The Power of Four

I came across this speech by Tom Hanks a few years ago. It is his address to the 2005 graduating class at Vassar College. While its opening metaphor of gridlock made me think of traffic and the rush and occasional inconvenience of urban life, its underlying message made me reflect on urban isolation. If there was a movement to help, in whatever way that may be, I feel like a sense of community would be more prone to develop even in the most rat-invested and depressing urban environments. The two things I noticed when I came from California, was that people actually smoke cigarettes, and people actually hold the door. I do not know if the phenomenon only exists in the northeastern community or at the entrances of Snell, Rebecca’s, and my dorm, but it was a pleasant surprise and certainly a help when my hands were full. That simple action made me feel like I was part of the Northeastern community, and the Boston community by proxy. That simple action of holding the door for someone could combat the harsh life and the dreary nature of life alone in the concrete jungle. The same concept could be applicable to the beautification of the urban (guerilla gardening). If just four out of one hundred people took it upon themselves to plant a flower, there would be 21,704 more flowers in the city (according to the 2010 census). I think that is amazing. Although the last third of the speech is a slightly more applicable to those graduating soon, the part about “what the hell do I do now?” caused me to reflect on the comments made about Anthropology as a major. “What the hell do I do now?” I believe it was eloquently stated by someone, “whatever you want to do.”  I encourage everyone to what his speech and take the message to heart, the first link is the first 9min and 30 sec of his speech and the following link is the last two and half min.