Black Knight #9

My dad used to call it "bread on the water."

I never saw that man turn down a bum who needed something; in fact, I never saw him give anything less than quite a bit. He'd sneak around and be a little sheepish about it sometimes, because we didn't have much money ourselves. But damn if any homeless guy at a gas station he went to didn't end up with a sandwich and whatever money he could spare.

I understand that people work hard and I understand that they earn their own money. But the requirement that we help one another is a higher moral calling than "fairness," whatever that means. If it doesn't move you to think about helping some 19-year-old girl who got pregnant too young make rent, maybe it'll move you to think about the lives and dreams her children might lead. Maybe it won't.

Should you work as hard as you can? Of course. Should you bust your ass to make it so you can support yourself? Damn right. On this, I don't think anyone disagrees. Where compassion dictates a slightly different course, however, is here: If you don't do these things, you should not be sentenced to death by starvation, or disease; and if you happen to have parents who don't do these things, your life is not forfeit either. Being poor isn't something anyone chooses voluntarily and it's a lot harder than anyone can imagine who hasn't lived through it. Especially, especially as a kid.

Maybe it's because of my dad that I feel the way I do about helping people in need, even people who don't deserve it. Maybe it's because growing up, I wouldn't have had food or medical care a lot of the time without the bread that floated back to us on the water.