Compassion
Yesterday afternoon when I was leaving work, I witnessed some kids harassing a homeless man standing on the corner asking for money. The parents were nearby, talking to the concierge of the hotel next to my building. I stopped and watched for a few seconds, and then quietly told the kids to leave the man alone. They turned towards me and began saying, “He’s a crack addict, he’s a loser, he lives on the sidewalk” and numerous other taunts.
The parents finally walked over to see what was going on, and asked me why I was talking to their children.
“Your children are harassing this man,” I told them.
“That man is begging in the street to buy booze and drugs,” they told me. “You’re no better than him if you try to take up for him.”
The whole scene angered and saddened me.
“First of all, why are you wasting time arguing with me instead of focusing on what was happening? Your children were harassing a man in the street who had done nothing to them. I witnessed the whole thing.”
“Why don’t you just move along, bitch, and not tell me how to raise my children? And why don’t you just let all these losers move in with you if you love them so much?”
I just shook my head and walked away, feeling myself starting to cry. As recently as Monday night, I listened while Maya Angelou spoke of how proud she was of the residents of Houston for opening their doors and hearts to so many Katrina victims. Yesterday, I witnessed the opposite: total lack of compassion for a fellow human being.
What kind of example are we setting for our children when we teach them intolerance?
October 15th, 2008 at 4:08 am
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