Linda's post today made a very good point and made me think about the conversation I had with the woman in Patient Services yesterday. I've decided to share it with you. I told her I was calling from Canada and that I belong to a ferret mailing list that includes members from around the world, and how some had expressed an interest in sending him cards and/or financial donations for his hospital bill. I needed to contact his family somehow regarding the financial side and where checks should be sent. This woman was literally speechless. The line was silent for a good minute. She then blurted out how happy she was to hear this, and couldn't believe how total strangers would want to do something like that. She was dumbfounded. In the end, due to the circumstances surrounding WHY (among other things) Mr. Serrano was in the hospital, she couldn't divulge any information or pass along a message to his family for them to contact me. I told her I understood, and thanked her for her time. She wished me luck in finding his brother and thanked **US**, the FML, for our efforts to help this man. Hmmm.....I don't think it's because she lives in New York. This would blow people away in Toronto, or San Francisco, or Washington, etc. Unless you live in a teeny-tiny town, no one seems to care much about people they don't know personally. I obviously can't speak for anyone else here, but when I read about Mr. Serrano and what he did to try and "save" his little Mico, I saw myself. That is EXACTLY what I would have done if it were one of my fur-kids. Foolish? Perhaps. There are those out there who would put themselves at risk for the sake of their children. Mine aren't human, but that's how much I love them. [Posted in FML issue 5197]