David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

There’s hatred, evil and injustice, but this is the ‘real’ America, too

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When a University of Texas student crushed his wrist and needed a trip to an emergency room, he called Uber in Austin for a ride. But when Beni showed up to drive the injured man to a hospital, he did more than provide transportation.

“This is my Uber driver Beni,” the grad student wrote when he posted this photo on Reddit Friday evening. “He took me to the hospital and [is] keeping me company since most of my family lives out of the state.”

It’s just a small act of decency, but the story made me happy. I found myself thinking that this is the real America I know. It’s a place where most people will help each other when there’s need. It’s a place where most people are still more decent, more humane and more loving than we sometimes remember.

About a month ago, an artist who goes by Childish Gambino released a video for a song he called “This is America.” It’s a cynical and one-sided portrayal of racism and injustice. The evil the song portrays does exist. I agree with the need for change to eliminate politically driven injustice, but I was bothered by the title. Is this depressing and cynical picture of America fair and accurate?

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Trip to Memory Lane reminds me some relationships deserve to die

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It was late Thursday evening and I was on the way back from showing a house to someone in the county south of Birmingham. On the way back, a traffic problem on I-65 meant I was routed through a suburb where I haven’t been in years. I found myself just a few blocks from the home of a woman I once dated — and I spent the next hour or so thinking about the past again.

I found myself wondering what I’d say to her if I ran into this woman in her neighborhood. What do you say to someone who you used to know intimately and then the relationship ends with an ugly screaming halt, leaving two people strangers in the future?

I hadn’t thought seriously about her in years, but I realized tonight that I wouldn’t want to rehash the past if I talked with her. I was very unhappy with the way our relationship ended, but I had given her reasons to be unhappy with me. I’ve blamed her for how things ended, but where do you draw the line? Do you mark the fault at how she handled things at the end? Or do you go back to my mistakes and blame me for creating the problems?

I suddenly realized it didn’t matter. I was grateful that she once loved me, but I was equally grateful that the relationship ended. Some relationships between two decent people need to end — and this had been one of them.

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Loving father’s pride in daughter easily bridges our language gap

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When I pulled into my driveway this evening, I had to be careful to avoid getting in the way of a softball. The man next door was outside with his daughter again. The little girl is around 8 or 9 years old and he was throwing balls high into the air for her to practice catching fly balls.

“Great catch!” I called to her as she got to a difficult ball just in time. Then I asked her dad — jokingly — if she’s going to be a softball star.

“She already is,” he said as he beamed with pride. “She plays on the community team and they’ve been winning tournaments. They won in Tuscaloosa next weekend. If they win one more, they go to the state tournament.”

I don’t know this family well, but we always wave and say hello. They’re originally from somewhere in Latin America and the parents’ accented English is sometimes difficult for me to understand.

This evening, though, I didn’t have any trouble understanding. He was a loving father whose pride in his little girl was unmistakable. His love for his daughter transcended our language gap.

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