7/23/08

An odd exchange


Today as I was walking to work, I saw the oddest exchange. A homeless woman (older, overweight) was pushing a cart full of her belongings (and a chihuahua) across the street. Crossing right behind her was a blind woman. A book dropped out of the homeless woman's cart. She looked behind her and asked the blind woman to pick it up. The blind woman responded, "I can't pick it up, I don't know where it is." The homeless woman replied, "Well, I can't bend over to pick it up." This continued for a good 30 seconds until I came over to pick the book up and hand it over. After a quick thank you, bickering continued between the two! Still out in the middle of the crosswalk! "I wouldn't have been able to bend down to pick it up!" "Well, how could I pick it up?!"

I walked away thinking how sad it is ... our unwillingness to help others. I'm blaming neither woman, because if the blind woman had dropped something, I'm sure the homeless woman wouldn't have been able to pick it up for her either.

We all have roadblocks they hinder us from reaching out to others. For some, it's as debilitating as blindness. For others, it's a fear of the unknown, the poor, the helpless that keeps them from volunteering. Or it could be as simple as a fear of intimacy preventing one person from reaching in past another's "wall" to lend a hand. Well, come on, people. It's time to get intimate with your fellow humans :)

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