Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Saturday, July 29, 2006

If I had a dollar for every time...

Posted by Mickey Z on 07/29 at 06:46 AM

  1. Dynamaite haiku there. Like the story too. You wrote But what if I was one of the billion earthlings subsisting on one dollar a day? Would I have been so honest...and so indifferent? I notice that people of limited means are often sincerely generous; it evolves from knowing what it feels like to have nothing.

    I got ten bucks in change in my pocket and there’s somone asking for money (who doesn’t seem thoroughly zooted on something) and I’ll give a dollar. You think some white collar dude with 200 bucks in his pocket is gonna fork over a twenty to a guy on the street?

    Empathy: sorely missing. Rich and I were getting to that at the end of yesterday’s post.

    Posted by Keir  on  from The Hague 07/29  at  08:12 AM

  2. Thanks. Keir...and hello Expendables. Rich is a fellow Astorian and fellow writer. In fact, he just called me and I may go hang with him. I’d love it if your conversation from yesterday carried over to today.

    Off topic (but not really): We had another manhole explosion down the block from me yesterday. When I say my building shook, I do not exaggerate. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to live in blacked-out, bombed-out Beirut (or any other similar venue).

    Posted by Mickey Z.  on  from Astoria 07/29  at  08:38 AM

  3. Good Saturday Morning to all.

    Keir, yes, I have also noted that those with very little to give can be the most generous and will share what they have with virtual strangers.

    We all could take lessons.

    Posted by Canadian Observer  on  from 07/29  at  10:04 AM

  4. Hello fello Expendables.

    There’s a homeless guy who hangs near a downtown exit off a major freeway. Has a sign that reads something like “burger and fries appreciated”. So, I had the nerve one day to give him some fresh fruit: peaches, bananas, and also a cold water. As I see it, He needs vitamins and nutrients, not fat and cholesterol.

    That being said, I probably give over $500/yr to Houston’s homeless, and I live in poverty myself. The “working poor”; 40 million and growing. I’m the guy that holds up traffic by reaching out to give some spare change away to someone who needs it more than I do. Shoot me for being human.

    Sit around the chair.
    Saturday sit-in, I say.
    Sit, run just don’t drive.

    Posted by RT  on  from The Buyou City 07/29  at  10:38 AM

  5. Nice Mickey, and good morning to all the expedelicious (the heat has broken, here in Cali, making life look much better). I am nostalgic for humans doing jobs and am always amazed that business will often replace a minimaly paid human with (what looks like) a very complicated, prone to failure and expensive machine. “Oh yeah, over ten years we will save $100, multiplied by so many people....  “. But in the middle of a cold and dark night, I would much rather try to explain to a human why I need to get on a train without any money, then to try and convince a broken machine.

    captcha="value"

    Posted by Peter (the other)  on  from California 07/29  at  10:42 AM

  6. Hello Canadian Observer, RT, and Peter. Glad to hear the heat broke in Cali. As bad as it is here, we did not have the horrendou loss of life the lef coast did. Still, it’s as hot as ever in NY and we’re all waiting for the power to give out again.

    Thanks for the great comments and observations. RT sez: “Shoot me for being human.” Unfortunately, that’s done every minute of every day.

    Posted by Mickey Z.  on  from Astoria 07/29  at  01:25 PM

  7. Even Workers World has got us covered:
    http://www.workers.org/2006/us/queens-0803

    Posted by Mickey Z.  on  from Astoria 07/29  at  02:16 PM

  8. Hi Mickey, Peter, Keir, Canadian Observer, and RT
    I don’t have a good story for you, just a few of my favorite quotes.

    Dom Helder Camara:
    When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

    Eugene Debs:
    Yes, I am my brother’s keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death.

    Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC:
    Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.

    Posted by RMJ  on  from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 07/29  at  02:50 PM

  9. Hello RMJ.

    More news from Middle East:
    http://tinyurl.com/pajnw

    Posted by Mickey Z.  on  from Astoria 07/29  at  04:08 PM

  10. At a temp job I picked up for today, a.c. office with nice view of the city, etc…

    Oddly, an ad for this site: http://tinyurl.com/ozh8a

    was on the page you just posted in #9. Just… ugh, whatever.

    Posted by James  on  from work 07/29  at  04:30 PM

  11. This is heart-wrenching, and a bit related to yesterday’s and today’s comments.

    Posted by Keir  on  from The Hague 07/29  at  05:22 PM

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