new // old // about // extras // layout // notes // email // diaryland

lying on the cold ground with people shuffling by
written: 6:26 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002

Walking towards the bus terminal after school. Long stretch of road. Passed a boy lying on the groud. A McDonald's paper cup lay beside him. I look at him, and our eyes meet. He stretches out his hand for money. I stop, turn around, took out 50 cents from my pocket, and drop it into his cup. I note that the total amount in it add up to barely a dollar.

Flashback, and I remember a woman in front of me. She walks briskly, and wears an orange dress. She passes the boy, and stares for sometime, and the whole while she keeps walking.

When I stop, people look at me as if I'm insane. As if it's wrong to show compassion towards my fellow human being. As if I shouldn't have that in me, simply because I happen to be a teenager.

The next time you feel like calling the better part of the world "civilised", think about the beggars and the poor people you pass on the streets, and if it hasn't occured to you that, well, that society isn't as generous and humane as it wants us to believe...think about whether it has even crossed your mind to stop for the boy sleeping on the street...and define "civilised". Search within you. And define "civilised".

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010