When you see an older person not figuring out the parking lot or not shopping correctly, or holding up the line; when a person in a driveable cart at the supermarket is not one of the nice ones but one of the rude or oblivious ones; when the person crossing the street is taking a Very Long Time, when a disabled person is just barely figuring things out but is moderately gumming up the works, remember: if they were not doing this for themselves, someone else would have to do this for them, and that would either be a government or charity person we are all paying for, or it would be a friend or family member who likely has more productive (productive for the society, not for their souls or families or whatever) things they could do with their time.
Be grateful for each of those people that you see that they are doing for themselves, and pray that you be like them in that when your time comes.
My father started to get fairly goofy late in his life. The last time he flew anywhere, to visit my sister up north, he neglected to alter his clothing to account for the climate. Now, he was always nearly indifferent to cold, but strangers could still see that he was a little off. When my sister made contact with him in the Philadelphia airport, she found that several people had taken him under their wing until they could see that he had been handed off safely to family. I will always treasure their kindness.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason Boy Scouts help elderly ladies cross the street. It's the same reason you keep an eye on a seemingly unaccompanied toddler until you confirm that mom or dad is nearby, and you keep an eye on your more fragile neighbors, or at least you do if they're not too dangerously self-destructive, in which case I fail and worry about the inability to control my anger and resentment.
Eventually, our bodies betray us. Try to give others the benefit of the doubt and consider the dignity of those who do for themselves, even if imperfectly.
ReplyDeleteOld Curmudgeon
Yes.
ReplyDelete