Making A Difference In Your Neighborhood: Fill & Download for Free

The crows in your neighborhood know who you are by sight: they’re judging you, and they’re discussing you with their friends. Upset a crow enough and you may find yourself being harassed by entire flocks... for years.How do we know this? Researchers at the University of Washington captured and tagged crows while wearing different masks with distinct faces (everybody knows crows consider capturing and tagging an egregious insult). We don’t know exactly how, but the word spread through the entire local crow population. Before long, and even years later, any researcher wearing the “bad face” mask was harassed by scores of crows not just all over campus, but throughout the entire metro area of Seattle. Even the crows who had never before seen those faces somehow knew to loudly hate on anyone wearing it.Definitely judging you.Crows are freakily brilliant. They solve problems requiring multiple solutions and integrated steps. They build tools from scratch. They learn from watching humans and innovate on what they’ve seen.On the positive side, crows are known to reward kind behavior from humans. If you’re consistently nice to them, they may even start bringing you presents.Am I fearful of crows? No, I think they’re awesome… and I go out of my way to be nice to them. But I’m fearful of missing out on appreciating how amazing our corvid friends (or frenemies or foes) really are!

This is a question I’d love to answer.If you’d said Superman, or Thor, or Hulk, I would have ignored it. Those are heroes who use incredible power to save the world. That’s not realistic for the rest of us.But Spider-Man… he’s different. He’s always been different.Unlike the Avengers, the X-Men, and any other groups, Spider-Man isn’t about saving the world. He isn’t about making a big difference for people everywhere, he is a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.Spidey wants to make a difference for the little guy. He lives for the small moments, when he can make some regular person’s day a little brighter.A lot of times that means Spidey does things that don’t require superhuman power.In Homecoming, he found time to give a lady directions to her destination. Did he need super-strength, super-speed, or spider-sense for that? Of course not. He saw a need, and he filled it.We can do the same.Obviously none of us are as powerful as Spider-Man, but any of us could do some of the things he was doing. We could give people directions, help people cross the street, call the police if we witness a crime; it’s all doable.The most important thing if you want to be a hero like Spider-Man is simply the mentality. You have to think to yourself, “how can I make someone’s day.” What difference can you make in someone’s life today? Maybe it’s doing something nice for someone you know, maybe it’s doing something nice for a stranger.There’s things any of us could do for other people, if we take the time to watch for those opportunities and act.See that guy? He’s a hero like Spider-Man. He used his umbrella to keep another lady dry, even though he was soaked because of it.See that girl? She’s a hero like Spider-Man. She helped a blind man hail a cab, when she saw no one was stopping for him.If they can do it, you can too.Be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man of your neighborhood, and make a difference. Just don’t try to climb up walls or leap over cars. There’s only so much a wannabe Spider-Man can safely do…

Is the US proud to be a nation of immigrants? Yes. My own mother was an immigrant. Why are anti-immigration politics so popular? Simply because not all immigrants are equal in status, nor should they be considered so. Consider these different analogies:A family approaches your home and knocks on the front door. They are polite and respectful. They explain to you that they desire to move into your neighborhood, and ask for your assistance to get settled into their new home.You live in a quiet neighborhood, in a nice home with a fenced yard. One evening you become aware that a group of people are gathering just outside your back fence, so you go out to investigate. The group is not bashful in telling you that they intend to come into YOUR home to live with you. They inform you: “You can invite us in, or we will break down your fence and come in anyway!” They begin shaking the fence and throwing rocks at you. “We want to live the life that you have earned.”OK, one more:3. You’e sitting in your living room watching TV at the end of a long working day when you hear a crash near the back of the house. A family has crawled through a window and entered your home. The husband goes to the fridge & makes himself a sandwich, then comes in flops down on the couch & puts his feet up on your coffee table. The wife, begins rummaging through drawers as if searching for something, and the children are running up and down the halls screaming, laughing and making a commotion. A teenager wants your car keys, and when you refuse, he goes “Ballistic”!All are technically “immigrants.” How a person enters “Our Home” makes a significant difference to most Americans. Come through the front door, show respect, and an wish to join us, you will be accepted and assisted as a friend. On the flip side: Crawl through an open window at the back of the house, storm our fence, throw rocks, or kick in our door and you’ll likely be met with repelling force.There is a way to become an American Citizen, 750,000 people do it every year. Most of us feel that if you don’t qualify, or can’t be bothered to “Come through our front door”, you have no right to “Demand” anything. You are always welcome to “Join” us,but you will never be welcome to “Invade” us.