Will Work For Food
Unsolicited advice is almost never welcomed, but I’m going to pass out some anyway: Don’t subsidize what you don’t want.
I think about that every time I ignore a beggar at a highway intersection, with his plea spelled out in block letters on a soiled piece of cardboard: “HUNGRY NEED HELP ‘GOD BLESS'” or “HOMELESS VETERAN. WILL WORK FOR FOOD.”
I’ve never given money to one those guys. And why is it almost always men? Do women just have more pride? Think about this for a second: If everyone was like me, there would be no beggars. Begging would be a waste of time.
OK wait, wait a minute. Calm down. I don’t give pocket change to beggars but we do contribute folding money to North Raleigh Ministries, where I used to volunteer one afternoon a week. NRM provides needy individuals and families with food and other assistance.
I don’t give to the guys begging on street corners because I won’t subsidize what I don’t want. What they’re doing is humiliating, or ought to be, and I won’t contribute to that.
I Often Wondered
All of us have things that distract us from our work. Relationships are important and have to be tended. Money problems, maybe, or health issues. A parent, or spouse, or child who needs our care — our time. Or some other responsibility that can’t, or at least shouldn’t, be ignored.
But have you ever wondered how good you could be at your work if you had no distractions? I used to think about that a lot: How good could I be if I were as good as I could be?
Deal Me Out
I’ve never put a quarter in a slot machine or bought a lottery ticket. I don’t gamble, well, excluding fat bets I don’t gamble. And I don’t think of fat bets as wagers –I’ve never lost. I look on them as my way of helping other people lose weight by punishing failure.
I don’t think gambling is immoral, I just think it’s foolish. I’ll never understand why people play games that are stacked against them, games that, if they play long enough, they’ll lose everything.
Coming Monday: Who ARE You?