I have not written in my blog or posted anything to Korea.net as an honorary reporter since July 2021. After some thought, have decided not to continue being an honorary reporter as my content is not aligned with the organization's focus, but I will still write stories about my passion on Korean culture, and others that ride the NY Seoul Express theme.
A lot has transpired in the world since my last article and I have been thinking about various events that date back to March 2020. This weekend and month is also important to many religions which is a time to think deeply and reflect. So Happy Easter, Passover, Vaisakhi, and Ramadan Mubarak! I am a practicing Buddhist (not devout) and treat it as a philosophy, but was raised Catholic and even an alter boy as a young kid!
Back to the story... On March 5th, 2020 I was staying in Washington Heights because I had to be at the Yonkers plant to assess a situation at midnight. At around 5 p.m. while I was on a brisk walk to Harlem to meet a friend for dinner, two thugs took a sudden run at me and threw a hard ankle kick with heavy boots at 162nd & Amsterdam. I suffered no injuries, but there was malicious intent. They fled quickly and were gone by the time I caught my balance and turned around to scan the scene. I was surprised at their motive since this was the period just before the initial COVID wave in NYC and more pressing issues. I let the situation ferment for a few days and played like a proton.
The last few years I have spent time in some of the less affluent places like Crown Heights (St. Johns Park), Brownsville, and Red Hook (Coffey Park). These neighborhoods in general are impoverished communities and sometimes the angst can be from the day to day struggles those face. So I thought, how I could help? I did a little research and got involved soon thereafter with New York Cares by volunteering in the South Bronx and East Harlem at food pantries. One day I delivered meals on foot with a hand cart just before Christmas. This was back when many elderly people could not get to the senior centers for meals, so we delivered food to them in their apartments. It was an amazing experience. During the days I volunteered, I did see a person who appeared to be over dosing on the sidewalk and had various homeless people ask me for money.
Over the next year, I noticed food insecurity steadily climbed as did the homeless situation. On more than one occasion I offered food out of my backpack or to buy the person something at a corner store or restaurant within sight when asked for money and they denied my offer every time.
I also met some inspiring people building communities like the owner of Jamit Bistro and learned she was getting up at 4 a.m. to make a 185 plates every day for a food bank. She was not paid until weeks later which is hard in terms of cashflow but did this "to keep the community sound". She fed me and some friends well every time we visited and even set up a table outside one night for us which was very thoughtful.
Fast forward to this week...I was working in the NY Metro area staying in Manhattan. I heard the news of the subway shooting in Brooklyn from my parents and arrived in the city at around 4 pm. After changing, I walked from Tribeca to the Sara D. Roosevelt Park on an absolutely beautiful day with a muscle tee and rolled up pants. It was extraordinarily warm and great to be outside, but I was still cognizant of a lunatic on the loose. The handball court was full with top talent and stacked up as usual, so I walked over to the Lower East Side and found a small court at the Henry Jackson Playground not too far from a gridlocked entry to the Williamsburg Bridge. There was a symphony of honking horns and colorful rants in that NY kind of way. I took in the sights and sounds for a few minutes and thought at that moment, I feel the shooter is coming this way. I continued walking and snapping some pics of street art which I love then played some handball, walked back to the apartment and had a chill dinner with my brother. It was wonderful to catch up with him that night and early the next morning over coffee.
Sure enough, the shooter was apprehended the following day at St. Mark's Place 1.5 miles from the court I played at the night before. Although I had situational awareness, I was not in fear walking on some desolate side streets or playing handball, which for the first 30 minutes was by myself. Events which strike fear like this will not deter me from living my life in any shape or form.
I am no philosophy buff, but the concept of Eudaimonia can be traced back to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Socrates, like Plato, believed that virtue (or arête, the very idea of virtue) was a form of knowledge—specifically, a knowledge of good and evil (i.e., he saw numerous virtues —justice, piety, courage as united). That is, all were one, and they were all knowledge.
Socrates viewed this knowledge as required for us as humans to achieve the ‘ultimate good’, which was eudaimonia. This theory focuses on becoming a virtuous person and living a moral life. Aristotle further listed 11 moral virtues which we should practice and know when to apply them. They include:
Courage
Temperance
Liberality
Magnificence
Magnanimity
Proper Ambition
Truthfulness
Wittiness
Friendliness
Modesty
Righteous Indignation
As I have gotten older, this concept of eudaimonia resonates with me more and more. I also believe that it is in times of hardship that true character is tested and shown.
For me, March 13th, 2016 is one I will never forget. I had plans to hike Giant, Porter and Cascade mountains to finish my Adirondack Winter 46 (46 high peaks). It was a brisk and icy day with a lot of typical snow melt and run off. I was hiking with an old high school friend I had not seen in years. We were both in great shape and even with slow going coming down the fully iced over Roaring Brook trail with full crampons were scheduled to be back at the vehicle close to noon with more than ample time to drive and finish the two other peaks. On the last 0.2 miles of the descent we heard a guttural cry "HELP". I can still hear the voice and get chills while typing this. We ran down the mountain and my friend got to this man who yelled first. He was the uncle of his 12-year old nephew who was crushed by an alleged 800-lb boulder while looking at Roaring Brook Falls and could not move. The man could not think clearly enough to call for help, but told my friend not to come back to the falls where the boulder fell. I respected what my friend said and we called 911 for help from the nearby parking lot. The Keene Valley Fire Department arrived within 15 minutes and rushed to the falls. They performed CPR for 45 minutes and were unsuccessful in saving the child's life. I heard the scream of the uncle at one point as we walked back to our vehicle along Route 73 and believe that was when his nephew died. The experience was very traumatizing and I still question myself if I should have just run back and told my friend to do so as well to try and save him. It was one of those situations where the virtue (courage) was between two vices or extremes (cowardice and recklessness). I suppose we would have been reckless without any training to even attempt to save this kid's life and our action of just calling for help and providing moral support achieved the golden mean of the courage virtue.
A week later, I was able to connect with the fire department and felt better one in thanking them for their efforts, but also in relieving some of my grief. I found a winter wilderness first responder class a month later and took it to be better educated and possibly prepared to help in some fashion in the future. This experience taught me a lot about the value of being able to assist versus handcuffed doing nothing. Ironically I finished my winter 46 one year later (same day). Every time I drive past the falls, I pull off the road and pay homage in Buddhist fashion with bows and meditation.
So the moral of this story is, I am passionate about living a virtuous life and will stand tall like a lighthouse as opposed to a bright flashlight shining in your face. I hope we become more empathetic and kind to each other one day at a time...
Written by Vincent L. Apa III
April 16, 2022
