n interesting number keeps coming up
in the news. It's not large like a million, magical like the
mathematical pi, or impossible like the square root of minus two.
It's the lowliest denominator of them all: one.
One man came back from Europe after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks and decided to do something for New York, so he galvanized
his travel agency and his community and organized a trip to New
York for 900 Oregonians. You read about Sho
Dozono of Azumano Travel in Portland, Ore., on these Web
pages.
One man shook his head at the headlines and organized a day trip to
Washington, where he met with more than a dozen congressmen and
senators and talked with them about the travel agency business. You
read about
Hal Rosenbluth of Rosenbluth International on
this Web site, too.
One man shook his head at the headlines and organized a march on
Washington; working alone with a handful of volunteers, he
attracted 100 agents from 30 states to a rally on Capitol Hill and
demonstrations at the Justice and Transportation departments. You
can read about that effort on this site as well.
Granted, the first man happened to be the president of the
largest travel agency in Oregon and chairman of his local Chamber
of Commerce.
And, granted, the second man is chairman of Rosenbluth
International, one of the largest retail travel companies in the
world.
But the third is merely the owner of a Uniglobe franchise in
Spencerville, Ga., a fellow named Lawton Roberts who decided to try
and make a difference.
They have in common the uncommon power of one: one person,
deciding on one's own to do something that one is not expected or
required to do.
There are more such stories, large and small.
The bad news is, we can only report the ones we hear about. The
good news is, we know there are thousands more.