Community Essay, Research Paper
The Individual and the Community
Bill Bove
Eng. 101
Evertson
T – R
0825
Man, I?m Glad I Eat With Utensils.
The concept of community has been with us since man was first able to exploit the use of
his opposable thumbs. Think about it, your name?s Og, a handsome young Cro-Magnon
that has just figured out that thumbs are pretty cool things. So, as your basking in the
delight of the discovery of your new found friends, out of the mist walks Zog, head down
transfixed at his new found playthings. Since language has yet to be invented, you smile at
each other in delight of the discovery you both have made. Perhaps this is where the
motioning of thumbs up is now meant all is well, but that is a tangent best not addressed
here. Since both of you are now bipedal and have learned to overcome the pitfalls of those
more gravitationally challenged, another commonality exists. YOUR HUNGRY!!!! As a
convoluted cerebral cortex is still a few years away, you answer your growling tummy in
the only way you know how, ?kill something?, or thoughts to that effect because
remember, you don?t have any language skills yet. Come on, your still tripping on those
wiggly things on the inner parts of your hands. So this is where the spirit of community is
first realized, its much easier to enlist the help of Zog to kill something big and tasty, than
to be involuntarily vegetarian another day. Years pass and the community in which you
live is becoming more and more complex, heck you even invited a guy named Shemp (his
parents were very progressive) to the group because he brought this nifty thing called fire.
Now, meat is pretty damn swell, but eating it tar-tar all these years brought about a bit of
culinary stagnation, and this newest members contribution did not go unrecognized.
Shemp also seemed to have a few more wrinkles in his brain than did his thick browed
counter parts so he was deemed the leader of the newly evolving clan. This brings even
more complexity into the community because now we are forming class structures. This
continues on for thousands of years and low and behold we have a huge city with all the
problems and concerns of modern day. My point to all this is that the ideal of community
is timeless. But the ideas upon which communities function change with the ever
increasing complexity within that specific group. I don?t think an Aboriginal tribe from the
African planes has the same concerns and issues that we do. However; that common
thread of community runs through both of us. The ideals upon which communities are
based are not tangible items, they are timeless commonalities, a spiritual sense, if you will.
The ideas of community are much different. I believe these parallel directly, the forward
progress of ourselves, and with that, the restructuring and redefining of a societal whole.
I?m convinced our ideas of community will remain in a constant state of flux for as long as
humankind is the dominant species on the planet.
Today Is A Good Day To Be Alive
It started off as any other beautiful Sunday Spring day, Light puffy clouds in the sky and
still the slightest bite to the air to remind us that Winter had left not long ago. The day had
been dragging on and boredom had reared its ugly head. My roommate at the time, a six
foot five, three hundred twenty pound hulk of a man and myself set out to do some four
wheeling in my Jeep to quell the boredom bug. A bit of background is necessary before
continuing. Gene and myself were neophyte paramedics hungry to save the world and
keep the grim reaper in check. We were not ?Ricky Rescues?, a term used loosely in the
trade to describe someone as being a tad overzealous to commit there acts of unselfish
goodness. ?Ricky Rescues? carry a plethora of tools off duty in there P.O.V?s (personally
owned vehicles) to carry out there remarkable acts of ?heroism?. I?ve nothing against this
breed, but after twenty four hours of saving lives you would think they?ve gotten their fill.
I?m not going to look the other way if you end up in a patch of bad luck, but it had better
be a pretty big patch. If you fall off your bike and end up with some shredded knees, damn
the blood, I?m outta there. ?Ricky Rescue? however would have his mobile I.C.U. with
him and be orgasmic at the chance to treat you. I carry a pocket mask and a pair of gloves.
If you?re definitely in the big patch I?ll be there, but as soon as the hired help arrives, I?m
outtee. Been there done that does not began to personify my career. Big hulking Gene
follows those same ideals as well. If I?m hurt though, I would definitely want him taking
care of me. We we?re out at the river creeping over hills and ruts just having a good old
time but soon this got tiresome and we got hungry so we headed home. The Jeep was
filled with idle chatter as we drove up Power Road to get to the freeway. Suddenly Gene
told me to turn around and said ?I think we?ve got something pretty bad over there?.
