Restoring Humanity

So I'm breaking the mold a little bit tonight. Between frisbee, trying to fight off becoming sick (thanks coworkers), and long days at the office, I'm already burnt out. And it's only tuesday! Anyway - let's dive into it. I'm not going provide a story this evening, but I'll be showing something that is pretty damn amazing.

As you all know I was fortunate enough to travel to Spain during Christmas this past holiday season and travel about. What I didn't know, was that the country was in a state of economic crisis. I was actually caught off guard when Paige brought it up. I hadn't seen it anywhere in the news and I frequent CNN every morning. It was shocking to hear that Spain was in the same boat as Greece and Ireland, especially since it hadn't really seemed to catch wind here in America. But as I spent more time there, I began seeing the signs. The closed businesses, protests, and vandalized government banks. Yet, the people always seemed to remain upbeat. Sure, I bumped into a few who were less friendly, but as a whole, everyone still had a smile on their face. They hid their troubles well - never letting them surface. And I'll be honest to say that I don't think that'd be the same here in America. We're not nearly in the same national debt and people have become ornery, short-tempered, projecting their issues/troubles on everyone around them. I was lucky enough to meet a wide variety of people while in Spain - teachers who invited me into their classrooms, a warm jovial baker who had to honestly be one of the friendliest souls I've ever met, and not once did I feel like they were imposing any economic issues they might have been feeling.

So where am I going with this? Recently I found a video posted by Coke (yes the soda brand) that only further shows how amazing the people in Spain are. The basic principal behind the video (since it is in Spanish and I can't translate it for you) is a pay-it-forward ATM. The machine offers 100 euro (roughly  $130) to anyone who wants it, as long as they agree to use it for good - however they interpret it. All they have to do is agree and BAM the money is theirs. No string attached. One would assume not many would actually follow through on the agreement - just take the money and run. But you'd be surprised, the majority of the people that agreed, actually went out and put the money to good use. Coke also prompted that they shoot a video and upload it to their website - which the following piece is comprised of. For those of you who aren't too keen or up to date with your spanish, diapers were bought for a woman with babies, basketballs were given to kids, tortillas were given to people passing by on a cold night.

This really just restores hope in humanity. I mean, over 6 million people are unemployed in Spain right now - that's over 25% and yet, people are still kind enough to take free money, that they could easily use themselves, and use it to better the lives if complete strangers.

Seriously, just seeing people act so selflessly leaves me speechless.