I admit it. I watch the big O. Most weekdays, my roomie and I click on Channel 5 at 4 o'clock and willingly get sucked into the shocking and/or tear-jerking talk show that is Oprah.
This past Monday, I was overwhelmed with sadness as her interior designer, Nate Berkus, shared his personal and tragic account of his experience with the recent tsunami and the loss of his partner, Fernando (who was a well-known photographer).
My roommate and I stared at the screen with tears in our eyes and listened to the heart-breaking tale. As his story unfolded, he began to tell the stories not just of pain and confusion, but of hope and faith.
He told of those who saved his life and the heroes who helped others. He described the people who climbed up trees and held onto bandaged, bleeding hands for the hope that they would all see the brightness of the next day.
Even now, through religious and secular organizations, as well as individual donations, people around the world are raising money and doing all they can to help the victims of this historic tragedy (Oprah even donated $1 million to the Tsunami Relief Fund).
With acts such as those, when the world is brought together under tragedies and the prayer for human life, one wonders how the world can be full of such evil and hate.
To watch the world overcome its differences and discriminations for once in order to help rebuild Sri Lanka and the parts of India and Indonesia that were devastated by this disaster shows me that God placed angels on this earth. Real, living and breathing angels.
We are surrounded by angels -not just on a global perspective, but perchance on a societal view, also. However, I oftentimes fail to find one. As a society, we are bombarded by negative news. Our newspapers, magazines, news stations and tabloids all drown us in sadness, crime and the idiocy of our government. In society's eyes, the world is going to hell.
We are taught ways to improve ourselves (because we are never good enough), that sex brings acceptance and power (instead of love and commitment) and that above all, money will indeed buy us the happiness that inside we all secretly long for.
Perhaps it is time for someone to step into society's limelight and take a stance for the overlooked population of the world. The group of people who are happy with their lives but are searching for a place to put their hope and dreams and for someone to look up to.
But for now, if you succeed in finding an angel in our cultivating mess, please let me know ASAP.
What it all boils down to, eventually, are the angels who touch our lives every day.
They are the ones that randomly smile at you and inevitably brighten your morning. The friends who are there to listen to you cry and offer you advice so profound that is sounds like a quote right from Dr. Phil. They are people who send you falling to the floor with laughter and are rolling right there next to you. Everyday angels are the strangers you fall in love with every second of every hour.
Sometimes you can't pinpoint exact moments or instances, but they are the reason your eyes hold a twinkle or your heart dances for a certain moment. Everyday angels are the strangers who make you realize life is truly special.
So this is my overwhelming thank you, to all the angels who roam the campus and the world. To those who don't recognize that a smile can make someone's day or that a hello can save a heart from the depths of loneliness. You are what gives this world a reason to continue turning.
-Alex Jabs, a sophomore English major, will be The Post's Monday columnist for the remainder of winter quarter. Send her an e-mail at alexandra.jabs@ohiou.edu.
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