You know those stories about things that happen to Arabic-speaking people in American airports? I hope you read this one, a note from the poet and children’s book author Naomi Shihab Nye. I found it through Book, Book, Book but it’s evidently been making the rounds.
Not that it’s more true than the other stories, vaddevah dat means. Just that, well, it’s a big world, with lots of stories in it, and as the woman says “This is the world I want to live in.” Which of course means knowing both kinds of stories, and ideally doing something about them.
So, if you are having a bad day, or having a good day, or just having some sort of day-like thing that could use a bit of improvement, please read it. While you are thinking about it, keep in the back of your mind how close this story comes to becoming the other story—and how close the other story comes to becoming this one.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.