I overheard a conversation the other day. Two men were talking about the way things had fallen into place for a friend of one man’s sister. He was relating the ways each obstacle facing this woman had been overcome by the action of the one person in the best position to help with that particular problem.

One person had found extra hours for her to work at companies that belonged to friends of his. Another had reduced the rent a bit until the end of the school year so that she wouldn’t need to move her kids before the school year ended. Another had given her some information on social service programs available to her. The woman in question had to do the work — hard work — to make the most of these opportunities, and she had. She had excellent motivation in the form of the welfare of her children and her pride in herself.

It brought to mind another conversation I had a few weeks ago with some people who had come to the U.S. as adults. One of them asked if America was really that different than it was when I was a kid. They wondered if there had ever been a time when all Americans had worked toward a common goal.

That gave me considerable pause for reflection. Certainly today I don’t feel that politicians are working toward a common goal, but do I really believe that we as individuals are not working toward a common goal? Was there ever a time when partisan politics didn’t botch things up at the highest levels of government? 

As for government, I honestly don’t know. I had just turned eight when Kennedy was assassinated. One of the first times I could vote was about the time of Watergate. To me it seems that politics has always been more about a politician’s career than it is about serving the people who voted that politician into office. So I guess the nice way to say it is that I’m jaded.

As for people pulling together for a common goal? I’ve never met a parent — not a single one — who was not trying to do the best he could for his children. What constitutes best may differ, but the welfare of his children is the driving force. Which brings us back to the conversation about the woman in difficult times and her children.

If every one of us pitched in with the one thing we can offer to make the world a better place, we might not be able to save starving children in Somalia, but we could definitely improve the life of the next generation of Americans. Maybe doing that would cause a ripple that would benefit those elsewhere as well. I don’t know. But I do know that taking an action here can only be a positive thing.

What about you? What do you think?