Today I spent most of the day trying to get Year Of Giving up and running. This blogging software is pretty user-friendly, however, like many things some tasks have somehow taken longer than expected.
So today I went searching along the U Street corridor of DC. I first approached a woman who was waiting for the bus. Just as I started to speak with her the 96 bus headed toward McLean Gardens rolled up and she slipped away. I thought about just jumping on the bus…but I had no idea where McLean Gardens was and didn’t quite have time to do exploring this afternoon. Strike 1.
My second attempt turned out to be a failure as well. A nice woman who would have probably been very appreciative had we been able to communicate. She spoke French, I tried some spanish and portuguese and even a few words in French, but she wasn’t impressed with my French skills. Strike 2.
My third and ultimately successful attempt came at about 4:30 pm. I spotted Paulina, a tiny hispanic woman in her 50s, crossing the street with one hand holding a tattered bag and the other clutched tightly around the small hand of three-year-old Dominic. Our conversation quickly turned to Spanish (phew, that language I have covered) and I explained what I was doing. She was a little timid but ultimately accepted the $10.
No more than I had put the money in her hand, she proudly told me that she was going to give the money to the church. I think Dominic, although a little confused, was a bit disappointed with the decision :). I was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t hesitate a bit with her altruistic decision.
Paulina politely thanked me and said that God would take of me. I thanked her, smiled, and said good-bye.
Year of Giving 
This is awesome. I’ve added it to my RSS feed and I’m looking forward to reading it every day.
Paulina sounds so sweet & I love how you get such blessings in return! I am so enjoying this adventure of yours!
Reed. Altruism is acting to benefit the welfare of others. What you do is altruism.
The fact that the world is, as its always been, a placed filled with suffering is proof that Gods do not act to improve the welfare of this planet.
People are altruistic, not Gods. Giving to churches is waste of money.
EXACTLY. Glad someone putwhat I was thinking into words.
God has already given man everything he needs to do altruism. If God solved everything, there are nothing left for man to do.
BTW Reed, how many languages do you speak? I wonder how such talented man as yourself became unemployed?
[…] reminded me a little of Paulina from my second day of this year-long journey when he promptly told me that he would donate the […]