Heroes. Honest-to-goodness, cynicism-snuffing heroes.

The news, quite naturally, is primarily focused on various misdeeds, crimes, immoralities, incompetencies, and stupidities. A follower of the news can be forgiven for holding a rather dim view of humanity, especially given the Bush administration's recent spectacular contributions to the pool of unpleasant news to cover. So it's notable when a news story comes along wherein everyone has just done the right thing. It's a welcome reminder that people, on the whole, are not so bad as all that.

In the recent plane crash in the Hudson, everyone involved seem to exhibit competence, grace, calm, and compassion. The pilot, most notably, not only skillfully landed the wounded plane, but apparently stayed on board until all passengers had left to make sure everyone got out safely. Nearby ferry and boat operators came to the rescue. I read that although some passengers began to panic, some others took charge and calmed everyone down. If any of those people had acted less benevolently or capably, surely there would have been a death toll.

Dan and I used to have an ongoing joke about populating a dream village with all the people we came across who were particularly kind, warm, funny, able, etc.. e.g., "That guy's definitely the barista in our village," or "She could be the morning news anchor in our village!" Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger is the pilot in our village!