Despite the headlines, the world is not full of evil

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with the world today.

We hear the stories every day, of rapes and murders, theft and fraud and every other horrible thing imaginable. Or unimaginable. You’d be hard-pressed to turn on a television on any given day and not see something about this shooting or that stabbing.

It’s downright discouraging at times and sometimes I just can’t help but think people, as a whole, are going downhill. Fast.

But there are so many other stories we don’t hear every day. There are so many good people out there who we never hear or talk about –good people who do good things.

It’s the stranger who stops at the side of the road to see if you need help when you pulled over to make a phone call on your cellphone.

It’s the couple in front of you in line at the store who offer to let you go in front of them, because you have three items and they have a cart full.

It’s the neighbor who brings you a box of apples for no reason other than they have extra and want to share them.

It’s the coworker who offers to just hang out with you at home because you don’t always feel safe there.

It’s the family members who drop what they’re doing to help you load your belongings into a trailer when you’re moving from one city to another.

It’s the friend from high school you haven’t seen for years who can tell from a simple text message that you need someone to talk to.

It’s a genuine smile as you’re walking down the street, the small talk at the bank. It’s “thank you” and “you’re welcome” and meaning it.

It’s out there.

There’s been a lot of talk about crime in Moses Lake lately. A couple weeks ago, the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office released the results of an online crime survey; most responders thought crime in the county is increasing. And discussion of gang violence in the area is pretty much ongoing.

But what we don’t talk about is all that good stuff I just mentioned. I’ve experienced all of that right here in Moses Lake, and that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t hear about the crime in the area – it’s important we be aware of any potential dangers so we can protect ourselves and our loved ones. I just think it’s important we remember that people aren’t all bad. There is goodness left in this world and we can often find it right next door.

Kaci Boyd is the Columbia Basin Herald paginator and lays out news pages. She is an extremely pleasant person to work with and her coworkers agree, she would do all of the good things she mentioned in her column.