So with a new job sucking up much of my would-be free time, especially in the commute via Atlanta’s public transporation, I have had a fair bit of time to think as well as entering a world I’ve mostly skimmed over.
I didn’t grow up rich, we were middle class and scrimping to save money for much of my childhood. Through some hard work in high school and a large part of luck I managed to get to Georgia tech and not have to pay for it (I’ll skip details, but it’s on someone else’s dime). Georgia Tech is very insular, we really do have a bubble around campus such that unless I hit cnn.com daily, I’ll miss the news of the world. People on campus are college students, normally well dressed and not at the poverty level.
But when I take MARTA (the Atlanta public transport) I’ve been faced with lots of people not as fortunate. Pan handlers come through the train cars daily asking for change. And people turn away from them, not out of fear, but simply out of a desire not to encourage them I guess. If I have change, I’ll give it to them, but I never open the wallet for them.
I must admit I’ve had some teething sessions as I figure out the workings of the transportation system. Buses being especially maddening as I realized the schedule for running times that I had read was for the Saturday and not Monday. As such I’ve asked a few people for help, one guy I got him to help me make sure I didn’t miss my stop since it was a new route for me and I couldn’t recognize where it was easily.
Helping people is important. My dad told me his story, the one he calls his Angel story and it left a deep impact on me when it comes to helping others.
When I was smaller he worked as a regional manager for a corporate Air Conditioner company, he would travel to make sales and oversee installations, and it was during the Winter while we lived in Kansas. He was getting home late and it was cold and snowing. He was very tired from the trip and with Christmas approaching he just wanted to get home.
He was driving a VW bug and when he got in it in a desolate airport parking lot, he tried to start it up and it wouldn’t turn over, apparently he had left his lights on. He’s so tired and frustrated he closes his eyes and lays his head on the wheel and according to him he says he must have prayed because the next thing he knows he hears this jovial voice “Hey! How ya doing!”
Looking over is a man dad always equated to looking like Santa Claus with a long white beard. The man was driving a big SUV and dad hadn’t heard him pull up. At this point the details get fuzzy but the guy helped dad jump his car and when dad offers him money the guy pushes it away and says, “You don’t owe me any money, just pass it on.” After this dad turns to pull his jumper cables off the battery and when he turns around - the guy is gone.
I personally think this is my dad being dramatic. The way he tells it the guy and his car were both gone without a sound. No tire tracks in the snow. No sign of them in the parking lot.
Since then dad’s stopped to help a handful of other stranded motorists, though that number has lessened in recent years with fears of hijacking and such. But he still does try to help others out.
I saw “Pay it forward” which is based on a true story as I recall and I can only smile as we see it still being at work.
I’ve decided to actively look for an opportunity to help someone else, be it a gift certificate to Kroger (our grocery store), or something less obvious.
So my challenge to all of you is to look around you in your life and find a way to help someone. Give the begger a certificate for food if you’re worried about him buying drugs or alcohol. Give the person in the parking lot with their hood up a hand.
And now with my morning philosophy and philanthropy posted - I’m headed to the shower.