Do you need to Give Big?

Last night, I came home from a big day of diving at Catalina's Casino Point in Avalon. I have a great class that has really grown on me, but the conditions weren't very good. I was also working with a stand-out Divemaster candidate named Reza. It'll be great when he's an instructor! When I came home, I took a bath, read a little and then turned on the television to woo me to sleep. And I remembered at the last minute that last night was the premiere of Oprah's Big Give.

The show was Sunday Sappy at it's best. Surely a line-up of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Oprah's Big Give could send much of America into Diabetic coma. It was impressive to see people doing so much for people who've been dealt a raw deal. But America has a lot of people playing with a rough deck. And while Oprah can make you feel good about yourself, her show can't really make a difference on the large scale.

But Reza can.

I spent the day working with him and saw and loved something about him. The way Reza interacts with people is astonishing. He introduces himself to almost everyone he meets. He chats up everyone. The driver of the baggage truck, the woman filling scuba tanks, the women serving Bloody Marys on the boat, the waiter at the pizza joint. And then he addresses people by name. And he asks them how they are doing... and listens long enough to hear the answer. You could see the reaction in many of these people and it was beautiful. In fact, the Bloody Mary ladies told us that speaking with us was the highlight of their day.

I learned from Reza something I always knew. You don't need to Give Big like Oprah. You just need to give. Even a little will matter.