Quote:
Originally Posted by Bard Jameson  Back off topic  -- Nothing written after my post about percentages of mentally ill homeless, the number of them anyone faces in a day, how distruptive they are, how much the offer in exchange like a song, etc - none of that speaks to what I wrote. Don't have the time for due dilligence, but just one note:
I choose to give, or not to give, period. I do not presume that I know better than the beggar how to spend what I give. I'm not looking to build up Heaven Points or anything like that. All I'm doing is giving him the same respect I'd give anyone I passed in the street - I am not giving him pity, or derision, nor am I romanticizing his condition in macro-social terms, nor using his plight as reason to be thankful for my fortune (although that creeps in), nor as reason to consider myself in any way superior.
If I give, I give, and let him pass on. I can barely understand the direction signs on my own road. I cannot tell him how to find his way. |
That's wonderful that you can just give, no strings attached, and not worry about it after the fact. That must be a feeling of security and wealth, to have enough to not worry. But its in my nature to be very attentive of where every cent I spend goes. Even on
SL, I am always thinking about how much time and love the creator put into their work, how much I'll wear it, if I can give it to someone else, and even if it's less than a dollar in Lindens, I still weigh it in my mind. Weighing the savings at a sale in a department store or in small second hand stores, buying CD's or songs online, I'm always thinking about where my money is going. I don't make exceptions to the money I give to others or the gifts I buy my friends. If it costs me twenty dollars to buy a necklace for someone, I want to know they'll wear it, and if I give a dollar or two to someone on the street, I want to know they'll use it to better themselves, rather than throwing it away on drugs.
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"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever" -Baron Munchausen
I'm attempting to bring about the end of the world to usher in a new era of mask wielding overlords.
This is how!