Random Acts of Kindness

In which ten or so computers from Piedmont Airlines find their way to the Global Classroom, our virtual schoolteacher finds her way to Excel Inc. headquarters, a little Italian man finds a pushcart, and our ICNet hosts travel across the Big Ditch to the land of brass, glass, and noblesse oblige.

The machines used by a provider are important, they must work, or nothing happens. But it is the people who make up a system, and give it a sense of being.

Often, these lives extend beyond the electronic world and into the physical world of our daily activities, and it is then we see the real impact of all this computing.

Such a thing occured this week, here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA, when Piedmont Airlines / USAir, in the person of Samson A. Shupe, donated a large (see photo) number of computers to Patrica Weeg's Global Classroom.

You will note from the photograph the stack of cpu's is quite taller than the diminutive Ms. Weeg, who beams beside them quite happily. The gentleman to the left is, of course, Mr. Shupe, who beams happily as well.

We reported in recent issues that the truly amazing and wonderful DELMAR SPIDERS, the young people who populate the Global Classroom and give it life, are in need of computers and now, a place to compute.

Piedmont/USAir's generous donation of about 10 IBM XT cpu's, several monochrome monitors, two IBM printers, a number of (much-needed) modems will enable several students to keep up their activities throughout the summer.

We were fortunate enough to witness and to assist in the transfer of these machines, and it was truly a pleasure. Samson Shupe is a quiet fellow, but his enthusiastic support of the Global Classroom and his efforts on behalf of children are welcome evidence that both kindness and sound judgement are alive and well in corporate America.

"Be careful what you wish for, it may come to pass..." is an old saying, and one that came to mind when news of Piedmont's donation reached Patti Weeg.

"Where in the world can we put them ?" she wrote me, suggesting that since the Journal had made a plea for aid, it could darn well deal with the consequences.

An answer was not long in coming. Phillip Eberspeaker, of EXCEL, an independent science education group agreed to house the equipment, assist in the refurbishing and configuration of as many machines as possible, and they are there now, in the first stages of becoming... whatever it will all become.

If that is about all the milk of human kindness you can consume at one sitting, read no further. There is more.

The creation of The Global Classroom here some weeks ago presented our friends at Delmar Elementary with a frustrating problem. They could not see their own web pages, since none of their machines could ever hope to run a graphical browser. They could read the text, but they knew that behind each [IMAGE] there was a face, perhaps even their own.

Rich Scrieber, manager at Intercom Inc., arranged for the loan of a pumped-up little Dos machine until the end of school, which prompted a series of truly heartwarming letters, one of which is included below, for its simple honesty, beauty, and as most encouraging proof that solutions can be found for problems, when people know what the problems are, and are empowered to act to solve them.

    Dear Mr. Ward,Mr. Mitchell,& Mr.Shrieber,

              Hi!! My name is Kelly Neill from Delmar
Elementry. I am a 6th grader and I wanted to thank you for
loaning your computer. We have enjoyed it so much. I like all
the pictures and I'm in one of them. I am amazed at all the
things in the World wide webb. Soon it will be in history and
people will just think of us. We are really grateful that you
loaned us that computer.Shalom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                  Your Delmar Spider going across the webb,
                                     Kelly Leigh Neill

Read Spider-mail

"Soon it will be in history, and people will just think of us." We should think so clearly about the importance of our own actions.

Lest we embarrass the shy and retiring Mr. Mitchell, we shall not dwell upon his driving to Annapolis on behalf of Delmar Elementary, where he presented a report to a group of educational decision-makers on the activities of the Global Classroom.

Suffice to say that all these events, when taken together, kindled within our old and crusty heart an undeniable warmth, and prompted us to find and to employ two ancient, wobbly push-carts with which to transport their happy treasure, and to share with all involved a newfound joy in the undertakings here at shore.intercom.net.