Can one person make a difference?

Hi Ted, let me tell you a little story.

One day, a man was walking along the beach and saw, in the distance, a young boy throwing pebbles into the sea. As he got closer, his curiosity deepened and as he got closer still. he saw that they were not pebbles the young boy was throwing, they were mollusks.

Curiosity grew and so he approached the boy and asked him:

"Why are you throwing these into the sea?"

The boy looked at him and said "You see sir, these things get washed up by the tide and if left here on the beach they would die"

The man looked around and saw there were millions of them. He turned to the boy and said "...but there are millions of them. What you are doing will not make any difference"

The boy looked down and picked up another and threw it into the sea. He then turned to the man and said "... it did to that one."

This is a good question Ted...

I think it all depends....on what exactly that difference is & how big of an impact it has. Say if people decided not to use the elevators as a potty then sure that would make a difference but only to those individuals who use the elevators and the unfortunate ones who must clean it up but I think if we all change something a little more impactful (?) like carpooling...not littering... etc.. we could definitely see a change once we look at the bigger picture and doing these things are very small but could do tremendous good for the environment.

Did I miss the memo...is everyone putting their natural hottenss on display?? I have to go sift through pictures of myself to try to find ones of me sober to put on Y/A....LOL....Wow Ted you are man candy!

Theoretically yes... but I would think human nature would push us to stop doing the easiest wrong thing... so we would end up with more people correctly filing income tax returns or not stealing towels from hotels... I doubt that we could encourage a wife beater to make beating his wife the one thing he changed. So the world would be a better place, but if we really wanted to make huge change I am still down for the national kill a criminal day.

Edit:

I agree it would have to have some qualification factors... I mean we wouldn't want to kill towel theives, but with prison populations the way they are I am sure that we would have plenty of qualifying criminals... just the scum of the earth, abusers, murderers, non-tippers, rapist, large scale theives, armed robbers, molestors, people who drive 10mph slower than speed limits in the fast lane... you get the picture...

You are right though your idea is much "kinder"

Wow babe! EVERYONE knows your hot!! Looking good and it is a good thing I am in the sharing mood. How wants a ride? Now line up and get out your money, we have a trip to finance!

I think that is a brilliantly simple idea, Ted - and simply brilliant.

It would make an enormous difference to the overall state of the world, without a doubt. Of course, the major argument against says "what's the point of trying if not everybody takes part and does (or stops doing) their bit?"

.Can a small unilateral gesture make any kind of impact on the general state of affairs? Who knows? The thing is, it doesn't really hurt to try, does it.

You got ME thinking anyway, mate.

PS: Loving the new avatar, Ted. You've never looked better!

One person can make a difference, and even if it is to only one person it is still making the world a better place. Acts of kindness go unnoticed far more frequently than they don't, but that is not the point. Doing the right thing is, and for the right reasons...so you can feel ok with yourself.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" This, for me sums it all up for me. If you want to see a difference, you must be the difference. You want to do something about the obesity epidemic in America and the overall unhealthy lifestyles? Good, change your own lifestyles, eat well, work out. That's how you make a true difference. By changing yourself, and only by changing yourself, can progress, chance, and improvement be made.

I think it would....There are so many ppl that one thing would make a big difference just like the ripple effect. Some may go unnoticed but eventually it would catch on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUE-wMQBv8

I think if we used Maggie's idea and put down the toilet seats we would have less wet bottoms....lol

Ted why didn't you tell me you were an underwear model....

I think it would make a bit of a difference. I always notice that when I wait a couple of extra seconds and hold the door for someone entering a building, they will do the same for the next person coming.

so maybe...

I think the world might be a much better place or it might go unnoticed

well, if they each picked the same 1 thing to stop doing. 1 person can make a difference. that's why i'm doing Earth Hour (: