I was getting off the freeway when I saw him...as soon as the cars stopped at the light, he immediately rushed out and started to wipe a windshield of a car. He looked healthy, but his clothes seemed like he hadn't washed it for a long time. Though they were not clean, they were not unkempt. And yet...he was able to keep a cheerful and happy demeanor, energetically cleaning a windshield.
I just felt so bad...that humans have to live like that. He must have been through a lot to get to this point. And his self esteem...his dignity... But at least he was trying to do something to get by. It wasn't much, but it's something.
As I watched him, I noticed another figure further down...another person standing by the freeway hoping for something to get by...and she had a crutch and a cast on her leg. Christ! Why do humans have to live like this?
When I finally drove past both of them and about to merge onto a city street, I came face to face with another man on the roadside. He was holding a ragged, little cardboard sign that said: Please help. That was all I could read...and it was so sudden, I couldn't stop because there was another car right behind me. I was staring straight at his beseeching eyes yet impassive face... and he was looking right at me...
Honestly...it's really sad that we as a developed nation, couldn't do anything to help prevent this kind of tragedy and denigration of the human spirit.
There are perhaps thousands or millions more like the people I saw today off the freeway all over the country and perhaps all over the world. Why do humans have to live like this? Why can't we as a nation, as a global family, create a system where all can live in peace and abundance? Where there is no border, no wall?
It would be great if we can create a world where all humans can live in dignity, where we can treat one another as equal, and respect all living beings. Wouldn't that be awesome? Perhaps I am a dreamer, but that's a good dream to have.
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