the responsibility for our actions. It is our right to have “things,” and if not provided then someone needs to be blamed. Usually, it is whoever is highest in the food chain on the other side of our own personal beliefs.


October 28, 2011, here in the North East the newscasters were predicting a minor dusting of snow down on the cape. October 29, 2011, they said, oh it is going to hit full on and because of the leaves on the trees, we might have a few power outages. Are they to blame? No, it is the best information that they had available. Yet, when instead a historical snow storm hit the east coast and thousands of trees broke in half, or uprooted from the ground, hitting power lines, poles, and leaving over a million people without power somehow, the power companies were to blame. Somehow, they should have known and been better prepared. The gift of electricity was gone.


Yes, it is true that the utility companies are paid to provide electricity, still they are not responsible for each and every one of us to be prepared for a storm of this magnitude. They are not responsible to somehow, magically restore power, drill through solid rock to install new poles, remove trees, and hang wires over thousands of miles of destruction in a day or two. How would this be possible? There isn’t enough manpower in all the state or the  surrounding states to do this in a day or two.


I spent ninety hours this week, listening to people call in, some understanding, most, hysterical, angry, frustrated, and some making physical threats against the utility workers. It is my job to listen, it is my job to be compassionate, it is my job to put the order out to the field, and I am lucky to have a job in today’s world. There have been utility workers who have taken a break during an eighteen-hour shift that have been insulted, and assaulted. I have listened to people tell me that it is unacceptable that they have a cup of coffee or sleep for four hours, until all the power is restored, believing that their power is more important than the life of a worker.

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Today, I am off for the second day in the last eleven. I have nothing in me to give, having received nothing but, hate, despair, anger, and
frustration from every angle since October 30, 2011. It makes me acutely aware of the importance of giving and of receiving. 

Granted, a few people showed compassion for our situation over the last eight days. More often than not we gave as much information as we had, showed as much compassion as we had in us. We did not see our families and friends. Most of us went home to cold houses, without running water or sewage too. Still, we were there to listen each day, without a shower, or enough sleep. The meter workers, and line men were out in the field, putting up poles,  climbing hills with transformers and electrical lines on their backs, for sixteen to eighteen hours each day.

All the while, the politicians and media were calling for investigations, saying such foolish things, like if we had trimmed the trees around the power lines this wouldn’t have happened. How irresponsible of them, if they had bothered to go into some of these towns, they would have seen whole trees ripped from the ground or broken in half. I know an election year is coming. Yet to insight the public to further anger, when the truth should be told instead is
beyond my understanding.


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This week I have listened to people call in about the electricity of their elderly parent who lives a town over. Screaming that we  are trying to kill them, yet they will not take that parent into their home, to  a shelter, or to the hospital. Stating they want to stay in their home, they
have a right to be comfortable in their own home. It is true, they do, but it  is also true that if it is a danger to them it is the responsibility of the grown child to step in. I know, I did for twenty years with my disabled  mother.


I have heard of the utility companies being blamed because an elderly woman lost her life. Her fifty-nine year old son was living with her, yet did nothing to remove her from the home to safety. Her neighbors did nothing to check on them and their safety.


This week, it has struck home, more than it ever did before the importance of compassion for your fellow human being. I have learned the importance of giving something to others, even the poor utility worker who is on the other end of the telephone and the importance of
receiving.


There are many types of gifts in life, yet this week it has come home to me more than ever before that the most important gifts, are that of time and compassion. No one is able to sustain themselves without these gifts. No one can repeatedly give to the depths of their being over and over till they are drained, without some compassion and understanding given back. I am acutely aware what a gift, water, electricity, heat, and time are. I am intensely aware that I too need to receive and learn how to give the gift of receiving well.


10 Comments
J. Thomas Ross link
11/6/2011 04:48:13 am

Marta, you are a saint! I'm so sorry you had to put up with so many spoiled-child grownups! Sending smiles and good wishes your way!

Reply
Marta Moran-Bishop link
11/6/2011 06:18:16 am

Thank you so much J.Thomas. Smiles and good wishes to you.

Reply
Lisa McCallum
11/6/2011 09:59:54 am

You know Marta, It is completely sad that there are so many selfish people in this world who have absolutely no idea of the world around them. So sad and very disappointing. No wonder so many of us prefer animals.

