One

I've been part of a lot of conversations and on the receiving end of a lot of news and communication regarding the bridge collapse and the loss of one of our co-workers. Whenever and wherever tragedies of this magnitude occur, there are a few comments consistently made that, after a while, start to bug me. These are not comments about the tragedy, but instead during the analysis phase as experts start understanding what actually happened. Consider, in this particular incident, a statement such as "Things like this just shouldn't happen in Minnesota."

I totally understand this statement and I agree that bridges shouldn't collapse in Minnesota. I also know I'm goofy in this thinking, but when I hear a statement like this repeated several times, I start getting the feeling that Minnesota is being held up above other communities. I start wondering, if things like this just shouldn't happen in Minnesota, then where should they happen? Wisconsin? New York? Philippines? Ukraine? Namibia? I know this was not the intent of the comments, but I start getting the impression that Minnesotans should be smarter and have it more together making an incident like this inexcusable for us.

I realize this might be confusing (it makes sense in my warped mind), but let me further explain. Like I said, I agree with the comments like this and their intent. The part that gives me pause is when it appears to elevate one particular community above others. My desire is to see us (the human race) realize we are one large community instead of a series of independent individuals, families, towns, counties, states, countries, or even continents. I would like us to see our reaction be more like "Things like this just shouldn't happen" (rather than adding the, "in Minnesota").

I know I'm now entering tanget mode, but I believe the key to solving many of our worldwide societal problems (hunger, poverty, AIDS, slavery, child prostitution, racism, global warming, pandemics, illiteracy, abuse, etc) starts with realizing we are all going through life together as a community much larger than we typically think of. Like Bono, I believe we are "One". I have heard it said that the world hunger problem is not one of lack, but of distribution; we have plenty of food, but need to figure out how to distribute it better. This can only happen when we expand our vision beyond ourselves, our families, our friends, our state, and our country; this can only happen when we realize that our brothers and sisters in Africa are just as valuable, smart, deserving, and loved as we are. Yeah, I'm allowing my rambling spirit to expand my initial point, but I believe it is related. We can and should love the towns and areas we live in, but not at the cost of feeling they are somehow better or more deserving than other towns & areas. Let's live & love, be strong & courageous, and press forward both as Minnesotans, but also as members of the greater human community.