The voices were panicked, bewildered, tired, and hesitant.

On every call this week, without fail, every person has been kind and appreciative of kindness. The voices started with people trapped in the attack, then people trapped everywhere else for the first days, then people trapped inside this country or outside this country, then people afraid to plan for the future, then the soldiers or their families making arrangements to spend a few more hours together.

Most people are good. This terrible thing has caused the goodness that normally gets buried by time constraints and overscheduling to pour out of everyone. The kids I work with -- those slackers who didn't care about getting to work on time, the ones habitually rude without even knowing it -- the kids speak with soothing tones, they speak patiently, they listen carefully to people who are too frightened or exhausted to speak with normal coherence. The kids are good. We're gonna be ok because our kids are good.

The callers thank us repeatedly, bless us, and remain polite even when we can't help them. We're gonna be ok because John Q. Public knows that when the shit hits the fan, we're one people. We're good.

-- helen (give@me.hope), September 17, 2001

Answers

yup, helen'that lil' spark of GOD in folks flares up,in time of sorrow huh?

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), September 17, 2001.

Would that be the same god that you said allowed the WTC tragedy to happen in the first place because he was in a pissy mood Tuesday morning?

-- Question (albert@atheist.com), September 17, 2001.