On the same Friday that the Egyptian people had just won their freedom from a 30-year reign of dictatorship we were participating in an event that was spearheaded by social media. When people connect through this channel big things are happening. It is as though we are gaining people-power and this power is becoming stronger.
If you build it, they will come. If you create something that people like and put it on Twitter or Facebook or any of a number of techno-event-blasting resources; people are finding it and following it. Apparently there is no single head to this trend, but instead something that is being driven by the desires of the people.
If this first Friday evening’s event is any indication of what’s to come this could become a smashing success. People were standing in line for over an hour just to order from the “Shrimp Pimp” food truck.
Even though this truck was late getting started, it was the most popular of the four present that evening. Apparently those who follow Twitter have already heard about this craze and are willing to travel to where these gourmet trucks set up shop.
What was so obvious was the hunger and thirst people have up here in Altadena for interesting things to do. The good news is that this event was not driven by fancy marketing ads or a long-term pre-planned attraction, it is being driven by the ability of people to spread the word down in the trenches from the ground level upward through this new social-media phenomenon.
This craze is what started a revolution in Egypt and peacefully overthrew a dictatorship in just 18 days. It was the ability of the public to start a ground swell from the desires of the people. We are so used to being told what to do, how to believe, and what is good for us by the establishment, but that day seems to be long gone, or at least quickly fading into the past.
There must have been several hundred people gathered at this event over the evening. There were families with small kids and people of all ages present. Being in that atmosphere you get a chance to meet your community. Everyone there seemed to have been equally as amazed to be there and meet each other.
I struck up a conversation with so many strangers that were just as eager to chat and show their friendliness and desire to mingle. This is the real Altadena that everyone wants, not the one that you read about in the blogs or news services. When people are face-to-face they show their real colors, which seems to be quite friendly.
Unfortunately we most often get this sense that there is too much animosity among people, but perhaps that is more media-hype rather than reality-driven. If you notice when you are out in public people are generally friendly, even strangers.
Could it be more our perception to assume the worst in people than is warranted? Even though there are some serious jerks and really weird people in society, they are only a small percentage of the general public, yet we generally put up our defensive walls blocking everyone out just to protect ourselves from the few.
You can meet people for the first time in a grocery line or at other public events such as this one and have a great conversation with them without even realizing your differences. When people that you would not ordinarily meet come into your pathway usually you are rewarded by their presence rather than threatened.
This is what is possible for Altadena or most communities, but rather than opening ourselves to receive its rewards we tend to be more skeptical.
If we refuse to lower our guards, at least long enough to realize that people are often genuinely warm and friendly, we stand to lose more than we gain. It is our loss when we don’t open our hearts to receive the gift that people could offer to us: that is the gift of love; loving one another, and just expressing human kindness.
We need more opportunities such as this to show who we are. We need more chances to practice letting down our guard so we can express our human kindness and display our best.
It appears that we are headed in the right direction, but we can get there much faster with more practice. We need more such events so we can show each other just how warm and friendly we can be as a community.
Whoever organized this event, please do so again: I think it will be a great success here in Altadena.
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