Where's the gratitude, people?

I don't get people sometimes.........

Lately, I've really been into gratitude. I've started a gratitude journal and I'm trying to make a conscious effort to tell people when I appreciate them or something that they have done. I'm also noticing that a lot of people don't do that themselves - but that is another blog entirely.

Here is a perfect example to make my case:
Tonight, Sarah and I went to dinner at La Hacienda. We come back to my place. She's going to watch Tivoed "The Bachelor" episodes while I go see the author Katherine Center at Legacy Books. I'm getting Sarah settled so I can leave when we hear a kid crying in the parking lot. We walk out and this 2 year boy is crying. My neighbor, sister and I try to find his apartment, trying to talk to him, and generally just try to help. We get nowhere so I decide to call 911. By this time a third neighbor has joined our group.

I'm on the phone with 911 stating my emergency when my sister sees a lady walking in the parking lot. Sarah asks her if she is missing a kid and the lady doesn't respond. She walks closer to our group, the kid cries out, "Mama! Mama!" - and the lady picks up the kid and just walks away with him.

So I tell the 911 operator that the mom has been reunited with the kid and we don't need their services anymore. The neighbors, my sister, and I are in shock. No thank you, no gratitude, no appreciation..... are you serious??

What is our society becoming? According to Oprah, we are becoming a society of unempathetic people. Everyone is so engrossed with video games, e-mails, Facebook, and the like... that we aren't able to sit and have conversations and work on social skills. We are basically becoming socially retarded.

Lovely.