Everyday Values (6/2/04)
by Dean Hartwell
Dear Mom and Dad,
I recently saw the movie The Day after Tomorrow. Although it shocks and scares us about what might happen to our planet if we do not protect it, the movie also offers some advice that reminded me of the both of you.
Be kind to your friends
As you know, the United States has made it difficult for people to emigrate from Mexico to the U.S. Some have even suggested we put up a big wall to keep anyone from getting in.
In the movie, global warming has caused such a catastrophe in our nation that the President orders the evacuation of everyone in the South to Mexico. Predictably, they don’t exactly welcome us with open arms. Instead, they demand the forgiveness of their debts to us in order for them to accommodate our people.
And so it was in my childhood. You told me that to have a friend I needed to be one. You told me that if I mistreated someone one day, I shouldn’t expect their help the next day. In short, you advocated making friends instead of enemies.
Learn to accept criticism
Our nation has a history of taking a while to admit to mistakes. It took us decades to formally abolish slavery, for example. Women did not get the right to vote until 1920. More recently, Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense during the Viet Nam War, did not admit the war had been a mistake until 1995, twenty years after the war ended.
In The Day after Tomorrow, leading scientists confront the Vice-President with evidence that the world was about to go through severe climate changes (thanks in part to U.S. environmental policies). They urge him to take action. The Vice-President just scoffs at the reports the scientists present and makes personal attacks on them.
Admittedly, I never did accept criticism easily as a child. I had trouble acknowledging that I could improve what I was doing. I should have listened to your advice to relax and laughed at myself at times.
Keep your promises
We all make promises from time to time. The United States armed forces, for example, preaches a policy of leaving no one behind on the battlefield.
In the movie, an absentee father makes a promise to his son that he will pick him up. This promise, with the weather shifts, turns out to be quite a lot more than the father ever bargained for.
I learned to remember what I had promised and to follow through on it. A lot of that has to do with your encouragement. I remember returning my corrections on a math assignment to someone I tutored right in the middle of their class with your admonishes about promises ringing in my ears.
We don’t have to see The Day after Tomorrow to be a friend, learn to accept criticism and to keep promises. Luckily, you both taught me this long ago and I practice it every day.
Love,
Dean