I try not to post many serious thoughts on this but there is something that has been on my mind for a while and I need to put out. There has been SO MANY things that have happened since Ive been out here that have shown me how beautiful this world and the people in it can be, things that have literally brought me to tears of joy. There has also been, particularly recently, those that have filled me with a sadness and rage like I have never known. Everyone deserves to be heard out with respect and a degree of optimism. Treated like the man or woman they are. To do something, for example, like refuse to let someone fill there canteen, for ANY reason, other than risking dying of thirst, is to me an unforgivable offense, and should be considered a mortal sin and treated as a capital crime. Just because someone is dirty and carries a pack does not make them thieves, liars, cheats, or violent. It does not mean they WANT something from you. On the contrary, they have been the most honest, loyal, caring, and trustworthy people I have met so far. People accept and tolerate the poor and hardlucked as long as they keep in their place, quiet, and out of sight as much as possible. From my experiences I have found that, aside from change and the unknown there is nothing that most people, middle class and higher fear than confidence and pride in the impoverished, particularly in numbers. From the way that most treat them perhaps they should. To look a man, any man, in the eyes and give him a smile or a nod, perhaps even a bit of small conversation, is appreciated among any class of individual, and most often reciprocated and payed forward. People have kept me from eating out of garbage cans more often the I care to admit because unasked they were willing to give me their leftovers. The next time any of us is compelled to pass by the less fortunate in class and scoff, or ridicule, or avoid eye contact I hope most will refrain and reflect on themselves. We are smart. We are strong. We are loyal. And we are many.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:17:49 +0000
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