Glass half full

popaviator

popaviator

Well-Known Member
Today as I entered the Wal-Mart parking lot I saw a very sad and disgruntled looking gentleman begging by one of the corner entrances. So I decided to buy him lunch. It felt great helping someone else! I think it's important as pilots to realize how lucky we truly are!
 
Well done, :clap:In an industry and economy like ours it's easy to get discouraged, but by lifting each other up and helping those less fotunate, it's easy to see how well off we all are. Each of us on JC obviously has (or has access to) a computer, which means life can't be that bad.
 
popaviator said:
Today as I entered the Wal-Mart parking lot I saw a very sad and disgruntled looking gentleman begging by one of the corner entrances. So I decided to buy him lunch. It felt great helping someone else! I think it's important as pilots to realize how lucky we truly are!
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Bravo, sir, and well played. Bravo.
 
Very nice of you. That kind of empathy is more the exception rather than the rule these days.
 
stesta5074 said:
It's good to see pilots helping other pilots out!
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Heh. Nicely played, sir. All still singing from the hymnal while we're all robbed blinder than blind, are we? Stupid is blinder than blind. Imagining that by helping some poor vagrant (which is admirable, of course), we're identifying ourselves as Different? Well, that's stupid. Our Betters are screaming with laughter, all the way to the bank.

What's the old saw? Light a fire for a man, he'll be warm for a day...light a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life. It's time to start lighting some people on fire.
 
Had a similar experience the other night walking out of Barnes and Noble back to my car. Kind of checked out this cute well-dressed younger girl (maybe 19-22) walking towards me, who smiles, and then before I can pass her, stops and says "excuse me sir...." (kind of awkward since I am only 27 and really look about her age). She told me that she had run out of gas and that her card was overdrawn, and was wondering if I could spare a few dollars. Now I wasn't born yesterday, and this wouldn't be the first time that I have heard this exact story from various people. But I guess I felt bad and figured that if I were her dad, I'd rather her be begging strangers for money to support whatever substance abuse problem she was likely having, rather than using her body to get it. Gave her the couple of dollar bills I had in my pocket, and then pondered her existance for my drive home. I'd like to think that she just legitimately needed some gas, but I doubt that was the case.
 
popaviator said:
Today as I entered the Wal-Mart parking lot I saw a very sad and disgruntled looking gentleman begging by one of the corner entrances. So I decided to buy him lunch. It felt great helping someone else! I think it's important as pilots to realize how lucky we truly are!
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He was a divorced United pilot on furlough!
 
Boris Badenov said:
What's the old saw? Light a fire for a man, he'll be warm for a day...light a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life. It's time to start lighting some people on fire.
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:laff: That made me seriously laugh and hard.

I'm going to use that one. Good show, sir, good show!
 
Hi Boris, I'd like you to think of a time when somebody helped you through a hard time. Did you think they were stupid? Of course not. I'd like to think that there are successfull people who made it by doing the right thing. I can't imagine a person feeling good about themself if they knowingly take advantage of others. Anyways, that's just my opinion.
 
My experience is they prefer cash to food.
I'm more likely to contribute to the guy with the sign stating a couple bucks might buy him a 40,...
At any rate, good on ya!
 
popaviator said:
Hi Boris, I'd like you to think of a time when somebody helped you through a hard time. Did you think they were stupid? Of course not. I'd like to think that there are successfull people who made it by doing the right thing. I can't imagine a person feeling good about themself if they knowingly take advantage of others. Anyways, that's just my opinion.
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I once gave a homeless dude all the cash I had in my pocket once. I'm not stupid, last time I checked. Don't let the cynicism of others ruin your gesture.

In any interaction between two people, we are only responsible for our half. If you proffered your half with genuine kindness in your heart, that's all you you can do. What the other person does with it, good or bad, is really not something you can concern yourself with too much.

