A scene from the movie Rocky II –

It’s an inspiring scene. A local guy is training hard to make something of himself, and his community encourages him all the way. Neighborhood kids see him running by and follow him, running with him, cheering him on and shouting “Go! Go! Go!” spurring him to push harder and make it to the finish. It might be a scene from a movie, but you could easily picture it happening for real.

How likely is any of that today?

These days, everyone would be telling him he’s wasting his time – assuming any of his neighbors even knew who he was – and the kids would point and laugh instead of joining in.  And even if the kids did go with him, they would get in trouble for not staying in their own yard. Or get lost once they were more than two blocks away from home. Hell, when was the last time you even saw kids playing outside?

America needs some hometown heroes again.

To end things on a lighter note, here’s a few people keeping in that spirit –