The other day I went out to dinner with my wife and the in-laws. We had eaten quite a bit of food, then dessert—which I’m not sure we finished. Anyway, we were taking a stroll down Michigan Avenue at around 11pm to let all of the food settle, when I started noticing something I’d never seen before.
There were a bunch of homeless people along the sidewalk—nothing new, sadly. What struck me is that each one of them had a bag or box of food next to them. We saw five homeless people asking for change and each one had at least one container with leftovers in it.
The guy walking in front of us actually went over and gave his container to a gentleman with crutches and said something to the effect of “Here you go, buddy.” The man already had two containers filled with food lying next to him.
I’ll leave the impulse to analyze the strategic placement of one’s self for maximum food donations to someone smarter than myself—but I was feeling a few things when I noticed this happen.
Seeing Poverty Makes Me Emotional
Doesn’t matter how often I see it or how annoying it can get—it gets to me every time. I grew up in a place where poverty is a part of everyday life (not for me, thank goodness), and I never “got used to it” or managed to push into the background. It has always affected me and I suspect it always will. I used to think living in a place with no poverty would be great, but then I realized I would never truly realize how great I have it without some context. After all, it’s about relativity.
We Have Too Much
Here we were, all these people finishing up with dinners that were to much for us, giving what we couldn’t eat to those that couldn’t afford to eat.
If only we did that more often. When it comes to food, a lot of people are willing to say, “You know what, this is way too much for me. Instead of gorging more on this or taking it home and eating it later (the frugal thing to do, I know), I’m going to give this to someone who can’t afford to eat.”
What a novel concept. If only we realized that we have too much money, too much house, too much car, too much iPod, too much everything. If only we stopped complaining about our taxes and worked a little more on our sympathy. As my friend Jason says, “I have had enough.”
Listen, I’m not perfect. I don’t give enough money to charity. I don’t give money to every single beggar I see on the street. I have a fancy phone I don’t necessarily need. I’m one of the very people I’m trying to talk to right now. What we all need to do is stop focusing so much on hoarding money and stuff and try to figure out a way to make the world a little more bearable for all of us. If Hot, Flat, and Crowded has anything to teach us, it’s that the earth will die if we don’t change our current behavior. So we have to change. And while we’re changing our environmental habits, why not change our consumerism too? Why not become better people?
Why don’t we start caring more about the stuff that really matters?
Photo by miramurphy
Really enjoyed this post! And thanks for the mention! To live in a place free of poverty might seem like a utopia, but you’re right, being exposed to the struggles of others has a grounding effect on us (well, at least on me).
I’m always more appreciative of my warm, dry home after running into a homeless person. I’m more appreciative of my job after talking with someone who has just lost theirs. And I’m even more appreciative of my own health after watching my mom experience a stroke at 53, and lose her ability to walk, talk and eat (thankfully, the latter two appear to be returning, but she may never walk again).
It is these experiences that really matter, and I wish more of us doing well could engage others doing not so well, for the benefit of both parties.
Great post!
I think one of the keys to being grounded like Frugal Dad is talking about is the word perspective and to have it in mind in all areas of life.