Helping Hand

If everything comes in threes, then I’ve hit the trifecta of destruction. Not only did I break my computer and my phone, but on Friday, I broke my blog.

It’s not what you think: I didn’t do it on purpose. Believe it or not, I was actually trying to improve it. But somewhere in the process, I broke it instead.

And I had no idea how to fix it.

I tried contacting WordPress, but I knew I’d probably never hear from them. Then there were my coworkers, but that was my last resort. Working with developers has taught me something: asking them for help takes bravery. You have to muster all your most technical vocabulary and hope that it all comes out right. It usually doesn’t, which means your bound to get a response that makes you feel about the size of a mouse.

In a moment of desperation I Tweeted: ”Everything in 3′s: broke my computer, phone and now my blog! Hopefully #wordpress can help!”

WordPress couldn’t, or didn’t, but someone else did. A young man from India who saw my call for help and answered it. I didn’t know him, but for some reason he wanted to help me.

The funny thing is, even before it was fixed, I was giddy. Just the offer of help made me feel better – like everything was fixed already. It was like all the shame I felt for breaking something so important to me was washed away when this stranger took an interest in helping me put it back together. And it was no small task: it took a lot of work!

And in the end, he was successful, because I’m posting on my blog here today!

This whole thing got me thinking: You know how so many people say that all these platforms for communication have made us less connected, not more. I disagree. Sure there is a never-ending stream of information on Twitter, and most of my “friends” on Facebook I hardly even know. But yesterday, my “world” became really small, because my call for help did not get usurped into the masses of updates. It was seen by one person: Vajrasar, and he didn’t sit passively by, scrolling to the next update in his feed. He stopped, reach back out, and offered to help.