How Great a Society

A few weeks ago I was driving home from downtown Philadelphia. I was forced to leave the highway because it was a parking lot and started off onto surface streets. At that point I was confronted with a situation which I did not hesitate to act upon. And by act, I mean, I did something not did nothing. There is a difference between doing something and doing nothing. Doing nothing is deciding to do something that is nothing. It sounds like double talk but it makes some sense. If my options were to turn right or go straight and I decided not to turn then I decided to go straight. So when I decided to do something and act it means that others may have decided to do something and that is nothing. I am beating around the bush but the point needs to be made.

I do want to explain myself a little or explain others more. I am liberal. I am a bleeding heart tree hugging liberal. In Washington D.C. and other places there are Republicans and Democrats. In reality they represent the conservative and the less conservative, respectively, sides of the vast majority of issues. Democrats are thought of as liberal and to most they are. If you stand them up next to me they may as well be Republicans. My views just don't compare to theirs and quite honestly I wish we could get to some actual parity in the world. At least I would not feel like the inmates are running the asylums. Some might say I am the one taking crazy pills but reality is just too much stranger than fiction. I have gotten way off the topic that needs to be discussed though I do believe the above is a necessary preface to all that follows.

There I was somewhere near the Franklin Institute trying to make my way home by the surface streets. I was at a stop light about three cars back. There he was. He was in wrinkled clothing but not ragged. He had a nice piece of cardboard that had written on it, “Need Food, God Bless.” He started at the first care and without a word and only the slightest of pauses at each driver window to see if there was a reaction did he work his way down the line. He didn't say anything. He stayed on the sidewalk. There was a warm smile that didn't say he was happy but one that conveyed appreciation for just considering to help. Like I said before, I did not hesitate to act. My first thought was I have some Stinger Energy Blocks in the back. Not the food he would have expected but it would have been amazingly helpful. I thought I had one up front so I looked real quick. When that failed, I reached into my change cup and grabbed a handful and held it out. I even apologized because I knew it was not much. I really don't carry much cash so there was nothing in my pocket and at the moment I was disappointed in myself for not having anything on me besides the coinage.

The light turned green and it was not further on before my disappointment shifted from myself to others. Not just the other car drivers around me but just in general. Lets start with this. I do believe that the car in front of me was BMW and I am not sure what the car in front of the line was but that did not matter. There were plenty of cars before ours and plenty of cars after. How much success would that guy have gotten before or after I came around? My guess is not much. But here I was an nearly broke unemployed cancer patient driving down the street and I don't even hesitate to give the guy a little change. What is wrong with me? I cannot afford to be so charitable. I should be able to drive on without a guilty conscience for not giving a little change. Instead I feel bad for not giving enough.

What was his story? It could be something tragic. I take that back. It is something tragic. The details of his story or any of the others has to be. Here he is homeless and hungry. He may find some place to rest at a shelter or a bit to eat from a food bank. Those aren't guarantees. Hells bells, he may be addicted to something that keeps him away from those charities. That doesn't matter. The fact is that he needs help. He needs help and we as a society are not willing to help. Two cars drove by. As I said earlier, the probability was that not many more reached into that cup.

Sure there are those excuses out there:

He may only use the money for drugs or alcohol. - So what.

Others will help. - But they don't seem to be.

He's dirty or could be diseased. - Really? We could actually use a little more dirt and disease in our life.

I give to the (name your charity) at the office. - Good for you

And more and more. Excuses are like assholes. Everybody has one.

I have heard from plenty of others in person and on social media that we have homeless and hungry in america why are we sending so much aid to all of these other countries? I'm not saying that those others are not in need. I know that they are. But lets get this straight. Our government does the things for the public that we might not necessarily do on our own. This is us in our home. Why is it we think we can ignore others around us? I of all people know just how cluttered an inner monologue can get. I can just imagine the inner complaining about the vagrants or the run down part of town or what was seen under the overpass. In fact there are those that voice those complaints. Sometimes it is to themselves, to their friends and family or even worse, to the public.

To the public. Some have said that those that are down, poor, homeless, hungry, jobless and/or just vagrants are in the wrong. That if they cannot help themselves then they cannot be helped. Perhaps they don't deserve our help because they will just waste it. Maybe if they wanted better they should try harder. In reality, it is damn tough to get life back in order if you are just having a bad day, week, month. Things we may think are hardships like a car repair or back to school shopping would seem like winning the lottery to those that don't have a car or cannot feed themselves much less their children. Car repairs and back to school shopping are important and can be expensive. Trust me I have an 11 year old daughter. Again, it pails in comparison to not having the choice to eat.

Maybe there seems like too many of the needy out there to help. This a math issue. If we think somebody else will take care of a problem then nobody will take care of the problem. If you flip this and everybody chips in to take care of a problem, no matter what their means, then the problem gets taken care of. A great example of this is Social Security. There was a problem where those like the elderly and the ill, were not able to take care of themselves and their working years were over. The solution came in what amounted to an insurance system where everybody that has an income pays into it and when that day comes they start getting it back. It isn't much but it helps. In the case of those that are on the sidewalk with their cardboard signs, if we all pitched in a little it would add up and then there would be less. More would be able to dig out of the deep hole and less would fall into another so deep.

Back to the original story and how this episode kind of ended. I have to be a little honest. This did not end as badly as it could have. Sure I was the only one to grab a few quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies from the cup. But a few blocks down the road at the Philly Art Museum was the encampment for the Back on My Feet (BOMF) 20 in 24 charity race. BOMF is an organization dedicated to helping “...those who are experiencing homelessness change the way they see themselves so they can make a real change in their lives that results in employment and independent living.” They are an amazing organization with real goals, interesting strategies and real results. They are not alone. There are other organizations that help in so many different ways. I was happy that I saw the encampment but was real sad that I did not know about it a few minutes prior.

In conclusion, just this. How great a society is can be is measured by how it treats its most unfortunate.