Down and out
Over the past two evenings I watched similar U Tube clips of people asking for money with the intention of giving back to those who gave to them. In one case, the man was asking for one dollar and the person who gave would receive a thousand times that amount. The other just seemed to have a wad of cash tucked up in a white envelope. Both of these men pretended to be poor and begged for money from passers-by, though one seemed to be targeting those also begging on the streets rather than well-dressed people walking by.
To me, it was a sad indictment of our society to watch one refusal after another from people who could obviously afford to part with a mere dollar. But in saying that, I don’t know what it would be like to walk a gauntlet each day of people begging on the streets, nor do I know what people are advised to do when asked for money. I have heard that here in New Zealand people are told not to give to those wanting money so that the appropriate authorities can intervene on their behalf.
However, I found the clips I was watching sad. I didn’t see a single refusal from others parked up asking for money themselves. One man shared his donut, another woman gave the small pile of coins she had collected. Another well-dressed young woman, not begging, reached into her purse and pulled out some money. All the reactions from these people when handed the money, were priceless, including the young woman, who declared she needed to pay her rent and was wondering how she would make ends meet that week. Despite this, she was prepared to help out a less-fortunate person she came across.
I still believe the saying, it is not how we treat the rich people, rather the poorest, that reflects our society as a whole. Every church, I am sure, preaches to take care of those less fortunate than oneself, but judging from the refusals on these clips I watched, that notion is non-existent. There was one man who was even screaming ‘’leave me alone, go away.’’ People simply didn’t want to know.
I don’t live there. Perhaps many on the streets are drug addicts or alcoholics but regardless, they are still people and they have found themselves, even perhaps by choice, but most likely not, in that position. I am sure it is cold, regardless of whether it is summer or not and I am sure those people feel unsafe, particularly when nighttime comes around, their potential benefactors have gone home and their bellies are still empty. I am sure the nights are long.
I cry when I come across someone asking for money on the streets. I know how humiliating this must be for them, to have to ask. What has gone wrong in these people’s lives to reach this point? I give them money and I treat them with kindness. Watching those U Tube clips showed to me, the real true human spirit was in those people, the ones who had nothing but were prepared to share all of that nothing. Being a millionaire and giving a few grand here and there, might look good but having nothing and sharing that, speaks volumes as to the type of person one is. I am sure, once we reach the other side, these simple acts of sharing or not, will actually count. They will become part of our life review. We will watch a clip of someone asking us for money and we will feel their rejection, their hunger, their pain, when we say no. Or conversely, we will see the ripple effect, when we give something. We will watch that money work its magic. We will see how that simple act transformed that person. Perhaps it provided a new coat and the incentive to try for that job, or to even share amongst people who were less fortunate than them, who also shared with their mates, who shared their morsel with the dog scavenging on the street. So many hearts could have been opened from that one simple act, rather than the opposite effect