Continuing from my last column, I share some of the quotes from my conversations that have resonated with me. Some may be inspirational, some humorous and some critical. I hope that you may enjoy reading these as much as I did when I first heard them:
“It was about 1995. There was a fire in a large Victorian home on Grand Street and I found myself in a room with a falling ceiling. There was a fire above me and flames coming out of the basement windows. I said to myself, ‘This is crazy. I love this.’” — Retired city of Oneonta Assistant Fire Chief Jim Maloney describing an early experience as a firefighter when I asked him why he chose a career fighting fires.
“They are concerned about an environmental crisis, can’t buy healthcare, see those like Elon Musk demanding salaries in the trillions, and fear their children being shot in school with no one willing to change laws to make it safe to send their child to kindergarten.” — Otsego County Democratic Committee Chair Caitlin Ogden talking about how she views the perspective of some young people, today, in our country.
“Find your passion and commit to it. Avoid drama and remember there is no crying in baseball.” — Entrepreneur Alan Cleinman when I asked him what advice he would give to today’s youth.
“Exciting is a relative term. What I think is exciting is the water and wastewater plants.” — Oneonta City Administrator Greg Mattice when I asked him to tell me something exciting happening in Oneonta.
“I am very proud to be Puerto Rican and I hope to be the first person of color on the town board and maybe next year there will be the first queer person. If people choose not to vote for me because that’s how I stand, then that’s ok as well. I will never lose my values as to who I am or what I stand for.” — William Rivera talking with me when he was running for the position of Oneonta town supervisor.
“As for deporting people, this country is like me. I came here as a foreign student. For 62 years, I have been paying taxes and flourishing. This is a country built by immigrants. … Relate to others through compassion — not through the love of power, but through the power of love.” — Professor Ashok Malhotra discussing his experience having emigrated from India.
“I think what bothers me most is the lack of empathy and kindness. It has become acceptable to be a bully. It is certainly not how we would want our children to behave. It is very sad.” — Professor and author Gretchen Sorin when I asked her how much she thinks has changed in our country since the conditions she described in her book ,”Driving While Black.”
“Each year is an opportunity to bring inspiration and to connect people. If you do those two things, good things will come out of it.” — Oneonta Mayor Dan Buttermann, talking to me last year about why he has worked to organize TEDx talks in Oneonta.
“We were operating a booming, unlicensed, underground taxi service — I mean booming! Holy cow! I think we better license this.” — Alan Rubin, founder and owner of A&D Transport, talking about getting started in the taxi business.
“Seeing the dissolution of the country I grew up in is really painful, so I feel I have to do something about it.” — Mike Stein on why he is active in the Oneonta Area Chapter of the NAACP.
“I came here blindly but I really liked it. People, when they saw me, would cross the street and shake my hand. I thought it was a beautiful place. I am really happy to be able to contribute to the community and bring something to the table.” — Cabral Gunter describing his experience when he first arrived in Oneonta to study at SUNY Oneonta. Cabral emigrated to this country from Jamaica, when he was 14 years old. He has successfully owned and operated Cabral’s Caribbean Store since 2021.