What Have I Become?

Giddy up, go boy, whoa horsey.

There I was...

I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, walking the streets and talking to my friends, and everywhere I went there were homeless people asking for money. There are so many of them that after a while you don't even notice and you kind of get immune to it. And then as I was on the plane waiting to head back to Atlanta, it suddenly hit me, and I said to myself, "OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I BECOME?" It's like I just turned them off, and I didn't feel anything.

So now, for the past two weeks I've been feeling absolutely rotten. I've been giving a lot of thought lately as to how I can alleviate some of the misery in the world on a personal level, but God, there is so much of it.

But it's holiday time and many homeless will get a warm meal on Christmas Day and a little gift box filled with a toothbrush and comb. People, civic groups, and Churches will all do their good deed for the holidays. The rich will throw a couple of bent cans in the food box and then go on to their merry social events. People will give the Salvation Army guy a few bucks and feel really good about themselves for the next 10 minutes.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THEM? What about the poor humans who sleep in dumpsters and under bridges, while we are in our warm homes drinking our spiked eggnog and singing Christmas carols really off key?

With so much wealth in our country, why do have to accept a system where so many people live in misery? Why do we just walk past the homeless and think of them as part of the local ambience, as their desperate pleas for spare change are heard but ignored? What kind of people have we become and where is our compassion?

And I'm so troubled by people who say, "I give or volunteer because I'm a Christian." People should help one another NOT to get brownie points with God, but because it's the right thing to do. OF COURSE, God wants us to help others — you don't have to tell me you're doing it because you're a Christian.

Insensitivity...

I see it all the time ... people forgetting to tip a waiter, people abusing some poor store clerk, and people just being indifferent to others. I mean, I was at a dinner meeting two nights ago and everyone was so busy chatting that no one bothered to give the poor busboy some change. I mean, my God, this poor guy is human and deserves a couple of dollars. He has bills to pay too.

I believe it is the lowest among us who are the greatest among us. The humble people of the world who beg for food, change your hotel sheets, and wait on you at restaurants are the real heros, and they DESERVE your respect and reverence. Hell, man, show a little mercy. Give them some change even if they forgot to give you a lemon in your tea. Come on, they have FEELINGS. Just give them a few quarters before you jump back into your Lexus and return to your Alice in Wonderland life. Damn, I mean, come on, everyone deserves a little change.