How can we come together when our communities are so divided?
(This is a guest post by the Library Lady’s friend, Duck.)
Duck and his friends were eating apples one day. The apples were red and shiny and tasted delicious, except for Duck’s apple.
It was bad. It made duck sad to get the bad apple, he threw it away.
Duck decided to go for a walk and visit his neighbors. They had lived by Duck for as long as he could remember, and they’d always been friends. As they talked, they told Duck that sometimes policemen were mean to them and didn’t treat them like everybody else. That made them afraid.
Duck was confused, why would anyone be mean to his friends? And especially a policeman? Duck loved policemen. He thought they were heroes. Why would the people who take care of us be mean?
“There are some bad apples in the bunch,” said his friend.
Duck thought about his bad apple that morning. Maybe it was the same with the police, mostly good shiny apples but an occasional bad one?
Duck wished all the good apples would get together and throw out the bad ones so everyone could be friends. “Can’t we all just get along?” He didn’t know how to make that happen but somebody else did.
Duck’s friends invited some policemen over to dinner. They were happy to accept. When the day came, they all sat down together, ate good food and talked about important things. Everyone listened. They got to know each other and felt a lot better. Duck thinks getting together to talk when things go wrong is a great way to solve problems, and that maybe people should do it more often.
Library Lady’s Note – I was proud of my friends for reaching out and trying to communicate in a calm and positive manner. And while one dinner is not going to solve all the racial problems besetting us it’s certainly a good place to start.
My friend Ludy and I have been walking buddies for years. She’s an amazing person who is raising excellent young men. In the midst of the rioting in Salt Lake City one of her sons went down to the police station. He rounded up some policemen and asked, “Have any of you ever been to dinner in a black household? My Mom’s a good cook and I’d like to invite you to our house.” So the policemen came, and they all talked about serious issues like the systematic problems in the police force which turn good apples into bad ones.
Clearly things need to change but killing and rioting is not the way to do it. Sitting down together in a friendly relaxed setting is so much better. I know there are good people on both sides of this equation and given the chance, they’re the ones who can fix this problem.
The Library Lady Travels 
What a great idea to invite policemen round to dinner..
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I know, I wish we could hear more things like this in the news instead of negatives all the time. Thanks for stopping by.
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Excellent post, Geanie! Thank you for sharing a message of hope and kindness. I agree I think there is a very small percentage of bad apples. Unfortunately, the bad apple stories seem to be focused on more than the good.
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Isn’t that always the case? Happy doesn’t sell. Chaos and disaster does. That’s why I’ve stopped watching television news shows. Too depressing. It’s good to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by.
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Yes, indeed. I’ve done the same too, no more news for us.
Ditto to you – I always enjoy reading your posts and hearing from you too!
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This is one of my favorite post of this year, just beautiful. I will have to share this in July updates and favorite posts, which will be later this month. Such a positive message, thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for that. I thought it was a great way to solve a problem. Now, a couple weeks later, as I see riots and violence still going on, I am even more grateful for people like my neighbors. Wisdom and grace trumps chaos any day.
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That’s exactly right! What a brave young man! Thank you for sharing 🙂 🙂
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Good to hear from you Jo. It’s nice to hear. Positive story in all of this isn’t it?
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If only we could all be a little more duck like. Hopefully in the near future people can more calmly and intelligently work to solve the problems of racial inequality, tension and distrust. We have serious problems in our country, but we also have some very good things going for us. Ducks of all kinds, colors and beliefs can share the pond…so lets work together to truly unite and clean that pond.
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What a wonderful comment. Of course we can and should share the pond. It will take effort, but can be done – we’re working on it right now. Thanks for your thoughts Bestadman!
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Thank you
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👍. Thanks for stopping by.
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Thank you Library lady for sharing this wonderful story. It gives me hope for the future!
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So true. With people like my neighbors out there, things have to get better. Thanks Mrs. Debbie!
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Both you and Duck are wise. This is a good approach to solving problems. Other approaches are needed too, I believe, such as strong and peaceful protests.
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I totally agree. At first the protests were out of control, and I’m sure far from what the organizers intended. But peaceful protesters who persist are hard to ignore and seem to be getting their point across. Thank goodness, It’s way past due.
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Lovely post. And you must write about anything you like. I don’t think anyone could hold you to account for not confining yourself to ‘travel’. Life is a journey in itself, so all your thoughts along the way are valid
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Your neighbours sound amazing! I love that they sought a dialogue with the policemen and invited them over. 🙂 Little steps like this help as well.
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I also love that they wouldn’t allow reporters to be there. The word got out and this could have been a big story, but it wasn’t allowed to happen.
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A wonderful post!
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Thanks, Nico. I know this is supposed to be a travel blog, but other things keep needing to be addressed.
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I understand!
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What a brave thing for your friends to do. I’m glad it went well. Of course this is the right way to tackle this problem. Sitting down and talking and especially listening are such important parts of the solution. I’m glad people are finally listening and trying to change things. Good post.
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I agree. To think outside the box like this when others were protesting and donning riot gear shows a lot of courage.
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Great post! And I agree, conversation is a good start, much better than all the chaos that’s currently going on.
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Thanks Nadia, the problem is so overwhelming, that you have to break it down into small pieces and try to tackle one at a time. Dinner is a step in the right direction.
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