Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for its living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonnie and blithe, and good and gay.
Today I had to do some work in downtown Pittsburgh. I do not particularly like driving there because of traffic and the difficulty of finding a parking space. Fortune was on my side today, as I found a space right next to where I had to work. I pulled in the space and looked out my window and noticed a lady of about 65 to 70 standing there begging for change with a small styrofoam cup. I was a little bit surprised at first and then a feeling of sadness and pity went through me. I thought that could be my Mother or my Grandmother or someone I cared about. She could be some one's Mom or Sister or Aunt and here she was all alone begging in Pittsburgh. I got out of my vehicle, retrieved my work items and got what spare change I had in my pocket and dropped it in her cup. She said "God bless you." I nodded, smiled and went on to my job. As I was working, my mind drifted back to the poor lady on the street. I wondered why she was out there. Didn't she have anyone to help her or care for her. A big city is a horrible place for an older lady to be on her own. I completed my work and thought what else could I do for her? I only had a couple dollars in my wallet. So I decided to drop them in her cup as I left. She once again said "God bless you" and I smiled and replied "I hope you have a nice day." That was it. I got in my truck and pulled out in traffic, on to my next job. I felt good that I had given the lady a few dollars but in reality that's not very much. Here was a poor soul on the street and that's the best I can do?
After some contemplation, I am somewhat disappointed in myself that I couldn't do more to help the lady. I am seriously angry that in the richest country in the world, we have poor souls like her on the street who have no other choice but to beg. The greed of this country is on high display as the Republican party held a Presidential debate last night. The sparkling ideal of those charlatans is how to take more money from the poor and middle class and give to the oh so suffering wealthy. No compassion for those with less. To them, those with less are leeches on society trying to take money from the rich. The Church is no less a villain in this tragedy. Beautiful temples of worship, bishops living like kings and fiefdoms of lavish lifestyles. Yes, there is a pittance put towards the needy but if Jesus Christ came back and saw what religion has morphed into, he would be seriously nauseated.
In the movie "Wall Street", Gordon Gekko famously said "Greed is good." So many people today live their lives based on this motto. What a sad epitaph for our society. I think I can put it better - SHAME IS THE NAME.
"The Way It Is"
"Greed is good."
"Shame Is The Name"
