I offered to run over to Chick-Fil-A to grab dinner while Vicky stayed home with Kiyomi.
While leaving Chick-Fil-A, there was a homeless woman outside on the corner asking for anything to help. I'd seen her before. Here I was leaving Chick-Fil-A with $16 of food in my bag, I couldn't just give her a couple of singles and leave.
I hid a $10 in a fold of 4 singles and handed it to her. She said "God bless" and walked away.
A few minutes later, I heard "Mister! Mister!" and she came running towards me with tears in her eyes. "I just thought you should know, you bought my son diapers tonight. He's in the hospital, got sick last night, but when I see him again, he'll have diapers."
She said "God bless!" again and walked away.
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Ken & Kiyomi: A Boy and his Dog
Minding the Lathe of Dreams
Stephen Shaffer
October 11, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Compassion pass it on! Thanks for sharing.
Ken Foreman
October 11, 2012 at 8:23 pm
I didn't see it as compassion, but our humanity. How can people who have so much be oblivious of those who have so little?
Ken Foreman
October 12, 2012 at 6:57 am
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." (Matthew 6:5)
I was fully aware that maybe I was being hypocritical by posting this, that some people might interpret this as me seeking praise for a solitary good deed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Please believe me, I did think of Matthew 6:5 as I posted this last night.
I posted this because I wanted to draw attention not to me, but to her. This was a woman alone on a street corner in Sterling, VA. She was holding a sign, she was seeking help, and she went ignore by many (or most).
We love our iPhones, our tech, our toys, our cars, our lifestyles… and we ignore those who are not so blessed as us. We think it's our right to such things, as if people who do not enjoy such blessings have not earned that right. Somehow they are less human than us, or maybe, not so privileged and thus less deserving of human decency?
I wanted to draw attention to that. I don't want her, or her son, to go ignored.
Ken Foreman
October 12, 2012 at 6:57 am
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." (Matthew 6:5)
I was fully aware that maybe I was being hypocritical by posting this, that some people might interpret this as me seeking praise for a solitary good deed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Please believe me, I did think of Matthew 6:5 as I posted this last night.
I posted this because I wanted to draw attention not to me, but to her. This was a woman alone on a street corner in Sterling, VA. She was holding a sign, she was seeking help, and she went ignore by many (or most).
We love our iPhones, our tech, our toys, our cars, our lifestyles… and we ignore those who are not so blessed as us. We think it's our right to such things, as if people who do not enjoy such blessings have not earned that right. Somehow they are less human than us, or maybe, not so privileged and thus less deserving of human decency?
I wanted to draw attention to that. I don't want her, or her son, to go ignored.
Typhanie Sobriquet
October 12, 2012 at 9:52 am
That's really nice. I almost never carry cash, and though there's not many people out asking for money where I live, I always feel bad when I see someone that really looks like they're in need, and I actually have nothing to give them.
I also feel terrible when I pass people walking along the highway. Trouble is, I'm usually only on the road when I have somewhere I really need to be and I'm alone, so it's not safe.
Typhanie Sobriquet
October 12, 2012 at 9:52 am
That's really nice. I almost never carry cash, and though there's not many people out asking for money where I live, I always feel bad when I see someone that really looks like they're in need, and I actually have nothing to give them.
I also feel terrible when I pass people walking along the highway. Trouble is, I'm usually only on the road when I have somewhere I really need to be and I'm alone, so it's not safe.
Randi Knutson
October 12, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I bought an extra lunch one time for a homeless woman with a child. She took it but asked for cash instead "for her son". As I was driving away, I saw her throwing the uneaten food into the garbage. Most of the "homeless" in my neighborhood are instead professionals. Now I carry a piece of paper with phone numbers for local assistance organizations (that I donate to) and hand that out instead. Unless there's a dog. Then the dog gets food.
Randi Knutson
October 12, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I bought an extra lunch one time for a homeless woman with a child. She took it but asked for cash instead "for her son". As I was driving away, I saw her throwing the uneaten food into the garbage. Most of the "homeless" in my neighborhood are instead professionals. Now I carry a piece of paper with phone numbers for local assistance organizations (that I donate to) and hand that out instead. Unless there's a dog. Then the dog gets food.
Ken Foreman
October 13, 2012 at 9:18 am
+Randi Knutson: Vicky & I have volunteered for Reston Interfaith and the Embry Rucker Hypothermia shelters. We both see "professionals" panhandling and begging for assistance. Just as people abuse unemployment, welfare, and medicaid, people also abuse the charity of others through homelessness.
There are websites that document and teach people how to be "more effective homeless people". One such site is:
http://www.howtopanhandle.com/
I'm especially torn when I read articles like:
http://www.howtopanhandle.com/should-panhandlers-have-dogs/
With most people that I donate to, I try to assess them as best I can. When I had a Hispanic man approach me tugging his young daughter behind him, handing me a piece of a paper which read "Please help, daughter needs food". I gave him a $20.
Vicky berated me as soon as the guy walked away with his daughter. She asked me how could I give $20 to a man I just met. I told her if he's lying, it's on his soul, not mine. Regardless of what people believe, whether in a soul, karma, futility, or oblivion, I do think the universe operates in such a way as that the consequences of our actions come back to haunt us.
I don't blame anyone for the events in my life but myself. I do wish that people were there for me in my time of need. Likewise, I wish to be there for others in their times of need. If people abuse that charity, it is a reflection of their character, not mine.
Ken Foreman
October 13, 2012 at 9:18 am
+Randi Knutson: Vicky & I have volunteered for Reston Interfaith and the Embry Rucker Hypothermia shelters. We both see "professionals" panhandling and begging for assistance. Just as people abuse unemployment, welfare, and medicaid, people also abuse the charity of others through homelessness.
There are websites that document and teach people how to be "more effective homeless people". One such site is:
http://www.howtopanhandle.com/
I'm especially torn when I read articles like:
http://www.howtopanhandle.com/should-panhandlers-have-dogs/
With most people that I donate to, I try to assess them as best I can. When I had a Hispanic man approach me tugging his young daughter behind him, handing me a piece of a paper which read "Please help, daughter needs food". I gave him a $20.
Vicky berated me as soon as the guy walked away with his daughter. She asked me how could I give $20 to a man I just met. I told her if he's lying, it's on his soul, not mine. Regardless of what people believe, whether in a soul, karma, futility, or oblivion, I do think the universe operates in such a way as that the consequences of our actions come back to haunt us.
I don't blame anyone for the events in my life but myself. I do wish that people were there for me in my time of need. Likewise, I wish to be there for others in their times of need. If people abuse that charity, it is a reflection of their character, not mine.