The Scar of Love

    Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.In a hurry to dive into the cool water,he ran out of the back door,leaving behind shoes,socks and shirt as he went.He flew into the water,not realizing that as he swam toward the middle or the lake,an alligator（短嘴鳄）was getting close.The mother in the house was looking out of the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together.In great fear,she ran toward the water,yelling to her son as loudly as she could.Hearing her voice,the little boy became alarmed and made a U—turn to swim to his mother.It was too late.Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.From the dock,the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched（抓住）his legs.That began an unbelievable tug-of-war（拔河比赛）between the two.The alligator was much stronger than the mother,but the mother was much too passionate to let go.A farmer happened to drive by,heard their screams;rushed from his truck,took aim and shot the alligator.

    Remarkably,after weeks and weeks in the hospital,the little boy survived.His legs were extremely scarred by the terrible attack of the animal.And on his arms,were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

    The newspaper reporter,who interviewed the boy after the trauma（外伤）,asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted the pant legs.And then,with obvious pride,he said to the reporter,"Look at my arms.I have great scars on my arms,too.I have them because my mum wouldn't let go."

    You and I can identify with（认同）that little boy.We have scars,too.Not from an alligator,but the scars of a painful past.Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret.But,some wounds,my friends,are because we have refused to let go.

    People usually visit cafes to ease themselves of their tiredness and keep themselves from falling asleep, but Mr. Healing, a popular cafe chain in South Korea actually does the opposite. Customers can come in, order a drink, lie down a comfortable massage chair, and take a nap.

    Many Koreans suffer from a lack of sleep as a result of overworking, so any opportunity to relax and even take a nap is greatly appreciated. Mr. Healing is the perfect place to go when you're on a short work or school break and you need to catch up on sleep. The cafe offers massage periods in various modes, depending on how much time you have and how you choose to spend it.

    The 20-minute session is priced at $ 3.5, the 30-minute massage costs $ 7, and the 50-minute session is $ 9, all of which also include a drink. Once you make your choice, you are taken to the “healing center”. You are asked to take off your shoes as well as any jewelry that might damage the chairs, after which you can choose a massage mode, from “stretch” or “sleep”. You can start with stretch for a few minutes, and then switch to sleep if you want to take a short nap. After it comes to an end, you are taken back to the cafe area to enjoy a coffee or one of the many other refreshing drinks on the menu.

    Mr. Healing cafes are so popular in Korea that customers are advised to make reservations in advance to be sure that a massage chair is available. “I have to sit on a chair and stare at a computer monitor all day due to my job, the healing room was truly effective to relieve tiredness and stress from weekdays,” said Park Hye-sun, a 24-year-old officer.

    Some have described Mr. Healing and other similar relaxation cafes in South Korea as simple fashions, but others see them as a sustainable business model, because they offer a service that Koreans really need.

    In the mid-nineteenth century, as iceboxes became increasingly common in American homes, there were efforts to find cheaper and more reliable sources of ice. In the eighteen-thirties, scientists discovered a way to make ice, which is similar to how a refrigerator works. In 1860, there were four artificial-ice plants in the United States; in 1889, there were about two hundred; by 1909, there were two thousand. Ice now came from factories, not ponds, and it was turned out in three-hundred-pound blocks by lowering steel cans of pure water into tanks of refrigerated salted water. Kept below thirty-two degrees, the salted water did not freeze, but the water in the cans did. Those cans were then lifted from the tank, and the ice was taken out of them.

    The ice blocks were delivered to home users, and to the fishing and chemical industries. On the railroads, trains carrying fruit and vegetables had cars at each end filled with blocks of ice. It was a growing industry.

    The great trade began to fall away in the middle years of the twentieth century. The railroad business shrank, and, in the immediate postwar period, block ice lost out to home refrigerators and then to small commercial ice machines. By the nineteen-sixties, things looked very dark. “It was scary,” Dan Ditmar, an ice expert in San Antonito, told me. “Your biggest customers were cafeterias and country clubs, and you'd go out there and they'd say, 'We don't need you anymore; we've got ice machines.'”

    Then the companies that survived the slump（a slump is a period when there is a reduction in business）began investing（投资）in newly developed ice-cube machines, and by the late sixties American ice was becoming a packaged-ice business. And packaged ice was exactly what the country needed. These were years of increased leisure time—more barbecues, more cars, and more houses by the lake. “Things exploded in the nineteen-seventies, Paul Handler said. Ice cubes evolved. They became hugely popular^ shoveled（铲）here and there into picnic coolers and fast-foof sodas. They became noisier.