Remember, Gene is no ?Ricky Rescue?. If something is bad enough to catch his eye, its
bad. I made a U- turn and could not believe what
that lay motionless, defeated by the wall it had impacted. Around the car a small group of
about ten people. We both felt the rush of Adrenaline as we got into life saving mode. As
we jumped out of the Jeep we identified ourselves as paramedics and began to assess the
situation. I?ll never forget this, someone from the crowd said ?Thank God the paramedics
are here? we both looked at each other and raised an eyebrow in silent agreement of how
cool that was. Well this chap had definitely found the big patch of bad luck and fate or
devine intervention had brought us together. Gene and I were a seamless life saving
machine. I say machine because you don?t think in situations like this, you react and fall
back on your training. There really was no remarkable trauma on the man. He was
wearing his seatbelt and it appeared most of the energy from the impact was taken on the
passenger side. After we had him out of the car we started C.P.R. because all I had was
my pocket mask and some gloves. What I wouldn?t give to be a ?Ricky Rescue? right now
and have some of my A.L.S. gear with me. Gene crunched on his chest and I breathed for
him for what seemed an eternity. Then the faint whine of sirens began to fill the air. The
fire department finally arrived and we knew the crew, so they kept us included while
working him. It turned out that they only had one medic on the truck so it wasn?t just
professional courtesy it was necessity. Finally, with the arrival of the fire truck came the
A.L.S. gear. I can now provide this man some truly definitive care. The seen flowed, three
paramedics buzzing around one person all with one collective thought -BEAT THE
REAPER-. I intubated , Gene got the I.V., and Ron (the Mesa medic) Defibrillated. After
we got some drugs onboard and one more dose of Edison medicine we actually got a
pulse back and spontaneous respiration. HOLY SHIT!!! we actually saved this guy. He
remained tubed because although he was breathing on his own, it was only 4-6 a minute
and we needed to supplement his breathing with a B.V.M. The ambulance arrived and Ron
rode off to the hospital with our ?save?. Gene and I high fived each other and rode home
silent with big grins on our face. Nothing needed to be said. The next day I was on duty so
I made it a point that if I got the hospital he was staying at I?d pop in and see how he was
doing. Well to my surprise he was doing great. I don?t normally check in on patients
because it gets to personal. What is normally a body we work on and do our best to save
became a husband, a father and a grandfather. I stuck my head through the door to see a
room filled with family, and introduced my self. He sat up and told me his name. Now the
body had a name and a life. He stuck out his hand and offered a firm shake. His daughter
gave me a big hug and said ?thank you for saving my father?. A flood of emotion ran
through me. We shook hands again before I left, and told him to take care. This was the
most incredible call I have ever run in my career for two reasons. First its the only true
save I?ve had, yes I?ve had other cardiac saves, but the definitions are long and technical.
And second I didn?t have to be there, I.E. I wasn?t on duty. That?s the icing on the cake,
we were in the right place at the right time and had the privilege to do something
exceptionally special.
Domo Arigotto Mr. Roboto
We define ourselves as clear thinkers, and yet the majority of us are nothing more than
lemmings. Personally I don?t like being spoon fed my information. But the majority of our
populous use lack of time as the paramount excuse to rely on broadcast media as there
sole source of information. You may not like my opinion and that?s fine. But ask yourself
this before judging . From where do you obtain your information? Do you simply
metabolize in front of the television nightly, or are you an active participant in the quest
for information? In gathering this information its no longer a search for the truth but more
a quest for the least amount of lies. Granted there still is a code of ethics followed in
journalism among the more reputable publishers and broadcasters, but its as if the
community as a whole doesn?t even care what its being told anymore. Look at tabloid
television or tabloid magazines, is this a reflection of our societies collective mind set?
You?ve heard the adage ?lets give ?em what they want? so it makes me wonder what the
Nielsons are all about as of late. Among my circle of friends at least, we can not believe
the tripe that is getting countless hours of television exposure or the hundreds of pages in
newspapers and so called news magazines. Our society has become nothing more than
robots accepting of the commands the media chooses to throw at them. If you believe
nothing but what you are told, and, even if you have the where-with-all to disagree but do
nothing about it, than I hope you have a parachute because its a long way down over that
cliff!
Joints
?man I?m glad I eat with utensils?-Me
?today is a good day to be alive?-Anon.
?domo arigotto mr. roboto? -Styx paradise theater