The soft glow of a Kroger grocery store against a dark canvas of a hot summer night is the portrait of this thought provoking scene. A beautiful animal, a dog a mix mysterious to me as a humble dog lover rather than dog know-it-all, turns circles within a locked car with a single window rolled down a fourth. Eyes, shimmery caramel colored, look back at me and my boyfriend as the dog paces, waiting for the return of departed owner. The animal does not appear in distress, and with heart strings taut we too must leave the majestic dog, whose owner is actually two people that emerge from Kroger as we drive away.

The question is posed: Such a simple situation in which there are two humans, a minor grocery list, an extremely dense summer heat, and a sweet dog so why did both people go in for an armful of food and leave the dog to possibly intense discomfort?

Some might look at this scenario and shrug. Things happen, people don't always use best judgement; maybe it was a quick run in. However, this contains an overarching platform of reasoning. If exercising considerate caution in such a small situation is too difficult, where is the foundation for such bigger afflictions we face?

The integral compassion and logic in this smaller state of taking care of the vulnerable, speaks volumes about human and national capabilities of taking care of far bigger problems, especially far bigger vulnerability. As the United States of America, one body, one great diverse force, how are we to aid the world and the victims of terrorism overseas when we are ourselves suffer from disjointed perspectives of right and wrong? Race relations to immigration issues to political pandemonium dismantle the highly sought after equilibrium within this country, leading one to look toward the slats of wood on which these problems are deposited. Uneven and rough pine from a culmination of just the little things being neglected in the day to day can comprise a body of people less willing to work together, to see eye to eye. Without a sturdy stance on the home front, the question arises, how are we to bolster other nations facing drastic turmoil or encountering severe circumstance?

The common good, a phrase of two very solid, very wide reaching words, yet the common good is for every individual person it contains. Meaning, by this same theory, that every single individual should strive for, at basis, goodness, in order to return to the greater community and globe, a contribution of honest, raw compassion that would render open eyes that search for balance and justice in every level of which we as people find ourselves ascertaining. Otherwise, our world will continue to have these sad, shimmery caramel brown puppy dog eyes, and I think we're all ready for a little bit more tail wagging.