The Power Of One

Posted in Philosophy of Education on Apr 27, 2010 - 11:43 AM

As I lock my bicycle up in downtown Phoenix, outside of a happenin' little cafe called Conspire, a child, belted into his stroller, is continually crying, nearly screaming, as he sits unattended to by anyone around. There are a lot of people here. I am glancing from person to person, hoping to bring attention to this crying kid, but nobody is receptive. I should have figured that a stony glance around would not amount to someone else coming to the aid of this child, considering that his scream can be heard from 50 yards in any direction and nobody seems to care.

I've come to the Conspire to play their open-mic with my good friend Matt. Matt is much more confrontational than I am, and though I usually tuck my head away when the pot begins to boil, I'm very pleased to hear Matt chime in with his very low, loud, and bellowing voice, "Oh, I guess it's just a hip thing in Phoenix to leave little babies all alone, crying in the streets."

Matt's deliberately loud statement gets quite a few people's attention, and within seconds, four people are now catering to this baby in the stroller, and can you believe it? He's stopped crying, and seems to be getting along just fine.

Isn't it crazy that it just takes one person to make something happen? That baby just sat and cried, and cried, and cried. And not a damn person out of a group of about 20 were doing anything about it, until one guy spoke up and called out everyone in the area.

Sometimes I feel so caught up in life, that I forget how strong one person's voice can be. I forget that sometimes, simple actions can be most profound, and bring about incredible results.

Oh, the power of one.

Tags for this entry:
leadership, autonomy, responsibility, empowerment, taking action

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