Jerry blogs on an amazing and inspiring story. Human beings are such interesting animals. My favorite pull quote: “My first thought was to download the latest version of Winamp, which I downloaded at 255 k/s – less than five seconds! I was so happy; I think this was one of the most beautiful days of my life!”
Such joy from such an apparently small thing! And yet I’m reminded of the Christmas party at Fezziwig’s in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.” In its own way, even Winamp represents something potentially awe-inspiring about the human spirit and the human community. All depends on one’s readiness to share in another’s joy and determination. (And one’s addiction to music.)
Great story. I have a friend who is desperate for high speed internet; I wonder if she’d go this far to achieve it. (My intuition is that she might!)
I was taken by the strength of Kevin’s network of friends and family who helped him find the tower, get access to the crane, find free cement and the like. It takes a village to build a tower, and he seemed to have developed a pretty good support system.
Yes, I was very struck by the network as well. The story is a fascinating parable of the individual, friendship, and community, and works on many levels. Perhaps the most uncanny, or the most intense, is that in which he actually writes up his story and publishes it on the Web. It’s easy to miss that layer, because it’s the part of the story he doesn’t narrate. But it’s the “last mile” that makes all the difference–because otherwise we’d have never known the story at all.
Everything is ricocheting around in my brain these days as a parable of education. I hope no bystanders get injured. 🙂