I once was on a first date with someone who I was so excited to be out with. We were having a fabulous time when a panhandler encountered us & asked for money. My date swore at the person and sauntered away, I apologized for my date and gave the panhandler some money. The remainder of the night was pregnant with many things unsaid & we never called each other after that.
Typically I don't give money to anyone on the street unless they are playing an instrument. But I always look them in the eye & say, I'm sorry I can't today. Every person deserves acknowledgment, respect & eye contact. I can't imagine hitting a point in my life where I am so broke & desperate that I have to resort to asking strangers on the street for money. No one wants to be in that position and no one should. The way a person interacts with a homeless person says a lot about their character. The majority of Minnesotans in Minneapolis are kind and respectful, some of course, are not. This makes my heart hurt.
This article was published in our local Minneapolis Star & Tribune on Sunday. Columnist Jon Tevlin recognizes John Petroskas, an employee of Catholic Charities who works closely with the Minneapolis Homeless Population doing outreach. This column is one that reminds us that the homeless are not just nameless faces. They are individuals with stories whose lives deserve to be celebrated as much as yours and mine.
xoxx
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
15 December 2009
10 August 2008
taken over by bees.
Currently flying around my house are a wasp & two bees.
Why don't you simply kill them, Dahli? One might ask.
Well, because I hate killing insects (unless its a clothes eating moth) it just doesn't seems fair to them. So I typically coax any insect who has found their way into my abode into a cup and throw it outside where it belongs. All done, see you later Centipede! By the way, do you know that when a leg of a centipede is somehow severed it keeps moving for at least five minutes? I learned that first hand last week when attempting to coax a very skittish centipede out of our bathtub. It ended up outside, but lost a leg or two in the process. I was fascinated by that discovery,
Handsome Randy however, was not.
Back to the bees.
Bees & Wasps sting. I have been stung more times in my life than I can count, including being chased by a swarm of bees when I was ten years old & subsequently stung at least 15 times (yes we counted & I do still remember - you don't forget things like that). So, I just try to let them be(e). But this can be difficult. Last week there was a bee that hung out in our upstairs bathroom on my contact lens case for a good two days. This proved to be difficult & I did sleep in my contacts the first night, the second night, HR bravely entered the bathroom and retrieved all necessary toiletries for me. He kept offering to kill the bee, I told him no, just leave it. But then, I relented when in the middle of the second night when i had to pee and the bee was sitting on the toilet seat. HR kindly plodded out of bed, collected the bee & flushed it down the toilet. And you know what's crazy? I felt a little bit guilty.
xoxx
Why don't you simply kill them, Dahli? One might ask.
Well, because I hate killing insects (unless its a clothes eating moth) it just doesn't seems fair to them. So I typically coax any insect who has found their way into my abode into a cup and throw it outside where it belongs. All done, see you later Centipede! By the way, do you know that when a leg of a centipede is somehow severed it keeps moving for at least five minutes? I learned that first hand last week when attempting to coax a very skittish centipede out of our bathtub. It ended up outside, but lost a leg or two in the process. I was fascinated by that discovery,
Handsome Randy however, was not.
Back to the bees.
Bees & Wasps sting. I have been stung more times in my life than I can count, including being chased by a swarm of bees when I was ten years old & subsequently stung at least 15 times (yes we counted & I do still remember - you don't forget things like that). So, I just try to let them be(e). But this can be difficult. Last week there was a bee that hung out in our upstairs bathroom on my contact lens case for a good two days. This proved to be difficult & I did sleep in my contacts the first night, the second night, HR bravely entered the bathroom and retrieved all necessary toiletries for me. He kept offering to kill the bee, I told him no, just leave it. But then, I relented when in the middle of the second night when i had to pee and the bee was sitting on the toilet seat. HR kindly plodded out of bed, collected the bee & flushed it down the toilet. And you know what's crazy? I felt a little bit guilty.
xoxx
25 November 2007
Today I cried at Valvoline Oil Change.
This is why.
I was reading the metro section while we waited for the oil on The Blaze to be changed. I was struck by the photo attached to this article and as I read the article I welled up (which is not that uncommon) and soon was silently crying. Nobody else knew in the room, not even Handsome Randy.
It was the last sentence that got me.
xoxx
I was reading the metro section while we waited for the oil on The Blaze to be changed. I was struck by the photo attached to this article and as I read the article I welled up (which is not that uncommon) and soon was silently crying. Nobody else knew in the room, not even Handsome Randy.
It was the last sentence that got me.
xoxx
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