Confident in our future

I was at the WAVE the other night working real hard on justifying that second beer later, when the nice young attendant came up to me and said my car had been hit in the parking lot, the police and driver of the other vehicle were outside.

A bit miffed about being interrupted, I walked out into the evening rain to the old beast I drive. I was pleasantly surprised to see the driver of the vehicle who had dinged me had called the police and was waiting to meet before leaving. The sheepish and embarrassed young man mumbled an apology, the officer took insurance and phone data, handed me a scrap of paper with names and numbers, we shook hands and a few minutes later I went back to finish my work out.

In the midst of much angst in newspapers and locker rooms about the state of the world, politics, Americas future, public schools, decay in next generations I had just experienced a Penguin Plunge of reality.

The young boys could have easily driven off. In that event, I would have come out after my work out, discovered the dent, cursed the state of the world, stomped around the parking lot for a while and never discovered the fender denter. Instead the next generation acted with courage, honesty and respect.

It was a reminder to me that the next time I decide to buy an assault rifle or build a fortress to protect myself from the coming apocalypse, I just might be better served donating that money to our unfinished new high school. That is a weapon that will arm our future generations to truly compete in an ever-changing world.

We have lived in the Flathead for a decade now. I am often reminded of the quality of our residents including those young men and women who are carrying us forward into the whirlwind of this new century in a way that makes me quite confident that we will be just fine. Happy Holidays to you all, peace on earth, good will toward men.

— Gary Danczyk