A Time for Giving?

[Scene: The A train to Brooklyn, Christmas Eve]
Panhandler #1 (male, caucasian near side exit): Can anyone spare a dime, nickle, quarter? If you have food, any left overs, or sandwich would be cheerfully accepted.
Panhandler #2 (stocky female caucasian, dressed for the cold, jumping from handicap seat): Sandwich, I want sandwich!
#1: Huh?
#2: Sandwich, I want sandwich!
#1: No, I don’t have any food, I want food.
#2: Sandwich!
#1: Here, you can have the change that I got.

[#2 waves off the money. #1 walks off to the other end of the car, shaking his head. #2 sits back down]

Panhandler #3 [black, boarding train as #1 leaves]: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, I’m collecting donations to help feed the homeless… If you have food, put your money away and give the food to me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, and do me a favor, my little sister Lisa is in the next car — look out for her.
#2 [jumping to her feet]: I want food! I want food!
#3 [shocked that someone would actually take him up on the food]: OK, I’ll come back for you.

[#2 keeps standing at the door. #3 goes the length of the car collecting money and food and gets off at the next stop. #2 goes out her door following him.]

You can’t make this stuff up.

The Day After Christmas

NY Times’ Quotation of the Day of December 25, 2003:

“I understand. It’s not the same kind of world it once was. I think everybody understands that.”
– ROANNA GLYNN, a Los Angeles schoolteacher who was supposed to fly from Los Angeles to Paris, but her flight was canceled.

Yes, our world is what it is, and not what it once was.

Jason Mraz’s “The Remedy” is quite a song. Nice to hear it while I’m doing this particular post. “It amounts to nothing in the end… I won’t worry my life away…” A motto we should all have in an age where it could seem too easy to panic and surrender. Yes, Ms. Glynn, we do need understanding and a whole lot of it.

Whether you’re for death penalty or against it, the Washington D.C. Sniper cases have to give one some pause for thought about the death penalty issue. Consider the NY Times’ “Penalty for Young Sniper Could Spur Change in Law.”

Brent Staples’ editorial in the NY Times has an interesting view of the relevation about Strom Thurmond’s long-secret daughter. I’ve been following the various articles about it on Slate.com and the Washington Post online, and I haven’t been entirely satisfied by the coverage, since the situation seems so very complicated to me – yes, there is the big picture of how we view race and class relations in America, but there are also the very human elements behind the revelation – Essie Mae Washington-Williams had to deal with her own story for all these years; her father’s views about the past may never be known, since he has passed away and left it to historians to figure out what is his legacy; and the rest of his family – their opinions (for there probably is more than one opinion about it) are still unfolding. To me, Staples’ editorial somewhat captured the complications; indeed, I think Ms. Washington-Williams’ story is rich in depth for what it means for so many.

Enjoy the post-Christmas shopping; I know I will…