You did good, bro. :beer:
 
popaviator said:
Hi Boris, I'd like you to think of a time when somebody helped you through a hard time. Did you think they were stupid? Of course not. I'd like to think that there are successfull people who made it by doing the right thing. I can't imagine a person feeling good about themself if they knowingly take advantage of others. Anyways, that's just my opinion.
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I know many of these people are mentally ill or have substance abuse problems. But it's difficult to constantly try to help people who don't help themselves.

Nearly everyday I pass a homeless guy near my house who holds up a "Haven't eaten today" sign. It's hard to pass this guy on the way to school or work, and know that while you're striving to improve yourself, some guy is just sitting there with a sign expecting people to support him. In the 1 or two minutes that I stand at that light, I see him getting a couple of dollar bills. I can imagine it must be very lucrative when you count how much he gets an hour. It pisses me off that these people don't take charge of their own lives, and that other people support them.

It doesn't mean I don't think they should be helped. While I don't give a cent to a homeless person, I do give occasionally to a local organization that has a shelter and helps these people find jobs (The Homeless Voice). THAT's how people should go about supporting them, not funding their bad habits.
 
BCTAv8r said:
It doesn't mean I don't think they should be helped. While I don't give a cent to a homeless person, I do give occasionally to a local organization that has a shelter and helps these people find jobs (The Homeless Voice). THAT's how people should go about supporting them, not funding their bad habits.
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Very good advice. I saw a guy standing on a median in Austin about a month ago with crutches and a boot....

1. How the hell did he afford medical care?

2. I didn't realize panhandling was such a dangerous profession....I guess you could get your foot ran over at a stoplight......see #1.

He even looked fairly clean. He had a white T-shirt with no stains, and was puting out a lot of energy, much more than his legitimately homeless friends next to him. I wanted to hit the guy with my rental car.
 
popaviator said:
Today as I entered the Wal-Mart parking lot I saw a very sad and disgruntled looking gentleman begging by one of the corner entrances. So I decided to buy him lunch. It felt great helping someone else! I think it's important as pilots to realize how lucky we truly are!
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That was admirable of you. Next time, give the $5 to a soup kitchen or a shelter. Giving anything to people who beg on the street is about the worse thing you can do in terms of their well being. Don't mean to harsh the warm fuzzy mellow thread, but its a button with me. Support the shelters, support the kitchens and especially support the groups and programs what work to get street people off the street and back into productive lives. But never ever give them anything directly.
 
BCTAv8r said:
In the 1 or two minutes that I stand at that light, I see him getting a couple of dollar bills. I can imagine it must be very lucrative when you count how much he gets an hour.
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Lots of journalists have posed as homeless and lived on the street for a week or two as research for writing pieces related to the problem. Time and time again, those that have done this report being able to make between $45 and $120 an hour. Giving them money or buying them a meal does not improve their lives.
 
popaviator said:
Hi Boris, I'd like you to think of a time when somebody helped you through a hard time. Did you think they were stupid? Of course not. I'd like to think that there are successfull people who made it by doing the right thing. I can't imagine a person feeling good about themself if they knowingly take advantage of others. Anyways, that's just my opinion.
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... I'd go even further and say that no one makes on their own. Some just forget about that.
 
I walked out of a grocery store and this not so homeless looking guy asked me if I wanted my windshield cleaned. I would have reacted more pleasantly if he didn't have both his hands in his pockets looking like he's about to break out a mack 10.

I agree with boris above, it's noble and all but a starving pilot should keep his money for food, you're not so far from that homeless guy yourself!
 
You know, a lot of people on the streets are military veterans who just never quite managed to dovetail back into society.

Sad, but true.

Not all of them are just people who 'quit trying'. Some of them were asked to do something and weren't cared for properly when dealing with what happened to them along the way.

Just something to consider. I like the suggestion that we give donations to service organizations rather than just the people on the street... but sometimes.. maybe just to ease the suffering of someone for a little bit ain't so bad.
 
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