Crash.

Tonight I watched the movie Crash, which is up for a few Academy Awards, including Best Picture:



I want to watch it again without delay, because I feel like I'll learn even more by watching it yet again. This movie is about all of the negative qualities in us and all the good qualities in us and the myriad of aspects of us that fall in between. It is about class and race and the choices we make in dealing with everyday problems. It is about how those choices affect the lives of others and that feelings they have as a result. This is a truly splendid movie, with excellent acting by Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon and Ryan Phillipe and others . . . including Sandra Bullock, in a role unlike any I have ever seen her play.

I felt as if I lived a scene from this movie today, when an elderly Hispanic man came to fix my furnace. The house was so cold that icicles were nearly developing when he arrived. He was able to quickly get to the cause of the problem and fix it; along the way, he saw a few other issues that needed to be addressed. One was a safety issue--a gadget that cuts off the flame of the furnace if it escapes its fiery hole. Apparently, the company I used to use removed that gadget and did not replace it. The man not only replaced it; he told me eight times if he told me once how important that piece is, that he was replacing mine for free and that I must notify the other company of their error in removing it. I appreciated his efforts very much--particularly because I have been through one house fire and will do everything in my power to avoid having another--but my patience did begin to wear a bit thin on the seventh reiteration of his thoughts on the issue. I realized after a while that he really wanted validation and profusely expressed gratitude for his efforts; I hope I was able to give him that.

Anyway, if you haven't seen Crash, please do. I know you will find it thought-provoking.