Pearls of Wisdom - It ain't my business. Or is it?

I usually try my best to abstain from getting into other peoples messes.  Much like the childhood game of telephone communications in SL become distorted and embellished upon. So any action by me would be based on false information and probably result in a bigger mess. And generally in time these messes clean themselves up and I can continue with my happy SLife.

Once in awhile the trouble festers and grows.  Over a period of time I hear the story retold. Eventually, when pieced together the picture becomes more clear. Recently I heard news of trouble brewing in SL amongst a group of people I socialize with.  As the story goes one person was using heavy handed techniques to push another person out of a social circle. It was essentially, "it's her or me, take your pick" combined with an under the breath "if you don't pick me you'll be sorry."  The fist time I heard this I rolled my eyes and thought, "oh brother, who does she think she is?"  Then I heard it again.  I thought, "maybe I should just keep clear of this for awhile."  And then I heard that her technique was working. That's when my brow furrowed and I began to ask, "why are people letting this happen?"  The simple answer I got was, "Because it isn't me, so why should I bother?"

Answers like this make my stomach turn. We are all part of a community and its absurd to think there is no consequence when we sit idly by while our neighbors are attacked.  When situations arise, like the one I've described above I'm reminded of this quote:

First they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Sometimes I can't find words of my own to express myself.  Or someone does it so much better. Here, Mr. Niemöller says in a few brief words what would take me an eternity to convey.  I'm sharing this with you (my 3 readers and a drop in) today because it has been helpful to me more times than I'd have liked. It is inevitable that you may find yourself in a similar situation as me and I'd encourage you to keep this quote in mind when deciding how you'd respond.

Note: The actual quote varies depending on what resource one refers to.  At this time I am more concerned about sharing the essence of the quote rather than a historical dissertation on it's origin.  Plenty of google hits if you're wanting more.