Some people call me cynical

Some people call me cynical and I guess I am, maybe that comes with age. Maybe it comes with being burned by folks. It makes one more cautious and less willing to believe that people are going to do what they say. Nixon used to say that he said things to watch the effect it would have, “like billiard balls bouncing off one another”, was the way he characterized it, except he used the word carom. It seems more people these days are like Nixon, saying whatever they need to get by, or not saying anything at all, guilt by omission.
A friend of my father’s died recently and in one of his memorial write ups they quoted him as saying that he wanted to improve mankind’s lot through the use of optics, this man’s specialty. The fellow who sent it said where are the heroes today like this man? He raises a good question. We’re not talking about super heroes who battle gigantic villains with super powers but seemingly ordinary people who see a greater vision for themselves, who see a calling beyond their own self aggrandizement. Have they disappeared? Is the climate no longer right for them? What happened?