    A study, conducted by David Evans of the World Bank and Anna Popova of Stanford University, looked at 19 programs around the world in which individuals were given cash transfers from the government, either as a handout or as a "reward" for something like getting kids to school on time or taking them to the doctor for checkups.

    Evans and Popova looked at the impact those cash transfers had on the family budget and whether or not they led to an increase in spending on alcohol and cigarettes .What they found was that they almost always led to a reduction in a family's alcohol and tobacco purchases.

     The news may surprise some people, but it's true, and the researchers have several theories about why.

    One theory is that the cash transfer made things possible that once seemed impossible. Investing in their kids' education or buying healthier and more expensive foods may be within reach now, but without the cash handout, these goals weren't even a possibility. So families cut back on other expenses (like alcohol and tobacco) to make those dreams a reality.

    Another theory is that people just generally seem to do what they're told. If they are given money and told to use it for their family's welfare, in most cases, they will do just that. And that leads to the third theory: These cash transfers are usually given to women, and studies show that when women control the purse strings, more money is spent on taking care of their children.

    Whatever the reason for the trend, the data is clear—families that receive cash handouts don't waste the money on booze and cigarettes as was previously thought. Instead, they typically use that money for the benefit of their families. And that's money well spent.

    Measles (麻疹), which once killed 450 children each year and disabled even more, was nearly wiped out in the United States 14 years ago by the universal use of the MMR vaccine (疫苗). But the disease is making a comeback, caused by a growing anti-vaccine movement and misinformation that is spreading quickly. Already this year, 115 measles cases have been reported in the USA, compared with 189 for all of last year.

    The numbers might sound small, but they are the leading edge of a dangerous trend. When vaccination rates are very high, as they still are in the nation as a whole, everyone is protected. This is called "herd immunity", which protects the people who get hurt easily, including those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, babies too young to get vaccinated and people on whom the vaccine doesn't work.

    But herd immunity works only when nearly the whole herd joins in. When some refuse vaccination and seek a free ride, immunity breaks down and everyone is in even bigger danger. That's exactly what is happening in small neighborhoods around the country from Orange County, California, where 22 measles cases were reported this month, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a 17-year-old caused an outbreak last year.

    The resistance to vaccine has continued for decades, and it is driven by a real but very small risk. Those who refuse to take that risk selfishly make others suffer.

    Making things worse are state laws that make it too easy to opt out (决定不参加) of what are supposed to be required vaccines for all children entering kindergarten. Seventeen states allow parents to get an exemption (豁免), sometimes just by signing a paper saying they personally object to a vaccine.

    Now, several states are moving to tighten laws by adding new regulations for opting out. But no one does enough to limit exemptions. Parents ought to be able to opt out only for limited medical or religious reasons. But personal opinions? Not good enough. Everyone enjoys the life-saving benefits vaccines provide, but they'll exist only as long as everyone shares in the risks.

When Lamont Thomas, a retired restaurant employee, became an empty-nester, it was the end of a parenting story. A couple years ago, the divorced father of two became a hero when he took on a kid named Michael Perez in 2001.

"He was a good young man and I just hated to see him in the welfare system," Thomas said.

Thomas eventually adopted Perez, who now works as a nurse.

Perez was just the beginning. Over the next 15 years, Thomas raised more than 30 kids. He did so all as a single parent and with all of his heart.

"Every child that I have had, it was my goal to make a difference in their lives," he said.

When he retired from raising children to spend time fishing and traveling, that didn't last for long.

"It really was a shocker," Perez said. "I didn't expect for him to restart and to do it all over again. "

Thomas began to foster again when he found out that five brothers and sisters all under the age of 6 were going to be permanently broken up. To guarantee they stayed a family, he adopted all of them too.

"I had to help them. They deserved to be raised together," Thomas said.

After Thomas' story first aired, CBS News received a lot of surprising mail from women who expressed interest in the great man. Some notes weren't obvious, others were braver, "Ask Mr. Thomas if he would like a pen pal," wrote one woman, while another said, "I'll marry Lamont!"

But the kids see no room for romance, nor does Thomas.

"I was about to change my phone number," he said.

So he remains single. He spent Thanksgiving with family and is more grateful than ever.