On an insane 20 hour trip to Chicago, I was riding the “L” to the airport and had the privilege of overhearing a conversation between two homeless men. Now for those of you who know me, you know that me “overhearing” a conversation is not unusual, but very common because I am very “observant.” As I sat on the blue line, I witnessed a one way conversation between the two men. One guy was belligerently and intentionally loud. He began to tell his friend and our entire train car that being in America sucks because Americans don’t help each other. Upon hearing that statement, my antenna shot up and I was immediately intrigued. He continued his rant with these exact words: “In America, people give you $20 when they have a bank account full of money and they know that I haven’t eaten in 2 weeks. You can tell I haven’t eaten because I have had on the same clothes for the past 2 weeks, without a shower. So they should give me some money. Then they wonder why I rob houses and sell drugs. You should be given me money.”
After hearing the spiel, I copped an internal “tude.” Even though I am unsure of his specific situation, his comments were laced with a sense of entitlement as if his fellow brothers and sisters had a responsibility, even when he didn’t want to help himself. I continued to have an internal conversation with the guy, complete with the neckroll and the words, “mr. Big Stuff, who do you think you are? Why aren’t you helping yourself? Why do you think you are entitled to receive anything without helping yourself first?”
But as I am writing, I am reminded that the way he responds to his fellow Americans is the way I respond to God. Sometimes, I appear entitled saying, “Well God you kinda have to bless me because I am your child.” Right, wrong. So, the same neck roll and attitude check I just performed in my mind towards the man became the neck roll and attitude check for me.
#beast
