Bad Night at the Soup Kitchen

People can be so rude.  They demand and expect.  They've been institutionalized.  They are so lucky; they don't know what poverty is.  The Syrian refugees know what starving is.  The people of the Ivory Coast know what poverty is.  It's hard to stay focused, stay objective, when dealing with people who are ungrateful and owed everything.  We're not truly assessing need.  We're extending their welfare check.  The more food we give them from our pockets, the more smokes and booze they can buy.  Chris Rock may have said it best when he said that a real homeless man doesn't have a funny sign because a real homeless man is too hungry to be funny.  They actually call sometimes to ask what's being cooked in order to decide if they will come or not.  I remember Kathy or Joyce telling me that their mother used to feed the homeless men out the back door some sandwiches during the depression.  They were genuinely grateful because there was no welfare.  If you weren't lucky enough to have a job, you didn't eat.  I'm not wishing them to be back in this position, but I am wishing that they were grateful like that again.  No, I don't expect begging and groveling, just a little appreciation would be nice.  I want them to have dignity, but I want the soup kitchen volunteers to have some dignity too.  Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android