It is disgraceful and it is world wide. Thank you for writing this. It just reminds people to just stop and think of others.

I hope you get an opportunity soon to recover from such a traumatic experience dealing with irate stupidity and focus on your darling animals.
Lis

Reply
Lisette Brodey link
11/6/2011 10:19:51 am

Marta:

What a beautifully written post. It is sad that people don't understand that when something happens, like a snowstorm or worse, millions of people are affected. A loss of electricity is not pleasant for anyone, and is more serious for some than others.

But there is NO excuse for threatening or abusing utility workers. NONE. I'm so glad you wrote this post. While we all know what it's like to suffer w/o power, it's important to know what it's like on the other side -- for the people like you who take the calls to the people who are out there in dangerous conditions trying to restore power.

Abusing our fellow human being is just NOT the way to get anything done.

Lisette

Reply
Marta Moran-Bishop link
11/6/2011 10:47:57 am

Lis, Thank you for your lovely comments. They brought tears to my eyes, your compassion and love show through.

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Marta Moran-Bishop link
11/6/2011 10:51:56 am

Lisette,
Thank you. I agree that there is no excuse for abuse of any kind. I don't care who you are, what your affiliations or how frightened, angry, or frustrated you are. Abuse is not acceptable behavior.

Your words warm my heart. Because of you and Lis, I will go to work a bit easier to face it tomorrow.

Marta

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Beth Hoffman
11/7/2011 09:58:21 am

I'm always shocked and saddened by how poorly some people react when it's obvious that everyone is trying their best to rectify a situation. The venomous venting and threatening attacks are appalling.

It's no wonder that so many of us prefer furbabies!

I hope today was easier for you.

xo ~ Beth

Reply
Marta Moran Bishop link
11/7/2011 01:02:19 pm

Thank you Beth, Reading your comment left me with a warm and fuzzy today.

I felt hugged, it made my day better.

Hugs
xo Marta

Reply
Nancy Keim Comley link
11/10/2011 05:46:44 am

What a wonderful post. Thank you

Reply
Marta Moran-Bishop link
12/4/2011 05:39:18 am

Thank you Nancy for reading my post. It is nice to meet you.

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    https://www.tumblr.com/blog/martawrites

    Author

    ​Whether I am reading, or writing I am taken out of myself and will return more enlightened. From the magic of the places I have been, the people I have met, and the story that captured me for a while.

    My first book, Wee Three: A Mothers Love In Verse, a children’s poetry book, illustrated by Hazel Mitchell, was a collaborative effort and a labor of love. I took the short, sweet verses my grandmother wrote in the nineteen thirty’s for her children and expanded those and added additional verses of my own.

    I have been called a prolific and versatile writer. I currently have two children’s poetry books, Wee Three: A Mother's Love in Verse and Innocence and Wonder, four novella's Darkness Descends, The Between Times, The Choosing, Keeping the Upper Paw: A Cat's Guide to Training Your Human 

    My novel Dinky: The Nurse Mare’s Foal, based on the true story of my rescue foal and written from his point of view and is enjoyed by both children and adults alike. Dinky: The Nurse Mare's Foal, won best Equine Rescue book at the EQUUS Film Festival, for 2015 and 2016 season.


    The Divide Series, takes us into a world that could be, it is a dystopian series that starts with book 1 Darkness Descends, and book 2 The Between Times, it tells the story of a bleak world, where society consists of the poor and the rich and the poor live in squalor, with only a prophecy for hope of a better future. It has a touch of paranormal in its pages.

    I have written four adult poetry books and a variety of fantasy and paranormal stories. A few of them are stories that my mother wrote over forty years ago and I finished while others are new and vibrant stories.

    I learned that one needed to have a plot and conversation to move the story forward from a particularly bad play I wrote at the age of six. It was the worst play ever written or performed. It was so awful my mother stopped the production after about three minutes.

    I currently live on a small farm with my husband, three horses, cats and a green cheeked conjure named Jack. They help me remember to view the world through a child's innocence and keep me young and imaginative.

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Marta Moran Bishop is an award-winning author, poet. 
  • My Books
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