Kudos to Roger the Jester
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers
We just returned from the 30th Old Songs Festival of music and dance, held in Altamont, NY. Among the performers, there is a clown called "Roger the Jester". He is one of the few who return every single year. In his act, he is mute, never saying anything. But this time, they presented him with a special thanks, one which required him to speak.
It seems he has gone to Haiti twice recently to help the earthquake victims in the only way he knows how, as a clown. As he said, there are seven things that everyone needs in order to exist. Most we know: food, water, shelter, freedom from oppression... But the last was "play" and that is why he was there, to allow them to have some fun for the first time in so many months. Before he was done with the brief things he had to say, Roger was openly bawling at the thought of the terrible conditions those poor folks have to endure and their grateful reaction to him for bringing some minutes of fun to their lives. And so were the 500 people in the audience, including me.
People who give of themselves in ways such as this are unsung heroes in this world. Nothing dramatic or earthshattering, barely newsworthy, but they are out there helping in the ways they can, one on one, doing something meaningful without expectation of any reward other than having done what they could when it was most needed.
I am adding Roger the Jester as one of my MySpace heros, as a representative of the many people who, when it's needed, cut through the crap and just DO what needs to be done.
