Street Smarts
Today while walking to work I saw a homeless person on the street asking for money. A woman bent down and put a dollar in the cup he had out and shaking the change inside. No sooner did the woman turn around and did he take the dollar out of his cup and shove it into his pants pocket. It was fun to observe as I walked by him and peered into his cup which was nearly empty.
How could someone begging for money all day have nothing to show for it? and yet who would give anyone begging for money a cent if money was overflowing out of the cup and you could not “feel” or “see” this unfortunate person’s hardship? I found this paradox quite interesting and yet immediately obvious. He had learned through experience and conditioning what the “right” amount of money to have in the cup was. Too little and people might wonder why out of all of the homeless people on the street, this person had nothing to show for their time. We all tend to validate our actions by what other people have done before us. Too much and he would appear not to be a person in need.
Life is the best teacher. Human nature avoids pain and seeks pleasure. These are simple truths about life and govern how we deal with the world. People are by far the most things in life to observe.
