Giving

I was thinking about giving today for a couple of reasons and the holiday season wasn't really either of them. Specifically, I was thinking about the strings we attach to our giving to others. My friend at work was pissed off because a guy in front of the WalMart approached her with a story about a pregnant wife and no food and no job and loads of trouble. He asked her if she could help him out. She dug around in her purse and gave him a ten, in the spirit of Christmas. She felt pretty good about it, that is until she ran into Herbert, the WalMart greeter. Herbert asked her if she had given that guy money and when she said yes, he told her the guy was a con man, probably a druggie too. She came back to the office fuming that the guy lied to her and vowing to never give a panhandler any money ever again. That seems like an overreaction to me and makes me suspect that she has more going on than being angy that a panhandler got over on her. Whatever the motive of the needy fellow, her intention in giving remains pure and completely intact, unless she wasn't giving as much as buying some power over someone else. What occurs to me and something I've always tried to practice, is the understanding that if I make the decision to give someone money, it is out of my control once the money leaves my hand. I made the decision to give. What they do with it is on them. All I can do is hope that it finds a good use and it does me no good to be angry about it if it doesn't, Also, I was listening to the Dave Ramsey show and he was having a "theme hour" where he only took calls about people's giving experiences. People called in to share how they gave to others. One woman handed out cash to strangers who looked as though they needed some. Another woman paid for someone's gasoline. Someone else took flowers to people in nursing homes. These were all fine acts of kindness by decent people. It also creeped me out. I really get uneasy when someone who does something nice or gives money to others feels like they have to tell people about it. This is just one of my many quirks. I think giving ought to be done without fanfare and without expecting recognition for it. Is this giving or is it buying the right to impress others with your generousity? Hmm. Years ago I remember reading in the newspaper about a good-works type group at a church, here in our fair city, that called themselves, Those Who Care. Perhaps that makes the rest of us Those Who Don't. It rubbed me wrong to hear that and I would have been embarrassed to belong to their group. Perhaps that is my ego trip, who knows? Merle. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgemental and cranky Tag: Daily Life Personal Finance Humor