The other day, a Chinese lady I work with made an interesting comment. She basically said that Americans are selfish. I don’t know if she said those exact words, but she said that Americans think about themselves more than people in China do. She didn’t say it in a demeaning way at all… it was more of a matter of fact comment about how our cultures differ.

I started to understand what she meant. Many people look out for themselves first before seeing if anyone else is in need. Then many of the people who do “help” others do it because they know it will give them a tax break or some other reward. The more I think about it, the more I see how selfish we are in all of the little things we do every day. I’m starting to think it’s becoming more and more normal to be selfish these days. What can we do to change this?

The Sacramento Kings showed a stereotypical video of abandoned buildings and burned out cars while introducing the Detroit Pistons during a game on Tuesday. They have since issued an apology for showing the images, but there is still some discussion going on about it. I came across this ESPN Radio discussion about the video. Most people who called in sounded like they thought it was ok, mostly because Detroit isn’t really all that nice of a city, so it was funny to them. Some people, even a Pacers fan, thought it was a low blow.

I personally don’t feel offended, but it is bad sportsmanship, even though they say Sacramento pokes fun at other teams too. Yeah, Detroit does have a bad image. I can attest to that, because I recently saw what was probably a drug house, completely engulfed in flames while driving down the expressway. But it’s well known that Detroit has been trying to turn around its image in time for the Super Bowl this winter. There are literally thousands of great people volunteering their time to try to make downtown Detroit a better place, and this is a cheap shot to all of them. I was fortunate enough to meet a few of those people last winter during the Motown Winter Blast, and it’s amazing how positive their attitudes were! I really think the story this winter will be how much Detroit has done to change the image of the downtown area.

I heard a noise outside that sounded like a rumble. I thought, “There’s no way it’s thundering. It’s November!” But that’s exactly what it was. It’s kind of nice to hear the thunder, because soon winter is going to settle in and we won’t hear any thunder for awhile. It’s been warm the last few days, more like September than November. Even though it’s raining right now, you can’t beat the weather!!

I’ve been noticing a lot lately that since the gas prices are so high, most people are driving slower on the expressway. I never thought most people would change their driving habits because of the prices. But it looks like they are, at least where I live. I wonder if it’s the same in higher traffic areas near big cities.

Well, I have to say that I’ve personally been driving slower too, right around the speed limit instead of at least a few over. With a couple of exceptions, I haven’t really seen many people zooming by me. I’m just glad that I still have my car and didn’t get a truck like I was thinking about awhile back.

Just the other day I was up in “Amish country” near Clare, MI, and I was surprised at what I saw. As you probably know, the Amish don’t allow many of the advancements of today’s society into their lives. They usually don’t allow anything that runs on fuel or electricity. But as I was driving by an Amish home, I saw a man mowing the lawn with a gas push-mower. And it wasn’t just any old mower, it seemed to be a nice (but well-used) commercial mower. Come to find out, the same Amish family got their first telephone a few years ago. It sits in a wooden phone booth near one of their barns. From what I hear, the Amish in the area have been a little more lenient lately.