The Runaway Bus To The Land Of Hate

​I had to drop my car off at the auto repair shop this morning for some brake work. I live close enough that I could walk home while I wait on the mechanics to complete the work.

On my walk home along Broad Street here in Short Pump, I saw a GRTC bus stop. I stood and watched the people unload. The people looked like moms getting a ride to work, older people showing up for medical appointments, families coming to do some shopping.

I watched them unload and felt beauty. But - sadly - I also felt the hate I've recently heard and seen written about the very same bus service.

Last weekend, there was a 'teen takeover' at the Short Pump mall. Seems there's some national trend of middle and high school students using social media to plan large gatherings at public places.

I've read up a bit on these takeovers. They don't sound like a great idea. But they also sound like a far better idea than some of the ideas this former teen used to come up with.

In the aftermath of this event, I made the mistake of reading the comments on social media. Sometimes knowing where the mines are planted doesn't prevent you from walking through the mine fields.

A surprisingly large percentage of the comments suggested the bus system is to blame. The same bus system I observed this morning. The veiled (and not so veiled) suggestion was that since the bus system started bringing people from the city to Short Pump, Short Pump has somehow become less desirable.

As in, we had a good thing going here until those people started showing up. It is many of these same commenters who loudly oppose government initiatives and services that would meet people where they are, and save their fellow humans the 2 and 3 hour round trip bus rides to get them elsewhere.

I walked with a friend last night. A young lady who interned for me years ago. She told me she had deleted all of her social media. She said the aftermath of that has been refreshing. She said it has helped restore her mental health and give her hope.

I am not a perfect person. In fact, I am quite flawed. But one thing I do treasure about me - it's something I look in the mirror and can actually love - is that I do not feel hate for anyone. And when I begin to inch toward feeling even a hint of it, it makes me very uneasy.

Jesus does not scold me louder than when I begin to feel unkind toward any human.

I am discovering that social media, in all of its forms, has us on a runaway bus to a place where we will all hate one another. I have always sensed social media WANTED to do that, but I believed in the idea that love could win out.

I do still believe that love can win out. I really believe it will. But it won't on social media. The social media army and its AI allies is a force online love cannot defeat.

In the real world watching people getting off a bus and living life is a magical experience. I can't imagine how that could ever be an ugly thing.

Until I go to social media....

My young friend wanted to walk with me last night to tap into any wisdom I might be able to offer. This morning I think it was her wisdom that spoke loudest.