I work on the 12th floor, so naturally, the elevator is going to make plenty of stops on the way down to the lobby as we all leave work. Today, it only stopped on the 6th, a floor occupied by one of the largest law firms in Delaware. A man dressed in a well-tailored suit stepped in to the elevator. I followed him out of our building to the parking lot when I saw him being stopped by a distressed woman. It was hard to distinguish her tears from her sweat. She wore a heavily stained t-shirt and a pair of smeared mens shorts. She held a container of strawberries in hand, likely given to her by someone at the farmers market nearby. She approached the man in front of me, saying, Please, just buy me a sandwich. Her words brought no hesitation in the mans brisk footsteps. With no hesitation at all, he raised his hand and waved her away. Didnt bat an eye. She approached me right after. I just need some money to buy a sandwich, please... I asked her how much a sandwich costs. She told me probably $5 or $6. As I pulled out my wallet, she started sobbing. I have cancer. She pulled down her shorts and revealed herself. Im all wet, please I just need to buy some Depend. I opened my wallet and saw that I only had $8 left in cash. My heart paced faster than those mans footsteps... heavier than his wallet. My mom has that same cancer. Thats all I said. I gave her all I had, and I walked away. I felt helpless -- not because I wasnt able to give the woman more, but because I couldnt stop that man who really could have. A man with obvious wealth, yet not a second to spare to use it to help someone in need. We have a tendency to drive by cardboard signs and walk by empty coffee cups and ignore the humans that hold them. Humans. My mom does have that same cancer. And come to think of it, so could the mom of the man who didnt care to spare a second to even listen. So could your mom. So could your grandmother, your sister, your wife, your daughter. Im not passing judgement on the man just as I didnt pass judgement on the woman. Many of you will read this and believe she didnt end up using my money to buy a sandwich. The question is not of naivety, its of conscience. The point is not stopping to give money. The point is stopping. And today, I witnessed a man who could have stopped, who could have felt, who could have cared. But instead, like many of us do every single day, he chose to walk faster, build walls, and chase this world. Im in no way saying Im a better person for stopping. Im in every way saying Im human. And in a world of suffering and pain, our humanity is something we should never sacrifice.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 00:39:30 +0000
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