I’m Christian and Sabrina is Muslim, so I guess we should be enemies; I bought her a tall strawberry frappuccino. As we moved outside I thought that if I were a foreign diplomat, I would always make sure to bring the world leaders I meet with a strawberry frappuccino. I would walk into the Japanese embassy to meet with a diplomat visiting from Tokyo. I would walk in holding two ice cold frapps and Mr. Yamamoto would first look at me with a blank but dignified expression, I of course would have a smile plastered on my face—I love the art of gift giving.
“うそです！”(“Na ah!”) he would finally exclaim as I push his water aside and place the drink in front of him. “本当ですよ！やまもとーさんはスターバックスがすきだ希望しますよ！”(“Uh huh! I hope you like Starbucks, Mr. Yamamoto!”) I would take my seat as he uses his straw to tease the whipped cream lightly balancing on the surface of the drink with the skill that comes from using chopsticks all his life. I'd drop my straw on the marble floor attempting to emulate his skill and would have to drink mine from the cup. “苺の味が飲んだことがありませんが、おいしですよ。(“You know, I’ve never had this flavor before, but it is delicious.”) “そうです。”(“I know, right”) I'd groan as I endure a brain freeze, a punishment for eagerness when handling cold desserts. We would both sit quietly for a moment in our own little worlds of strawberry deliciousness, before I begin, “今、始めましょう。。。” (“Now, let’s begin…”)
I would be a kick-ass dignitary. All the other world dignitaries would wish they were me, or would want to hang out with me, smoke black and milds, and work out peace.
Sabrina and I were speaking about peace. I explained to her how much evil was in the world and how I was ready to turn my attention onto others. She shared stories with me of the good she has done and seen others do. I got excited thinking of the small projects I could do; I felt empowered, like most women must feel after Oprah gets done with them.
The sky was crystal clear as if God had just finished polishing the globe and I was in a good mood. “You know, I know I can’t change the world alone, but I can do good.” I explained to her as I was deciding whether it was worth the work to get to the whipped cream at the bottom of my cup. “Exactly, even if it is just one small project at a time, it can inspire others.” She agreed. She put it like this, “It’s like if you wanted to throw amazing parties all over the world, if you travel around and try to throw 10 crazy parties all at once, you’ll run out of money and you’ll just throw 10 sucky parties. But if you focus on throwing one monumental party, it will inspire the people who went to that party to throw epic parties, and people that go to those parties will be inspired.” I wondered if sometime during the party I could turn down the music and instruct everyone on the importance of throwing parties and some resources where they could learn more on throwing parties. They would love it because it would be brief, and I would use a lot of pictures in my powerpoint.
Sabrina put it perfectly, and I think that’s how helping the world works. Far too many people are disturbed by the injustices of the world, but feel like they can’t do anything to change it. That’s a lie. Joining and working toward a cause can, volunteering at a shelter or school can, donating and raising money can. Sabrina helped me realize that it isn’t the people hurting others who are the reason for the state of the world, it’s the much larger majority not doing anything that is.
Song: Him- Lily Allen
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